Name of Fellow: Suresh Rathore
Genre: Social and Economic Justice
Area of Work: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
Suresh Rathaur is a Dalit and workers’ rights activist from Rajatalab in Varanasi district. He is the convenor of MNGREGA Mazdoor Union. He started his work with workers in 1996 and in 1999 he got associated with Lok Samiti. He was a prominent leader against Coca-Cola, world’s largest soft drink manufacturing company, movement which led to the closure of its plant in Mehdiganj village.
A post graduate in sociology and a law graduate, Suresh is the first educated person from his community Mehdiganj and first person to lead a Dalit movement in the area.
When MGNREGA, the 100-days wage guarantee act in rural India, was enacted he along with other local social workers held meetings, organized communities to make them aware about the law and the process of getting job cards, applying for work and getting the wages. In 2014, Lok Samiti and MGNREGA Mazdoor Union got separated and Suresh started to continue his movement to get the workers their due wages by becoming the convenor of the organization.
Suresh is executing four types of works at the district. He is organizing the MGNREGA workers, help them with applying for works, and ensuring their timely pay of wages. He is trying to sensitise the community members about the reasons behind the destitute condition of workers while rich are getting richer.
As women are associated with his organization than men, he is leading campaigns to educate them. His other work is with teenage girls. Under the banner of Kishori Yuva Manch, he has set up forum for girls to educate them about gender-based violence, domestic violence, girl child education, health among others. In the forum, 1500 girls have become members. He has also set up five tailoring training centres to provide skill training the girls where around 200 girls are being trained.
He is also imparting computer education in government primary schools. He has set up computer libraries in these schools where he sends teachers from his organization to teach the children basic computer education.
He organizes and creates awareness among MGNREGA workers. In villages labourers do not know about how to get work, they think that when the panchayat president or secretary say, then only they will get work. He sensitises the workers that they can appeal for work. Through this mobilization, workers get associated with him. When workers do not get wages, he helps them to file claims for timely disbursal of their wages.
Coming from a Dalit family, he was inspired to work for the workers and Dalits from his childhood experience of caste-based discrimination. When he used to go to attend any ceremony, like other boys of his age, he would want to help with the chores. But the hosts would ask him to just eat and leave. Such incidents were imprinted in his psyche. As there was not a single educated person in his village, nobody discussed these issues. Then he decided to work for the people whom the society considered out castes, who do not have any respect in the society, who cannot even sit together with other caste members and cannot even utter their feelings.
He envisages to work on the lines of Dr Ambedkar’s vision of creating an exploitation less society based on equality, fraternity, freedom and justice. In every initiative, Suresh is highlighting the Constitutional values among the women, workers, children, youths to make them understand the spirit of the Constitution. He is organization workshops as well for disseminating the values among the people as well.