Land without latches and locks: learning from northeastern borders
After crossing Brahmputra rivers, 85 farmers, artisans, students from various parts of the country reached Dhemaji to learn from local communities and creative people in Assam. In addition, 20 more streams were crossed on the way from Okajan to Hathigargh in this 24th Shodh yatra. Not one had a bridge. Though there were many incomplete structures under National Rural Employment Programme. Extreme indifference of state and markets towards people was writ large on every step that walked. Yet so much generosity, affection, trust and social capital was evident to every one of us during the walk. Rural Volunteer Centre, a local voluntary organization, Nature Friend, Nature Beckon, women’s organizations and others joined hands to share what we knew and learn what we did not.
Within 100 metres on the way we found different models of wood lathe powered by hand driven wooden flywheel to pedal driven cycle based drills. The vibrant community was experimenting with different ways to process local wood to identify efficient ways of making wooden furniture. Every house had a handloom with beautiful design. But, in most cases, the yarn was given by traders and the cloth bought in return. Familiar stories of exploitation continued unabated because there were no cooperatives. We met the farmer Pramod Ramesori, Sili, Dhemaji district who had designed Rs.150/= worth paddy weeder. Many weeders have been tried by the formal system but none worked as well, as this one. Water had very high content of iron and other impurities. Every house had a bucket with sand to filter the water but iron traces still remained. No attempt had been made to introduce better technologies for water filter. We have already contacted Dibrugargh University and CSIR Lab to help in the matter. Abundant bamboo offered variety of products for which market remains to be developed. Among many local varieties of rice, there was one which need not be boiled before eating. Mere soaking in the water would make the rice edible. This could be very useful for people during treks and also for the armed forces. Much of the cultivation in this region is organic although the product does not carry any premium. So much opportunity is for constructive engagement with the community in this border area but complete lack of interest on the part of the government is every disappointing. When we reached Kankubasti, a village in Arunachal Pradesh, not too far away from Chinese border, there was anger in the voice of local people who knew that the level of development across the mountain was much higher compared to their side. It didn’t seem to matter to any body. There are many large projects of oil companies which seem to be using these regions as colonies. It is not surprising that many young people lose patience with the democratic systems of governance which unfortunately has failed to deliver. Their rich knowledge of herbal medicine and dealing with climatic risks can be very useful building block for development. SRISTI and the Honey Bee Network including NIF decided to follow it up on priority so that value could be added to the local knowledge in as many cases as possible. For pharmaceutical entrepreneurs from Gujarat, this region offers a tremendous business potential for joint product development with fair share of benefits. Engagement with the communities on the margin is necessary if the integrity of the nation has to be maintained.
participants from ireland, south korea, Germany also joined those from
Anil K Gupta
