EDITORIAL
Bury this ghost
Normally a categorical
assurance by the Chief Minister should be enough to
dispel any apprehension about the migrants to Pakistan or
those living in the occupied territory returning to
reclaim their parental property on this side of the Line
of Control. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has, therefore, done
well to assert: "As long as our coalition is at the
helm of affairs nothing of the sort would happen".
However, given the turbulent nature of the issue and the
tendency of certain political parties to twist it for
their vested interests it is absolutely necessary that
this ghost is buried once and for all. Suppose if the
Mufti's coalition is not in power tomorrow and another
party --- the National Conference, for instance --- takes
over it can't be said with confidence that they will not
exploit the matter to serve their own ends rather than
any broader objective. The question has arisen this time
with a woman resident of "Azad Kashmir" as the
occupied territory across the LoC is locally known (she
had taken the first bus from Muzaffarabad to Srinagar on
.....more
Find a solution
A report from Srinagar has
brought into sharp focus the threat of extinction being
faced by houseboats in Dal and Nagin lakes. The condition
of the majority of them has deteriorated. There is
shortage of water-resistant cedar wood needed for
repairing and building them. In addition, skilled
craftsmen no more find making of houseboats a gainful
activity and are shifting their attention to other more
profitable pursuits. Admittedly,...more
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Let
Dogra Art museum remain intact
By Narsingh Dev Jamwal
Few days back, a news of
shifting Pahari miniature paintings from Dogra Art Museum
to recently constructed Kala Kendra was noticed in the
columns of Daily Excelsior. No background or other
particular reasoning was there to ....more
American
Yoga
By Geoffrey Malone
Yoga was supposed to
change America, instead America seems to have changed it.
The open commercialisation of a sacred exchange between a
guru and disciples has led to allegations of scams and
sexual misconduct, and angered the more serious students
of yoga, inviting stinging comments about the whole
business of selling spirituality like hamburgers.....more
Manmohan
- Musharraf meet
Formalising
the status quo
By Major (Retd) Dr Brahma Singh
While General Musharraf's
latest expression of determination to find a solution to
the long-standing Kashmir imbroglio is to be welcomed,
one could hardly feel too optimistic about the prospects
of his efforts bearing fruit. Evidently, the time wrap of
over half a century and the political compulsions of both
the countries, resulting from opposing and irrevocable
stands adopted by them over the years have put a hold on
the initiative of the heads of the two countries. The
people in both countries have been ....more
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Let
Dogra Art museum remain intact
By
Narsingh Dev Jamwal
Few days
back, a news of shifting Pahari miniature
paintings from Dogra Art Museum to
recently constructed Kala Kendra was
noticed in the columns of Daily
Excelsior. No background or other
particular reasoning was there to know
about such a sensitive and important
decision. Nor there was any information
about Jammuites who attended this
meeting.
Another
meeting on ''the development of Museum''
was held on 21st April 2005, where I too
got opportunity to attend as a source
person. A report of this meeting also
stands published in Daily Excelsior, next
day.
Information
from the chair person that Mubarak Mandi
Complex is being declared as State
protected monument was highly appreciated
by all present in the meeting and
valuable suggestions were also given.
Shifting
of miniature paintings to Kala Kendra
also came under discussion, but casually
taken, it is difficult to know how many
are in favour of this shifting and how
many against it. To me, there was no
justification to take away a particular
category of artefacts from Art Museum to
Kala Kendra in the name of better
preservation. So I put my view point
supported by certain logics. I may not be
an authority on this subject, but for the
last fifty years or so, my close
association with late Shri S C Baru, who
was actually the force behind this
time-to-time collection, then
establishing Dogra Art Gallery at Gandhi
Bhawan and finally shifting it to Pink
Hall Mubarak Mandi, where it was actually
redesignated as Dogra Art Museum. One way
or the other, my attachment all along
makes me personally and of course
emotionally feel that this partly
shifting will only effect its richness;
to say like a body, if not totally dead
but paralysed when a sensitive organ is
removed from it, and that too without any
logic, or necessity. For instance :-
Was the
Kala Kendra building conceived and
constructed to accommodate Museum's
artefacts? No.
Is there
any particular place developed in the
Kendra to stand with the present day
technique and the requirements to
preserve these valuable paintings better
than their present display or storage ?
No. I am sorry to say that there is not a
proper gallery even to display the new
works being done by the working artists
of J&K. A beautiful new construction
does not help it to qualify for the
better display of miniature paintings.
Is Kala
Kendra building which have windows all
around is capable of restricting moisture
particularly in the rainy season which is
being repeatedly advocated? No. Instead
being a Kala Kendra it will remain open,
day and night to public like a Club,
Coffee House or an Auditorium. Whereas
Mubarak Mandi Complex, under all odds and
merciless use by the Government employees
for long fifty years, unwanted changes,
renovations, even fires, whatsoever wall
and door paintings are saved in whatever
condition is a sufficient proof that if
works on plaster and wood can be
preserved for hundred years, if renovated
to meet with the present day
requirements, these halls are much better
to preserve such valuable artifacts.
Even if
the painting section only is shifted to
Kala Kendra will we define it a part of
Art Museum or what ? Those who
intermingle the layout of museums, under
one roof or different enclaves at
different sites for particular category
must realise that throughout world (old
or newly built with modern facilities)
are always defined as Museums. Kala
Kendras normally fulfil the present day
requirements and activities of the
society whereas the meseums provide us
few moments to be part of our glorious
past and be proud of our heritage.
Shortage
of space compells us to opt for a better
change. But in this case, only paintings
are to be shifted leaving other
artifacts, which too need proper place
and preservation. Particularly the rare
manuscripts fall in the same category and
deserve the same treatment as in case of
paintings. Are they also being shifted to
Kala Kendra? No. And now, when the whole
Mubarak Mandi Complex is being declared
as State protected monument, there would
be no shortage of place to extend this
Museum till a separate building, keeping
in view all present day requirements for
a museum, is constructed at an
appropriate place.
It was
also said that Kala Kendra is a central
place and more people will visit it.
Whereas, what we see in general or in
particular, who wants to visit a museum
never asks where it is situated. Museums
are visited for their own importance.
Even in Jammu, access to Amar Palace
Museum Jammu is little hard when compared
to Mubarak Mandi, but people go there and
enjoy. Let us keep in mind the media
reports of recently held Jammu Festival.
It is said that more than a lakh people
visited Dogra Art Museum in these three
days. Therefore, it is not important,
where the museum is situated more
important is how we publicise the things,
provide facilities as well as occasions
to enable a visitor to get himself
enlightened through the displayed
artifacts. Is it not a matter of joke for
Jammuites or other visitors when they
will be forced to see paintings at Kala
Kendra and other artifacts at Mubarak
Mandi? This will not only damage the
overall impression of the Museum, but one
have to visit two destinations, east and
west, to have the same article which can
be easily available at one shop.
In the
last when I fear damages and losses
during such shiftings or otherwise, may
some of us now accept it or not, but it
has been experienced in the past. Master
Ji (Sh S C Baru) till his last breath
remained critical and always felt sorrows
on this issue. With long efforts he
succeeded to restore few, but the others
gone for ever. At one hand we plead that
everything is on account and at the same
time we confess that even after 50 years
or so, proper cataloguing is yet to be
done. So to say we are still depending on
charge lists or temporary registers which
are liable to be brought forward as/when
required, thus open to any kind of
leakage. Don't we know, or if things go
out of hands, not only records but even
the buildings are put to fire. And how
the vested interests play their role,
here is a fine example to quote. Only few
years downside of it. Then all of sudden
a new bridge came up on the same site and
this was not found harmful as in the case
of old Tawi Bridge which was made of
those days pure steel and architect. And
if maintained properly it is more durable
that the present ones. If all this was
done only because it had the name plate
of Mahraja Hari Singh, this would have
been easily removed or overplated with a
new one. That bridge was not only a
public property, but our history, our
monument and a part of our heritage. Any
how, can anyone now tell us where that
priceless old steel strucure has gone?
Like Howra Bridge or other, that Tawi
Bridge was a synonym with Jammu and River
Tawi and it was required to be
reprotected as our monumental heritage,
but we lost it for ever. Hence to me it
is a false assurance, if someone tells me
that he is shifting these miniature
paintings to preserve them for
generations to come. It is not shifting,
for a show-biz only, which can preserve
such valuable artifacts, but measures,
sincerety, and a good museum broughtup
with the latest techniques and equipment.
We should always think and work for that.
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American
Yoga
By
Geoffrey Malone
Yoga was
supposed to change America, instead
America seems to have changed it. The
open commercialisation of a sacred
exchange between a guru and disciples has
led to allegations of scams and sexual
misconduct, and angered the more serious
students of yoga, inviting stinging
comments about the whole business of
selling spirituality like hamburgers.
The
reasons are obvious. The American market
for healthy, environment-friendly
products and pursuits is worth $230
billion a year and growing. It was just a
matter of time before businessmen spotted
the ultimate mind medicine and marketed
it with the vigour of Viagra. And ever
since rock star Sting expounded in
interviews on how yoga can enhance sexual
pleasure, many more spiritually-hungry
lined up looking for action, specially
from anointed "stud muffins"
like Rodney Yee whose toned body and
outward calm seemed magnetic. The
"new" spirituality hid within
its multiple folds the lure of money and
even the promise of a better time. Today
it’s a series of dogfights over
market shares, trademarked asanas and
competitive advantage, with an estimated
15 million practitioners trying to soothe
their bodies and souls with the yogic
balm. Take your pick - a yoga weekend,
yoga clothing, yoga videos, and lately
even a yoga cruise.
Leading
the brigade is Kolkatta-born Bikram
Choudhury, aka "yoga’s bad
boy", his juggernaut of yoga
franchises unstoppable at 720 studios
around the world and counting. With 600
of them in the US alone, he is
ubiquitous. Ensconced in his Beverly
Hills mansion and running a $7 million
empire, he’s the guru of Hollywood,
counting among his students Shirley
MacLaine, Candice Bergen, Salma Hayek,
Madonna and Michael Jackson. He claims to
have rejuvenated the careers of sportsmen
like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and John
McEnroe. Part hyperbole and part
braggadocio laced with a typical eastern
disdain for the spiritual orphans he
mentors, he says: "When in Rome, do
as the Romans" Sure, his disciples
can teach his branded
"Bikramyoga", but they must pay
him first. Actually $5,000 to be exact
for a 60-day boot camp where they
memorise the postures and his dialogues
verbatim. Groupies come from as far as
Argentina and Hungary, dropping a $3
million into his coffers annually. Daily
classes for ordinary folks are offered at
$20 where as many as 100 students are
packed inside an overheated room, sweaty
and smelly, to do his unique "hot
yoga".
"This
is my intellectual property. I picked up
26 postures which work the whole body. I
am the only man on this earth to teach
yoga in a different form," he boasts
on the telephone. "I was so tired of
them stealing my techniques". He has
now copyrighted his name, logo, clothing
line and each word of his 90-minute
lecture for the franchise. If it sounds
too much like McDonald’s so be it.
But Bikram
has also earned dubious credit for
"saving" souls by other means.
He has been accused of exploiting women
students. When asked about the
allegations, the Speedo-clad teacher did
one better than Clinton. "I am
attacked by women around the globe
presidents’ daughters, princesses,
Hollywood stars. American women have no
self-control," he says without a
hint of self-consciousness. "Two
very famous women told me, ‘Come
home with me. If you don’t I’ll
kill myself’. I said go ahead. What
am I supposed to do?" Saving women
from themselves was something he did at a
younger age when he had "27 of big
Hollywood stars of the ’70s in my
class". Now, he says, "I’m
sex-proof, media-proof, money-proof.
Everybody knows I am superhuman. My
spirit is cosmic consciousness".
Yee says
it was just a "breach of
contract" issue while refusing to
counter her accusations. "Do you
have 15 pages to write your story? Why
should I even bother to answer anything
when I know it will be distorted,"
he thunders on the phone. But another of
Yee’s former students, Athena
Pappas, has been named in reports as
saying publicly that she felt used by him
during her relationship with the handsome
teacher.
Sexual
scandals are not new in American yoga.
Debates have raged ever since some of
Muktananda’s disciples accused him
of preying on young girls in the guise of
mentoring them at his sprawling ashram in
New York. He was allegedly shoring up his
tantric and yogic powers. His successors
- the brother-sister duo of Nityananda
and Gurumayi - were embroiled in an ugly
battle for control with the sister
accusing Nityananda of having affairs
with disciples, something he readily
confessed to and apologised for. She
herself has been accused of running the
ashram as a Big Brother camp with her
coterie watching and listening for voices
of dissent. In 1994, Amrit Desai of the
Kripalu Centre for Yoga and Health in
Massachusetts had to resign after at
least three followers said he had affairs
with them. Swami Rama, another prominent
teacher, was sued by a woman who accused
him of sexually assaulting her while she
was a student at the Himalayan Institute
of Honesdale in Pennsylvania. She won a $
1.9 million judgement in 1997. Lest only
forget, the gurus often make abstinence a
requirement while on a yoga retreat.
If
scandals darken the scene on one side, it
is rapacious business practices on the
other. John Abbot, a former Citicorp
executive who runs the industry’s
most influential magazine, Yoga Journal,
and surveys an empire of $11 million, has
been accused of indulging in unfair trade
practices by refusing ads to competitors
and stealing clients. The policy has
since been reversed by Abbot who believes
you can’t be completely
"predatory" in the business.
But a little, yes. Abbot bought Yoga
Journal in 1998, turned it into a glossy,
complete with supermodel Christy
Turlington as the editor-at-large.
Subscriptions shot up from a few thousand
to 2,20,000. He used it to aggressively
promote his yoga conferences, which
tired, stiff-necked executives paid $850
to attend to recover their equilibrium
and become "centred".
Abbot’s now booking seats for a yoga
cruise to the Caribbean at $2,650 a
person.
In New
York, the owners of Jivamukti Yoga Centre
are upset that former students are giving
them competition by opening their own
schools next door. David Life and Sharon
Gannon have been practising yoga for 17
years and claim their combination of
postures is unique which they graciously
share with 2,000 students a week,
including a slew of celebrity clients.
Ravi Shankar has endorsed their
stunningly-produced book. Former students
are expressly not allowed to use the word
"Jivamukti" in anything they
impart because it is "owned".
(INAV)
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Manmohan
- Musharraf meet
Formalising the
status quo
By Major (Retd) Dr Brahma
Singh
While General
Musharraf's latest expression of determination to
find a solution to the long-standing Kashmir
imbroglio is to be welcomed, one could hardly
feel too optimistic about the prospects of his
efforts bearing fruit. Evidently, the time wrap
of over half a century and the political
compulsions of both the countries, resulting from
opposing and irrevocable stands adopted by them
over the years have put a hold on the initiative
of the heads of the two countries. The people in
both countries have been worked up to such a
state of emotional frenzy over the issue that
neither side can afford to make concessions of
indulge in the diplomacy of give and take that is
so essential for solving any dispute. This
uncompromising mindset of the people precludes
the employment of 'persuasion' as an instrument
of diplomacy for setting the Kashmir dispute.
Pakistan has already learnt, even if the hard
way, the futility of using 'force' for settling
its score with India on this account. Besides,
Pakistan no longer enjoys American patronage that
enabled it to act with impunity in the past. For
the United States India is today as important as
Pakistan in its strategy for war against
terrorism. It is, therefore, genuinely interested
in peace between the two as a matter of
self-interest. As a matter of fact that present
Indo-Pak talks are widely believed to be the
outcome of behind-the-scene efforts of the United
States. With both compromise and the use of force
ruled out, there can, therefore, be no solution
to the vexed issue of Kashmir and India and
Pakistan do not appear to have any option other
than of maintaining the status quo. Surely this
is not the solution of the Kashmir issue that the
General would want to brag about but he is
heading towards it nevertheless. What with
Manmohan Singh, reportedly, suggesting "no
redrawing of borders" during his talk with
Musharraf following the Indo-Pak cricket match
and the latter reacting rather tamely with a
"positive response". It would appear
that the General's bravado and business-like talk
is part of the rhetoric that he must indulge in
to pacify the political hard liners in his
country who fail to appreciate the usefulness of
the peace process if it is not to lead to the
solution of the Kashmir issue.
Acceptance of the
status quo in Kashmir would no doubt sound the
death knell of the movement for
self-determination in Kashmir, which has been
sponsored and nursed by successive Governments in
Pakistan over the years since the end of the
Indo-Pak war 1947-48. General Musharraf need not,
however, suffer any twinge of conscience in this
regard as no scruples or principles were involved
in Pakistan's support to this movement. As a
matter of fact Pakistan has never been a votary
of the ideal of self-determination or the people
of the State as such. Even as India was acting
imprudently and squandering away the advantage of
the Maharaja's support on the issue of accession
by advocating the principle of accession on the
basis of the wishes of the people, Pakistan was
advocating the legalistic view of the Maharaja
being the sole arbitrator. It was only after its
efforts to woo the Maharaja proved unsuccessful
and its raiders failed to "liberate"
Kashmir that Pakistan switched over to its third
option of securing accession on the basis of
self-determintion. Even then it was not intended
to be of more than propaganda value. Little
wonder that Pakistan, scuttled the issue by
refusing to implement its part of the terms and
conditions laid down in the UN Resolution on
plebiscite in Kashmir. Pakistan would know that
the conditions for the plebiscite that Pakistan
could not implement then are harder - nay
impossible - of implementation now after the
lapse of fifty years. Plebiscite, is therefore, a
dead issue now and Pakistan may well take the
credit of driving the last nail in the coffin of
this option. Pakistan's continued interest in
seeking self-determination for the Kashmirs has,
thereafter, been for providing a "rallying
cry" for the insurgency that it sponsored
and fueled in the State as part of its proxy war.
Pakistan's attempts to involve its protege, the
Hurriyat Conference, in the present talks are now
more for assuaging the hurt feelings of the
people whom he would be ditching by accepting the
status quo than for upholding the principle of of
Kashmiris' involvement in the peace process. Who
does not know that the Hurriyat, propped up by
the gun wielding terrorists, as it is, could
hardly sustain its claim of being representative
of the people.
If Kashmir is
vital for Pakistan as it often proclaims, it is
certainly not out of human considerations, as
professed outwordly, but only as a matter of
concern for its own physical and economic
security. The cat has been let out of the bag a
number of times by the Pakistani leaders during
moments of self-revelation. The most revealing
moment in this regard has been the speech of
President Ayub Khan at the National Press Club,
Washington, on July 13, 1961, during which he is
reported to have said:
"You might
say, 'why can't you give up Kashmir?' Well, we
cannot give up that dispute not because we are
bloody-minded but.... for the reason that Kashmir
is connected with our physical security. Thirty
two million acres in Pakistan are irrigated from
rivers that start in Kashmir."
This would leave
very little doubt in anybody's mind that
self-determintion has only been the 'means' by
which Pakistan has sought to achieve its physical
and economic security 'ends'.
Acceptance of the
status quo, as a solution to the Kashmir
imbroglio is, however, not going to be too easy.
So much has been said by both sides against
status quo as the permanent solution to the
Kashmir issue during the not too distant past,
that neither side is likely to now accept it
openly for fear of political reprisals in both
countries - especially in Pakistan. The Pakistani
leaders have through intense malicious propaganda
over the years, projected their struggle for
acquisition of Kashmir synonymous to Jehad or
holy war. Acceptance of any solution to the
Kashmir issue other than complete integration of
the whole State with Pakistan would amount to
being blasphemous as far as the 'faithful' in
that country are concerned. The acceptance of the
status quo now would, therefore, have to take the
form that it took in the Simla Agreement —
both the sides sticking to their respective
stands on the issue but at the same time agreeing
not to use force to alter the present situation.
A de facto status quo that could be made de jure
ultimately, after emotions have subsided on both
sides. The CBMs being undertaken by both sides
are, in fact, part of their efforts to douse the
fires, (which they have been stoking for the last
five decades and more), so as to make status quo
politically palatable to the two peoples.
Because Indo-Pak
agreements on maintaining status quo have failed
in the past cannot automatically be taken to mean
that any new agreement will fail too. For, the
circumstances under which the present talks are
taking place are widely different from those
prevailing prior to such agreements in the past.
The previous agreements failed to take off
because Pakistan had been entering into
agreements with India not with the intention of
solving issues but only for extricating itself
from sticky situations that it found itself in
after every misadventure. Pakistan could afford
to act like a rogue state because of the
encouragement and support it received from the
United States. The situation is now different.
With the US needing India as much as Pakistan for
its war against terrorism, it can no longer
afford to act in a partisan manner as hitherto
fore.
Shorn of the
American support Musharraf has, apparently, had
to do some re-think on his India policy. He has,
perhaps, realised the futility of open wars with
India, as none of the three that have been fought
so far have produced any results favourable to
Pakistan. Musharraf may have, therefore, decided
to call it a day as far as open wars are
concerned. As a General he would also know that
low intensity wars such as Pakistan's proxy war
in Kashmir cannot succeed without some successful
push from across the cease-fire line as the final
coup de grace. The Kargil experience, on the
other hand, would have amply demonstrated to him
the impracticability of such an action by
Pakistan. He might, therefore, be prepared to
withdraw Pakistan's proxy war in Jammu and
Kashmir, if India would assure him that
Pakistan's genuine security and economic concerns
would be appropriately addressed, even with the
major portion of Kashmir remaining permanently
with India under terms of the status quo.
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Protect
the poor from cheap imports
Dr Bharat Jhunjhunwala
Jobs in the
organized sector are shrinking. According to
Economic Survey the number of workers in the
organized public sector declined from 194 lacs in
1998 to 186 lacs in 2003. In this period the
number in the private sector declined from 87
lacs to 84 lacs. Conventional thinking was that
economic development will lead to the expansion
of the organized sector and gradually the whole
population will be provided with secure jobs and
comfortable working conditions. Less attention
was given to the unorganized sector since it was
expected to disappear in the normal growth
process. Above data, however, point in the
opposite direction. We must, therefore, think of
ways to increase the earnings of our large number
of people working in the unorganized sector.
Women in Informal
Employment Globalizing and Organizing, WEIGO for
short, is a NGO working on these issues. It has
suggested that unorganized workers may be
organized in cooperative societies like Amul and
SEWA has done in Gujarat. The difficulty is that
large transaction costs are involved in running
cooperatives. It is seen that private sector
spinning and sugar mills are more successful than
cooperatives because the CEO in the private
sector is in a position to take business
decisions quickly and undisturbed by individual
interests of powerful members. The success of
organizations like Amul is due to the presence of
exceptional persons like V Kurien who have the
skills to manage both the business and
transaction costs efficiently. This model is not
replicable in absence of such exceptional
persons.
The second
suggestion is to establish global labour
standards. Goods produced in sweat shops will not
be imported into the rich countries. The
difficulty is that low earnings will continue in
the large domestic market. Further, traders in
importing countries want cheap goods hence there
will be widespread violation of such rules just
as we have seen in the case of carbon emissions.
The US corporations have seen that the US does
not ratify the Kyoto protocol.
The third
suggestion is that government should establish
schemes to provide insurance, unemployment
compensation, food security and free health to
the unorganized workers. The difficulty is that
the government will have to impose tax on other
sectors to pay for these facilities. This is not
possible in a global market. The country that
imposes high taxes will find itself thrown out of
the global market. The welfare state in the
European Union is under severe pressure because
European companies are burdened with heavy taxes
and are not able to face global competition.
The fourth
suggestion is to provide loans to the poor
through micro-credit institutions. The difficulty
is that labour-intensive production undertaken by
the tiny sector is generally more expensive like
handspun thread. Such goods can survive in the
market only when they get protection from cheap
machine-made goods. The charkha will survive only
if the government imposes heavy tax on spinning
mills. The imposition of such a tax, however, is
not possible in the global market. Cheap machine
made thread will be imported from Thailand if
Government of India imposes tax on domestic
spinning mills. Micro-finance will be beneficial
only when provided along with protection from
machine made goods including imports.
The fifth
suggestion is that unorganized workers should be
organized into Trade Unions. They can secure
higher wages forcibly as agricultural workers
have done in Kerala. But farmers in Kerala have
reduced the cultivation of rice and planted
coconut trees in order to reduce their dependence
on labour. This has led to loss of jobs for the
agricultural workers. Kerala is importing food
grains in large quantities now. The high cost of
cultivation of paddy in Kerala has led to more
imports of food grains. In other words, wages
cannot be forced upward in a section of a common
market. Furthermore, it is difficult to organize
the unorganized. The seller and buyer are
dispersed over distant areas in the unorganized
sector. The members have to incur heavy
transaction costs in making such organizations.
The experience of
Ghana helps us understand the difficulties of
unionizing the unorganized. Streetnet
International tells on its website that their
organization has been successful only where the
Unions have been able to control the prices of
the produce. Ghana Private Road Transport Union
has organized private taxis and truck owners. The
Union determines the rates of transport. The
Timber and Woodworkers Union has unionized the
wood carvers, cane and rattan furniture makers,
sawyers, etc. These Unions manage the government
contracts and export orders.
It is proving
difficult to unionize other trades. The General
Agricultural Workers Union has tried to organize
farm labourers and small farmers. The Union helps
members get access to credit. But the Union has
to incur heavy expenditures in its work while the
receipts from membership fees are less thus the
Union is not able to expand. The Ghana Hair
Cutters and Beauticians Association has tried to
organize that trade. It has provided training to
its members but the conditions have not much
improved. Members are not paying their fees and
not attending meetings.
The above
experience indicates that two conditions have to
be met for Unions of unorganized workers to be
successful. One, the Unions should deal with the
determination of prices of raw materials and
finished goods. Two, finished goods have to be
protected from cheap goods manufactured by
machines-both domestic as well as imported. We
should, therefore, take the initiative to provide
protection to labour-intensive goods from cheap
machine-made goods in order to provide relief to
the millions of our unorganized workers.
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