Silver lining in disaster146;s dark clouds

It isn8217;t just the houses, built by a marvellously diverse array of groups Christian groups, a Hindu saint, a fisherman8217;s federation, an alumni group. Since the tsunami ravaged India a year ago, NGOs and the government have been the recipients of unprecedented public generosity: Rs 920 crore came to the PM8217;s Relief Fund alone in 2005 from 100 million Indians. To be sure, much of the rebuilding in the worst-affected areas isn8217;t anywhere like Kerala, which accounts for 171 of India8217;s 12,000 tsunami vict-ims. But like Kerala, officials long used to disbursing aid only through government bodies are letting private organisations, with all their idiosyncrasies, take over much of the work.

Instead, officers like Srinivas are becoming like rehab CEOs. They coordinate operations, provide the enabling infrastructure 8212; like acquiring land, providing water supply and electricity 8212; and watch over the profusion of organisations, intervening if necessary. You will find honest, dedicated officers like Srinivas in all tsunami-hit districts. He has been there since the waves struck.

Further south in Tamil Nadu8217;s Kanyakumari district, where 840 died, and in worst-hit Nagapattinam where 6,000 died, will find two officers sent in after the tsunami: Collectors Sunil Paliwal and J. Radhakrishnan. These officers reflect the finest training and tradition of the civil service. Paliwal, for instance, is a polite, soft-spoken computer engineer from IIT Kanpur and the University of Maryland. For once, the government ignored compromised bureaucrats, only going by service records8212;of course, officers weren8217;t exactly falling over themselves, pressuring politicians or even offering bribes to be posted in these districts.

Now, after a year of the initial hard work, the officers and the numerous aid organisations working with them have a far trickier job: managing expectations. As rehab work spreads, so do complaints in the fishing communities. As he heard a bunch of aggrived fishermen one morning after a motivational mass in a village church, Father Maria Sosai tried to get across the message of self reliance. Here8217;s what his organisation, the Kotara Social Service Society, had handed out: a replacement fibreglass boat, Rs 2 lakh; a 9 horsepower Suzuki outboard engine, Rs 65,000; a net, Rs 20,000. Yet the complaints came thick and fast, the poorly educated fishermen 8212; less than a fourth ever went to school in a district that boasts 89 per cent literacy 8212; refusing to associate Fr Sosa with the NGO he headed. We were promised more, they said, so we want more.

Who promised this?

The NGOs. We want more nets and houses.

Didn8217;t I talk to you about helping the community?

Yes, eventually we will 8212; if they don8217;t keep promises.

But you got boats, engines, nets from your own church NGO. Now help yourself.

What you said, we will obey, father. But the NGO can give8230;

To be sure, the rehab process is far from perfect. Many who were not seriously affected have got extravagant help. The South Indian Federation of Fishermen8217;s Societies estimates that the supply of fishing boats may be, in some parts, up to ten times the number of boats actually lost. Then again, there are other seriously hit families who never got the aid due to them. But whenever each such blip is brought to the notice of local administrators, it is examined carefully and acted on. There are long-term issues still unaddressed: the professional needs of students of tsunami-hit families; the grim year, following the devastation, of abysmally low fish catch.

But you can argue that in the past India never even got to discussing secondary rehab issues, mired as it often was in sorting out the basics. Of course, there are other disasters where rescue and relief is nowhere near the post-tsunami scale. A distressing example is the earthquake in Jammu and Kashmir. Instead of sharply focussed state rescue attempts tied in with long-stay NGOs, the J038;K government has abandoned many remote villages to their fate. With winter upon the state and the high passes freezing, the post-tsunami lessons mean little. Only when a Kerala is repeated in Kashmir can India truly be said to have truly learned its lesson in managing disasters.