Focus

Ekta Parishad is broadly working to combat "structural violence" embedded in the existing developmental paradigm and to achieve social, political and economic change through non-violent and democratic methods. Towards this, Ekta Parishad has been working on:

Advocacy for control over livelihood resources primarily concerning land and forest.

"Rights campaigns" to demand that the control of livelihood resources should be in the hands of the local people/communities so that people's basic survival is guaranteed.

Protecting the tribal culture and their way of life, especially that of the primitive tribes, which is increasingly being threatened by a 'mainstream' model of development.

Implementation of pro-poor policies and legislations that have been enacted but never implemented example, a minimum wage act, equal wage for equal work, bonded labour release rehabilitation act, harijan adivasi's atrocities act, scheduled caste and scheduled tribes atrocities act.

Assisting people develop an ethos of conservation that is based on the synthesis of human rights of forest dwellers and required conservation needs. Ekta Parishad's Motto: "People's Control of Livelihood Resources".

GENESIS

Ekta Parishad was born as a mass movement out of necessity. Localized work by various voluntary agencies working in different regions could not get the desired policy reform necessary to create self-reliant communities. In 1990, therefore, a few voluntary organizations working on Gandhian principles of social agitation and constructive work came together on a common platform to deal with socio-economic issues which came up during the course of their work among adivasis and other marginalized communities. Over the years Ekta Parishad was shaped as a mass movement raising its voice against mindless exploitation and the corrupt practices of the government.

It was formally inaugurated in Madhya Pradesh in 1990 but it was based on work that had started since 1978. Recently it has been coming up in two other states, in Bihar and Orissa, and gradually it is getting constituted in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Tamilnadu. It is attractive to people as a form of social organization because there is a vacuum left by political parties and people are looking for other channels for representation.

Ekta Parishad's genesis lies in the Gandhian tradition and practice. Ekta Parishad believes in rachna, sangharash and bahiskar (which means "creation, struggle and boycott") techniques that Gandhi and other Sarvodaya workers have used. Its ideological aspiration is to rediscover "the radical Gandhi". The decade long history of Ekta Parishad has a mixture of four components: -

promotion of constructive work at the village level through voluntary action.

bringing policy changes by exhibiting the numerical strength of a mass movement.

bargaining for the poor in much the same way that trade unions did,

gaining participation in elections at the panchayat and local body level and thereby exhibiting traits of a political party.

Ekta Parishad's goal is a model of development that will be truly sustainable and not exclusionary.

In spite of the declared Gandhian method, there has been a continued attempt to liken the work to Ekta Parishad to that of anti-national forces. Initially Ekta Parishad was likened to Christian missionaries engaged in proselytizing and conversion and later it was described as a frontal organization of an ultra left group. These are patently untrue allegations. Ekta Parishad has always maintained a non-violent method, using struggle as a means to assist the “last man” (antyodaya) and to achieve societal “well-being” (sarvodaya).