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Society
The worldwide
movement against big banks and their corporate ambitions found more
protestors recently when Indian and foreign activists launched the
Peoples' Forum Against the Asian Development Bank (PFAADB) in Hyderabad.
Supourno Lahiri, the PFAADB Convener, said that ADB spells danger for every country it enters - particularly a country like India which takes pride in its democratic institutions. Like the World Bank (WB), ADB too imposes 'conditionalities', which primarily aim at 'institutional changes' and legislative reforms. "These
conditionalities strike at the very heart of a country's sovereignty, as
they seek to interfere with the constitutional framework of the
country," he said. By dismantling or weakening the legislations that
protect people's rights, the ADB smoothens the entry of the corporates,
whether multinational or national. The ADB and the WB account for less than two per cent of the loan budget of India, but hold a powerful sway over the country's bureaucrats, influencing them to change "key policies that form the foundations of India's welfare state". On paper, ADB's policies seem to target the Millennium Development Goals and focus on reducing poverty. But PFAADB believes they have simply mastered the 'development jargon' that sounds sweet to the 'development' hungry Asian countries. "Their foundation is based on the belief that a free market will reduce poverty, which is not true, and has not happened anywhere," said Richard Mahapatra of the Bank Information Centre, an NGO which partners with civil society to influence the World Bank and other international financial institutions (IFIs) to promote social, economic justice and ecological sustainability. Mahapatra believes the ADB advances capitalist and corporate interests. "It serves the will of powerful countries like Japan, the US and other expansionist nations, and excludes poor and marginalized peoples from control over their resources." "Many reports, including some by ADB itself, reveal that it actually doubled unemployment while it tore apart societies which were earlier egalitarian," said Mahapatra. Besides, ADB has also cocooned itself against any legal action from affected communities or governments. (It is well-known that banks like ADB/WB are immune to national and international laws.) "We are not against development, but fear that this kind of functioning subverts our democratic space and representatives," said Benny Kuruvilla of Focus on Global South - an international programme of Development Policy Research, Analysis and Action. The negative impact of ADB-funded projects is highest on marginalized communities like the dalits, tribals, women, peasants, fishworkers, factory workers, hawkers and slum dwellers. Almost all of Asia, claims PFAADB, is experiencing the negative impact of ADB projects. Shalmali Guttal, from Focus on Global South, mentioned ADB's pet project - the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) - comprising Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. "Their whole idea is to take the natural wealth of GMS and put it in projects which serve the industrial sectors only," claims Guttal. Cambodian activist Premrudee said, GMS - promoting highways, dams and widening of the river for water transport - has led to massive land loss for the people. "This has had a particularly heavy impact on Cambodian women who are forced into the sex industry thriving in Thailand and other Southeast Asian cities." She said that thousands of displaced persons have received no compensation for their land taken to build 'corridors', "and have no means of getting it either". In India, examples of ADB's non-transparent style of functioning abound. Ramananda Wangkhwairakpam, Convener of the Initiatives against International Finance Institutions, a platform of over 30 Northeastern organizations, says: "The ADB is pushing for drastic policy changes in the region. It provides technical assistance, which can actually be called 'bribe' paid to consultants, bureaucrats and others to pave the way for bringing in 'reforms'." Bureaucrats
doing consultancies and assignments for the ADB is an issue of serious
concern for people like Prashant Bhushan, a Supreme Court advocate. He
mentioned that Pradipto Ghosh, the current Secretary in the Environment
Ministry, was with the ADB for five years before he came to the
ministry. In West Bengal, the ADB-funded Kolkata Environment Improvement Project is displacing slum dwellers, hawkers and small traders. Similarly, the ADB is also backing another controversial project - the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (NURM), massive plan to attract private investment to 663 of India's largest and most important cities. "Plans for 19 cities have already been formulated and submitted to state agencies without any consultation with local bodies, peoples groups and affected communities. Mandatory policies to be implemented include privatization of basic services, introducing user fees and repeal of the Urban Land Ceiling Act. The ADB is promoting urban apartheid," declared Saktiman Ghosh, President of the National Hawkers Federation. The anti-ADB campaign has just found a stronger voice. The activists are hopeful it will go a long way. May 14, 2006 By arrangement with Women's Feature Service The Week of May 14, 2006
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