Documents of ADATS - Book 5

Management in ADATS (February 2003)

The singular strength of ADATS has been our ability to organise the poor, mobilise them against injustice, undertake huge struggles against economic exploitation and extra-economic oppression, and see them to fruition. Gender, Empowerment, Capacity Building, Geopolitical Coverage, Presence, et al have a definite sociopolitical meaning for us.

Altered power balance in village society has given the small and poor peasant casteclass (colloquially referred to as “Coolies”) a definite presence vis-à-vis the middle peasant (“Ryots”). An informed participation and struggle needs be at the core of any vibrant grassroots democracy. This has become a way of life for the Coolies, and spectacular achievements have been made:

Feudal oppression has been countered, and Coolies have gained a person status and identity.
A larger unification of the poor, across narrow parochial caste lines, has been achieved.
The Coolie Sangha has a strong socio-political presence and become a powerful force to contend with.
Overall wages have risen, and women and men get equal wages.
Coolies have transformed themselves into a small peasant, cultivating caste-class who also go for labour.
An overwhelming majority of Coolie children are in school, and there is sex parity even in High School.