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When people grilled the World Bank,
its officials remained mum
WSN Network
New Delhi: This
was a rare tête-à-tête between the World Bank officials and probing
people with no political axe to grind, and so rattled were the
officials that they preferred not to defend their position. A four
day Independent People's Tribunal (IPT) on the World Bank in India
ended after numerous depositions indicting the bank's policy and
project interventions in India. The WB officials did not defend
their stand at the tribunal despite coming daily to collect the
depositions.
However, the
World Bank seemed to be rattled enough with the tribunal to put
three different posts on their website, including a statement, a
question and answer and the response of the allegations made against
the bank. Organizers said that the government of India also failed
to send even a single representative to the event, despite personal
invitations, emails and faxes being sent two weeks in advance to
several government officials at all ministries that borrow money
from the World Bank.
At the tribunal,
over 600 people from communities, social movements, research
institutes, NGOs and universities attended the proceedings. The
tribunal, supported by the Jawaharlal
University's Teachers Association and Students' Union, was held in
the university premises.
The IPT invited
the World Bank two weeks ago and while they did agree to make a
presentation responding to some of the evidence, they failed to show
up despite provision of adequate space and time by the organizers,
said secretariat member Michele Kelley.
The World Bank
stated on its website that it had taken this decision because it is
not accountable to this kind of tribunal process with jury and
judges. The tribunal, in its statement, said, "We must record our
shock at their blatant disregard of any need to be accountable to
civil society and to a jury comprising retired justices of the
Supreme Court and high courts, as well as leading writers,
academics, religious leaders and activists."
In its
preliminary findings, the IPT observed the bank had an undue and
disturbingly negative influence in shaping India's national
policies disproportionate to its contribution, financial or
otherwise.
Professor Amit
Bhaduri, a member of the jury, said, "While India is the world's
largest single cumulative recipient of World Bank assistance, with
lending totalling about $60 billion since 1944, current annual
borrowing amounts to less than 1 per cent of the country's GDP. The
loans, however, have been used as leverage to bring about important
policy changes and impose conditionalities in areas such as
governance reform, health, education, electricity, water and
environment, many of these with obvious political and social
consequences."
The jury said
the World Bank loans have caused extensive social and environmental
harm from mass displacement in the Narmada valley
to loss of livelihoods of traditional fish workers in places such as
Barwani. The excessive influence of the Bank on India's
policy making was in violation of the WB’s own Rules of Association,
which mandate it to be an apolitical institution that should not
interfere in political processes of any member country. Further, the
IPT depositions stated that the presence of former World Bank
officials in senior government positions was unacceptable.
3 October, 2007
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