On the Road !

I recently visited Kalahandi district, in Orissa, and spent a few days there. Bhawanipatna, the district headquarters, is a bone-rattling 8-hour drive from Raipur.

Dullen village, home to a small community of 25 families from the Patra tribe, is one among the several villages I visited.

My interactions with the people here were an eye-opener; while the dark clouds covering the economic development of India’s poorest districts were self-evident, it is the silver lining that was a revelation.

Consider the following case:
Less than 13 years ago, Saraswati Patra and her family, like all other families here, were symbols of poverty and hunger. Relying on a single, monsoon-fed crop, these families would practically starve for six months in a year. They were in the clutches of the local ‘mahajan’ or moneylender who ripped the villagers off by charging them an exorbitant 150%. Their’s seemed like an inescapable fate……

Until good fortune intervened in the form of local NGO, F.A.R.R.

By getting each woman to contribute a fist-full of rice, each day, to a community ‘Grain

Bank’, FARR ensured that food security was ensured for the distress period of July-

December. No family went hungry ever again.

This ‘grain bank’ has now translated into a financial corpus of

Rs 32,000/- that belongs to the women in this tribal community.

Small loans are extended to families that need them to tide over

short-term needs, or even to start livelihood-related activities.

Saraswati Patra’s 23-year-old son, Manohar, took a Rs 1000/-

loan many years ago, and is now the proud owner of a ‘kirana’

shop in the village. Inspired by FARR, Manohar and other

villagers also cultivate sugarcane and vegetables.

No more borrowing from the ‘mahajan’, by anyone.

After tackling hunger, indebtedness, and livelihood, FARR next focused on eradicating

child labour, by facilitating the set-up of an ‘informal school’ that provides preliminary

education.

Today, this proud village has zero debt, zero hunger, reasonable literacy, and confident, busy villagers.

Like Dullen, there are several villages in this area that have made similar progress. All, with only limited involvement of the government.

Remarkable people! 

Unlike many others, Aradhana Nanda’s childhood memories are

not of playing with toys, or friends, but of seeing her mother

teaching young women to read and write, and trying to

persuade them to start saving money. Her mother was a great

source of inspiration for her.

So, when Aradhana saw an Oxfam ad in ‘79/80, inviting volunteers to opt for a  six-month assignment in Kalahandi district, she jumped at the opportunity to carry on with the work her mother was doing.

Going as a single woman to remote Kalahandi was tough. Staying alone in villages, with non-existent living facilities, was even tougher. But, encouraged by parents, she stayed on at Kalahandi, and made it her home.

She set up a social-service organization, FARR (Friends & Associates for Rural                                                         Reconstruction), in 1983/84, and decided that serving the poor tribals of                                                                        Kalahandi would be her primary mission.

By creating ‘grain banks’ and ‘self-help groups’, her team’s efforts have ensured food security in almost 400 villages, and completely done away with money-lenders.

Over 4000 young child labourers - previously engaged in selling fire-wood, grazing cattle, or helping in the fields – were brought into schools set up by FARR in partnership with the government.

These literacy efforts became the foundation on which future community leaders were trained. Today, almost 200 young men and women are active in local Panchayati Raj institutions.

Among other things, they are driving change and awareness in health-related matters, in their communities. Particular focus is on HIV/AIDS awareness for migrant labour, and reduction of infant mortality & mothers’ mortality rates by ensuring safe deliveries in hospitals.

I asked Aradhana what her future plans were. Without hesitating, she articulated her current obsession: to educate village communities regarding the tremendous self-governance rights granted to them under the Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI). This, she believes, will pave the way to salvation, because it gives villagers the power and the funds to improve their future, rather than wait for an insensitive, corrupt administration to deliver.

Foolish governance! 

T. Majhi is a smart, young graduate who is active in the local panchayat at Lanjigarh Road. He, and a few other young men and women are focused on improving health conditions in remote, cut-off villages of this panchayat.

When I was chatting with them, they told me an interesting story about an allowance apparently available to pregnant women in rural areas. It all started with a noble motive, i.e. to ensure that rural women have a safe delivery, and to improve survival rates of the mother and infant. For this, the NRHM offers a Rs 1400/- incentive to each mother who goes to a formal hospital for delivery.

But, guess what?

In reality, the mothers in this district get only Rs 500-600/-.The balance 60% is

gobbled up a whole bunch of other  people…doctors, hospital staff, administration.

Did we hear someone say that India lacks funds for development efforts?

CSR that works !

It was with some trepidation that I drove past Agra, into Firozabad district. Few weeks before assembly elections, the interiors of UP was hardly the place to be roaming around. But, during the 4-hour journey, I had enough re-assurances from Amit of Dr Reddy’s Foundation(DRF) that we would witness something truly heartwarming once we reached the small town beyond Shikohabad.

Heartwarming, it indeed was. 250 young men and women, all from below-poverty-line families, would walk, cycle, or hitch-hike a ride every morning to get to the 4-room ‘centre’ that DRF had set up. This was the ‘Livelihood Advancement Business School’( LABS) center where, over a 90-day period, these kids would learn vocational skills like selling, data-entry, hospitality, etc, and earn a passport out of the poverty of their villages.

When I spoke to these kids, I realized that this was the only real chance for their families, ever. They would be the first-ever bread-earners for their families if they got a job after the LABS training. Without this chance, they would end up being 250 more gun-toting hoodlums in UP.

As DRF’s LABS expands nationally, with some support from the government, and crosses the 100,000 mark( in terms of youth trained for jobs), it is truly making a difference.

Sensible government & politics !

After BSP’s stunning success in forging an unbeatable Dalit-upper caste alliance in UP, the real question was whether Mayawati could sustain the momentum via sensible governance & politics.
Last week’s UP announcement of 30% reservation in private sector – not by dictat, but with dangled carrots – offers real evidence that she possibly can. The issue of private-sector reservations.. which has inflamed passions & generated heated debates, has for the first time, seen a pragmatic solution being offered.
Indian Express, in its lead story last week, described this as a “unique give & take formula”.

Remarkable people !

Property dealer M.K Mehra is indeed a remarkable man. I spent a morning recently watching the transformation that Mehra’s efforts have achieved. Few years ago, the state-run school at Gwalpahadi( a small village just off the Gurgaon-Faridabad road) was a run-down, 4-room structure with a few, de-motivated teachers.

What I saw last week was a transformed place. A neat, 15-room school with full quorum of teachers; an operational computer lab, and other amenities. Mehra & the teachers have also got the government to deliver. The government’s mid-day meal scheme is on, and so is a distance education program delivered via broadband.

But is this enough? The kids I spoke to come from a clutch of villages nearby, and their families are typically illiterate, unemployed, and deprived.

To get truly uplifted, the same community needs not just one nice school, but also adult education, jobs, primary healthcare, and other basic stuff.