Pramila an unbending panchayat leader

As the proverb goes - in books and love the mind pursues one end - Pramila Sinha, a grassroot woman of Unakoti district has proved it with her life-practice since childhood. The life-long lessons ultimately made her a leader of a grassroot society, empowered to challenge the oddities being faced by a woman and particularly one belonging to the opposition party. Headed by this exceptional woman, Goldharpur panchayat however being controlled by Congress, is witnessing facelift in traditional rural scene as well as percolation of developmental benefits.

            In her tender age while studying at sixth standard she had been compelled by her father to discontinue study. Nevertheless, that threat which had hardly posed any challenge before such a bold girl made her flee away home to take refuge into the heart of a young teacher of her village for sake of continuing schooling. By the way, she had for years lived together with the teacher Radhika Mohan Sinha and ultimately got married to him in 1956. Few years later, ironically when Radhika Mohan married another woman, Pramila used to sleep on the floor of the room where her husband shared the bed with her second wife.  Remaining unfazed over such a predicament, she had, on the contrary, asserted on holding the shelter to pursue education taking help from her teacher-husband. < more ... >

Jharna Kapali a relentless rural leader

Leaving the urban concrete-structures at the backdrop and escaping from the dint and bustle as well, approaching slowly is a narrow blacktop road, sometimes brick soling serpentine narrow path.  Apparently mundane environ however was turning over to unmatching landscape at par the motorcade speed. It was full of bewildering skits in all sundry - small cropping fields, bared farmers, grazing cows, ponds, lake and thousands of unknown aquatic plants and ducks floating therein along with mysteriously appearance of barbed wire fencing, border road and armed men in uniform. Only 25 minutes ride off Agartala city in the west, the village named Lankamura, pitted in the vortex of lush green appeared with a simple but intricate design.  

There lives a Madhabi-Malancha-Kainya (daughter of Madhabi-Malancha flowers – metaphorically meaning a lady who is living on the lap of greenery and orchard), named Jharna Kapali, 35 year old Panchayat – chief. How is this semi-literate lady, being the chief of a suburban village heading the family of 12,772 members? Has she become empowered, or a power lady? She was found wiping off sweat from her face with the lace of her sharee. The day she had spent long hours outside home under the scorching sun and roamed about hither and thither in the locality since morning. Her gesture was seemingly pointing a sheer desire of having a little rest. For, she would be chairing a meeting that afternoon at the panchayat for discussion over the selection of beneficiaries under a state sponsored scheme of pension for over-age and unmarried women. (More.....)
Written by Nandita Dutta (A member of ProMASS)

Courtesy NREGA: Vehicles in Shakhan hill

The next part of Study on social impact of  Self Help Groups on women-folk of Tripura will be blogged later on. 

For the first time, since Independence, Shakhan hill, one of the remotest areas in Tripura, India, shakes off inaccessible tag from March 24, 2012 as a road constructed under the Government sponsored MGNREGA scheme will connect six hamlets of the hill with the mainland. Vehicles to run through this newly constructed 14 km long road from Hanuman para of Taichama ADC village to Saikar. Without any facility of transportation so long, people belonging to tribal communities had no other option left but to walk through at least 30 km terrain for selling produce of shifting cultivation and purchasing essentials. Taking sick people to health care centers was a harrowing experience. However, the newly constructed road will make the lives of tribal people comfortable as well as add value to economic activities. The road will accrue benefits to 647 households living in the hill. Noteworthy, shifting cultivation (Slash and burn technique of cultivation) is the only occupation of the habitants. A Local Daily Newspaper Daily Desher Katha reports.

Self Help Groups and women-folk of Tripura

Jyotsna Chakma, a bubbling housewife of Aandercherah in North Tripura District has found a new meaning of life after she formed a Self Help Group along with 10 other women of the village. ‘Thanks to my hubby’, she tells as she attributes her tryst with the SHG was made possible owing to unending support from her husband during struggling period. Involved with weaving ethnic attire, Jyotsna’s SHG, Junan, have started jhum cultivation using modern techniques. 

A divorcee with no children, Kalpana Sinha grabbed the opportunity to form a SHG and found a meaningful way to lead a decent life. Kalpana, a resident of Sukanta Nagar under Kumarghat in North Tripura District, and her group members have diversified group’s activities largely. Starting with tailoring and weaving cloths, the group named as Gayatri SHG is now involved with small-scale vegetable cultivation, animal husbandry and milk production. While speaking on her plan, she disclosed her intention to produce bio-fertilizer. Jyotsna and Kalpana are just two of the more than 3.6 lakh people associated with SHGs.

The volunteers of the ProMASS Media Research Group are conducting a survey to understand the social and economic impact of SHGs, particularly on women, in Tripura. Though, the survey is yet to be completed, here we present a brief observation of our volunteers.

In the backdrop backwardness and ethnic conflict that raged Tripura for more than two decades, it is observed that SHG movement has opened doors of opportunities to under-privileged women of the State. Through formation of SHGs, women-folk got a chance to transform themselves from ‘non-economic’ entities to economic agents. Narrating the impact of SHG, Ms Lalita Sinha, a woman Panchayat Pradhan commented, women are now moving out of their homes and even villages. This gives them an exposure and an opportunity to interact with various persons including officials. Certainly, such exposure along with business activities has made the women-folk smarter and conscious about their rights. ProMASS activists observed that SHG members get exposure through fairs, training and workshop. A social identity and ending of isolation from the main society are just two of many other social benefits accrued to women of Tripura due to SHG movement. Stay tuned for more on this issue………

Militants and a woman ...

They came - armed and ruthless. They kidnapped her. Abused and tortured -she had to spend 11 horrible days in their captivity. They wanted to terrorize people of a picturesque valley. They demanded to her to support their heinous acts of violence. 

She was humiliated yet determined not to buckle under pressure exerted by militants. Finally, militants gave up and a triumphant woman - Smt Vrinda Mohini Tripura (47) - resurfaced.

Who Vrinda is …

Smt Vrinda, hails from a poor jhumiya (Shifting cultivators) family of Deo Valley, an picturesque and obscure tribal village of Tripura,India. She, later on, elected as Chairperson of Deo Valley Village Committee under Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous District Council (TTAADC). Once, a hotbed of militancy, intriguing Deo Valley is now hub of developmental activities. Thanks to prolonged struggle by Vrinda and her fellow villagers. That’s why to people of Deo Valley, Vrinda - more a social worker than a politician is.

Deo Valley …

Area under Deo Valley village committee, of which Vrinda is the incumbent Chairperson, is 15 sq.km. It comprises of 12 hamlets. Total population under her village committee stands at 3307. Tribal communities like Tripuri, Reang, Chakma and Darlong constitute the populace of Deo Valley TTAADC village. Most of these tribes are illiterate and poor jhumiyas.

Her struggle:

A cohesive action plan is necessary to break the prevailing social dogmas, said Vrinda. She is working to set up women's self-help groups, involve women in the rural development process, and build up Deo village as model village.

“Developmental policies, neglecting the culture and tradition of communities, will not yield desired result. Community participation is important for perfect blending of modernity with age-old tradition,” she asserted. For community participation, awareness among the people, especially women-folk, is necessary, she said. Vrinda emphasizes women education and proper care of girl children for true development. 

A yet to win fight …

Most of the tribal people, despite repeated attempts, are not interested to avail medical treatment facilities. One Ranati Tripura stated, we depend more on traditional and experience based Ayurvedic treatment. Tribal people form a strong bond with the nature.

Removing the dogma, she wants people to avail ayurvedic or modern treatment as situation demands. She is struggling to make the tribal rational. However, constant interactions with individual families and admirable works by ‘ASHA’ workers are slowly changing the situation.

On her abduction ….

She squirmed, quivered, as she was trying to recount her days in militants’ hideouts. She said, Ultras created anarchy all around the State during more than two decades starting in 1980s. Rampant looting, brutal killing of innocent people cast an atmosphere of utter distrust and insecurity. “It was a horrible experience”, she uttered meekly. Narrating her experience she stated hardnosed mental ordeal, physical torture and starvation in those 11 days took its toll on my physical and mental health. She is now suffering from incurable stomach disorder. Memories of those days still haunt me, paused Vrinda and added that it was people’s love and recognition of her good works among a section of militants that ultimately helped to break away from the clutches of dreaded militants.

Rattled youths set off to become community entrepreneur

Tales of simple, illiterate and semi-literate men of an Indian village are very common reflecting daily grind of life – suffer from eking out two square meals a day, inhuman struggle for survival, get lost and finally make transfusion of the legacy to their heirs. Not surprisingly, these very grassroot people, however, sometimes evince their inherent strength and might beget a change in the traditional living. Take the instance of youths of Mayachhari, inhabited by hundreds of poor families belonging to lower caste in North East India, inflicted by extremist terror for decades. Mayachhari, pitched with an undulated wild sylvan surroundings and used to passing life leisurely leaving her fate to the desire of the almighty, is about to wake up from lots of wounds and burns with a new intuition, awakening and zeal. 

A government sponsored tour, a PROMASS activist was also accommodated to wherein, gave an opportunity to land in a village, Mayachhari under Salema rural development block in Dhalai district of Tripura. There were about 40-45 youths involved in discussion. Someone, perhaps one of the key persons of the community was heard uttering, we should not stop at where we stood today. The discerning change we achieved at present shows the silver line in the cloudy sky – our programs need to be carried forward without hesitation. We are now free from poverty and next challenge, I think, is to make us a successful group-entrepreneur.  It appeared tall talks but proved wrong when the basement of their dream found lying somewhere else - in the adjacent vast farm lands including fisheries, rubber plantation and few acres of barren land purchased for similar purpose.  

Once regarded a vibrant agrarian village Mayachhari had converted into a troubled area few years back. The village had factually become man-less. Huts were gutted down; habitants were repeatedly intimidated by militants having a spree of killing were also resorting to abrupt violence and abduction. People of the locality witnessed the militants killing of a provincial Minister, named Bimal Sinha. Militants’ bullets had pierced heads and hearts of four Bank officials and looted money from the bank. An all-pervasive fear psychosis had gripped in the minds of commons leading them flee away from parental soil. The long span of 1990-2005 people of the area had bluntly encountered with nothing but gory days altogether.

However, Animesh, Secretary of the Loknath Self Help Group, said National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and Swaragayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) have been boon to village people. The first has ample scopes to create roads, water bodies, plantations and at the same time jobs. In 2010, most of the families of our village including our group members received 70-80 days jobs earning Rs. 100 a day, he said adding, by SGSY, we could create SHGs or swarojgari groups. The Loknath Self Help Group presently owns 130 Kani land. The group planned to dig out 14 water reservoirs for fisheries and prepare 14 kani land for rubber plantation. The group of 70 youths earned Rs 3-4 lakhs last year from 3 / 4 fisheries spreading two hectors.

                       

Surprisingly, no member has taken out its share or any finance from the group with a dare dream to take it to the pick as much as possible. We have so many plans to reap on integrated agriculture mingling fisheries, animal husbandry, and plantation. Asked about receiving technical knowledge, advisory and necessary inputs, Animesh said departments of agriculture, fisheries and rural development block authority extended all out cooperation and still they are inspiring us to gear venture up. We look forward to stand on our foot as a successful group entrepreneur, confident looking Animesh asserted.