We Deserve Better,
We Deserve Justice!

“They looted our lands during the pandemic while they asked us to stay inside our homes. They burned our crops during the pandemic. What kind of justice is this” said a forest dependent community member from Uttar Pradesh.

Presenting Covid-19 report card 2024

This report is angry citizens’ response to the lies of the Union government and their mishandling of COVID-19. India’s unemployment rate rose to a massive 27.11% during May 2020, from under 7% in mid-March, before the start of the pandemic. Close to 257,000 people were evicted from their homes in India during the  pandemic. A scheduled caste (SC) person faced crime every 10 minutes in India in 2020, cumulating 50,291 cases registered in 2020, an increase of 9.4% from the previous year.  During the first nationwide lockdown, over 12 crore people lost their jobs in April 2020. This report card is a reminder of what was done to the citizens during the pandemic and continues to in the name of protecting them. It’s a testament to how  Covid-19 was turned into an opportunity for the rulers. The claims made by the government vs ground reality are stated in the report.   We hope every citizen of India will pay heed to the facts, figures, and narratives we have put together.

Public Inquiry Committees and Truth, Accountability & Justice Commission - COVID-19 Pandemic in India

Uncovering Stories, Making Voices Heard and Holding Government Accountable

In 1995, the South African government established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). It’s a court like body that acted in uncovering the truth about human rights violations and abuses that took place during apartheid.TRC was born as a result of public participation, as the then South African government reached out to their citizens and international community to ensure those responsible were held accountable and provide compensations for the victims of apartheid.

Civil societies, victims, human rights advocates etc got together to discuss the merits of establishing a truth commission and after much public dialogues and consultation, a year later, the TRC was established.

Taking cue from the TRC, Public Inquiry Committee and People’s Commission intend to investigate the injustice faced by people since the beginning of the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, expose the truth, hold the government accountable and in the process, provide justice to both the dead and the living.

The initiative aims at empowering people’s right to investigate, question and initiate a public process of state and private sector accountability. Public Inquiry Committee and People’s Commission framework is to work with three specific concerns – death, debt and distress.

About Us

Who We Are

We are a collective that is committed towards investigating truth, accountability and justice for the events that have happened since Covid-19 and the effects it continues to have on people and their lives. The process of this inquiry happens through …

What We Do

As Public Inquiry Committee, we focus on the impacts of Covid – 19 pandemic including the impacts of measures taken to handle the same, such as the lockdown, access to healthcare etc. During the course of this process, we collectively emphasise on …

Regions

Public Hearings

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UTTAR PRADESH
The four public hearings done in three parts of Uttar Pradesh - Sonbhadra, Chandauli and Manikpur were focused on the forest dependent communities where they mostly recounted stories of Forest and Police departmental tortures. Illiterate and vulnerable, their tales of miseries were endless.

ANDHRA PRADESH & TELENGANA
Two public hearings conducted in two parts of Andhra Pradesh - Chirala and Madanapalle and one in Telangana - Pochampalle were focused on the handloom weaving community where they reiterated the reality that the handloom sector and weaving community are on a steady decline as powerloom expands.

DELHI
Three public hearings near Delhi - Bhuapur, Bhalswa, and Gharoli.

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Public Hearings
SONBHADRA, UP CHANDAULI, UP MANIKPURI, UP MADANAPALLE CHIRALA POCHAMPALLI BHUAPUR BHALSWA GHAROLI KALKAJI DDA PARK ARYA SAMAJ MANDIR KASTURBA NAGAR

SONBHADRA, UP

One public hearing done in the Sonbhadra district of Uttar Pradesh revealed countless stories of institutional tortures, burning of crops by forest officials, forceful land evictions, bribery, illegal arrests and slapping of fake cases against those who questioned the arrests or protested against general departmental tortures, denial of health care and children missing out on education.

40 case depositions were made covering the stories of 233 families.  Depositions show that 95% of the cases were problems people faced during a pandemic and those which got accentuated during the pandemic.

CHANDAULI, UP

Chandauli disṭrict of Uttar Pradesh saw two public hearings.

Similar stories of agonising torture by different departmental officials, forceful evictions, denial of ration in the absence of proof of vaccination and denial of health care were revealed during these hearings. Chandauli also saw micro finance companies looting people in the absence of any kind of monitoring by the authorities.

15 case depositions were made covering the stories of 693 families. 53% of the cases were problems people faced during the pandemic and those which got accentuated during the pandemic.

MANIKPURI, UP

One public hearing done in Manikpur town of Uttar Pradesh saw similar stories of abandonment by officials, denial of health care, joblessness, denial of payment under schemes like MGNREGA, denial of ration, forceful evictions.

MADANAPALLE

One public hearing done in the Madanapalle city of Andhra Pradesh revealed that weaving works available were so low they had to rely on other jobs to make ends meet. Master weavers reduced amount for the weavers during the pandemic. This simultaneously resulted in an increased suicide rates among weavers which resulted in their partners struggling to fend for themselves. The community’s repeated request to the government for a Covid relief package which would also aide in limiting suicides were not paid any attention to by the government. Long working hours with minimal pay was another aspect they struggled with. This resulted in them having to take loans when one of their family members fell sick. The community also recalled how the government has not listened to their constant demands of GST exclusion, providing yarn at subsidised rates and controlling powerlooms. The education of kids was compromised during the pandemic as they struggled with access to digital devices and stable internet connection.

CHIRALA

One public hearing done in the Chirala town of Andhra Pradesh revealed that during the pandemic and the lockdown, weaving works available were so low they had to rely on other jobs to make ends meet. Master weavers reduced amount for the weavers during the pandemic. This simultaneously resulted in an increased suicide rates among handloom weavers which resulted in their partners struggling to fend for themselves. The community’s repeated request to the government for a Covid relief package which would also aide in limiting suicides were not paid any attention to by the government. Long working hours with minimal pay was another aspect they struggled with. This resulted in them having to take loans when one of their family members fell sick. The community also recalled how the government has not listened to their constant demands of GST exclusion, providing yarn at subsidised rates and controlling powerlooms.  The education of kids was compromised during the pandemic as they struggled with access to digital devices and stable internet connection.

POCHAMPALLI

One public hearing done in the Pochampalle town of Andhra Pradesh revealed that weaving works available were so low they had to rely on other jobs to make ends meet. Master weavers reduced amount for the weavers during the pandemic. This simultaneously resulted in an increased suicide rates among handloom weavers which resulted in their partners struggling to fend for themselves. The community’s repeated request to the government for a Covid relief package which would also aide in limiting suicides were not paid any attention to by the government. Long working hours with minimal pay was another aspect they struggled with. This resulted in them having to take loans when one of their family members fell sick. The community also recalled how the government has not listened to their constant demands of GST exclusion, providing yarn at subsidised rates and controlling powerlooms. The education of kids was compromised during the pandemic as they struggled with access to digital devices and stable internet connection.

BHUAPUR

One public hearing done in Bhuapur village, Gaziabad, Delhi brought out stories of issues faced by waste pickers’ community during Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown.

Their narratives and tale of miseries ranged from no income during Covid-19 to decreased income since the pandemic leading to relying on private money lenders to merely sustain themselves and their families, increased debt, privatisation of waste management directly impacting their source of income and livelihood, having to pay to be able to collect waste or sweep, kids missing out on education and unhygienic working conditions.

They collectively demand strict implementation of Solid Waste Management Rule 2016, freedom from municipality contractors, water, electricity and toilets at workplace and a space to segregate waste.

BHALSWA

One public hearing done in Bhalswa landfill, Delhi brought out stories of issues faced by waste pickers’ community during Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown.

Their narratives and tale of miseries ranged from no income during Covid-19 to decreased income since the pandemic leading to relying on private money lenders to merely sustain themselves and their families, increased debt, privatisation of waste management directly impacting their source of income and livelihood, having to pay to be able to collect waste or sweep, kids missing out on education and unhygienic working conditions.

They collectively demand strict implementation of Solid Waste Management Rule 2016, freedom from municipality contractors, water, electricity and toilets at workplace and a space to segregate waste.

GHAROLI

One public hearing done in Gharoli, Delhi brought out stories of issues faced by waste pickers’ community during Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown.

Their narratives and tale of miseries ranged from no income during Covid-19 to decreased income since the pandemic leading to relying on private money lenders to merely sustain themselves and their families, increased debt, privatisation of waste management directly impacting their source of income and livelihood, having to pay to be able to collect waste or sweep, kids missing out on education and unhygienic working conditions.

They collectively demand strict implementation of Solid Waste Management Rule 2016, freedom from municipality contractors, water, electricity and toilets at workplace and a space to segregate waste.

KALKAJI DDA PARK

One public hearing conducted in Kalkaji DDA Park shed light on the issues faced by street vendors during the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown.
Their narratives ranged from loss of livelihood, reduced income, increased debts, and harassment by officials. Even before the pandemic, their earning was minimal, and it worsened since the pandemic as their income faced a 70% reduction. Owing to the loss of livelihood, they had to resort to borrowing money from friends, relatives, moneylenders, etc. Many of them also resorted to selling assets to meet family expenses

In the community, not many contracted the virus, and those who did, duly recovered. While they weren’t afraid of the virus, they did struggle with the policy implementation that was established to battle the same.

Vendors including Town Vending Committee members demanded the strict implementation of the Street Vendors Act, 2014.

ARYA SAMAJ MANDIR

Arya Samaj Mandir, near Rajendra metro station - One public hearing conducted in Arya Samaj Mandir shed light on the issues faced by street vendors during the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown.

Their narratives ranged from loss of livelihood, reduced income, increased debts, and harassment by officials. Even before the pandemic, their earning was minimal and it worsened since the pandemic as their income faced a 70% reduction. Owing to the loss of livelihood, they had to resort to borrowing money from friends, relatives, moneylenders, etc. Many of them also resorted to selling assets to meet family expenses.

In the community, not many contracted the virus, and those who did, duly recovered. While they weren’t afraid of the virus, they did struggle with the policy implementation that was established to battle the same.

Vendors including Town Vending Committee members demanded the strict implementation of the Street Vendors Act, 2014.

KASTURBA NAGAR

Community Centre, Kasturba Nagar, Jwala Nagar - One public hearing conducted in Kasturba Nagar shed light on the issues faced by street vendors during the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown.

Their narratives ranged from loss of livelihood, reduced income, increased debts, and harassment by officials. Even before the pandemic, their earning was minimal and it worsened since the pandemic as their income faced a 70% reduction. Owing to the loss of livelihood, they had to resort to borrowing money from friends, relatives, moneylenders, etc. Many of them also resorted to selling assets to meet family expenses.

In the community, not many contracted the virus, and those who did, duly recovered. While they weren’t afraid of the virus, they did struggle with the policy implementation that was established to battle the same.

Vendors including Town Vending Committee members demanded the strict implementation of the Street Vendors Act, 2014.

Analysis

The collective works with a specific Death, Debt, Distress framework.

Various pandemic related stories, the effect it continues to have on people’s lives even today are collected from different parts on India. These stories expose that the pandemic didn’t just solely impact health but other aspects too, like, unemployment, caste related violence, torture by police officials etc.

Bearing such in mind, the collective decided to look at the impacts of pandemic through a broader lens and hence, works with the three Ds’ framework. While various stories of different magnitude and multitude of layers are there, all these are looked and analysed through the three Ds category.

All stories collected from the ground take the shape of case studies and are documented as Covid FIRs, individual narratives, blogs etc. which further goes onto inquiry process.

Death

Debt

Distress

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Would you like to be part of a dynamic team that is committed to addressing the impacts of Covid-19 on vulnerable communities?

CONTACT US

PEOPLE’S COMMISSION
peoplescommission2021@gmail.com

PUBLIC INQUIRY COMMITTEE:
publicinquirycommittee2021@gmail.com

C-1/E, Second, Floor, Green Park Extension, New Delhi, Delhi 110016. Phone: +91 9354622204

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Public Inquiry Committees and Truth, Accountability & Justice Commission - COVID-19 Pandemic in India

Uncovering Stories, Making Voices Heard and Holding Government Accountable