PRAGATI AT A GLANCE

Sundergarh District

The district lies in the north western part of the Orissa and is the component of mineral rich Chottanagpur Plateau. The district from the centuries was covered with thick forest, and is the niche for the various aboriginal tribes. Schedule Tribes constitutes about 51% of the population of the district. The tribes which are found in large numbers in the district are:

Khadia

Oram

Bhuinyan

Gond

Kisan

Munda

Schedule Castes are the next predominant group in the district after Schedule Tribes. Predominant castes among SC’s which are present in the district are:

Paan

Dum

Turi

Geographical Conditions of the District

The  average  annual  rainfall  in  the  district  is  about  220 mm.  This  is much  higher  than  the  national average  rainfall. But  since district  is  the  integral part of Chottanagpur plateau which although  rich  in mineral wealth  is unsuitable for the cultivation of crops. The terrain  is abrupt and consists of high and lowland which  is rocky and  infertile. Thus  in spite of receiving average annual rainfall much above the national’s average the district is unsuitable for agriculture.

Economy

Three decades ago the major economic activity of the district was dependent on the forest. Entire population was majorly dependent on forest and forest products for its survival. The forest products include:

Wood (as fuel and building material)

Non Timber Forest Products like:

Fruits

Vegetables

Medicinal Herbs

Honey

Wild Flowers and Seeds (like Mahua)

Wild animals (for meat)

Kendu leaves.

This was the condition of villages three decades ago. At that time the population was able to sustain itself well on the forest products. The entire need of the local population was fulfilled by the forestry and forest products. Thus the whole economy was forest based.

There was a paradigm shift in the economic pattern of the district in the last two decades. With the onslaught of globalisation and proliferation of market forces, this change in economic pattern is accelerated to a great extent. This paradigm shift came into being when Government gave the forests on lease to contractors and big corporate houses to extract timber and other non timber forest products. For example Birla group was given the lease of cutting bamboo trees. These

contractors and corporate houses in nexus with local administration and using money and muscle power over exploited the natural resources the forests. There was large scale deforestation in the name of industrialisation and development.

The blind race for rapid industrialisation further deteriorated the fragile economy of the district which was based on forests. The industries like Raurkela steel plant not only spoiled the environment by their efluent and causing pollution, thus proving detrimental to the flora and fauna of the forest but also were dependent on the forests for their raw material. Moreover various industrial projects around the district displaced various other tribal groups who immigrated to Sundergarh, thus enhancing pressure on the forest economy which was already under shock. All this culminated into demolishing of the forest based local economy in the district.

e breakdown of forest economy was filled by the agrarian economy. The void created by thHowever, the agriculture economy suffered from various constraints like infertile soil, rocky terrain, lack of irrigation facilities, improper water management due to geographical conditions, outdated and obsolete technology etc. This has made agrarian economy highly unsustainable in the district. As a result the quantum of agrarian output is below the aggregate demand.

The natural corollary of ever increasing gap between aggregate Demand (Needs) and Supply (Production of household) is vicious circle of poverty. As a result of all this the region today is in the grip of acute poverty. Majority of population of the district lives below the poverty line and is miles away from the quality life. Traditional lifestyle coupled with culture of silence has added to the sorrow of the people. As the level of awareness is very low, the benefits of public welfare schemes and governmental policies are not able to trickle down the benefits to the low strata in the district. In the name of poverty and poor people few middlemen and contractors have become the actual source of siphoning off the governmental funds and benefits.

Thus in a nut shell we can conclude that, in the name of development, the forest economy of the district received a serious jolt. The government hasn’t come up with any other alternative plan for sustainable livelihood for the people of the district. Thus the population which was dependent on the forest had to pay a very heavy price for this model of development and  industrialisation. Nothing specific  is done by public  functionaries  and  government  till  date  to  redress  the  grievances’  of  the  affected  people.  The inroads of market forces due to globalisation and liberalisation have further distorted the cultural fabric of  the  district  and  the  cultural  identity  of  the  tribal  and  other  ethnic  groups  is  under  crisis.  The homogeneous culture dissipated by the globalisation and liberalisation which rides on the wings of mass media have eclipsed the century old local culture. Thus the globalisation and liberalisation have attacked the life of the people on various fronts and have caused irreversible damages.

The catastrophic effects of all this is witnessed in the following forms:

The district is in the grip of acute poverty.

Local and tribal products in market have passed into oblivion giving the way to industrial products.

There is large scale migration from the district to destinations like Mumbai, Goa and Delhi.

The most brutal impact is seen in the form of Human Trafficking, it is reported that more than forty thousand girls are trafficked to only Delhi who face exploitation in various forms and degrees.

Lack of employment opportunities due to extreme backwardness of the district.

Lack of capital formation.

Intervention model by Pragati

Grain Bank

It  is an  innovative  self  sustaining model of keeping a  stock of  food grains which  is  run by villagers themselves to serve the dual purposes:

• To maintain the food security.

• To keep the villagers away from debt trap.

Under this scheme Pragati initially provided a stock of paddy to the various groups in villages. The group members are free to procure paddy from the grain-bank whenever they find it essential. Paddy is made available to the group members on a nominal rate of interest, which is decided by the members themselves each year. Pragati has helped the villagers in providing the technical know-how of book keeping and maintaining records of the grain bank. This grain bank has played pivotal role in these villages in maintaining food security and keeping the villagers away from debt trap in the following manner:

Role of Grain Bank in maintaining food security:

Group members of the grain bank can procure paddy at the time of need. That is, whenever they find shortage of food grain in their household they can obtain it from the grain bank. Thus grain bank act as a buffer stock for the time of exigencies and shortages. This has maintained the food security of the group members of the Grain Bank. The stock of paddy is thus like an umbrella cover during the rainy days of food shortage. The availability of the grains is bank is a testimonial of the fact that extreme hunger and malnutrition won’t be affecting the life of the group members anymore.

Role of Grain Bank in keeping villagers away from debt trap:

During lean period and at the time when the households require extra money for purpose like health hazards, investing in agricultural equipments, marriage of kin, creating new assets like house etc grain bank is like a boon to the members. Members can procure the requisite grain from the bank and can sell it thus getting instant cash in hand. Using the cash in hand the requirement of the money can be fulfilled. Prior to the Grain Bank, because of the unavailability of the institutional credit, villagers use to approach local money lenders who charge the interest at an exorbitant rate. The Grain Bank is now instrumental in keeping the villagers away from the grip of moneylenders to a great extent.

The latent impact of grain bank is much more important. The food security coupled with debt trap relief provided by the Grain Bank has improved the risk taking and entrepreneur ability of the local villagers. Members of villages are now confident that even under most serious crisis the acute hunger won’t be affecting them. Grain bank has assured the availability of square meal to the members. Thus now they can think beyond the daily bread earning and invest and enter into new ventures like poultry, animal-husbandry, cottage industry based on forest products etc.

CASE STUDY

Name of the beneficiary: Jema Pradhan

Age: 40 years

Village: Mangarkunda

Jema Pradhan lives in Mangarkunda village with her three daughters. After her husband expired in year 1997, her family faced the serious financial crisis. The family was forced to mortgage their landholdings, due to destitution; the three daughters had to engage themselves as daily wage laborers. Due to intervention of PRAGATI; in 1998 she  joined  S.H.G  (Sahayogi  Mahila Sangathan) of her village. With the regular support of Grain Bank she was able to free her land from the mortgage in the year 2001. This became possible as due to the support of the Grain Bank, she was able to procure the grain for about 8 months in a year. In the year 2002 she got an assistance of Rs 3000 from the Sangathan  to  initiate  the goatry. She started  initially with 5 goats, now she sells 3 goats per year which  is fetching her approximately Rs 5000 annually. This has totally changed the financial conditions of the family. The quality of life and living standard of the family has increased, and family is no longer in grip of food insecurity or debt trap. 

Creating Awareness

One of the major obstacles in the path of development of the region is the lack of awareness. It is due to lack of awareness in the people that they have adhered to the culture of silence. The culture of silence on one hand has proved detrimental in development for the local population while on the other hand has promoted various contractors and middlemen to serve their self interest at the cost of the local people. Thus due to lack of awareness the development of the region is getting hampered on twin fronts.

Pragati realised the vital importance of awareness right from its inception. Creating awareness was one of the prime mottos of Pragati right from 1988, the year it was formed. Also in Gandhian framework of development the awareness at the grass root level is considered prerequisite for any socio-economic change. Thus Pragati, realising the importance of awareness, has termed it as the most basic vehicle for change and transformation. Following are the steps taken by Pragati in order to enhance the level of awareness among the local people:

• Making people aware about their fundamental and legal rights.

• Making  people  aware  about  the  public  and  governmental  schemes  which  are  there  for benefitting them.

• Making people aware about the minimum wage rate of the state and central governments so that the people are not exploited by the middlemen and the public functionaries.

• Local people are also made aware about Right to information Act (R.T.I Act-2005).

• Migration and Trafficking are also the major issues about which information is imparted to the people.

• The culture of displaying information on the notice boards and wall-writings is also promoted to ensure accountability and transparency.

• The information is also given to strengthen the local communities and enable them to get rid off of the middlemen and contractors from the channel thus enabling a direct contact between the local people and government.

• People are also mobilised about using pressure tactics for redressing their grievances from government machinery.

• People are made aware about local self government institutions and democratic decentralisation.

• People are also informed about malaise in consuming alcohol and it’s after effects as alcoholism is one of the major social evil prevalent in tribal areas.

• Information sharing is promoted among various channels of the villages in order to promote checks and balances, also to ensure transparency and accountability.

Capacity Building

Gandhian ideology revolves around capacity building of the local people. In words of Gandhi”The real Swaraj won’t be achieved until all the villages are made self sufficient”. In order to make the villages self-sufficient and economically viable skill sets and technical know must be imparted to the local people. Pragati believes that the skill set and technology must be socially accepted and non-ethnocentric in nature. That is the capacity building mechanism should integrate with the local culture and norms of the people than only it can sustain for longer duration.

Keeping the above views in mind the organisation has adhered to following mechanism for the capacity building:

• In order to ensure that Grain Bank functions properly local people are given training for keeping records and managing the bank themselves.

• Local people must be the apex authority in decision making; this is ensured in giving training about functioning of the local institutions and S.H.G.

• People are also trained about managing animal husbandry, poultry etc.

• Vocational training is given to the men/women who are the victims of human trafficking and have been rescued back to their respective homes in the district.

• Women are seen as the agent of social change; hence training is given to empower them holistically.

• To promote democratic decentralisation people are trained to actively participate in S.H.G’s; women are especially mobilised to form S.H.Gs and run them of their own.

• The training is imparted to make all the local institutions to function on bottoms up approach.

• The people are trained to make pressure groups among themselves so that government and public functionaries can be pressurised to properly trickle down the benefits to the local people.

• People are trained to diversify their livelihood options to attain sustainable status.

• People are trained to raise their voice against exploitation and injustice and break their culture of silence using legitimate and peaceful methods which are coherent with Gandhian ideology.

Promoting Education and enhancing the literacy rate

Pragati right from its initial years realised the importance of the formal education. As the district has the majority of ST population where the level of awareness and literacy level is very low, thus it was impossible to visualise a sustainable model of development without mitigating low level of awareness and illiteracy. The low level of awareness and illiteracy culminated into the culture of silence which was proving extremely detrimental for any kind of development and progress as envisioned by state government, central government and local NGO’s. Thus education was seen not just as a source to enlighten the marginalised section but also a provider of voice to those voiceless who have adhered to the culture of silence.

Right from1988, the year when Pragati was formed, the organisation played a pivotal role in proliferating education in various tribal villages and developmental area of Pragati in Sundergarh district. The organisation from 1988 to 2000, actively help in running 37 Non Formal Educational (N.F.E) centres across various villages in Sundergarh district. N.F.E was a government sponsored educational promotional scheme and Pragati acted as a facilitator for the scheme. Various logistics such as arranging instructors, preparing and distributing educational material and ensuring proper attendance in centres by creating awareness among the parents and guardians was handled by Pragati. In 1997, when Pragati started working in collaboration with Action Aid as a donor agency, Action Aid came with its own N.F.E with 7 centres across the developmental area and Pragati played a key role in managing them.

Various other governmental schemes such as, Adult Educational Programme etc were also facilitated by Pragati, across the district. Now various government sponsored schemes are merged into Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (S.S.A), and Right to Education has now been made a fundamental right of every citizen, Pragati is keenly working, so that these Governmental schemes are properly run and the community itself manages these schemes so that maximum benefit reach out to the marginalised section of the society. Pragati has helped to run Mid-Day-Meal scheme in various schools across the district, educational infrastructure such as black-boards, chalks, teaching -learning material and choosing proper instructors and teachers for the schools. Also the girl-child is especially promoted for receiving formal education.

Pragati realised that the government schemes won’t be able to trickle down the benefits to all the sections until and unless the people’s participation is ensured in running them. Thus Pragati helped in promotion of various committees such P.T.A (Parent Teacher Association) and M.T.A (Mother Teacher Association) in order to create awareness about the education as well as impose checks and balance on the working of village school administration. V.E.Cs (Village Education Committee/s) was also promoted across the villages which supervise the functioning of the schools in their respective villages. These committees are also the watch dog of percentage of attendance of children in schools, quality of education and quality of food served in Mid‐Day‐Meal scheme. 

These committees and associations are chosen by villagers themselves, and thus are the perfect examples of people’s participation in democratic and decentralised way. Moreover, the accountability and transparency in the system is promoted by organising Public Hearing for Quality Education, where public functionaries such as School Inspectors and Headmasters are liable to be answerable to the question raised by villagers regarding the funds and administration of the schools.

PRE-EDUCATION

Pragati has taken challenge to change the education scenario of its working area to capable all the children to attend the pre education centre and start their career and make them mentally and intellectually fit to run in the present developmental process. The Anganwadi is to strengthen and make the people manage their own institution like Pre education centre and local schools. All the children immunized and avail the govt. facilities for them. For this the village level mothers committee have been oriented for the successful implementation of Mother and child care progamme. Various activities like awareness of Anganwadi Workers & Helpers, Mothers committee, School Management Committee and ensuring pre education syllabus of Govt. of Orissa, & formation of Children club has been carried out.

Promoting alternative sources of Energy

India is an energy deficit country, particularly the rural areas across the country has to face the major energy crunch. There are two major reasons for this fact. Firstly, since the country is energy deficit and urban areas consume the major share of energy in the name of industrial use and development, thus rural areas are neglected in getting their due share. Secondly, bulk of population in the rural areas consists of poor and economically weaker sections that are not able to afford the energy at the market prices. Thus the energy crunch in rural areas is due to both availability and affordability of the energy.

Pragati realised that the quality of life of the tribal families in the development area can be enhanced if the renewable and the economical source of energy are made accessible to them. The tribal families that are engaged in manufacturing goods like bamboo crafts, baskets and other goods based on forest products could improve on their efficiency by addition in working hours after the day-light, if economical and renewable source of energy are promoted.

Realising  the  above  facts, Pragati  in  association with  Indian Rural Energy Network  (I.R.E.N.E.T), Bangalore decided to promote solar lantern among the tribal families who cannot afford electricity at the market prices. The solar lantern needs one time investment and has negligible maintenance cost. The solar lantern, as name suggests, utilises  the  solar energy during  the day  to get  itself charged and can act as a  source of  light  for around 6 hours. It is very easy to use and causes no pollution. 

Apart from adding to the income of the tribal household, another major achievement of this solar lantern has been to promote literacy level and the education. School going children of the tribal families without any source of energy are benefitted a lot. Now, after this solar lantern is installed in the families the time after sunset can be utilised by the students for their studies.

The cost of solar lantern is around Rs 2650. Pragati realised that poor tribal families won’t be able to pay this much amount of money in one instalment. Thus, Pragati fixed the monthly instalments for the poor families depending upon their affordability. The monthly instalment as low as Rs 50 were fixed in some cases in order to promote solar lantern even among poorest of the poor.

Apart from this, Pragati is actively promoting other renewable energy sources like bio-gas, efficient smokeless chulas, fuel from compost etc. Pragati is also creating awareness regarding efficient use of fuel and to promote eco-friendly ways for attaining energy security in the developmental area.

NETWORKING/LOBBY AND ADVOCACY

N.A.O.W and Jajnaseni 

Paschim Orissa Mahila Mahasabha 

Nari Jagran Mahila Mahasangh 

Gram Mangal  Mahasangh 

Village Group 

Maitri Sangh  

Vision for Development by PRAGATI

Pragati is a voluntary organisation registered under the society registration act XXI, 1860. It is registered under the FCRA of 1976 and the Income Tax Act of 1961.

Abstract

The development philosophy of Pragati is based on the very idea of Gram Swaraj of Mahatma Gandhi. This philosophy aims to generate dynamic positive changes among the marginalised sections of society through dignified empowerment and encouraging sustainability in every aspect of human life. Pragati also hope to decrease socio-economic inequality and to revive traditional rural technology and promote sustainable innovation. To increase people’s awareness about their environment; the roles/positions of women in rural societies; health and sanitation; fundamental and legal rights etc. Provision of legal aid and rights awareness are high priorities of the organisation. All of the above is geared toward sustainable development, empowerment and self-reliance, enhancement of social cohesiveness and empowerment of the marginalised section of the society.

PRAGATI’s vision for development is holistic. PRAGATI believes that economic improvement of the community is just one of the dimensions of development. Also, that development devoid of ethics and values cannot sustain itself. Hence, value and ethics are integral components of development and agents to bring social change and transformation.

The holistic development as envisioned by Pragati has following dimensions

SOCIAL: This dimension of development aims to bring equality, social justice and fraternity into the society. It also aims to abolish any kind of discrimination and exploitation based on caste, creed, colour, ethnicity and gender. This dimension of development is also directed to provide upward social mobility, 

respect and dignity to those sections of the society which are deliberately compelled to be marginalised for centuries because of segregation and deprivation.

SPRITUAL: The development vision of PRAGATI believes that “Spiritual force” in an individual is the most prominent power. This “Spiritual force” has the infinite capacity to bring change and transformation in the lives of the individuals. This “Spiritual force” is instrumental in enhancing self worth, self confidence and strong will power in the individuals. Its only through practicing the right values and ethics in daily life, that this spiritual force can be developed. Thus, the development model of PRAGATI is based on values and ethical practices.

EMOTIONAL: PRAGATI believes that emotional bonding at all levels; right from family to nation is a necessary component of development. The vision for development by PRAGATI lays emphasis on collaboration and cooperation rather than competition. PRAGATI envisions the vital importance of the emotional dimension in sharing of resources so that resources are not only utilised in an optimum fashion but also distributed judiciously to each and everyone. The developmental model practised by PRAGATI also envisages that basic values like humanity, love for mankind, resource sharing and brotherhood can only be

proliferated by emotional bonding.

ECONOMICAL: The economic dimension of development lays emphasis on improving overall quality and standard of living by helping people to achieve gainful employment and/or self-employment. This element of the Pragati development model is also intended to contribute to the abolition of food insecurity and malnutrition. The economic development of the people through livelihood diversification; as enshrined in the DEVELOPMENT model of PRAGATI would also help in mitigating migration and human trafficking from the tribal villages. It is realised that until and unless there is pressure from below by the people at the grass root level, state/large NGO development schemes and projects are unable to trickle down benefits to the lower strata of society due to dysfunctional bureaucratic machinery and malpractices like corruption and red-tapeism. This economic dimension has put a lot of emphasis on creating awareness and assisting pressure groups.

CULTURAL: Developmental models adopted in various developing countries are/have been ethnocentric in nature. This has caused serious distortion in the cultural and social fabric of the places where these kinds of ethnocentric and exotic models are adopted. The most harmful manifestations of these models have been gross distortion in the local culture and identity of the regions. The results of these kinds of models are; lop-sided growth of small sections of the society. PRAGATI believes that development should strengthen the local culture and practices rather than weakening them and/or overshadowing them with exotic cultural influences. Thus, this dimension of development by PRAGATI lays emphasis on enriching traditional practices and tribal identity. PRAGATI is also creating awareness among people so that they can develop a sense of pride for their own culture and do not consider it to be inferior to other cultures.

NETWORKING/LOBBY AND ADVOCACY

Pragati, apart from creating social capital at the grass-root level, is also keen to be synergising and working together with likeminded organisations at regional, state and national level. Pragati envisages that networking and coming together of such organisations would accelerate the process of socio-economic and value based change. Networking with such organisations would also help to achieve energy security, environmental awareness, democratic decentralisation and rights based models of development. The network of Pragati with some other important organisations as below:

• Nationa Alliance of Women

• Indian Rural Energy Net work

• Gandhian Action Network

• Jagnyaseni- Anti-Trafficking Campaign Net work

 

 

Forest and Land Rights

One of the most prominent issues in empowering the tribal communities and strengthening the tribal identity is identifying and providing Land and Forest Rights to the local communities. Land and Forest are the most valuable assets in the tribal villages, thus for the sustainable development of the tribal communities, these Rights must be judiciously given to them. The Land and Forests Rights must reach even to the poorest of the poor and in both letter and spirit. The forests have been the natural habitat of the tribal communities. Studies from around the world have shown the importance of intermediate levels of disturbance, such as result from traditional forest management, in the maintenance of biodiversity and endemism. Thus they ought to be identified as an integral

component of this ecosystem, playing a vital role in conserving and further enhancing the bio-diversity of the region. Moreover, the tribal culture, local cults and practices are very much dependent on the forest, therefore providing the Forest and Land Rights would have a key role in making tribal culture more vibrant.

However, the colonial hangover of Pax-Britanica is still clearly visible, even today in the Governmental policies and attitude of public functionaries while dealing with Forest and Land Rights for the tribal communities. The classification of forests as done by the colonial British government which was anti-developmental in nature and exploitative for local communities; unfortunately still continues. The forests are still classified as:

Reserved Forests

Protected Forests

Village Forests

The Tribal Act-2005 has provided some solace to the tribal villages dependent on the forests but a lot still needs to be done for its proper implementation.

PRAGATI is pro-actively involved in making people aware about the issue, providing legal advice relating to land and forest rights and creating and strengthening pressure groups. PRAGATI is keenly involved in creating and strengthening of a pressure group/umbrella-group called SUNDARGARH ADIVASI MANCH. PRAGATI is also actively involved in the activities and mobilisation of the National Campaign for Survival and Dignity; which proved to be instrumental in the drafting of the Tribal Act of 2005. PRAGATI has been involved in mobilising the community to fight for their rights by using peaceful and legitimate methods.

PRAGATI is involved in helping people’s institutions like Gram Sabha and Palli Sabha in maintaining the land records, recording public settlement and mapping. PRAGATI is also involved in helping the marginalised population of the villages to get the official land lease documents. It is also ensuring that official leases of land for households is jointly in the name of husband and wife; this is done in order to make sure that women get their due share of the property rights. In the case of single women it is ensured that the lease of land for the house-hold is in the name of woman exclusively.

PRAGATI helps reserve forest dweller to get forest SIRONAMA and Govt. convergence programme and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme in collaboration with district administration.

Integrated Livelihood

PRAGATI has realised that helping people in engaging them in gainful employment/self-employment can be panacea for many evils like dire poverty, food insecurity, poor living standard, large scale migration, human trafficking, malnutrition etc. Realising this fact PRAGATI is constantly working to provide diverse livelihood opportunities to local tribal communities. The diversification of livelihood is also essential here as agrarian economy is unable to support all the needs of the local communities because of constraints like rocky terrain, infertile soil, lack of water management, traditional farm practices etc. PRAGATI is working to diversify the following livelihood options for the rural households:

Livelihood Options

Agriculture (Paddy and vegetables)

Labour

Collecting forest products

Poultry, Piggery and Goatry

AGRICULTURE

PRAGATI is pro-actively promoting the sustainable agriculture by providing better and improved quality of inputs like seeds etc. The organisation is also keen that the people adopt the diversify agriculture practices by promoting them to grow seasonal vegetables like tomato, potato, brinjal, lemon, chilly etc. The organisation is also actively involved is creating awareness about the scientific farm practices that they can enhance the productivity of the land. The monetary help and aid is also given on a priority basis to buy inputs like oxen, irrigation infrastructure, better and improved quality seeds, manure etc.

The organisation is promoting the environmental friendly and sustainable farm practices like advocating the use of manures and organic fertilizers. As the tribal villages lack the purchasing power and capacity to buy chemical fertilizers and also once the chemical fertilizers are used on a piece of land they become essential for cultivation every time the piece of land is used for further cultivation. This makes the farmer dependent on these chemical fertilizers. Thus instead of chemical fertilizers the traditional manures and organic fertilizers are promoted for cultivation.

Labour

Daily wage labour is one of the important means of livelihood for the local tribal communities. Many Governmental schemes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (M. N.R.E.G.A) have now made “Right to Work” as a statutory right of the people. However, the studies across the country shown that the schemes like M.N.R.E.G.A are running well only in those areas where local N.G.O’s and/or the voluntary organisations and community leaders are pro-actively involved in the implementation process.

PRAGATI has realised the fact that until and unless there is pressure from the below the governmental schemes won’t be able to trickle down the benefits to the marginalised section of the society. Thus people are constantly made aware about their rights and to make grass root organisations and pressure groups. The organisation is actively involved on following fronts:

To mobilize local communities to form grass root organisations and pressure groups.

To make local people aware about the minimum wage rate so that they are not exploited by the middlemen, contractors and local administration.

To pressurise local administration using pressure tactics like peaceful march, procession, and dharna so that public grievances are redressed.

To organise people so that they can pressurize local authorities to be accountable and work transparently.

COLLECTING FOREST PRODUCTS

Collecting forest products have been the most important occupation of these tribal communities traditionally. It’s after the impact of rapid industrialization and blind cutting of forests by government and contractors in the name of “development” that people adhered to different livelihood activities. But today also the collection of forest product is a major livelihood activity in these tribal villages. Following are the important products collected by the tribal villagers:

• Wood (as fuel and building material)

Non Timber Forest Products like:

Fruits

Vegetables

Medicinal Herbs

Honey

Wild Flowers and Seeds (like Mahua)

• Wild animals (for meat)

• Kendu leaves

PRAGATI knowing the importance of this livelihood activity is spreading awareness about conservation of forests and other flora and fauna. PRAGATI is also encouraging forest based manufactured products like bamboo baskets etc. PRAGATI is also generating awareness in people about the valuable medicinal plants and trees which can be used as well as marketed.

The most vital issue on which PRAGATI is working is to mobilise people about their forest and land rights. The organisation wants that people should use the forests as considering them as the property of the community. This would help not only in sharing the responsibility to conserve these forests but also would pressurize the government to give them forests and land rights.

Poultry and Goatry

The poultry and the goatry are the two livelihood options that have been practiced by tribal families since time immemorial. The tribal families are generally non-vegetarian, chicken and mutton in the diet are the major sources of proteins for the tribal people. Also, taming and breeding goats as well as chickens are inherent parts of the tribal culture in the district.

Pragati realised that goatry and poultry are the traditional practices in the developmental area, capitalising on this fact the organisation decided to use them to diversify livelihood options in order to enhance the economic conditions as well as living standards of the area. The families suffering from acute poverty are indentified on a priority basis and monetary help is provided so that they can initiate goatry or poultry, depending upon their personal choice, to increase their family income. Besides this PRAGATI is also involved is creating awareness about sound, modern and scientific practices through which the efficiency of these livelihood options can be further increased.

CASE STUDY

(These cases highlight the contrasting conditions of two families who were the beneficiaries of goatry loans, one received a loan from the government’s scheme while the other received aid from PRAGATI. The stark differences in the conditions are because of the influences of corruption, malpractices, mismanagement and delays in the government machinery.)

Name of the beneficiary: Sumati Dansena

Village: Masabira

Funding Agency: S.G.S.Y (Governmental Scheme)

In the year 2001, under Swaranajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojna (S.G.S.Y), Sumati Dansena, wife of Sardhakar Dansena received a loan of Rs. 25,000 to start goatry as an alternative source of livelihood. The loan included insurance cover (Livestock Insurance) for the goats as well. Nevertheless, because of corruption in the governmental machinery, she was compelled by the bankers and local Block authorities to buy the goats through a middleman. The bankers and local Block officers received commission from the middleman. Thus, naturally the goats that were provided to Sumati Dansena by the middleman were of inferior quality. A few of them were suffering from diseases and infection right from day one.

Within two months two out of the ten goats died because of disease and infection. In spite of the cover of livestock insurance, she didn’t receive even a single penny from the Insurance Company, because the Insurance Inspector did not pay the timely visit, thus the official proofs for submitting to the Insurance Company  like  photographs  of  the  deceased  goats were  not  taken  for  the  official  formalities  of  the Insurance Company.

Within one year all the ten goats died. The family didn’t receive even a single penny from the Livestock Insurance cover. The family is today under the burden of loan of Rs. 25,000 and with no additional source of income. Thus in a nut shell, due the goatry loan the economic condition of the family has taken a downward trend, exasperating their position.

Name of the beneficiary: Phula Rout

Village: Budapahad

Funding Agency: PRAGATI

Phula Rout, wife of Ugrasen is a resident of Budapahad village in Sundargarh district. Five years ago the family was in the grip of acute poverty and destitution. The family was dependent on a labour wage and the annual income of family was around Rs. 8000. Due to penury, even the nearest kin treated them as a burden and because of a family feud they were compelled to leave their house and settle on the top of a hill. The family at that time was devoid of two square meals and shelter to live in. 

PRAGATI intervened in those conditions to improve the living standard of the family. Due to intervention of Pragati, Phula Rout became the member of village S.H.G (Sangathan Jayma Tarini Mahila Sangathan ). The Sangathan gave support in various forms to the family. The Grain Bank of the Sanganthan ensured that two square meals were available to the family.

The family, apart from this support, was given monetary help of Rs. 3000, to initiate goatry in the year 2002. The family started with 4 goats. Every year the family now earns an additional income of Rs. 20000 by selling and breeding goats. Apart from this, the number of goats has increased to 16. The family now, has a decent living standard. Due to this transformation, the children can go to school as they do not have to indulge in wage labour any more. The family is thus, progressing towards a better life.

Creating awareness and Capacity building has facilitated a milieu of transparency and accountability. The villages have developed a unique culture of record keeping and information sharing through wall-writings and circulars. This has empowered the whole community.

Vormiculture: Eco-friendly way to increase soil fertility

PRAGATI  is keen to enhance the productivity of the crops by synergising the traditional farm practices with the modern and scientific ones. PRAGATI envisages that sustainable cropping can only be achieved if  people  adhere  to  efficient  utilisation  of  the  resources.  The  organisation  believes  that  sustainable farming can be practiced only through organic farming and using manures. There are dual reasons for that.  Firstly,  the  chemical  fertilizers  are  non‐affordable  by  the  people  in  the  tribal  villages  as  the purchasing power of the people in the developmental area is very low due to dire poverty. Secondly, the studies across the country prove that once the chemical fertilizers are used, the land become dependent on  them.  PRAGATI  therefore  has  come  up with  the  organic  and  eco‐friendly ways  of  enhancing  soil productivity and micro nutrients. The two most popular ways to do so are through vormiculture and use of fish hormones.

Pragati believes in the model of Demonstration Farming where the practices like vormiculture and spraying of homemade fish hormones are showcased. These organic and traditional methods are very beneficial for crops and vegetables. They enhance the soil fertility and thus crop productivity and production.

Worms are proficient in preparing soil rich in nutrients. Pragati demonstrates all this so that these practices can be performed in the ordinary households of the tribal villages. For this purpose Pragati has two cemented (concrete) tanks constructed at the field campus. These are of size 6*4*12 feet. Initially, one small corner of the tank is left as the habitat for the earthworms. The corner is walled with loosely arranged bricks to allow space for the movement of earthworms in the tank. The remaining part of the tank is divided into four equal layers with a minimum height of 2.5 feet. The first layer comprises of stones of irregular shapes and of size approximately that of a cricket ball. The second layer comprises of sand with cow dung as an upper layer and mixed with water. The third layer consists of non-oily leaves and straws which are covered with the

fourth layer of clay soil and some dung cakes. Around 100-150 earth worms are then put on the top-most layer.

The tank is covered with a shed to ensure that the earthworms do not die because of exposure to direct sunlight and/or rain. Regularly water is sprinkled on this arrangement. After few days, the leaves get decompose and act as the source of nutrients necessary for crops & vegetables. By this time earth-worms also get multiplied to 250-300 in number. They are collected to be re-used while the remaining material is taken out to be spread in the fields.

Pragati also illustrates the preparation of ‘fish hormones’. Spraying fish hormones is very beneficial for the crops and vegetables. It is good for the plant- health and it ensures that the flowers, leaves and fruits do not fall off the plant prematurely. For this purpose, the waste materials of fish which are not generally consumed (scales, fins, intestine, etc.) are collected. These parts of fish are than mixed in equal proportion with jaggery. This mixture is kept in a glass jar for about a month, in the presence of sunlight but direct exposure to sunlight is avoided. It is ensured that some amount of air passes through the jar regularly. After about a month the mixture odours like a jack fruit which indicates that it is ready for the use. Water is finally added to the mixture so that it can be sprayed on the plants/crops in the fields.

Human trafficking

Human trafficking is a group of crimes involving the exploitation of men, women and children for financial gains which is violation of fundamental human rights. Victims are lured or abducted from their homes and subsequently forced to work against their wishes through various means in houses or other establishments, indulge in prostitution or subjected to various types of indignities and even killed or incapacitated for the purposes of begging and trade in human organs.

Elements of Trafficking

Provisions in Indian Penal Code against Trafficking

Sec. 366 (A) (Procreation of minor girl).

Sec. 372 Selling minor for prostitution.

Sec. 373 Baying minor for prostitution.

Sec. 366 (B) Importation of minor girl from abroad.

Sec. 376 (2) (G) Committing gang rape.

Sec. 509 Outraging modesty of the woman.

All offences are non-bailable, triable by session court and punishment up to 10 years

DEFINATION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF TRAFFICKING

The definition of trafficking in persons adopted by Vienna Protocol of the UN Crimes Commission in October 2000 is as follows: “For the purpose of this Protocol, “trafficking in persons” shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power, or of a position of vulnerability, or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of

Organs”.

Background and Causes for high rate of Human Trafficking in Sundargarh

Background

With the onslaught of globalisation and rapid urbanization, the rich land and natural resources of the tribal communities of Sundargarh are more and more coveted by the government and multinational companies to extract super-profits. Huge tracts of land are taken by the government and private bodies in the name of ‘public purpose’. All this coupled with deforestation in the name of development has further marginalised the tribal communities. The traditional foods, medicines and spices of tribal people, as well as resources for crafts have been lost with the removal of forestry. With landlessness and the decrease in access to resources comes food insecurity and dependency on a daily wage from local landowners.

The loss of land and resources leading to poverty and migration has led to the splintering of once tight knit communities. The strong beliefs and values of tribal communities have given the way to looking to the materialistic values of urbanized society. Alcoholism has crept in as another potently destructive force. Social division has been enhanced in many places by the conversion of many tribal communities to Hinduism, Christianity and other religions.

Within this context of poverty and exploitation, and loss of traditional family and community values, women tend to be the first to suffer. Splintering of the community leads to a breakdown of the social safety net traditionally in existence for women. Traditionally in tribal communities, the position of women had been one of strength, as providers of nutrition and carers of the

family. Due to a combination of poverty and breakdown of the community, women have now become extremely vulnerable to abuse, neglect and exploitation, both from within the community and outside it.

Causes

The major causes for human trafficking in Sundargarh are economic in nature. Nevertheless, other factors which although are secondary and latent cannot be denied.

The basic and most obvious cause of trafficking in this community is poverty. Tribal communities have no rights to the land, and the land they are using is hilly and difficult to work. Families are large, often with five or six children, and basic needs, down to the level of sufficient food, cannot be met. Offers for a child to earn relatively large sums of money in Delhi are generally welcomed by struggling parents. For older girls, often the only option for feeding themselves and helping their families is to leave, as there is no way in the village of being financially independent.

The educational infrastructure is in a very bad plight in the tribal villages. Education is looked upon as just a means to get gainful employment and because of the lack of employment opportunities in the district even the educated youths remain either underemployed or unemployed. This has caused tribal people to lose their interest in educational system. Schools in poor rural and tribal areas tend to be inefficiently run with a high rate of teacher absenteeism. The lack of emphasis on education in the region means that it is impossible to move out of the cycle of poverty. Young people have no options in the villages but to continue the work of their parents on the land. Lack of knowledge about the ‘outside world’, as well as of money, leads to a naive-ness, and any movement to urban areas in search of work leaves them open only to unskilled labour and exploitation.

The growing economic disparity between regions is becoming more and more apparent and increasing urbanization has led to a high demand for cheap expendable labour, into which category young, uneducated and naive tribal girls fit perfectly. Moreover, the demand for young girls as the domestic household helper has also enhanced in the recent years because of the fact that bulk of woman-folk in the urban areas go for work these days.

Another large cause of trafficking is the low status of women and the feminization of poverty. While male children are favored, female children are often neglected and abused. There is also high incidence of sex selective abortion and female infanticide in the region. The education of girls is rarely a priority and some girls go to earn money in order to pay for the education of their brothers. Those that are in school are often taken out to work at home. Women in the home have a heavy work load with little reward. These factors often lead to girls feeling unwanted and neglected at home. Conflicts in the family, leading to rape, abuse and domestic violence, are another cause for young girls to fall into the hands of agents offering work outside.

The destruction of tight knit communities and decrease in family values caused by the increasing influence of urbanization and encroaching materialistic values seem to have led to a weakening of the psychological links between young people and their parents and families, as well as of traditional support systems. As well as being unable to provide basic needs, families seem in some cases to be lacking in affection and psychological proximity, which affects male as well as female children. Many girls do not want to come back to the village and often stay away for several years.

With the loss of traditional community values, beliefs and lifestyle, many of the younger generation are looking outwards to mainstream culture. Natural adolescent curiosity is aggravated by the lack of recreation activities and earning opportunities in rural areas and promises of job, good salary and a good lifestyle are easy lures.

Rural tribal villages are restrictive for young people, both economically and culturally. There is no work available, no security and no way of becoming independent and fulfilling one’s basic needs. Migration to more affluent urban areas is an obvious option. However, without any education or skills and no experience of urban life, as well as no money to start off with, traveling alone in search of work is basically impossible. Agents linked to urban placement offices take full advantage of this situation and step in to “help”.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT:

So far as the women empowerment is concern, following activities has been carried out:

1. Women organization

2. Formation and strengthening of women SHG

3. Women federation.

4. Women self Help Cooperative.

5. Women land rights campaign

6. Female PRI trainings

7. Awareness on Female Migration

8. Awareness on special legal provision and domestic violence act.

9. Equal wage

10. Counselling, fact findings and case handling.

11. Awareness on female foeticide and decline sex ratio.

12. Training on life cooping education.

13. Training on livelihood skill development.

14. Girl’s child education.

15. Observation of International women’s day

16. Anti liquor campaign.

17. Pragati Sewashram: A self-sufficient model for rural development

The development philosophy of PRAGATI is based on the Gandhian vision of Gram Swaraj. The vision lays emphasis on the economic self sufficiency of the villages. Gandhian philosophy envisages that every village has been bestowed with rich natural resources. Even without any kind of help and support from outside sources/agencies, the villages are capable enough to sustain themselves economically. The rich culture and tradition along with non-materialistic attitudes and values of the villages have a key role to play in achieving self-sufficiency.

Gandhian vision of development also has faith in promoting village and cottage industries by promoting traditional rural innovations and technologies. The traditional technical know-how and practices are considered sustainable and environment friendly.

To the vision of Gandhi, the economic self sufficiency cannot be achieved until and unless the inequality, social stratification, unequal status for women and unequal distribution of wealth and resources exists in the society. Thus, society should be mobilised to mitigate all these evils and to empower the marginalised sections of the society.

Keeping this vision and philosophy at its centre PRAGATI has developed its SEWASHRAM (Abode for Service) in Alapaka village of Sudargarh district. The Sewashram functions on the model of Gram‐Swaraj. Diverse livelihood activities are adopted in the Sewashram to be economically self sufficient. These activities include:

Poultry and Bee keeping

Rice mill

Oil mill

Vegetable and fruit plantation for self-consumption as well as commercial purposes

Apart from being a role model of being self-sufficient, Sewashram is also a centre for various vocational trainings, capacity building programs and is involved in increasing the skill set of local people. Sewashram is actively involved in creating awareness on relevant issues and providing legal aid. Sewashram acts as the training and rehabilitation centre for the girls who are rescued from trafficking.

Sewashram is deeply involved in preserving the local tribal culture and identity. It is the hub for plethora of cultural activities which are regularly organised. Sewashram acts as a central place for resource and information sharing so that a culture of accountability and transparency can be inculcated in the local community. Sewashram is also involved in mobilising people to organise themselves for their rights so that democratic decentralisation can reach up to the grass-roots.