The Tamil Nadu government has announced the substantial involvement of private players to meet the energy needs of the state.

Deputy Chief Minister MK Stalin asserted that the state would bring in an investment of Rs 91,000 crore to generate an additional 18,140 MW of electricity over the next three to five years.

The state is currently facing shortage of power. The installed capacity of projects under the state and central governments and the private sector is over 10,000 MW. Despite purchasing approximately 1,500 MW from the neighbouring states and Independent Power Projects (IPPs), the supply deficit stands at nearly 2,000 MW.

Officials claim that promoting public-private-partnership (PPP) in power sector, especially power generation, will lead to abundant supply of electricity in the state.

“Right now we do not have partnership with any private player. But we are looking forward to it. It will solve the power deficit we are facing,” said Sukumar Solomon, Director (Project), Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd.

But the workers’ unions in the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board are opposing privatisation.

“We have had experience of the American company Enron in Dabhol project in Maharashtra. The company looted the entire money from the Maharashtra State Electricity Board. We do not want similar experience,” contended SS Subramanian, General Secretary – Electricity, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU).

Enron International was managing the Dabhol power project in Maharashtra. Once the company’s financial irregularities surfaced, the project was stalled, leading to a power crisis in Maharashtra.

Subramanian added that the current situation had arisen due to the government’s own policies.

“An addition of 5,000 MW of electricity per year is needed to keep up with the increasing demand for electricity. But for the past 10 years the government has not done anything to increase generation. So, the deficit has gone up,” he said.

The government spends Rs. 3 per unit in power generation. The cost of buying from IPPs and other states can go up to Rs. 19 per unit. In a PP model, the burden falls on the consumer. Cities like Delhi and Bangalore have seen rise in tariffs after partial privatisation of power generation and distribution.

The current emphasis on privatisation is a part of the larger issue of electricity reforms under the Electricity Act, 2003.

The TNEB was recently bifurcated into Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd (TANGEDCO) and Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation (TANTRANSCO). Though the government claims that the reforms are aimed at protecting rights of the consumers, experts believe that it is a move to promote privatisation in the power sector.

The Bihar assembly results have cast a spell on everyone. Though a clean sweep was predicted, the scale of it –the JD(U)-BJP alliance  bagging 206 out of 243 seats –  made even the best of psephologists look incompetent.  The JD(U) won115 seats while BJP with 91 seats raked in its biggest-ever victory in Bihar Assembly elections. The largest opposition, RJD-LJP alliance, bagged a mere 25 seats, while Congress had to content itself with four seats despite all the charm and charisma of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gadhi and Manmohan Singh. The eight seats that were left went to the Left, JMM, others and independents.

What are the reasons for this landslide victory against Laloo Prasad Yadav who remained in power from 1990 to 2005 undeterred by any criticism? Laloo, with his typical Hindi accent, was a popular mass-leader. He was recognized as a brilliant administrator when business schools of Harvard, Wharton and IIMs learnt from him the turnaround of Indian railways. Yet, today Laloo stands a faded figure in his own state. His wife and former Bihar CM Rabri Devi lost both the constituencies she contested from.

The victory of the JD(U)-BJP combine under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has come on the heels of the most peaceful elections conducted in the state in rebut his time, even  the Naxal –affected areas saw few incidents of violence of a very low intensity. In addition to this, the voter turnout was high –52.43 per cent voters exercising their franchise in all six phases compared to 45.85 per cent in 2005 Assembly elections and 44.6 per cent in last year’s Lok Sabha elections. Greater participation by women pushed up the voter turnout. Men accounted for 50.77 per cent of the voters, while it was 54.85 per cent for women.  This could not have been possible without the confidence instilled by good governance in addition to security provided by the Election Commission.

Undoubtedly these elections indicate triumph of developmental issues over caste considerations. In a time when parties win on account of anti-incumbency—the same factor that brought Nitish Kumar to CM’s chair in 2005—this  is a positive vote in recognition to infrastructural and social development started by the incumbent CM. There have been creditable improvements in roads and bridges. The law and order situation has improved greatly. Extortion, loot and kidnapping with open political patronage are believed to have reduced. Nitish Kumar has also brought in popular education reforms. The two popular schemes are the provision of cycles for girls and scholarships for Muslims. Veteran journalist Shekhar Gupta notes his experience from a pre-election visit to Bihar in his column in The Indian Express that what catches one’s attention “is the young girls, … often in school uniforms, riding bicycles on the state’s new roads.”

The CM became popular among Muslims by reserving seats for lower backward castes in the rural and urban local body elections in 2006. As many as 27 castes of Muslims (Ajlaf and Arzal) fall in the category of lower backward castes. He was also adamant about not letting Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi enter the state for election campaigns citing his awful track record in handling minority issues. The Mahadalits have also benefited by reservations.

Promoting his image as the mascot of development of Bihar, Nitish Kumar fought the 2010 elects on the basis of development as agenda. He has promised that corruption is his next target. His manifesto included improving the power scenario. Kumar’s blog mentioned that “it would be our priority to streamline the PDS system. We have done some experiments with food coupon and I want to give it a concrete shape at the earliest.”

Laloo Prasad Yadav made caste the axis of politics since the early-1990s. He should be credited for bringing the issues of the lower castes to the fore and giving leadership to them and the Muslims in the state. It is said that RJD won election after election riding on the achievements of promoting secularism and challenging upper-caste hegemony. Such agenda kept Laloo in power for some time, but not for long. Material development is a pre-requisite for a society to continue its process of social change.

Nitish Kumar inherited this consciousness of the people. Thus, despite being an ally of BJP, JD(U) provided relief to Muslims, especially those who belonged to the lower part of social ladder. BJP also acted pragmatically. Though BJP’s star campaigner Narendra Modi was not allowed to enter the state, the alliance continued. BJP has registered a better success rate than JD(U) but only because of the wave in favour of Nitish and development.

Editor-in-chief of the Outlook magazine Vinod Mehta said in a TV talk-show that if this is the result of such minimal development, what would have happened if there was a substantial development in the state? There is a lesson to be learnt here for the political parties and leaders of hues and colours.

The recent Allahabad High Court judgment on the title suit of the disputed land in Ayodhya has raised many political and legal questions. What constitutes the legal jurisdiction of the court? What should be the role of state when such important matters are decided? How do we define secularism? And, most importantly, what are the state institutions doing to provide a sense of security to the minorities, especially the religious minorities, in a nation which still has fresh memories of the communal riots of Gujarat and Kandhamal?

The suggested three way division of the disputed land gives two-thirds area to the Hindu plaintiffs and one-third to the Waqf Board. The three-judge bench decided on this after dismissing the Waqf Board’s plea. This is akin to saying that we are giving you a piece of the pie though you are not entitled to it. This may justifiably be taken as humiliating by the aggrieved community, which feels discriminated against at various levels in independent India despite the promise of secularism and inclusion given in the Constitution. Legal experts have also pointed out that as no party asked for a division, this judgment may not stand scrutiny.

This judgment has been applauded in many quarters on the grounds it could be accepted peacefully as every party got something. But the point is that achieving peace is not the concern of courts; that’s the duty of the State. Courts are supposed to deliver judgments on the basis of law. In this case, what matters are the laws relating to property disputes. If a fair legal judgment led to possible outbreak of communal violence, so be it. It is the duty of the State to ensure peace by bringing the miscreants to justice.

In any case, what peace has this judgment restored? This peace has come as a result of silencing a minority despite repeated injustices done to it. Firstly, the idols of Ram Lalla were placed surreptitiously inside the central dome of the Babri Masjid in 1949. Then the muslims’ right to worship was taken away though the Hindus were allowed to worship at the Ram Chabutra. The year 1992 saw the Babri Masjid demolition in broad daylight which led to subsequent riots and increasing violence against the minorities. It took more than a decade for the Liberhan Commission report to become public. In between we also had the Gujarat pogrom of 2002. The Ayodhya verdict of September 30 should have marked a break from this history. On the contrary, it appears to toe the line of the Hindutva brigade in the name of ensuring peace, not justice.

This peace is also a result of majoritarian aggression that the Hindutva brigade has been showing over the past six decades. There have been numerous attacks on religious minorities in India — anti-Sikh riots, Bhagalpur violence and Kandhamal to name a few. The Hindu fanatics, led by the RSS-BJP combine, have always maintained that minorities can “stay” in India in peace only as long as they follow the logic of the majority. Has this skewed logic caught up with our judiciary?

This brings us to the question of secularism per se. India takes pride in being the largest democracy with Constitutional values deeply rooted in the idea of secularism. For the Indian ruling class the role of State in a secular set-up is to provide support to all religions. Thus the State gives funds and logistical support to groups with contradictory, and many times clashing, interests. This maze has helped fundamentalists go for political mobilizations as a matter of right and to influence various institutions governing the country. It is time that the definition of secularism is revisited and religion is separated from State and policy making.

It is clear that the Ayodhya verdict is a big jolt to the secular thread of the nation. A legal document cannot be based on faith and belief. As there will be an appeal in the Supreme Court, one would wish that the course of history be changed to make India a more inclusive polity. Responsibility of ensuring security and justice lies on the shoulders of the judiciary as much as it lies on the policy makers. Peace without justice is an unjust peace – and cannot be lasting.

In an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court of India has disallowed the use of narco analysis (NA), brain-mapping and polygraph tests on accused, suspects and witnesses without their consent.

Narco tests have come to be used commonly and loosely in India in the past few years. Politicians have been known to taunt each other asking each other to take a narco test. Even a High Court once made a desperate appeal to an official to undergo the test. What made this term common is the frequent use of scientific tests by the police. Most of the high-profile cases are solved by the use of these techniques. The use is vocal in nature too. Whereas there are many methods adopted by the investigative agencies, this bunch of scientific analysis has caught the fancy of the officers and the media alike, and hence a regular use, practically as well as vocally.
Administering of intravenous hypnotic medications, called truth serums, has been questioned for a long time. It was first used in 1922 when Robert House, a Texas scientist used the drug scopolamine on two prisoners. Later, there was widespread open and secretive use of barbiturates or certain other chemical substances to find out truth from the arrested persons during the Second World War. But the practice was challenged by scientists and law experts and many countries started banning the use of these methods during investigations. Today not all democracies allow such usage. The judgment by the Supreme Court has brought India closer to them all, in spirit at least. Though the apex court has not banned the use, it has made consent of the person on whom the narco analysis, brain-mapping or polygraph tests is to be administered, a necessity. It has further stated that even after consent, the test results by themselves cannot be admitted as evidence.
There are many grounds on which the tests are opposed. Firstly, the scientists’ community has never come to a consensus regarding reliability of the tests. The chemicals put the person into a state of semi-consciousness and their replies can be either truthful information or certain psychotic manifestations. Leading psychiatric and forensic experts also say that whatever is revealed by the tests, can be found out otherwise too if investigators persist more using traditional methods. Hence, there is nothing sacrosanct about the method as such. But for many investigators, these are short cuts to tedious questioning.
The other major criticism comes from the law experts, based on whose arguments the Supreme Court has actually delivered its judgment. The Law Commission, headed by Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, submitted its report to the government in 2007 against the use of narco-analysis, polygraph and brain fingerprinting as tools of police investigation. The report cited a case in a laboratory in Bangalore, where narco-analyses was being conducted several times on the same subject until a preferred result was obtained. This was evidence that the technique was not based on proven scientific principle.
The Commission also reported that these tests violate the fundamental rights of citizens. The Supreme Court mentions in its 251-page judgment that the tests are in violation of Articles 20 (3) and 21 of the Constitution. Article 20 (3) maintains that “no person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself”. Article 21 guarantees right to privacy. The court maintained that while under the influence of the chemical, the person might give out details of non-penal nature and could face adverse consequences because of that. The Rule of Law cannot allow this infringement over rights and liberty of an individual. It goes against one’s right to a fair trial.
However, it is true that many high profile cases have been solved using these scientific techniques. These include the trial of 26/11 terror suspect Kasab, the unfurling of a larger nexus behind bomb blasts in Malegaon, Nanded etc., and Nithari serial killings. But the investigative and intelligence agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) have come under scanner for their laid-back attitude and dependence on such short-cuts. The alternative to unreliable scientific tests can only be a more efficient intelligence network. The view of most experts is the upholding of the Rule of Law.

The elimination of almost an entire company of the Central Reserve Police Force is undoubtedly the biggest attack by the Maoists in recent history. The State of Chhattisgarh, where the ambush took place (in Dantewada) has witnessed the wrath of the Maoists many times. In fact, it is normal to see disruptions in regular life and work in states like Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. Jharkhand has almost all its districts infiltrated by the Maoists, who kill civilians, lower end government workers and the tribals who refuse to become a part of their vision and mission. 

Last year the Central Government realised that it is high time that the menace of the Maoists is acknowledged and all-out efforts are put in place to stop the violence spreading to other areas and peace brought to the already affected parts. Thus, the joint operation called “Operation Green Hunt” was launched last November by the Central and state government forces to deal with the biggest threat to internal security of India. The objective was to take control of the areas under Naxal control. The other element of the strategy was to deal with the root cause of spread of Maoist violence, namely underdevelopment of certain areas, especially tribal areas.

Thus, the government has a two-pronged strategy to deal with the situation – to finish the ultras by aggressive use of police forces of the state and to develop the affected areas to avoid further unrest. But this is not a new approach. Since the 1970s, when Maoist violence was at its peak, State governments have always taken positions to the effect that development of underprivileged areas is the only final answer to extremist aggression. In fact initiatives like the land reforms of the West Bengal Government during that time successfully contained the Maoists in the land of their origin.

It may be recalled that it was in 1967 that a movement started in the Naxalbari region of West Bengal as a retaliation for exploitative practices of the landlords vis-à-vis landless farmers who worked on the landlords’ farms. Maoists are called Naxals in India as they derive this name from the place of their origin. The movement spread fast in areas outside West Bengal. At about the same time, a parallel movement of Left groups, called the mainstream Left in the present context, was going on. In 1977, the Left Front formed Government in the State of West Bengal and understanding the frustrations of the radicals and their support base, land reforms were initiated which gave land to the tiller. This move helped in containing the Maoists. The recent comeback of the Maoists in West Bengal shows that such initiatives needed to be sustained. The Central Governemnts should have been more active. This also puts a question mark on unequal power sharing betwwen the State and the Cetral governments under federal system in India. Beyond a point the State governments can’t do much and have to seek help from the Centre for resources, which would not give them if it does not serve it’s interests. 

The other Naxal affected states have had a poor record in embarking upon similar land reform policies. Underdevelopment has become a chronic problem in certain parts of India. It is no coincidence that these are the very areas where the Maoists are the strongest. Jharkhand, the most affected state by Maoist domination, is also the hungriest state of the Indian Union.  According to a report on the State of Food Insecurity in Rural India prepared by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), in association with the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) in March 2009, nearly two-thirds of the rural households in Jharkhand do not have access to safe drinking water. Similarly, tribal dominated areas in eastern Maharashtra, also a stronghold of the Maoists, suffer from high rates of joblessness and malnutrition. 

It was as late as 2005 that the Union Government accepted that it must provide active support to the states in their fight against the Maoists. By then, things had already gone quite out of control. The Communist Party of India (Maoist), the leading Naxal group of today, was formed in 2004 with the merger of two prominent Naxal outfits, the People’s War Group (PWG) and the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC). This signalled a major resurgence of the Maoists. They started formulating plans to counter government offensives through their own armed cadre. States had been asking for help for long, but the Union Government maintained the position that it is a state’s task to maintain internal security. Once that stance was modified, the process of forming a joint task force that could operate across borders to counter the Naxal threat started. Operation Green Hunt had begun. The justification for such an offensive came from the fact that the Maoists have built up an armed wing, virtually an army now.

But there is the other way. And that is to raise the human development index.  In fact many new schemes and programmes have been launched over the years. But the problem is that the benefits do not reach the targeted areas. Some experts argue that the problem is compounded by the fact that the Maoists do not let all development activities take shape in their areas of domination. For example, the roads and bridges built to connect the villages are blown up using the argument that this will lead to easy movement of the police and will be detrimental to Naxal spread. While this arguement has some merit, Dr Binyak Sen’s argument that development has not reached even those areas which are not naxal affected, is also thought-provoking.

The real dilemma of the government is that development cannot take place overnight. Years of neglect cannot be undone quickly. The struggle against the Naxals is, therefore, likely to be a long haul. There are no easy solutions and no quick fixes.

The Naxals also face an ideological crisis. Kanu Sanyal, tall Naxal leader who founded Naxalbari movement along with Charu Majumdar, committed suicide recently. In his later life, he had become critical of the form that the movement started by him had taken. The movement started as a fight against the landlords. But in recent years it has moved away from this original path. The Naxals may claim to follow the same ideology, but the tactics show a different, rather opposite, trend. The targets are no more the ruling elite, but the poor tribals who do not conform to the Naxal viewpoint, or the police constables who are themselves struggling to make a living, or the cadres of other political parties. Such dogmatism is proving dangerous. And the poor man continues to suffer.

The yearly Human Development Reports, brought out by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are awaited by the civil society as they provide data on pressing issues of our times, collected after extensive research and involving international scholars and researchers. HDR’ 09 is titled “Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development” which throws light on condition of migrating populations in the destination countries as well as countries of origin, and the reasons that lead to migration.

The report provides vital statistics on the issue and seeks to address the problems that migrants face in changing their location. The report advocates for policies which allow for freer movement across borders and increased security measures for the migrants. It lays down clear tasks before the nations to deal with the problems that the migrants face.

The tone of the report suggests that there is serious concern towards plight of the migrants, their unfair treatment in the land of destination and the bleak development indicators in the land of origin. But there seems to be a hesitant approach in terms of finding long-term solutions to such problems.

The report glorifies migration. In fact the first section “Overview” opens with example of a poor Mexican who migrated to Canada and finally became an entrepreneur generating employment for native Canadians. The second example, however, is about internal migration within India and touches upon the idea of distress migration. The placement of these examples – the first being a migrant  leading a successful life after crossing borders, and the second being that of disempowering migration – is very symbolic as the main theme of the report is to look at migration as a proponent of development, though in certain cases migrants are treated as unequal beings.

The understanding of looking at migration as an emancipatory exercise overlooks many deeper issues. It is true that when an individual migrates, there is a high possibility that s/he will go to a place with better human development. But studies show that there remains a high level of disparity between development of the natives and the migrants.

A more important point is that making migration an agenda for improving lives leaves out the focus on human development at the place of origin of these individuals. Migration takes place in search of a better life. Most of the migration is not out of choice, but out of compulsion – compulsion to save bare minimum property, compulsion to give basic education to children, and, in many cases, compulsion of sheer survival. In such a situation, the prime focus should be on development of the place of origin, rather than an advocacy for shift from that place itself.

India faces huge levels of migration today. 60 per cent of the population depends on agriculture, which has been in bad shape for long. There are high levels of seasonal migration. Delhi alone has a few thousand people added to it every day. They stay on railway stations, footpaths etc to survive as even basic amenities are not easily affordable in the capital of India. Imagine, someone leaving home town or village for this! Should we not be focusing on investment in agriculture and developing rural heartland of the country?

This nowhere suggests that the plight of the migrants should not be a matter of concern. Of course, laws need to be put in place and implemented so that everyone lives with basic minimum necessities of life. However, this does not mean that migration should be promoted, rather other parts of the country need to be developed so that distress migration becomes a matter of past.

In a lot of cases, only one family member, mostly the earning male, migrates to an urban area. He fends for himself and sends money back home. It is but obvious that one does not prefer staying as divided family, but then, there are no choices.

Development – be it social or economic – of the places from where a lot of emigration takes place, is important also for the people who are unable to migrate. In the times when unemployment is a major issue that the country faces, even migration becomes a luxury, which every needy can’t afford.

The report correctly points out that the less skilled and the unskilled are unable to move out of places of origin and keep living in distress. However, the way out is not to make boundaries porous for their movement, as they will not find dignified jobs even at the place of destination. The only way forward is to ensure that they get minimum skills required for a decent job and opportunities be created at their places.

An important angle is that of class analysis. When people from the middle and upper classes move, they move out of choice. Whether a pass out of the University of Delhi wants to go abroad for further studies, or want to stay back to enter bureaucratic services, the student will have to choose between good and better. But when a migrant moves from a small village of Madhya Pradesh to some township during a year of drought, then it is mere compulsion. Thus, which category of class does a migrant belong to is central to the analysis of migration at each and every level.

There are examples given in the report regarding gender and caste relations becoming better for the deprived sections once they move to a different place. This might hold some value. But, is migration the solution for biases? Should we not be advocating something more fundamental? Gender discrimination and caste abuse are the realities that are faced by the victims world-over. We might make lives a little better for people by sending them to a place with enhanced human development, but that will be a highly compromised stand.

The stand that the report has taken with regard to migration and human development promotes, at best, individual emancipation. But if we are looking at human development in a holistic fashion, then the focus should be on ensuring basic human right across the globe, at all places – places of destination as well as places of origin.

An important point is that migration leads to acute political disempowerment. In a democracy like India, where elections and voting is a big festival, millions are not able to cast their vote, as they would have to move out of their constituencies in search for work. In the general elections the government takes care that school exam dates do not clash with those of the elections. The whole national media debated about clashing dates of IPL and elections in 2009, and tried to find out a solution to it. What skips their mind is that the dates that are finalised might be ones when maximum migration from rural to urban areas takes place in India. P Sainath, rural editor, The Hindu wrote just before 2004 elections that “Millions of Indians who really want to vote in this election will not. The rural poor, far more than the chattering classes, are the pillars of our electoral system. The vote is the one instrument of democracy they get to exercise. And they do that with telling effect, often using it to go out and change governments. This time, many of them cannot vote. The timing of the polls ensures that. It is in April-May that quite a few distressed regions see their largest exodus of migrant labour.

“Millions will be out of their constituencies, seeking work to survive. These are not people who can send in postal ballots. Most cannot afford to return for the polls. If you are a worker from Orissa at a construction site in Mumbai, it is hard for you to vote in this season.” (The Hindu, 15 March, 2004).

If we want to look at migration from development point of view, then freedom and choice should be an intrinsic part of it. One should not migrate due to no opportunities back home, but to learn more, in a different environment. It should be seen as a tool to broaden once horizons, but it is important to have horizons in the first place. A need is to have flow from both the sides, rather than a uni-directional move.

Have you ever wondered what are the reasons that bring tourists to a town or a city? If a city is not situated in the most scenic places like that of a coastal city or a hill station, then what can attract travellers to explore it? Jaipur is one such city. It appears on the map of international tourist destinations for its forts and grandeur of the past – the Nahargarh fort, the City Palace, Albert Hall museum, and a village set-up called Chokhi Dhani in the urban heart. But there is one more thing, and that is shopping. The old city, which is called the walled city as it is surrounded by a thick wall built by the rulers for protection sake, is a thriving market place, with buyers from all over the world, especially when the temperatures are not breaking all previous records. The most-wanted items are bandhni (also called bandhej) products, which are clothing items. The process through which this cloth is made is called tie and dye.

Rajasthan is famous for its tie and dye products. The same industry can be found not only in other states of India like Gujarat and Uttaranchal, but also in countries like Japan and Pakistan. But as Rajasthan happens to be the place of origin of a particular style of tie and dye, there is an added attraction among the connoisseurs. Bandhej and leheria are two distinct methods of tie and dye. The clothing ranges from salwar kameez, kurta pajama, sarees, dupattas, to stoles, skirts and tops. The material can be used for other purposes too. A lot of designer wear is available in the market. Once the cloth is ready with the design on it, it can be cut and used for a variety of purposes. There are many varieties – shibbori, ghatchola etc. Every piece of bandhej is unique, as the same pattern cannot be repeated as it is. To give an idea of the range – the cotton suit length begins from Rs 350 and goes up to Rs 2,000 without any additional work. Mirror work on it adds to the amount. Silk products are much more costly and can cost upto few lakhs at times.

The process
The whole process of tie and dye is quite interesting and is an evidence of the ingenuinity of human beings in infusing colours on clothes when there were no machines, not even the basic ones. This method of designer dying is nearly 5,000 years old. It is an extremely time-consuming work and asks for a lot of patience before the whole piece is ready. The steps are called (in order) likai, bandhai, tipai, bani lagana, laddu bandhna and rangna. For bandhni grains of pulses,  are tied on the cloth with thread, one at a time. Then the dye is applied, thus leaving the portion under thread in original shade of the cloth. Different permutations and combinations of this process are applied, with dying the cloth multiple times, to arrive at a pattern. For leheriya (drives name from leher, meaning wave), the cloth is tied with threads and then dyed. A pattern resembling waves appears on the cloth. From the final product the thread has to be removed. A small-looking piece of cloth unfolds itself into a saree with a riot of colours on it.

Many designers mix and match these styles with other forms and make designer clothing. These patterns can be produced on cotton as well as silk. There are many new kinds of clothes available, like glazed cotton, which are in fashion and are extensively used for tie and dye.

Community work
“Tie and dye artists are khandani (family legacy). They are mostly Muslims residing in various parts of the state, most importantly Sikar. They belong to sub-communities called nilgarand chhipa. Tie and dye is the primary work that these communities do and hence derive their names also form the work of dying,” informs Kailash. He is manager of the handicrafts Emporium situated at the prime location of Amber fort in Jaipur. A particular section of the emporium is devoted to bandhej products. He is also involved with the production process and acts as a middleman between the customers and the workers.

“Traditionally some Muslim communities have been involved in the industry of tie and dye. We do not receive any formal training. Just being involved with the family work from the childhood and learning it in the process is good enough to master the art. I know in and out of this work – from the first act of choosing the size of grain to the last act of final dying. I do not think any particular training is a must,” says Iqbal, resident of Hasanpura village and co-owner of a business of bandhej.

He further adds that there is no rigid rule which says that only a particular community will do this job. It is more of a matter of convenience. He gives instance of a young artisan from some other village and religion, who worked in his factory for a year and then opened his own business which is running successfully now.

Ninety per cent of the work of tying the knots with thread and grain is done by women – mostly from rural areas, but some of them also from urban areas. They do the work at home after finishing household chores. This is seen as an added income to the family. This also empowers them to a certain extent.

Colour patterns
One area where tie and dye fails, compared to other types of clothes, is colours. There are two major shortcomings – one that the colours are not fast, and the other that the choice is very limited. “Vegetable dye is costly and we use it only on order,” says Kailash. “We mostly use direct colours. This creates problem in using deep colours. Silicate is used to make the colours fast,” informs Iqbal. Despite all their efforts the colour problem does not seem to be solving for these people.

Hurdles
The old craft faces many hurdles in the new environment. These troubles are due to a multiplicity of factors. The machine-made cloth poses the biggest challenge. The same motifs can be printed in factories, though they are too neat to be even close to hand-made product. The haziness around the basic design marks the beauty of the work. Nonetheless, as machine-made cloth is far cheaper, it has more buyers. As it is not a highly profit-making business for the artisan and the dyer, much research and development on usage of colours is not possible. Thus, the colours remain very limited to choose from. As they are not fast, there is less credibility associated with the cloth. Although these shortcomings are sorted out to an extent in silk products, but then the cheaper cotton bandhej still has to suffer!

Insensitive industrialisation is also taking its toll. “Water is used at every stage of dying from mixing colours to washing the piece in the end. Good quality water is crucial for superior attractive colours. Even costly dyes do not help in case water is not of high quality. The water in our locality became hard once the industry for producing nuts and bearings came up. Factory water polluted the ground water. Our business started to suffer as other people were producing better colours. Now we get water from another village. Tonnes of water is used everyday and it is a very costly affair for us. We drink the tap water but get outside water for the business,” Iqbal narrated his tale. In fact, for the last wash, the artisans are getting Bisleri water!

The hurdles also come in the form of conservative mindset. There seems to be a resistance to change traditional print and colours to suit modern needs. “Tie and dye is traditional art. It will remain traditional. Modernising it will be a problem and will lead to dilution of its ethnic flavour. It will also be a problem to train artisans into newer patterns,” says Kailash. But Iqbal disagrees. “We need to be innovative and there are regular new creations. It is we who set the latest trend, as we are most proficient in this field. But I do not think a formal training is needed for this.”

This argument might be true as far as the technicalities and basic design is concerned. But to be creative and producing stuff to keep up with the everyday changing demands of customers, one definitely needs to know more about fashion and designing. Adaptation to newer patterns is taking place in big designer houses. Famous designers and brands make extensive use of these motifs. But the benefits do not reach to the lower level due to self-imposed restraint.

Melting opportunities
The financial meltdown has affected the whole handicrafts business of Rajasthan, in which textiles are also badly hit. Around 1,000 handicraft units have been closed down, many of them being of tie and dye workers. This has happened largely due to bad performance of the export sector, due to the recession in buyer countries like the US and some European nations. “The sales have been reduced by 60 per cent this time if we compare these to the same season last year. Luxury items are badly hit. The season for tourists is about to get over and we did not see many footfalls in our showroom,” says an unhappy Kailash. I was a witness to his plight. I was sitting in his showroom on a Sunday afternoon in March, a month when many tourists throng the streets of Jaipur before it gets too hot in the subsequent months, and there was not a single buyer in his famous handicraft shop. The lights and fans in the showroom were switched off and were put on only when I entered. The desperation of cost cutting was just too visible!

Making it economic
Tie and dye is a labour-intensive work, as are most of the handicrafts. This puts its products on the costlier side. But then there are ways to reduce the cost. As the cost of materials used can’t be cut down, the labour has to pay, by asking for lesser amount for a tedious job. “I get Rs 10 a day or Rs 60 for tying a whole saree. Of course the amount is different for different kind of work and different cloth on which it is to be done. But this is the average rate,” says a worker from Hasanpura village who can’t find a job though she needs to contribute to her family income. She adds, “It is better to earn less than to not earn at all.” It is astonishing that somebody’s unemployment keeps the market price of bandhej low!

The way out
Having said that, what is the way out? The government should increase the amount it is investing to bail out export hit industries due to economic slowdown. Specific cases should be looked into and the industries which are indirectly affected by the crisis also need to be provided good enough benefit. The employers of bandhej workers should be provided some relief which can be extended to the workers too.

From the long-term perspective, the subsidies for tie and dye industry should be increased. This industry is a major source of employment to large tracts of Rajasthan. Village after village one will find people engaged in this work alone. There is a lot of potential to improve working conditions and wages to the workers. The government should work toward preserving the art and maintaining employment rate in this field. With unemployment rates on a steady rise in the country, workers leaving this work too will be quite unproductive for the economy.

This work should be promoted and tourists visiting India should be encouraged to buy bandhni products. At famous tourist destinations in Rajasthan, an artificial factory can be created which can showcase the process of making bandhej. This will help in sensitising the buyers about the amount of hard work put in to making of each piece and help them understand why it is costlier than many other clothing designs.

Bandhni dresses look beautiful. It is amazing what a grain can do!