'Redraft Communal Violence, Micro-Finance bill'

New Delhi, Mar 8: Terming the proposed Communal Violence Bill and Micro-finance Bill ''gender biased and anti-women'', women groups, social activists and human rights organisations have demanded the legislations should be immediately withdrawn and re-drafted after wider deliberations.

Both the Communal Violence (Prevention, control, and rehabilitation of victims) Bill, 2005 and the Micro Finance Sector Development and Regulation Bill, 2007 have already been cleared by the Union Cabinet and are likely to be tabled in the current session of Parliament.

Strongly opposing both the Bills for having ''anti-women and anti-democratic provisions'', over 75 organisations and activists have demanded these Bills in their present form be immediately withdrawn and be redrafted after wide ranging discussions with women's groups, human rights groups and concerned civil society organisations.

''The Communal Violence Bill is an eyewash by the UPA Government rather than a sincere commitment to promote justice and security for minorities and it will continue to provide total impunity to those who perpetrate communal mass crimes,'' over 75 human rights groups, women activists and civil rights workers said in a statement released on the International Women's Day today.

The need for a law on communal violence arises from a record of recurring brutal violence in our country, with complete impunity for mass crimes, particularly gender-based crimes. From Bhagalpur, Hashimpura, Nellie, the anti-Sikh pogrom at 1984, communal violence in Bombay and Surat, to Gujarat in 2002 - the conviction record is virtually zero and the conviction for sexual crimes too is ''absolutely zero''.

''We all know what happened in Gujarat to women - scores of women were sexually brutalised in horrific ways. A majority of these crimes are not even recognized or defined by the Indian Penal Code.

All the IPC gives us is section 376 - rape defined as penile penetration. How can a law, which has an abysmal conviction rate in peacetime, attempt to provide justice in a situation of mass crimes like a communal pogrom?,'' they pointed out.

''Yet, the Communal Violence Bill creates no new crimes, particular and unique to mass communal situations or multiple forms of sexual violence, falling back only on outdated definitions of the IPC. It takes no note of the need to develop evidentiary standards appropriate to a communally violent situation. How can women access police stations for lodging FIR, government hospitals for medical examinations, when they are on the run fleeing violent mobs?,'' they regretted.

Pointing out that state complicity in the violence in Gujarat in 2002 was ''accepted and documented'', they said yet, instead of seeking ways to convict those who guide, control, and instruct the mobs, the Bill has been totally silent on the well accepted international legal concept of 'Command Responsibility' - that the person under whose 'command' the crimes took place is culpable.

Even public officials can only be prosecuted with 'sanction' from the State government which will rarely be forthcoming, they pointed out.

Women's groups and NGOs are strongly opposing Micro-Finance the Bill on the grounds that it is anti-poor women. Though 90 per cent of the "client group" of the micro finance sector is women, women's groups have not been consulted in the drafting of the Bill. ''We strongly object to the fact that poor women are being used to merely implement programmes and are being kept out of policy moves that will have far reaching consequences for them,'' they said.

Presently, 15 crore poor and marginalised women in the country are being charged exorbitant rates of interest about 24-40 per cent.

They are being exploited by the coercive recovery measures of banks, micro finance institutions (MFIs) and other organisations.

Their needs related to livelihoods strengthening and empowerment are not being met merely by being given micro credit, women activists pointed out.

They said that the proposed Bill did not address any of the above concerns related to interest rates or recovery methods. MFIs will be free to charge any rate of interest with no limit. All regulatory powers have been vested in NABARD which is itself a promoter of micro finance.

While the entire sector is thriving on poor women's savings, their rights are being violated. Only the interests of MFIs, banks, corporate houses, etc, are being served by the Bill, they said.

Women groups have demanded that NABARD be removed as the regulatory body since it was a promoter of micro finance and there would be conflict of interest.

They also said equity and gender justice be brought into the framework of the proposed Bill by the institution of an open, independent and transparent micro finance regulatory authority, with representation from all stakeholders in the micro finance sector, especially from among the women who form the "client group" of this sector.

UNI