The much-awaited Comunidade convention held last weekend at Dona Paula may have given a clear indication that the Institution is not in alignment with the government’s thought process visa-a-vis regularisation of illegal houses on Comunidade land, but it also showed an ugly side of delegates remaining rigid with old mindsets not willing to embrace changes in tune with modern times.
At the core was the contentious issue of regularisation of illegal houses that’s been playing on the government’s mind in recent times. The convention has not only spoken loud and clear against those moves but has gone beyond by requesting the government to review controversial amendments of the past and set right the perceived wrongs.
Revisiting past amendments sounds impractical given the complexities involved and any selective undoing at this stage could invite more chaos and disorder. Nonetheless, the broader message here is that the government needs to follow a more democratic process and engage in pre-legislative consultation before proceeding with amendments. It makes sense because, in the past, the government has brazenly pushed through amendments with a mediocre Opposition in the Assembly failing to stand up against the brute majority of the ruling dispensation.
The Code’s intended purpose is to serve the interest of the Comunidades within the framework, but amendments done in the past have come under a cloud with members stating that decisions are arbitrarily taken without primary consultation with stakeholders. The State government, which enjoys administrative tutelage of the Comunidades, must understand its role and act mainly as a responsible guardian of the Institution.
Now, the outcome of the convention makes it even more difficult for the government which has been maintaining that regularisation will be done through a consensus of the Comunidade body. There is every indication that delegates are in no mood to toe the government’s line on this because it violates public policy and is in contravention of court rulings of the past.
Positives that came out of the convention were discussions on how to reform agriculture in the State through Comunidades, the need to maintain Comunidade buildings, digitisation of records, upgradation of the accounting system, the need to meet more often, etc. Ironically, the age-old institution still follows an age-old system of accounts with handwritten books and also follows a rather unique financial year beginning on March 1 against the commonly followed practice of April 1.
It’s good to see delegates introspecting and moving forward with the times. However, the biggest setback was the convention giving gender equality the snub and treating women with disdain. With the kind of dynamism and forward-looking approach that was being followed, the body took a back step when it came to giving rights to daughters of the soil. That’s not all. What was worse was that male chauvinism was on open display with the two women speakers of the five present ridiculed, mocked and judged. Very disgraceful that such a monumental and well-structured institution stoops so low on gender equality when the world is talking about women's empowerment.
Against the belief that Comunidades are forward-looking, dynamic to situations and ready to rationalise and adapt to change, the reaction to gender equality leaves a question mark on whether the institution will ever consider women as equal citizens, or always treat them as lesser humans only fit for household chores.
