Indefinite Strike by Jeevikas in Bihar 

Rambali Prasad

The National Rural Livelihood Promotion Mission (NRLM) is a program run by the Ministry of Rural Development. The State Rural Livelihood Promotion Mission (SRLM) is run in each state under the central scheme of NRLM. In Bihar, it is commonly referred as Jeevika and functions under the control of the government’s Rural Development Department. The scheme is run with the declared purpose of creating self-employment opportunities for the unemployed rural women in India.

The Jeevika Mission mainly consists of two categories of personnel: firstly, the officers and employees (Jeevika Cadres) who work on a contractual basis and receive a monthly honorarium determined by the Jeevika Mission; The second category of people involved in the Jeevika Mission are the volunteers of self-help groups formed at the village level, who do not receive any kind of payment. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the state mission is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, while all employees including the mission directors of various state program managers and Jeevika cadres at all levels, down to the district, sub-district, and block levels are engaged on a contractual or honorarium basis.

The financial support for the state Jeevika Mission (SRLM) comes from several sources, primarily the central budget under the NRLM, the World Bank, and various international and national non-governmental financial institutions. Reports indicate substantial misuse and wastage of Jeevika Mission funds, which is shielded by higher-level officials.

On September 2, 2024, the Bihar State Livelihood Mission issued an arbitrary order stating that the monthly honorarium payments to Jeevika Cadres would decrease by 20% every two years starting from June 1, 2024, and would become zero by June 1, 2028. The order explicitly stated that the responsibility for paying the honorarium would now fall on the respective community organizations, which are already in a financially precarious situation. This means that the payment for the contract-based Jeevika Cadres would depend on contributions from community groups. This is completely illogical, impractical, and unjust.

According to the data released by the Bihar Jeevika Mission on July 9, 2024, 18,466 community organizations have fallen into the Non-Performing Assets (NPA) category, and 144,257 into the Pre-NPA category, which indicates the economic distress of these organizations. Consequently, the directive to place the entire burden of honorarium payments on financially unviable community organizations implies the conversion of contract-based Jeevika Cadres into commission agents on the one hand and to institutionalize the exploitation of their labor, and to gradually dismantle this ambitious project that is aimed at providing livelihood for rural women. This is the reality of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's ‘self-reliance’ narrative, which he has so dearly copied from the PM Modi.

Naturally, this arbitrary order has sparked outrage among the already marginalized and distressed Jeevika Cadres. The Jeevika cadres organized under the banner of  Bihar Pradesh Jeevika Cadre Sangh, has given prior notice to central rural development ministers, the Chief Minister of Bihar, the departmental minister, and associated higher officials, to withdraw this arbitrary order and to fulfill other demands. Around 150,000 Jeevika Cadres have gone on an indefinite strike since September 9, 2024, which continues till date. During the strike, vibrant forms of protests, including the burning of effigies of the government were reported. However, the Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, who has been continuously using the Jeevika Cadres and self-help group women to run governance obligations and thereby to stay on political power, has not only refused to address the demands of the striking workers but has also declined to meet their union representatives. This attitude of the Nitish government has exposed the class character of his administration to among Jeevika Cadres and women associated with self-help groups.

The CPI(ML) has effectively mobilized Jeevika Didis (the Jeevika cadres) during the ‘Badlo Bihar Nyay Yatra’ that has traversed all across Bihar from October 16 to 25 raising issues of justice and dignity for the oppressed people of Bihar. AICCTU has already written to the Chief Minister, the Rural Development Minister, the Additional Chief Secretary of the department, and the CEO of the State Livelihood Mission, in support of the demands of the Jeevika Cadres and the strike. AICCTU also urged the government to engage in meaningful dialogue with the union representatives without further delay and to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution regarding their demands.

The ten-point demand letter of the strike is as follows:

1. Scrap the arbitrary order on honorarium based on community contribution system.
2. Provide appointment letters and identity cards to all cadres from the Jeevika mission.
3. Ensure a minimum monthly honorarium of ₹25,000 for all cadres.
4. Stop threats of dismissal and take strict legal action against those issuing such threats.
5. Provide at least ₹3,000 as a field travel allowance to all cadres.
6. Increase the honorarium of employees of the Women Development Corporation (WDC) while retaining their existence.
7. Provide meeting allowances of ₹500 for all presidents, secretaries, and treasurers at the Cluster Level Federation (CLF), ₹300 at the village organization level, and ₹200 at the self-help group level, along with a 50% increase in travel allowances.
8. Waive the loans of all Jeevika cadres that are five years old.
9. Establish a promotion system for cadres completing three years in the project.
10. Provide social security benefits, leave, special leave for women cadres, ₹2 lakh medical claims, and ₹5 lakh death claims for all cadres.

Approximately 150,000 cadres working under the Bihar State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM) are represented by the Bihar Pradesh Jeevika Cadre Sangh. This union represents nearly 1.5 lakh Jeevika Didis across the state.

This union was earlier affiliated to the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) owing political allegiance to the BJP and hence, was forced to politically support the BJP-JD(U) alliance. 

However, the continued betrayal of the interests of the Jeevika cadres by the incumbent JDU -BJP government has deepened their disillusionment with the rulers. On the other hand, AICCTU and CPIML MLAs have been consistently active to address and resolve the problems of Jeevikas. The Jeevikas became furious with the latest anti-worker order of the government to stop the honorarium and the subsequent general body meeting of the union, held amidst the strike, resolved to disaffiliate from the BMS and to affiliate to AICCTU.  This is a significant development given the trajectory of the trade union movement in Bihar because such a big number of workers have decided to disassociate with the BMS and to join hands with the revolutionary trade union movement, AICCTU.