PEOPLE AND THEIR PROBLEMS

New Delhi, 3 December 2005

In A State Of Neglect

 UTTARANCHAL WOMEN ON THE MOVE

 By Radhakrishna Rao

The State of Uttaranchal, lying in the lap of the mighty and magnificent Himalayas though rich in natural resources remains a laggard on the developmental front on account of the poor infrastructure, tough and difficult terrain, high rate of unemployment as well as conspicuous lack of livelihood opportunities as well as continued neglect by the successive governments – both at the State and Central levels.

Because of the hilly and undulating terrain, farming is restricted to only about 30-40% of the total geographical area of the region. Further agriculture in such a challenging landscape is hardly an economically remunerative preposition and as a result animal husbandry has become an inseparable part of the farming matrix in the State.

Not surprisingly then the region has been characterized by an excessive outward migration of able-bodied young men   to the plains of North India in search of livelihood opportunities. In the process only the aged, the ill, as well as children and women are left behind to  fend for themselves. In the absence of well focussed  and easily approachable public health care system, malnutrition and various diseases  are rampant and widespread in the region. As it is, many a pregnant woman in the remote hamlets  of the State during their labour pain die on account of the failure to get proper and timely medical care.

The rapidly eroding forests and the indiscriminate ecological degradation of the region has led to an acute shortage of fuel wood, fodder and water. The result is that  women who already shoulder heavy domestic  responsibilities are forced to walk long distance in search of these vital elements. Unable to withstand the heavy responsibilities of taking care of the families in the absence of menfolk, many of the women commit suicide.

According to Avadesh Kaushal, Chairperson of the Dehradun-based organization,  Rural Litigation and   Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), the women of Uttaranchal who toil for around 15 hours a day are also   subject to socio-economic discrimination at various levels .As such he strongly advocates the empowerment of women as a pathway to all round socio economic development of the hilly State.

Against this backdrop, the successful implementation of the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) funded “Community Empowerment  for Sustainable Development” programme  in 100 remote and backward villages in Tehri, Uttarkashi and Jaunsar blocks of the Garhwal region by RLEK has not only made women aware of their rights and  capabilities  but also emboldened them to participate in  many schemes aimed at the socio-economic transformation of their villages.

This innovative project with a focus on women and underprivileged sections of the society, which was completed in 2003 adopted rights based and bottoms up approach to grassroot level development. Kaushal drives home the point that right since its inception the programme avoided “spoon feeding” by ensuring the total involvement of the beneficiaries at every level. Income generation was promoted through training programmes in capacity building and the provision of micro capital to the all women  Self-Help Groups (SHGs) for investing small scale  enterprises.  Successful activities  included  food processing units involved in making pickles ,jams and sauce, cultivating mushroom and seasonal vegetables chicken rearing, dairying, and sheep breeding .Of course proper marketing outlets for the products  generated under these projects were arranged.

Visits of the SHG members to other parts of the country were conducted with a view to enhance their exposure, haring of experience and learning from examples of other successful community development initiatives. A cadre of para professionals in trades such as carpentry, plumbing, health, and horticulture has been trained. Thanks to this training, the village youths who used to while away their time in gambling and gossiping are now gainfully employed.

The all-women SHGs which are federated at the regional level are now drawing strength from their collective bargaining power in so far as lobbying at the higher level of governance is concerned. Many of the women SHG functionaries have emerged victorious in the Panchayat  elections. It is not little due to the training and guidance provided by RLEK that these semi-literate women have started displaying motivation and exemplary leadership qualities.

As rightly observed by Kaushal, the rural women are very much alive to their needs and have full capacity to rise to the occasion once they are provided full support. Kaushal’s argument is that since women hold the key to socio-economic development, it is vital to involve them in community upliftment schemes. It is a tribute to the vision of Kaushal that on completion of the UNDP-sponsored  programme, he did not allow  RLEK to rest on laurels.

On the contrary, he saw to it that the currents of “progress, hope and awareness” unleashed by the UNDP programme were harnessed to quicken the pace of social mobilization and economic development. And the RLEK’s response in the form of project “Prakriya” has helped the women SHGs to address the major problems facing the community.

With a people centric approach, Prakriya concentrates on community mobilization and capacity building rather than on service delivery. As pointed out by Arvind Kumar Sharma, who played a key role in mobilizing the local community and empowering them to fight for their rights, rural women of Uttaranchal have all the strength and motivation to ensure a speedy socio-economic transformation of the region.

In this context he highlighted the fact that Jai Bhavani Women’s SHG led by Jagadamba Devi successfully executed a village road project awarded by the local community. There was no corruption and no shoddy work in the execution of the project. Perhaps the most ambitious near term project taken under the aegis of women SHGs is the plan to produce

and market honey. Appropriately named Himalayan Herbal Honey the venture involves about 500 members drawn from BPL (Below Poverty Line) families.

As part of the project, about 20 women SHG members were trained at the central Bee Research and Training Institute (CBRTI) at Pune. Here they were taught how to attract honeybees and extract honey without any problem. Of course honey extraction has been a traditional occupation in this part of the country.

Dabbo Devi of Mahila Unnati SHG of Bhatwadi village says that she is now fully prepared to extract honey from the bees. In addition to focusing on mundane revenue generating activities, these all women SHGs  continue to play a crucial role in   supporting literacy and educational programmes, fighting social evils like liquor addiction and gambling as well as promoting  environmental conservation and community hygiene and health.---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)