Livelihood for A Landless

Extract from Case Study - Shakti Sahaya and Padam Khora

Padam Khora is a landless person of the weaver’s community in Satsemili village of Thuba GP. He lives with his wife Sonadei, father Rama (60) & mother Jamuna (58). He pursues his traditional occupation of weaving clothes to earn his livelihood. He sells his produces in weekly market at Padwa & also Araku in Andhra Pradesh. But the impact of urbanization in clothing style since last ten years has adversely affected Padam’s profession, the only spring of his livelihood. Poverty has made him so helpless that he is even unable to carry the burden of his old parents.

The only resource he has is half acre of encroached land (Anabadi land) from which he gets food for only six months..He has to purchase food grains like paddy and Ragi to meet the food requirement of his family.

Pragati started implementation of Community Development Project in Thuba GP in May 2005 and mobilized for formation of VDCs & CBO.In May 2006, it was decided by Pragati team in consultation with the CBO (Lok Sangathan) to provide 5 pairs of bullocks to 5 beneficiaries under Shakti Sahaya Scheme.

For the full story, please see Case Study - Shakti Sahaya and Padam Khora

Paradigm shift

Extract from Case Study - Shakti Sahaya and Immunization

A Kachha walkable road winds up towards Godiput, a remote hamlet village,  5 k.m. away from the Gram Panchayat headquarters of Badel in Nandapur block. The village houses 35 families out of which 19 families belong to scheduled tribes and rest 16 hails from other backward castes. It is quite surprising that even after six decades of independence, the village still lacks of communication facility. No wonder that the govt. people at the grassroots on whose burden lies the responsibility of catering essential services and safety nets to the poor, seldom visit the village to render the much needed services. You have to make your way through the agriculture fields and on the earth bundings of the low lands to reach the village. During the rainy season, the villagers face a lot of difficulties to access essential services and even to the Panchayat headquarters.

Agriculture being the primary source of their livelihood, the villagers rear cattle to use them in ploughing their agriculture fields. However, every year, particularly during the rainy season there is high mortality rate of cattle.6 cattle heads lost their lives last year due to unidentified diseases. This kind of mortality rate affects the economy of these poor villagers and pushes them   to a state of indebtness.

When Pragati starts implementation of Shakti Sahaya Scheme in the village in 2006, it is a major finding that the livestock causalities are largely due to lack of preventive measures and ignorance of the villagers to access veterinary services. It is also revealed that the villagers have inherent belief that these causalities occur due to wrath of the village Goddess, and hence it is necessary to appease her through prayer and offerings like coconut, banana, incense Sticks, and flowers etc . The village priest is called to perform a ceremony called Panee in local language. There is no recorded evidence of vaccination in the history of the village.

For the full story, please see Case Study - Shakti Sahaya and Immunization

New Lease of Life

 Extract from Case Study - Shakti Sahaya and Bulan Hansa

Bulan Hansa is a man from Paraja tribe who lives in Datunput, a hamlet village of Khamra in Badel Gram Panchayat of Nandapur block. His family consists of his wife Gunu, daughter Parvati, (4 years old) and son Labkush (7 months). He owns a mud hut with tiled roof.

The year 2003, brought with it misfortune for Bulan as he was arrested by the police on charges of murder of Sonu Hansa, his paternal uncle. It was purely accidental. “One day all of a sudden my uncle rushed into my house and tried to kill me with an axe in hand. I wanted to defend myself, and in the encounter my uncle lost his life. I was quite fixed and stood shivering as I couldn’t believe it for myself. In my heart of hearts I had never thought that I would ever commit such a heinous crime as murder and that too of my own paternal uncle,” Recalls Bulan.He was arrested on charges of murder and sent to jail. For a moment he thought that his life is finished for ever to be spent within the boundary of prison cell, isolated from family and friends. “What would happen to my wife and children? Would I be acceptable as before? Would I walk out of the jail to be despised by everybody as a criminal? What would happen to my children if I would be convicted and sent to jail?” All these questions perplexed him. In side the corner of the jail he would long for his native village, his friends and family. “Most often as I closed my eyes, I would pray God to wash away all my sins I have committed  though accidentally and forgive me, lead me out of this darkness so that once more I would be able to lead a normal life,” says Bulan.

The trial continued for one and half year. But at last, the Hon’ble court of the District and Sessions Judge, acquitted him of the charges under benefit of doubt and he was set free. He returned home, a man who had lost many resources which were the only means of livelihood for his family. He had spent a sum of Rs 80,000/- including service charges of Advocate to court Stamp fee for which he had to sell away 5 Acres of land and mortgage another 3 Acres. Even his family had sold the bullocks to meet the expenses. For the time being he couldn’t think of an immediate source of livelihood except wage labour.

For the full story, please see Case Study - Shakti Sahaya and Bulan Hansa

“Steps to Rightful Claims”

 Extract from Case study - CWS Gunthaguda NREGA

Gunthaguda is a small village in Mahadeiput GP surrounded by small hillocks. It consists of   55 households out of which 13 are scheduled tribes and 42 families belong to other backward caste. Agriculture is the primary means of subsistence. They depend on monsoon for their agricultural activities as there are no other means of irrigation. There is a small farm pond in the village which is utilized by ten farmers for irrigation purpose and they raise summer crops. But for the rest of the families wage labour is the only source of livelihood once the harvest is over. Though NREGA is being implemented in the area since February 2006, villagers are not still aware to access Rights and claims under the Act i.e. apply for job card, employment and ensure appropriate wage remuneration. Thus most of the families are hired by local contractors and middlemen to work as cheap labourers at distant places.

In order to organize the communities, Pragati has facilitated a Village Development Committee in the village consisting of 12 members. There are monthly meetings in the village and Pragati staff sensitize the villagers on Govt. plans and programmes along with their work of promoting organic farming. With an objective to generate awareness on NREGA & RTI, Pragati had organized an awareness rally and public meeting in collaboration with PRI representatives of Mahadeiput and Mastiput GPs on 26^th September 2007 in which 50 persons of Gunthaguda village had participated.

For the full story, please see Case study - CWS Gunthaguda NREGA.

Project overview

An extract from Village Dev Plans and NREGA Process

The objective of the project was to create knowledge management systems and establish processes for service delivery under NREGA with emphasis on preparation of Village Development Plans.

Plans have always remained a paradox-planned somewhere and implemented elsewhere, designed till to date without relevance to the ground realities and the people for whom the plans are made have never been involved in the process of planning. Though the present PRI system enshrines that plans will be made by people in Palli Sabha and approved in the Gram Sabha but the mechanisms for materialization of this ideal is not yet established.

The NREGA Act is hailed as a historic land mark that can ensure the democratic privilege of dignified means of livelihood through Right to work with participatory processes like Social Audit and People’s Plan. This will also make way for creation of durable assets at community level for drought proofing, soil and water conservation, irrigation and communicable roads. 

However the ground realities smother of a gloomy picture as the basic conditions for effective implementation are yet to be put in place. There is no environment for participation of people in the entire process of planning and implementation. The Act emphasizes that nature of work will be determined in Palli Sabha through participatory people’s plans, approved in Gram Sabha and accordingly the shelf of activities would be prepared.

For the full story, please see Village Dev Plans and NREGA Process