Instead of launching personally in the arena of context of electoral politics, the Sewagram Initiative is committed to strengthen the voters' ability to put up and choose their own candidates, through their own formations such as Voters Councils, Booth Committees, Gram Sabhas or the movement organizations.

Sewagram Initiative is deeply concerned over the pervasive fragmentation and amorality in our polity. It has plans to initiate dialogue with all the movement groups on five basic issues so that these issues act as cohering (uniting) principles among them, so that a powerful platform emerges which can provide macro linkages, vision and support structures to Peoples' Candidates all over the country, put up by the grassroot committees.

1. Economic Empowerment of Daridra Narayan, nationally and internationally.

2. Regeneration of natural resources and peoples' control over them

3. Plural Coexistance

1. Plural coexistence of linguistic, cultural, ethnic, regional and religious identities.
2. b.Collective acceptance of democracy as the mediating focal principle at all level among these identities.

4. Issues of dignity at all levels

1. Dignity of Indians vis-à-vis global hegemony
2. Women's dignity vis-à-vis male chauvinistic ideologies and ideologue
3. Dignity of traditional professional groups and caste communities vis-à-vis MNC mindset wallahs
4. Dignity of Dalits, backward, Muslims and Dalit Christians.

4. Health of democratic processes and institution for deepening democracy

1. Electoral reforms
2. Right to Information
3. Power to Gram Sabhas
4. Elected Govt. at district level

1. Rising Level of Unemployment

People with traditional skills are facing displacement with the penetration of the modern sectors into their markets. These people have few other skills or the capacity for getting retrained to start afresh.

There has been an increase in capital intensity of investment so that employment generation has drastically tapered off. Fixed capital per employee in 1991-92 was Rs. 1.85 lakh but in the proposals during 1991 to 1996, this has risen to Rs. 10.8 lakh. Even with a high rate of growth of 10% in industry, it will hardly produce any new employment.

The older existing firms have been reducing the work force since 1991. In some cases, up to half the work force has been removed. The Central Government has also cut back work force.

As a consequence, there has hardly been any net addition in employment in the organized sectors where a bulk of the investment has taken place and the burden has fallen on the unorganized sectors of the economy.

The government's claim that the rate of growth of the economy has been 6% in the last 4 years seems to be incorrect. The lack of purchasing power, which has manifested itself as demand recession, seems to suggest that the true growth rate of the economy may not have been more than 3 to 4 per annum.

The government has been harping on the decline in the rate of inflation measured by the wholesale prices. However, what is directly relevant for the common person is the Consumer Price Index. This has also declined but is running at 5.5% level

The reason for the decline in the rate of inflation is the low demand n the economy and absence of a government which could take decisions on a) the growing budget deficit due to Kargil and increase in defense expenditure, b) the increase in the international petrolium goods prices and their impact on prices in the country and , c) the increase in the administered prices.

As soon as a new government comes in, one can expect an increase in administered prices of food and petrolium goods and a rise in indirect taxes. This would accelerate the rate of inflation. The slow devaluation of the currency is putting a pressure on prices.

Money supply has been rising fast and is likely to fuel speculative activity in commodities in short supply. Due to inadequate rainfall this season, food prices may face speculative bursts.

Since 92% of the work force is in the unorganized sectors, their incomes are not inflation indexed and they bear the brunt of inflation.

Las years projections of Central Government revenue were incorrect and left large gap in the budget. Additional expenses due to Kargil and related developments will lead to increased revenue deficit. Borrowings by the government have been rising rapidly. This will require a new government to raise taxes and perhaps administered prices.

A casualty of the deficits is cut back on social sector expenditures. There is particularly so for the States which do a bulk of the expenditures in these sectors. Even when allocations are made, they may not be spent.

Even when expenditures are budgeted, they are progressively becoming less effective since the administration is in a state of collapse. There has been little attempt to tone it up.

Exports have not picked up much while imports have continued to rise. If a crisis is imminent, the large seemingly comfortable reserves may start flying out of the economy and aggravate the crisis. This is possible since a major part of the reserves are based on inflows from NRIs and FIIs. While the total reserves are about $33.2 billion, the sum of trade credit, commercial borrowing and NRI (etc.) deposits add up to $45 billion at the end of March 1999.

The industrial sector has been growing slowly since 1996-97 and foodgrains production is lagging behind population growth rate. The infrastructure sectors may create a bottleneck for future growth due to low investment in them.

This will increase with the new round of WTO beginning in Seattle. India is unlikely to be able to defend its interest since a) it is unable to define the people's interest and b) unable to get a group of Third World countries to take a joint stand on issues of interest to the poor all over the world. Most political parties in the country seem to have given up on the issues. For instance, G-15 has been downgraded since the Prime Minister has not been attending these meetings. In SAARC also there has been no attempt to find common ground on this issue.

The Impact of the earlier round of WTO is continuing to be felt by the poor in the country. No distinction is allowed between import of essentials and inessentials so that precious foreign exchange is lost in importing luxury products. This requires increasing exports for which concessions have to be given at the expense of the poor.

When the trade deficit begins to expand too rapidly, then concessions are given to foreign capital at the expense of the national interest. This process is lively to be aggravated in the coming round since India has progressively been marginalized in international affairs.

For instance, under pressure, insurance sector is being opened up and this is going to result in control over a large part of the nation's savings slipping out of the hands of Indians. If the rate of return are higher in speculative activity, then funds would move into these activities rather than into productive activities. Today, while the nation does not have the funds to put a few thousand crores into drinking water, tens of thousands of crores are moving into the stock market for speculation. This trend would get further aggravated with privatization of insurance and especially if foreigners control it.

Under the new intellectual property rights regime, India's patents regime has had to be changed which is giving the advanced national monopoly over advanced technology and locking India in a permanent backwardness. It is resulting in a rise in prices of drugs and therefore in rising cost of health delivery. It has emboldened the MNCs to patent the application of many of our traditional uses of herbs, etc. They are also experimenting with terminator seeds which when generalized will be at the expense of our farmers.

The component of WTO on investment has forced India to grant many concessions to foreign capital (moving towards national treatment) and India is forced to give freer access to foreign goods. This is affecting employment in the country and needs to be reassessed in the long term national interest as defined by the interest of the workers.

The people face a declining living condition even though on paper there is an improvement. Due to rising levels of corruption, the quality of services has deteriorated and policies fail. This is true for education, health, drinking water, women and child development, environment, etc.

More than half the scams in independent India have taken place in the Nineties. The average amount of funds involved in the scams has grown exponentially. This is imposing a serious burden on the common man and making the economy high cost and inefficient.

9. Loss of National Savings

The nation is losing a large part of its annual savings through inflow of gold, under-invoicing and over-invoicing of exports and imports, siphoning out of funds through havala channels and smuggling. A poor nation is an exporter of capital to the extent of Rs 75,000 crores per annum

Criminalization of society is rapidly growing with the take over of legal businesses by those involved in illegal activities. The police forces are involved in collecting hafta rather than in controlling crime. The bureaucracy and the political leadership are increasingly involved in a nexus with criminals and corrupt businesses. The crisis in the lives of unemployed youth is forcing them into some form or the other of illegality.

There is need for an integrated packet of policies. Ad hoc policies will not do since they may contradict each other and achieve nothing.

This should be a first priority of the nation. Investment in unproductive sectors needs to be checked. Flight of capital and inflow of gold need to be dealt with.

2. Inflationary pressures need to be kept under check. A more extensive and effective PDS needs to be put in place.

3. Luxury consumption should be heavily taxed

These can be linked up to specific social requirements. For instance, all hospital rooms costing more than Rs 500 per day could be taxed to provide resources for primary health centres. Air travel could be taxed to provide resources for rural infrastructure. Four star and above hotels and AC restaurants could be taxed to provide funds for rural housing. A cess on Income and corporation tax may be collected to fund education at all levels. Four wheeled vehicles could be taxed to provide resources for public transport. A cess must be levied on Imports for funding R&D.

Exemptions on various taxes should be eliminated to simplify the structure of taxes. The target should be to bring 50 million individuals into the direct tax net . Tax should be levied on gross profit and not net profit. Tax on capital gains should be higher than on incomes. Gift tax and estate duties should be made effective. Excise and sales taxes on essentials should be eliminated

5. To face the challenge of globalization, we need to upgrade our R&D effort on war footing. This would require raising salaries to scientists and technologists and freeing them from bureaucratic clutches. Industry needs to be forced to invest in R&D through appropriate policies.

6. The poor need to be protected from the process of globalization (an important component of which is WTO) which is marginalizing them

1. We need to adopt a different pace of globalization than the one the advanced national are forcing on us.
2. Import inessentials must be curtailed when the poor do not even have the basic requirements of civilized existence.
3. Economic interests of the well off sections cannot be the guiding factor of all our policies.
4. We need to cut back on waste in society--both in the public and the private sectors.

The black economy is a major source of this disparity. It generates in the hands of 3% of the people Rs 6,50,000 crores of incomes.

The ratio of income between the top 3% in the income ladder and the bottom 40% (below or around the poverty line) would be upwards of 60:1 if black incomes are taken into account.

This requires right to Information.

It calls for electoral reforms to strengthen democracy and make politicians accountable to their electorates.

8. The challenge of the old WTO and the new WTO needs to be faced. There is the need to mobilize the bigger developing economies on one platform. Joint R&D amongst these nations should be encouraged. Mutual joint collaborations and technology transfers needs to be encouraged amongst these nations.

9. Technological upgradation and investment in agriculture should be encouraged. Availability of credit to poor farmers should be increased.

WTO (World Trade Organization) is the newest tool of recolonization by which the developed countries have manifested their desire to strangulate the economy of developing countries and put them at the mercy of MNCs/TNCs. Though the situations enshrined in WTO regime will bear disastrous consequences in every sphere of life, its impact will be catastrophic to agriculture, as 70% of the population is directly or indirectly dependent on it for their livelihood in our country and as a matter of fact in whole of South Asian countries.

I. The clauses dealing with food security (in the section under subsidies) in the text on Agriculture states:

1. The Govt. has to buy food for food security purposes at market rates; it can sell such food only at market rates; it can however subsidize private agencies for stocking the food reserve.

2. Grants in the form of food or money can be given only on nutritional criteria; such food will not be subsidized.

3. The draft also precludes export bans even in years of domestic shortages.

Impacts: It remains the responsibility for food security from the government without enabling communities to provide for themselves. The so called profits by 'export' will never accrue as the international competition will force farmers to keep their prices cheap, so the subsidies on food will automatically be reduced. A majority of Indian population are borderline malnourished and live at or just above the poverty line. To expect these people to purchase food at the market prices is like sending them to death.

II. Part V, Article 8-11, Part B 11--12, Annex 7,8 of this Agreement deal with exports under the title "Export Competition", states:

1.Government subsidies for export to be reduced by 36% (24% for developing countries).

2. The Governments of developing countries can however continue to subsidize cost of marketing export of agricultural products including handling, upgrading, other processing costs and the cost of international transport and freight. The cost of internal transport and freight charges on export shipments can continue to receive subsidies.

3. This also precludes export bans even in years of domestic shortages

Impacts: It clearly shifts the subsidies from farmers (who need them the most) to the corporate sectors engaged in storage facility, food processing (like Pepsi), transport and shipping agents like Cargill. The Government claims that 2 to 3% of international market will be opened to Indian farmers but as already told international competition will not give farmers of developing countries like India any profit, as developed nations are exports of food grains.

Government under this agreement is encouraging research n crops meant for export setting aside land for cultivation and setting up food processing industries for exports. In this area Pepsi, Monsanto, Cargill and various other MNCs have entered and not the Indian farmers. Thus the subsidies are not being removed but they are only being redirected from poor to MNCs.

The myth of increased riches through increased exports both at individual and national level is being perpetuated by government in a bid to get public sanction for becoming a signatory to WTO. The US, Canada, EU, Australia and Argentina together account for 80% of world's wheat exports. The same countries are major exporters of coarse grains. Export in oil seeds is dominated by US, Canada, Argentina, China, Brazil and France. The same is the case with dairy product and meat. So from where Indian farmers will get profit?

III. Under the 'Market Access' section on imports of food, there are stipulations in Part III, Art 4 and Part B 3-7 and Annex. 3 . these state:

1. All signatory countries have to open their markets by 3% (2% for developing countries) of domestic consumption for imports under minimum access; this will increase to 5% by the end of the implementation period.

2. Customs and other duties on imports have to be reduced by 36% ( 24%) for developing countries) to facilitate imports and cheaper prices.

3. Under current access, if a country has imported more than 3% during 1986-88, it cannot decrease this amount; it can only increase it.

Impacts: Even the 2% market of developing countries is greater than the 3% market of the developed countries (which have to be opened compulsorily under WTO) as the market in developing countries is basically for foodgrains where as markets in developed countries are already flooded with foodgrains and there is no scope for exporters of developing countries to earn profit from their exports of grain.

The Govts. of developed coumtries offer subsidies upto 50% to their exporters where as Govts. of developing countries hardly give subsidies even upto 24% to their exporters. As a result, the developed nations will be in a position to offer some subsidies to their exporters even after reducing it by 36% but the developing nations will be in no position to offer any subsidies to their exporters and hence will be at atotal loss. Moreover, the WTO demands an overall reduction of 24% in subsidies, so those countries which export many items in bulk, will be forced to reduce or increase subsidies on certain items. Those exporters which are engaged in the export of very few items thus will be forced to close their business.

It implies that once signatory to WTO, the government has not merely to buy food for security at market prices, it has to sell also at the market prices. These prices will obviously be controlled not by the government or by the Indian producers but by MNCs. In such a scenario 35% of poor (below poverty line) and another about 35% hovering just above the poverty line will be forced to malnutrition and hunger. Moreover, the country cannot reduce its imports, so in years of normal or surplus produce of food grains this will lead the prices to reach rock bottom, hitting farmers below the belt. In case of reducing imports there are 'counter-retaliation'. Thus once caught in this trap, there will be no way out . Moreover, the market of developed world is already surplus in the food grains (as they export) . There is hardly any scope for profits, while there need are on consumer goods which developing countries hardly provide. So third World countries will be at loss.

IV. Subsidies: Under title " Domestic Support" is dealt with in Part IV Art. 6,7, Annex. 2, 5 and 6. These clauses demand a commitment to reduce domestic support measures in terms of AMS (Aggregate Measurement of Support) by 20% by 99. for developing countries this has been reduced to 13%, to be implemented over 10 years.

Impacts: The government is encouraged to offer financial support to farmers willing to change their occupation, on the condition they do not return to farming; they will also have not say in what happens to the land they leave. The real purpose is to make developing countries totally dependent on MNCs for foodgrains by throwing farmers out of farming in these countries. These clauses form our agricultural exit policy, aimed at separating the overwhelming majority of Indian farmers from their lands.

These provisions demand the stoppage of subsidies to farmers, they say nothing about the subsidies to MNCs dealing with agrochemical and grain trade.

Under the provisions of 'decoupling' (farmers taking up other occupation), the only form of assistance program of state, not linked to production in anyway. Thus the farmer once self-sufficient, is transformed into a beggar of state welfare. Even assistance given under these programmes will be limited to extra costs, loss of income and not based on the type or volume of productions. It will put availability of food grains at the mercy of agribusiness of MNCs/TNCs.

V. Clauses on 'Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures" (Food Safety and Plant Quarantine) are dealt under 'Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measure":

1. These deal with import restrictions on the grounds of food safety and plant quarantine.

2. The standards of safety are to be harmonized based on the guidelines set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the International office of Epizootics and regional and ---- organizations operating within the framework of International Plant Protection Convention.

Impacts:

1.The provisions on these issues are mainly stricter in developed nations than developing nations, and in name of harmonizing such provisions, latter have been forced to establish higher safety standards, hitting the farmers in these countries below the belt.

2. These clauses ignore the fact that MNCs engaged in agribusiness have either representative in such bodies/organizations or are in a position to successfully lobby there. Obviously they got formulated standards to fit their profits, not people's health and safety requirements. Farmers of developing nations are in no position to lobby for their interests.

3. Consequently, this will hit both the food safety measures of the developed countries and export capacities of third world farmers.

4. In those cases where no qualifying safety standard exist, WTO allows importing countries to make their quarantine measures on the basis of available scientific information. However, it clearly state: " Nothing in this decisions shall be construed as requiring ....contracting parties to disclose confidential information which....would prejudice the legitimate commercial interests of particular enterprises.". Thus exporting countries can legitimately withhold information on the safety of new products, particularly agrochemical as this would prejudice their commercial interests. Thus national governments will be bypassed or will have to change their laws to suit industry.

5. WTO is silent about the dangers of freely introducing genetically modified organisms into the environment and as food. Incidentally, the biotechnology industry has actively lobbied against the formulations of any proposals. protocols, designed to ensure safety of such organisms before their release, at UNEP panel on bio-safety.

VI. TRIPS (Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights), have most dangerous consequences for farmers. These are covered under TRIPS:

1. TRIPs preamble states, "Intellectual Property Rights are recognized only as private rights."

2. Article 27:1 refers to the conditions that to be recognized as an IPR, an innovation has to be capable of industrial recognition.

3. Article 27.5.3 (b) of TRIPs refers to patenting of life, states,-- "Parties may exclude from patentability plants and animals other than microorganisms, and essentially biological processes for the production of plants and animals other than non-biological and micro-biological processes. However, parties shall provide for the protection of plant varieties either by patents or by an effective 'sui generis' system or by any combination thereof. This provision shall be reviewed four years after the entry into force of the agreement.

1. It restricts common rights into private rights; thus enabling MNCs to patent them. Thus, it is a mechanism for privatization of intellectual commons.

2. This puts every country on a slippery slope of patenting. Though living organisms are excluded but creation of any new variety merely by.....shuffling of genes is liable to be patented. Thus genetically altered plants and animals are getting patented. This will directly affect adversely farmers rights as innovators, plant breeders, and their community ownership of seed and plant materials. TRIPs recognizes only the western industrialized model of innovations and fails to recognize more informal, community based system of innovation through which third world farmers select, produce, improve and breed a plethora of diverse crop varieties, which does not find even a mention in TRIPs.

3. While the phrase 'sui generis' gives impression that each nation is free to set up its own IPR system, the key term 'effective'

makes the adoption of a global regime compulsory. Thus the system of patenting will not be determined by nations but by WTO.

4. Earlier farmers were protected to carryout their right by plant breeding in the UPOV, the only effective system at international level is codified in International Convention for Protection of New Varieties of Plants. In 1991, amendments to UPOV .......this right from farmers. So farmers now must come together and unite.

Indian farmers have started to assert their rights to seed through 'common intellectual property rights (CIPRs).

In a nutshell, the prescription of WTO for Indian agriculture and farmers is suicidal. Under these provisions, Neem, Haldi and Basmati rice have already been patented by MNCs.

Indian farmers must unite against this open robbery. Such an initiative has already started in Karnataka and the farmers have risen to oppose ill-famed MNC Monsanto, the largest bio-tech MNC in the world. Monsanto in collaboration with Cargill Seeds Company has set up a seed plant at Sangankallu Taluka of Bellary in Karnataka. On Sept 2, 1999, 500 farmers of the district along with representatives of 2500 organizations from all over India, staged a dharna at this company. Earlier in 1992, farmers have forced this plant to close, after the seeds provided by this company led to crop-failure.

If the farmers of Madhya Pradesh do not unite at this transitional juncture, very soon in near future, they will face their survival at stake.

While taking note of the fact that India is a multi-ethnic, plural, society, the Sevagram Initiative would like to highlight two processes, which tend to creep into the pluralist state process in the name of pluralism and multi-ethnicity.

One of the hazards is that under the cover of pluralism, domination of one of the components, which can be an upper caste-feudal survival and capitalist class combine, may dominate at the core of the system while allowing diversity only at the periphery.

The other hazard is that multi-ethnicity may degenerate into ethnic parochialism.

These hazards, however, are not such that they cannot be overcome. But for this, conscious efforts are to be made to create a congenial environment and to build up appropriate institutional arrangements.

For building up the appropriate institutional arrangements, the following facts of may be taken into consideration:

1. In India, social and cultural diversity, including religious diversity does not end at the state level, this goes down even to the district and village cluster level.
2. Along with diversity, disparities also go down to the village cluster level.
3. Apart from territorial diversities and disparities, there are a large number of ethnic groups who suffer many disadvantages. One of the disadvantages is that the same people living in contiguous areas even of the same state are treated differently under the Constitution. There are several distinct people in this region who have strong claims to be included in the lists of scheduled caste and scheduled tribes do not appear to have received any serious consideration. The prime example of this anomaly are the Great Tribes of Central India such as Santhal, Munda, Oraon, etc., who enjoy tribal status all over India except in Assam.
4. The functional jurisdiction of the central and state lists and the concurrent list do not reflect even the spirit of the Constitution of India appropriately.
5. The Autonomous District Councils under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution suffer from many ambiguities and do not adequately reflect the recommendations of the concerned sub-committees of the Constituent Assembly.
6. The Bodoland Accord which was brought into operation in 1993 is at least partly responsible for the disastrous ethnic strifes which have broken out in this area.
7. The negotiations, which are alleged to have been carried on without much of a public discourse about new contents, have caused serious misgivings in the minds of the people.
8. Colonial legacies in land and forest laws not only continue but have been extended in some areas by passing the formal laws.
9. Insensitivity of the state and some groups about the right to life as enshrined in the Constitution and which has attracted strictures from the judiciary.

The list that is provided here about issues to be taken into consideration for building up a federal polity in India incorporating the territorial and non-territorial aspects is not exhaustive. It is only illustrative.

The initiative takes note of the fact that while the ethos of India's freedom struggle was decentralisation and a custodial attitude towards the endowments of nature, the process of centralisation of political power and the penetration of monopolist interest is taking place. This process has gone ahead too far and as it is disharmonic to the country's basic traditions and to the commitments made by the responsible quarters on the eve of India's attainment of freedom, it is creating tension almost all over the country.

The Initiative is aware that attempts are being made to justify much of what is taking place by referring to a hostile external environment. It however feels that there is scope for improving to a hostile external environment to a considerable extent if serious attempts are made to establish harmonious relations among the SAARC and the neighbouring countries on the principles of mutual support for upholding the democratic rights of the people and an equitable sharing of common resources like the waters of the Himalayan systems.

The initiative also feels that the common concern of SAARC and neighbouring countries regarding the hegemonic forces in a uni-polar world should bring them closer and therebyhelp in improving the external environment in each country.

In any case, the initiative is of the firm view that the external uncongenial environment should not be used as an alibi to delay the process of the creation of a multi-layered democratic structure with appropriate delegation of powers and respect for the rights of the people at every level, keeping to the tenets of an authentic democratic India.