Let us take
a few instances. Madhu Kishwar of Manushi established that
the half-a-million vegetable vendors, street-hawkers and rickshaw-pullers
in Delhi pay huge sums to several state functionaries. Most
of these self-employed workers are migrants from Eastern UP
and Bihar, eking out a precarious livelihood in a forbidding
environment. Bribes ranging between Rs 300-500 crores is annually
exhorted from them for the sin of wanting to stand on their
own feet!
There are innumerable cases
where rights of the poor are violated with impunity without
any reparation. For a daily wage-worker or casual employee
with no job security, a loss of income, forced absence from
work or damages sustained by a civil wrong is often the
difference between a modicum of dignity and disaster. Let
me relate one incident.
A poor, migrant watchman
in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, was walking one morning along
the road, when a pet dog from a posh home rushed out and
attacked him. Before the terrified watchman could free himself,
his right arm was severely bitten from wrist to shoulder.
There were lacerating wounds and profuse bleeding. The petrified
man returned home drenched in blood and perspiration. After
recovering from the shock, he went back to that house along
with some relatives, to seek some compensation from the
owner of the dog. After an hour's haggling, he was given
Rs. 100! The owner was impervious to his plight and made
no effort to get him medical attention. A few local residents
helped out. He had to get dressing, full anti-rabies course
and antibiotics. But he still couldn't work for about three
weeks. He had to wait for the wounds to heal. The already
poor family underwent severe privation, monetary loss, emotional
trauma and uncertainty.
In any civilized society,
the above incident would be a fit case for civil suit under
torts, and a fair compensation would be assessed at Rs.10,000
or more. The owner has the responsibility and should pay
damages. In the absence of a legal mechanism to take care
of simple torts or disputes in a speedy and fair manner,
most poor have no recourse to get a just compensation.
This clearly demonstrates
our society's failure to institute elementary, accessible
mechanisms for ensuring speedy justice. In public discourse,
we tend to apply the term 'Justice' in a grand sense, and
talk about correcting the many historical and social wrongs,
or ensuring equal distribution of means of production. Such
exalted notions of justice may not be within our reach in
the short-term, but elementary justice is the absolute minimum
a society can aspire for.
When such justice is denied,
the poor suffer the most. The rich are insulated from the
day-to-day indignities, and there is a compact that binds
all the wealthy and influential ensuring their collective
security. Two corporations having an unresolved dispute
on a contract can always opt for arbitration - local or
international - unlike the poor, whose incapacity to recover
damages or loss, or protect their rights, drives them into
a state of despair and helplessness.
That's the reason why the
poor are lukewarm towards economic liberalization and perceive
it as anti-poor. Everyone agrees that we need to build a
consensus across the political and social spectrum in favour
of fair markets, competition, choice and economic freedom.
But such a consensus will elude us as long as the poor and
disadvantaged cannot count on institutions of state - executive
or judicial - ensuring fair treatment, equality before law
and speedy reparation for violation of rights.
We have many sensible models
of speedy justice available. In India, decades ago, we had
an effective system of honorary magistrates to try petty
offences. In Britain, the institution of justices of the
peace (called JPs) is 700 years old. The recent innovation
of small claims procedures in formal courts has created
a successful mechanism for speedy resolution of disputes
involving £ 5000 or less. In the US, the small claims
courts deal with 100 million simple cases annually, and
swiftly deal with civil suits ranging from $ 1000 to $ 5000
in value and try petty offences. All these are low cost,
speedy, accessible, people-friendly mechanisms to ensure
justice to the poor. We can easily institutionalize 25,000
such small claims courts in India at a low cost. A small
court fee can recover the cost. The benefits in the form
of improvement of the lives of the poor, protecting their
rights and livelihoods, and creating a climate of rule of
law are immeasurable.
In the absence of such sensitive,
citizen-friendly mechanisms, people are forced to swallow
injustice. Often their lives are shattered, and poverty
is perpetuated with little hope of climbing out of the deep
hole of misery and injustice. In this climate, a market-demand
is created for those who can apply coercion and violence
to deliver rough and ready justice for a price. An industry
of such criminals settling disputes has arisen on account
of the state's failure to deliver justice. This is what
makes the mafias and politicized criminals legitimate, corroding
our democracy and distorting society.
A sensitive, well-informed,
and sensible activist, Major PM Ravindran has raised these
issues before the Kerala High Court, and is preparing to
stage a Satyagraha before the court. It is indescribably
sad and wholly dysfunctional for a constitutional democracy
to drive its finest citizens to despair when simple solutions
are available. Our politicians and civil servants are no
longer endowed with a sense of justice and compassion, and
lack innovation and a sense of urgency in dealing with these
critical issues. The result is lazy policies and a 'doles'
culture reducing proud citizens into mendicants seeking
alms. The poor are robbed for want of elementary justice,
and are promised a fraction of it in the form of doles.
In such a vicious climate,
how can they be wealth-creators or supporters of free markets
and defenders of the Constitution?
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