COMMUNAL violence has held Gujarat in its grip for more than two
months now. The magnitude, intensity, geographic spread and
tremendous suffering it has wrought on the state's citizens, mainly
working people, is difficult to comprehend, let alone quantify.

After the 1969 communal riots, our state has unfortunately been
witness to several instances of violence: in 1985, 1986, 1992-1993
and 1999. Localized communal incidents, in addition to these longer
outbreaks, have occurred sporadically over the last 20 years in North
Gujarat, the tribal belt, and Bharuch district in South Gujarat.
Every time it is the workers of the informal economy - those who eke
out a living on daily wages or from self-employment - who are the
hardest hit. Unlike the formal economy with its chambers of commerce
who are able to calculate economic costs of communal violence, the
exact costs and burden of riots and violence are difficult to
determine. This is because the number of informal workers and the
multiple economic activities that they are engaged in are, at the
best of times, difficult to quantify.

The Self-Employed Women's Association, SEWA, is a labour union of
informal women workers. Registered in Ahmedabad in 1972, the city has
always been its base, though in the past five years two-thirds of its
membership consists of rural workers. 103,520 women have been
organized in Ahmedabad city. They are from 40 wards, all working
class neighbourhoods of the city.

Most of our members in Ahmedabad are manual labourers - construction
workers, cleaners, headloaders, rag pickers, workers in small
factories and foundries, street vendors of fruit, vegetables and old
clothes and piece-rated home-based workers - bidi and agarbatti
rollers, garment workers, kite makers, toy and bangle makers and
others.

They work for eight to ten hours a day earning between Rs 20 to 70.
Generally, the home-based workers and manual labourers, except for
construction workers, earn on the lower end of this scale while
street vendors earn on the higher end.

In a situation of protracted economic recession in Ahmedabad, brought
on initially by the closure of the textile mills, our members are the
main source of income for their families. Thousands of their menfolk
are unemployed or barely scrape together a living as labourers or
vendors.

In the rural areas, it is Anand, Kheda, Vadodara, Mehsana, Ahmedabad
and Sabarkantha districts where our members were the most affected.
Our members in the villages of these districts are mainly
agricultural labourers and small farmers. When widespread communal
violence erupted from 28 February 2002, they were the first to be
affected.

In Ahmedabad the violence occurred mainly in working class areas -
the walled city and the eastern areas. In the western part of town,
the more affluent and middle class area, there was violence -
looting, arson and even killings on the day of the bandh (28
February) and for two or three days thereafter. But the extended
periods of curfew and violence mainly affected the working class
areas.

In the villages, the pattern and toll of violence has been brought
out in several reports, and we will not analyse them here. Our
estimates, however, are that about 80,000 SEWA members and their
families - with at least 40,000 in Ahmedabad city - have been
affected by the recent communal violence.

Apart from the terrible loss of human life, injury, damage and total
destruction of homes and property, people's livelihoods have been
seve-rely affected. For over a month, our members have been unable to
go out to work. Home-based workers are neither getting raw materials
regularly, nor is anyone coming to collect their finished goods.
Factories, shops, warehouses and godowns have been burnt to the
ground, affecting the entire work chain, mainly supported by informal
workers. In fact, our own studies with the Gujarat Institute of
Development Research (GIDR) show that 77% of the Ahmedabad economy is
accounted for by the informal sector.

Baluben is a food vendor. She used to sell eatables in the walled
city area. 'I recently borrowed from SEWA Bank to buy a refrigerator
to sell cold drinks during the summer. Look what has happened to my
refrigerator, my vending cart and my home. Everything was gutted. I
will have to rebuild from scratch, both my home and my means of
livelihood.' Fatima is a garment stitcher who along with her two
daughters used to stitch petticoats for a trader. She has lost both
her sewing machines and her home. Taking refuge in a relief camp
Fatima says, 'By Gods' grace, we survived. We will work hard and
rebuild our livelihoods.'

Like Baluben and Fatimaben, thousands of workers' economic lives have
been severely affected. Our surveys of the affected neighbourhoods in
Ahmedabad - Gomtipur, Rakhiyal, Saraspur, Kalupur, Odhav, Naroda and
more - show the huge extent of losses. If one were to classify these,
a pattern emerges:

1. All self-employed and other informal workers are economically
affected because they could not work and earn for at least 20 days,
and in many cases, for over a month. Street vendors could not sell in
the city's market nor could they move from one area to another, as
they usually do. Hence, they lost daily income and also suffered
losses from rotting vegetables because they remained unsold.

Further, the large wholesale markets at Kalupur and Jamalpur were
under curfew, and so remained closed for several days. Fresh stocks
of produce from rural areas could not reach the city either. Thus,
with both supply and sale severely affected, feeding their families
became a critical issue.

Similarly, rag pickers, cleaners and construction workers could not
walk the streets or stand at the naka waiting for work at
construction sites. As for head loaders of the main cloth market,
they literally saw their source of livelihood go up in smoke, as the
wholesale shops to which they have been linked for generations were
completely gutted.

For home-based workers - bidi, agarbatti, kite makers and others - as
mentioned earlier, the supplies of raw materials stopped. With most
contractors living in curfew areas or having fled to safety, there
was no one to supply them raw materials or collect their finished
goods.

2. Thousand of workers lost their homes which are also their
work-places. Most of the destroyed or damaged homes had been set
alight and being small, close together and often containing
inflammable work equipment and material, burned quickly. As we
surveyed row upon row of burnt homes, the human tragedy unfolded
before our eyes. No matter which community one speaks of, years of
hard labour, careful saving for a few household items - the proud
purchase of a ceiling fan, a TV set or work equipment like sewing
machines - to enhance income and productivity were gone. As worker
after worker put it: 'We are back to zero again or even worse. Years
of hard work have been wiped out.'

In Banasnagar of the Dani Limda area, we saw the rag pickers'
carefully collected materials in cinders. Even a balwadi for the
children was not spared. In Panna Estate, a sprawling industrial
complex, half-burnt tendu leaves and piles of tobacco for bidis in a
gutted shelter indicated the owner's occupation. In Saraspur, we saw
mangled remains of sewing machines along with burnt onions and garlic
and charred laris or push carts.

At Akbarnagar, the scene was surreal, to say the least. Hundreds of
huts of plastic toy makers and recyclers (pasti workers) were razed
to the ground. The fire had been so severe that even the ground, the
grass and the trees nearby, were beyond recognition.

At a pavement settlement outside the Bapunagar General Hospital known
as 'D-20' (it is an ESIC hospital and numbered accordingly), ten to
fifteen dwellings were open to the sky. Many of the occupants made
plastic toys and we could see multi-coloured, melted plastic
everywhere.

In sum, the toll on the work lives of Ahmedabad's poorest of workers
has been of a magnitude not experienced so far. The impact on the
economic life in villages is still being calculated. But our estimate
is that the economic loss to the informal workers of the city, in
terms of income and work tools lost, amount to at least Rs 179 crore.

In the face of this huge human crisis, the question that we
confronted at SEWA was how we could help our members rebuild and
restore their livelihoods in the long term. Our immediate response
was to provide relief, foodgrains and medical care in the relief
camps. We had learnt from the last disaster, the earthquake, that
women's priority was work. So here too, starting from the relief
camps, we began to help women with their livelihoods.

Time and again, our members have told us that once they start to work
and earn, it gives them hope for the future and helps in re-building
their lives. 'Without work, our minds keep going back to all we have
just gone through - the fear, the sadness, the insecurity. At least
this way we are working for our children's future. It is the only way
we can survive.'

These words are repeated across castes and communities, as all
informal workers know that their livelihood is the lifeline to
survival. Our work at the camps prompted us to restore or set-up the
following livelihoods immediately - bidi and agarbatti rolling,
sewing, mattress making (light mattresses called godhris), and
paper-bag (lifafa) making. An in-house 'rozgar team' was set up to
provide immediate work of at least Rs 40 per day per member.

The first economic activities to get organised were bidi and
agarbatti rolling. Over the years, having organised thousands of
these workers, we had built up a rapport with merchants and
contractors. They were ready to provide work even at the relief
camps, but as the contractors were unavailable or unwilling to supply
work at the camps, they turned to SEWA. We became the link between
the merchants and the workers, and women were back at work rolling
bidis or agarbattis.

Next we provided sewing machines at all relief camps. In shifts,
women began to sew - mainly salwar kameezes at present, earning Rs 12
per set. They were given cut-pieces prepared by a local cutter, often
from the relief camp itself. In this way, the garment workers began
to earn again. Some began selling salwar-kameezes to others at the
camps, since most inmates had fled with only the clothes on their
back.

Making paper bags has proved to be a popular activity at all five
camps. We now see that even older children and men have joined in
this work. Since the space required to make bags is small, it is
convenient for women to do this work. The members are provided with
old magazines and gum, and given a day's training to prepare the
bags. These bags are then sold to merchants and shopkeepers. SEWA's
Health Cooperative has also bought paper bags for use in its chain of
medicine shops, thus promoting solidarity between workers.

Finally, members have started to make mattresses at the camps. These
'godhris' are prepared from old sarees and bits of scrap cloth
available in the market. The women are given a kit containing a saree
and scrap cloth pieces in a fixed proportion, along with needles and
thread to sew the mattress. This work has started in all the five
camps.

A woman can earn Rs 36 a day if she sews three mattresses daily,
which is easily doable. The godhris are mainly bought by camp inmates.

Economic Activities at Five Relief Camps Where SEWA is Working

No. of Women
Bidi rolling 350
Agarbatti rolling 700
Garment sewing 53
Paper bag making 85
Mattress making 50
Total 1238

This restoration of work at the camps is a beginning. SEWA is
planning to develop a Livelihood Security Fund for the affected
families where working capital, work tools and equipment is available
in kits to women. We will also help workers by linking them to
markets and marketing outlets for their products.

While SEWA's thrust has always been on employment, we realize that
without social security services - healthcare, childcare, insurance,
shelter and education - economic self-reliance is not possible. In
fact, we see social security as being integral to work and livelihood
security. Therefore, we began our social security service provision
from the relief camps themselves.

Between 80 to 200 children are taken care of at five childcare
centres, one in each camp. The children express their feelings by
drawing and singing. Four year old Imtiyaz, on his first day at the
childcare centre, drew a sword and a gun. Now he draws children
playing and a flag-hoisting ceremony. Six year old Salman now draws
birds and flowers. Earlier he drew a mosque in the middle of burning
houses. The school-going children have been given textbooks and take
daily lessons for three hours. In one camp, the children have been
temporarily enrolled in the nearby municipal school.

SEWA has collaborated with the Integrated Child Development Scheme
(ICDS) of the Government of Gujarat. The childcare centres in these
five camps are recognised by the government. The food supply for the
children is provided by the ICDS. SEWA, through its catering
cooperative, Trupti, prepares food such as sukhdi (mixture of
Indiamix flour, jaggery and ghee) and ladoos on alternate days and
distributes these to the children.

The SEWA promoted local health cooperative and the SEWA Health Team,
provides daily healthcare services and coordinates with the municipal
corporation and the government health services. Mobile health vans
conduct routine check-ups at all the camps as also provide medicines.
Our team facilitates and coordinates with the vans and other
government and private facilities. The health cooperative arranges
referral services.

Every week a gynaecologist, a paediatrician and an ophthalmologist
carry out check-ups. Patients on longer term treatment for
tuberculosis or thalassemia are taken to their respective hospitals
so that their treatment is continued.


Relief Camp No. of Patients
Aman Chowk, Bapunagar 2160
Anand Flat, Bapunagar 1541
Kisan Society, Danilimda 942
Bakarshah's Roza, Saraspur 3685
Bombay Housing, Saraspur 753
Total 9081

SEWA organisers at the camp involve camp residents and local
committees in cleaning the campsites every day. They also guide them
on proper disposal of garbage and left-over food. Proper cleaning of
toilets and mobile and temporary toilets has been organised,
including spraying of disinfectant.

The literacy team from the SEWA Academy conducts classes for young
boys and girls and also adults on their request. Two hour classes are
conducted daily. There are different timings for different age
groups. The young girls at the camps, in the age group of 7 to 14
years, have started learning Gujarati. So also preschool lessons
introducing alphabets and numbers. Close to 120 girls attend literacy
classes in three camps.

The housing damage assessment and needs assessment for reconstruction
of 15,250 houses has been completed, with support and inputs from KSA
Design Planning Services (KSADPS). A detailed report with plans and
sketches and cost estimates for reconstruction is ready. SEWA is
linking up with the government to design the housing compensation
package based on this assessment.

SEWA Insurance covers about 30,000 of our urban members. We estimate
that about 6000 will submit claims in the coming weeks. Already 500
claims for asset loss (homes, household goods and work tools) have
been received. Unfortunately, life insurance claims of three members
who were killed during the violence have also been received.

Our insurance team is engaged in damage assessments surveys. It has
linked up with the National Insurance Company which has requested
SEWA to process claims and promised to make payouts speedily.

We realize that there is a long way to go before our members feel
secure and hopeful for the future. Firmly committed to the path of
sarva dharma sambhava, as Gandhiji taught us, our executive committee
met recently to reaffirm our commitment to peace, non-violence, and
living and working together for the economic well-being of all,
especially rebuilding the poorest of workers. We have called our
livelihood-cum-social security work Shantipath.

At one childcare centre run by SEWA, a little girl stood up, eyes
shining, and sang:

'Oh my watan, my motherland,
let us work to create heaven on earth,
here in our land.'

We may not quite be able to reach that ideal, but are determined to
work peacefully and constructively for the social security of the
poorest of our country's workers, those in the informal economy.

Economic Impact of Communal Violence on Informal Workers of Ahmedabad
City - some estimates (40 days worth of losses calculated between 28 February
and 8 April 2002)

Daily wage No. of workers % affected Economic

losses (in crores Rs)

Producers
Home-based workers 45 2,57,000 80 37
Workers in small units 90 62,000 60 23
Small business and restaurants
Street vendors 72 1,27,000 60 22
Small restaurants 76 1,31,000 40 16
Construction workers42 1,40,000 80 20
Transport workers
Auto-rickshaw drivers & handcart pullers 76 1,12,000
70 26
Service providers
Cleaners, headloaders, domestic workers46 2,01,000 90 35
Total 10,30,000 179


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