Micro-finance homilies at Satyagraha Centenary
Sharad Joshi
The Hindu Business Line, Feb. 7, 2007
Delhiites are quite blasé about international conferences. First, there are too
many of them happening all the time. Two, the common Delhiite does not get a
chance even to enter the venues of such meetings that are, however, covered by
the media with the usual platitudes and photographs.
But last week Delhi saw two international events that were refreshingly different.
One was to mark the Centenary of Mahatma Gandhi's Civil Disobedience
(Satyagraha) Movement. The other was to confer on the South African leader
and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Desmond Tutu, the Gandhi Peace Foundation
Award.
The Satyagraha Centenary
The Satyagraha Centenary event brought together eminent leaders from all over
the world. However, the greatest champions of the non-violent protests against
army dictatorships were conspicuously, and obviously, absent. Ms Aung San Suu
Kyi of Myanmar — the outstanding inheritor of Mahatma's mantle — of course,
could not be present, as she remains incarcerated, for decades now. The Dalai
Lama, banished from his homeland, was also absent. The democracy movements
in Pakistan were not represented either.
After Mahatma Gandhi's assassination in 1948, a number of non-violent civil
disobedience movements started in India. Their leaders were not even invited to,
or informed about, the conference. Since the 1970s, the farmers' movement for
remunerative prices for agricultural produce and debt relief has had a huge
following. The agitation against the imposition of Emergency by Indira Gandhi in
the 1970s, of course, was not even mentioned. The purpose of the conference
seemed to be to hand over the leadership of the non-violence movement to the
president of the Congress Party. As if that was not clear enough, Ms Sonia
Gandhi moved a specific proposal to have a Global Civil Society organisation — a
euphemism for non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Rural credit system
One of the distinguished participants was the Nobel laureate from Bangladesh,
Dr Muhammad Yunus, the micro-finance champion, who has created a vast
network of Grameen Banks in Bangladesh. Dr Yunus took the Finance Minister by
surprise by suggesting concrete proposals to amend the Income-Tax Act in such
a way that the micro-finance institutions can undertake the business of receiving
deposits and transmitting money.
This perhaps put the Finance Minister in a predicament. In about three weeks
from now, he is required to unveil reforms in the rural credit system. If he acts
on these suggestions, it will be clear from where he drew his inspiration.
Fortunately, the Finance Minister knows very well that the "Grameen Bank" of
Bangladesh is not the same as the "Bachat Gat" (NGO representing a Federation
of SHG leaders) of India. The latter are on the brink of collapse as they have
been lending indiscreetly, thereby accumulating non-performing assets. Dr
Yunus's strong criticism of subsidies to micro-finance institutions rattled quite a
few politicians. By opposing all subsidies to micro-finance institutions, Dr Yunus
obviously wanted to ride the hobbyhorse of NGOs and replicate Grameen Banks
in India.
Honouring Tutu
The very next day, the President conferred the Gandhi Peace Foundation Award
on Dr Desmond Tutu, in a function at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In his acceptance
speech, Dr Tutu expressed concern about the situation in both Tibet and
Myanmar — something that should have been said at the Satyagraha Centenary
event. The accomplished diplomat that he is, Dr Tutu complimented the
Government of India for the help rendered to the Dalai Lama and to the cause of
the release of Madame Aung San Suu Kyi.
That was, nevertheless, a left-handed comment. For, the Foreign Secretary is
said to have gone to Dharamshala on the eve of the visit of the Chinese
President, to request the Dalai Lama not to say or do anything that would
embarrass New Delhi during the visit of the Chinese leader. Also, a large number
of Indian dignitaries have visited Myanmar but not called on Madame Aung San
Suu Kyi or visited the famous bridge where she staged her Satyagraha. (The
former could be a diplomatic issue but what of the latter?)
(The author, a Member of the Rajya Sabha, is founder of the Shetkari
Sanghatana. He can be reached at sharad.mah@nic.in)