Program Initiatives (Issues)

(i)  Issue of Livelihood and Food Security
Article 23 and 25 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights state that,

"Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity and supplemented, if necessary by other means of a social protection"(Article 23)

"Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and will being of himself and of his family including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control" (Article 25)

In line with these pronouncements Indian Constitution also talks about,

Equality of opportunity of public employment (Art. 16) and right to work, to education and to public assistance in certain cases (Art.41), and provision for just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief (Art. 42) in the Directive Principles of the State Policy.

But none of these provisions have brought any significant change in the life of the poor and the marginalized. Further sweeping changes brought in by economic reforms have caused far-reaching impact in the life of the ordinary and poor, which is threatening their very existence. Eroding livelihood means and hardships involved in securing food have risen phenomenally. One can easily notice these terrible indictments of neo-liberal reforms prevailing very much in India. Hunger, starvation deaths, farmers' suicide, displacement, migration in search of livelihood, high infant and maternal mortality etc are some of the examples.

SBSS strongly reiterates that the solution to these problems lie in developing and creating assets and capabilities to develop a society which is just, equal and independent. This can be achieved only when people dynamically link up their livelihood issues and control over their habitat and environment with rights. SBSS believes that only a strategic deployment of Rights Based Approach will bring desired results to those communities, which are postulated against the unfavorable and detrimental norms, practices and structures of the society and the State.

(ii)  Identity and Social Exclusion
Exclusion of communities and disregarding their identity is nothing new to Indian society. With the advent of unbridled liberalization and the globalization, the approach to indigenous and marginalized communities has been further worsened. Discounting one's identity leads to social exclusion. So the concept of identity is pertinent to the process of safeguarding and integrating the aspirations of the hitherto excluded community, especially tribals, dalits and women (it is now applicable even to children). The denial of identity leads not only to social exclusion but also to other forms of exclusion, threatening the very survival of these communities.

The unfortunate growth of communal conflicts and fundamentalist ideology of creating "one nation-state on the basis of one culture" is really testing and eroding the pluralistic tradition of India. The Church of North India has affirmed herself as a dalit Church with around 85 per cent of dalit and Adivasis membership. Hence SBSS will make sure that the concerns of the excluded communities will be the priority of all its action.

(iii)  Land Rights
The question of land and right to access land goes back to the earlier days of humanity. In fact the Bible is quite consistently establishes God's ownership over land. Human communities of different civilizations also strongly identify themselves with their land of birth; assert their rights over the same land, which never failed to nourish them.

For the Dalits and Tribals, land is an internal part of their existence and identity. Today globalization and anti poor policies of the government treat land as a commodity and source of profit. The arrival of contractors, big landlords, multinational companies into the forest have actually distraught the traditional stewardship. Big dams and national parks have displaced hundreds of indigenous people. The problem of displacement is very high in Diocese of Nagpur the Gosikhurd Prakalp, Bargi Dam in Jabalpur Diocese and Mega city project in Kolkata.

Since the days of Naboth (1King 21: 1-16) the oppressed have always been alienated and driven out their land. The same situation prevails in India also, where, there is a plot to systematically alienate and isolate dalits and the adivasis from their land. Their very identity is at stake, threatening their very existence. Our involvement and struggles with the communities include the issue of land rights especially in the diocese of Kolhapur, Nagpur and Marathwada in Maharashtra, Phulbani and Sambalpur in Orissa and Eastern Himalayas in West Bengal. The initial success of these movements led by various People's Organizations facilitated by respective DBSS and SBSS has given a new hope to the reference communities. For instance People's Organizations in the region of Maharashtra has so far acquired more than 100 acres of land for dalits and about 1500 application for land entitlement have been filed in various government agencies. With these achievements, in the coming decade these peoples movement aspire to develop a political identity. Considering the progress of these people's movement it is imperative that the CNI-SBSS addresses these issues of Land Right more vigorously in the imminent future.