BLOCK FIELDWORK PLACEMENT 

REPORT  

 

(PARIVARTAN, SIWAN) 

 SUBMITTED BY 

 

PRIYANKA KANDOLA  

PRATEEK PRIYADARSHI 

KRITIKA KATYAYAN 

 

TATA INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, MUMBAI 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our Field supervisor, Mr. Vivek Anand for his

valuable time and assistance in the field, despite his busy schedule. We express our deepest

thanks to Mrs. Rupa Gupta, Field coordinator, Mahila Samakhya for actively organising

meetings with the Sahyoginis and the women groups, giving necessary advices, guidance and

providing us with all necessary facilities to make our work easier. We choose this moment to

acknowledge her contribution greatly. We would also like to thank all the Sahiyoginis for their

co-operative support and presenting us with an opportunity to have a practical experience in this

organization.

Lastly, We would like to thank Mr. Sanjeev and Ms. Setika for providing us an opportunity to

work with Parivartan. We are also grateful to all members and employees of Parivartan for

providing with all the necessary support and guidance. We are really thankful to Prof. Manish

Jha, Prof H. Beck and TISS for placing us with Parivartan and giving us this opportunity to have

a better understanding of the rural reality and its various aspects. We would like to express our

deepest thanks to our colleagues for supporting us throughout.

Thus, the time in Parivartan was very audacious and supportive which has helped us in gaining

valuable work experience that will definitely reflect in our academic and professional work.

Through the whole one month, we did not only gain a lot of knowledge but more importantly,

we also had a great chance to sharpen our skills in a professional working environment.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction

2. Mahila Samakhya

2.1. History and Background

2.2. Vision and Objectives

2.3. Structure

2.4. Dimensions of work

2.5. Strategic Plan of Action

2.6. Knowledge, Skills and Attitude required

2.7. Factors affecting their work

2.8. Achievements of Mahila Samakhya

2.9. Capacity Status

3. Critical Observations

4. Analysis and Discussions

5. Recommendations and Conclusion

6. Annexure

INTRODUCTION

Kritika Katyayan, Prateek Priyadarshi and Priyanka Kandola are students of Tata Institute of

Social Sciences, Mumbai. They are currently pursuing their second year of Masters in Social

Work, specialising in the field of “Community Organisation and Development Practice”. It

should be noted that Priyanka Kandola came to Bihar for the first time, Kritika Katyayan’s

maternal family resides in Bihar and Prateek Priyadarshi is a native of Patna. The students were

placed with Parivartan as interns, as part of their course curriculum under their field of study.

The duration of the internship was one month inclusive of travel from Mumbai Campus.

Students arrived in Parivartan on 20th August and left the campus on 16th September, 2017.

Parivartan, established by Mr. Sanjeev Singh in 2011 in Narendrapur aims at “Integrated Rural

Development” keeping in mind the Sustainable Development Goals- Quality Education, Gender

Equality and Partnership for Goals. The organisation was set-up in the absence of civil society

organisation in the region. The organisation currently works on Education, Community Theatre,

Community Sports, Livelihoods and Adolescent and Women Empowerment. The reach of the

work undertaken by parivartan can be illustrated in terms of core area of operation and total area

of operation. The total area of operation is 2 block (Ziradei and Andar), 8 panchayats and 47

villages. This includes villages where one or more verticals operate. The core area of operation is

2 blocks (Ziradei and Andar), 5 Panchayats and 17 villages. This includes villages where all the

verticals operate.

The internship with Parivartan, as part of the course curriculum aims to provide students with

first-hand exposure into the rural lives and realities, along with opportunities to explore and

understand in-depth the emerging rural issues. At the same time the students were expected to

contribute to the work of the organisation. Based on the field immersion in the first week,

interaction with coordinators working on various verticals in Parivartan and keeping in mind the

resource and time available with the students, Priyanka, Prateek and Kritika chose to work with

“Mahila Samakhya” vertical in Parivartan. They were expected to “document and analyse the

work of Sahiyoginis under the Mahila Samakhya Program”.

The students selected 3 villages- Sikia, Khembhatkan and Belahi in order to comprehensively

understand the social structures, rural realities and issues along with the work of Sahiyoginis in

three different Panchayats- Narendrapur, Miya ke Bhatkan and Balia. The decision of selecting

these villages was also influenced by time and resources available with the students.

The Methodology employed by the students in order to meet the objective of the work assigned

to them, is as follows-

In-depth Interviews In-depth interviews were conducted with the coordinator of

Mahila Samakhya, Sahiyoginis and various Stakeholders in the

village (such as- Ward Member, Asha Worker, School Teachers

and Administration, ICDS Sahayika and Mukhiya of the

respective village)

Focus Group

Discussions

Focus Group Discussions were undertaken with Samoohs in each

of the selected villages and Sahiyoginis

Observations The skills, knowledge and attitudes of Sahiyoginis and women

members belonging to the Samoohs were observed during the

Samooh meetings and workshops conducted at Parivartan

The tools used by the students are as follows-

Interview Guide Interview Guide for coordinator of Mahila Samakhya, Sahiyoginis and Stakeholders in the village

Checklist for Focus Group Discussions

Checklist for Focus Group Discussion with Samoohs and Sahiyoginis

PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal)

- Transect Walk - Social and Resource Map

MAHILA SAMAKHYA

HISTORY AND BACKGROUND

The Mahila Samakhya programme was launched in 1988 by the MoHRD (Ministry of Human

Resource Development) in pursuance of the goals of the New Education Policy (1986) and the

Programme of Action as a concrete programme for the education and empowerment of women in

rural areas, particularly of women from socially and economically marginalised groups.

The basic purpose of Mahila Samakhya was to enhance self-esteem and self-confidence of

women. It was essential to develop women’s critical thinking ability and promote their decision

making abilities and actions through collective processes. This in turn would enable women to

make informed choices in areas like education, employment and health (especially reproductive

health). Mahila Samakhya aimed at ensuring equal participation of women in developmental

processes. They were committed to provide information, knowledge and skill to women for their

economic independence. The women were to be made aware regarding their rights and

entitlements their rights and entitlements in the society with a view to enhance their participation

on an equal footing in all areas.

With this idea in mind and a strong motivation and willpower to empower rural women, Mahila

Samakhya was formally started in three states of the country, Karnataka, Gujarat and Uttar

Pradesh, in 1989. In 1992, Mahila Samakhya was adopted as a working programme was adopted

by the Education Department, Government of Bihar. Slowly and steadily Mahila Samakhya

expanded to 10 states in the country.

In 2012, Bihar Government stopped its funding to Mahila Samakhya. However, Bihar Mahila

Samakhya Society, which is registered under the Societies Registration Act of 1860, is still

functioning in the state as an autonomous body under MoHRD.

Thereafter, by the initiative of Mr Sanjiv Kumar, the program was undertaken by Parivartan in

2013 in 47 villages of 8 Panchayats in 2 blocks i.e.; Aandar and Ziradei of Siwan district. The

name of the vertical was kept as Jagriti Mahila Samakhya.

VISION AND OBJECTIVES OF MAHILA SAMAKHYA

VISION

To empower women at individual and group levels by actively involving in areas related to

Education, Health, Economic Empowerment, Panchayati Raj and Domestic Violence.

OBJECTIVES OF MAHILA SAMAKHYA

● To increase the self-respect and confidence of women and recognize their contribution in

society and economy.

● To create an atmosphere where the women can ask for knowledge and information and

get empowered to make positive contributions in the development of the society.

● To work for improvement in education and health of women and young girls.

● To work against domestic violence and harassment of women.

● To work towards economic empowerment of women.

● To increase the awareness and participation of women regarding Panchayati Raj

Institutions.

STRUCTURE OF MAHILA SAMAKHYA

The Vertical is currently headed by 1 co-ordinator, Mrs Rupa Rani. She has previously worked

as the District Coordinator of Mahila Samakhya in Muzaffarpur, under the Government of Bihar

from 2005 to 2012, till the government funding for the programme stopped.

Under Rupa Ji, there are 15 Sahyoginis who take care of 140 Samoohs. Every samooh is given a

name, which can be heterogeneous or homogenous caste and class wise.

Samooh Formation: The formation of the Samoohs began in 2013, when the sahyoginis while

conducting surveys during the initial 6 months, marked the households where women seemed

interested in forming groups. And after conducting survey, regular meetings with the women

members consolidated the group. Through the discussion carried out in the meetings and then

through snowball sampling, the sahyoginis identified the women who were keen to join the

group and the new groups were formed keeping in focus the interest of the women.

Difficulties faced: There are several external factors that impact Sahiyoginis work, which are

mentioned later in the report. The women members from Samooh also raise questions regarding

the provision of tangible benefits for themselves as opposed to the monetary benefits provided to

the sahyoginis by Parivartan.

Samooh meetings: Weekly meetings are scheduled with each samooh. Based on the agenda set

for every month at the starting of the year, the topics for discussion are taken up by the

Sahiyoginis in the Samoohs. However, as and when the needs pertaining to the individual

members or the village arises, the issues are prioritized.

DIMENSIONS OF WORK

There are 5 dimensions in which Jagriti Mahila Samakhya is working; Education, Health,

Economic Empowerment, Panchayati Raj and Domestic Violence.

Education: Women are at the heart of most of the societies. Regardless of whether they are

working or not, mothers are very influential people in children’s lives. Education is of central

focus under the Jagriti Mahila Samakhya program. In the samooh meetings, Sahiyoginis discuss

the role of education in women’s lives. The women are made aware about the value of educating

their children. They are taught to write their names and some basic things. Another aspect that is

covered under this head is gender equality. Attention is paid to education of the girl child. The

Sahiyoginis in the meetings also take up issues and cases related to education.

Health: Women’s health is an example of population health. Women’s Health is another

important aspect with which the programme engages. Health of women includes complete

physical, mental and reproductive well-being. Sahiyoginis spread awareness about diseases and

infection. Their prevention and treatment are also covered under this head. There are discussions

regarding fasts and other day to day activities of women which affect their health. Menstrual

health is also taken into consideration. Apart from this, sanitation is also covered under this

subhead.

Economic Empowerment: Women’s economic empowerment is a prerequisite for sustainable

development and pro-poor growth. Achieving women’s economic empowerment requires sound

public policies, a holistic approach and long-term commitment and gender-specific perspectives.

The discussions in Mahila samoohs are mostly around how to save money, access resources,

make decisions etc. There are no Bachat Ghats though. Sahiyoginis help women to get means of

livelihood. They also help them in getting pensions and other facilities which can strengthen

their economic well being.

Panchayati Raj: Panchayati Raj Institutions are the most important levels of governance. Under

this head, the women are made aware their rights, negotiations and functioning of PRIs.

Knowledge is given about how to get benefits of various schemes and programs of government.

Women are made aware about Gram Sabhas. The functioning of Mukhiyas, Sarpanch etc. are

made clear to the women.

Domestic Violence: Domestic Violence is one of the most persistent issue for women. Such

cases are not reported in villages and are considered as normal. Under this head, women are

made aware to protest violence inside house. The women take up cases of domestic violence and

solve them.

Apart from these generic dimensions, incidental cases are taken up by the women from samoohs

and the Sahyoginis.

STRATEGIC PLAN OF ACTION

The Sahiyoginis take up generic and incidental issues depending upon the demand of the

situation. On the basis of the issues taken up, they follow certain courses of action. Sometime,

when issues are persistent, collective action is used.

Jagriti Mahila Samakhya takes up generic issues related to the 5 decided dimensions of their

work that are – education, health, Panchayati Raj, economic empowerment and domestic

violence. The generic issues demand awareness about different aspects related to these

dimensions. They hold samooh meetings in which they discuss various aspects according to set

agendas. They talk about how these dimensions are related to the lives of women and how are

they intrinsic to solve their everyday problems. The discussions around these issues are focused

and often require follow ups in subsequent meetings. For example: In education, the Sahiyoginis

mention how education can help women and subsequently their families. They make the aware

about the role of education in women’s life. Moving ahead, they teach them how to write their

names, read basic texts etc.

On the other hand, the Sahiyoginis also take up incidental issues. Incidental issues are those

which require efforts to realise the discussions held about generic issues. For incidental issues,

the discussions held in the meetings are followed by persistent efforts to provide tangible

benefits. For example: In the health dimension, the Sahiyoginis take up generic issues related to

sanitation as well. Construction of toilets is an important aspect of sanitation for the women in

the area as most of them go for open defecation. Construction of toilets being an incidental issue

here, the Sahiyoginis also follow up on the fact whether toilets are being constructed or not. They

also contribute to such issues with their knowledge of rules and procedures.

Two aspects of the course of action are important to discuss. One is action and the other is

collective action. Action here refers to such activities which are involved with a member

concerned. The Sahiyoginis help the members of the samoohs in their issues related to the

dimensions. They take appropriate actions which come from their vision of the programme. They

motivate the members so that they take correct decisions in the due course of action. Sometimes

they take help of the other Sahiyoginis and subsequently the co-ordinator when situation goes out

of hand. For example: When they talk about gender equality in education, there have been cases

where Sahiyoginis have helped to get girl children enrolled in schools.

Collective Action refers to the actions taken when the problems affect a large mass of the

population. In such cases, the Sahiyoginis collect people and go for morchas or gheravs. They

mobilise the people so that they assert their rights and stand against what all is illegal and

unconstitutional. For example: In cases where the people’s entitlements to PDS have been

eroded, the women have collectively organized morchas against the dealers. They have also

organized dharnas and have compelled authorities to negotiate and recognize their entitlements.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ATTITUDES REQUIRED BY SAHIYOGINIS

Knowledge, skills and attitude are three dimensions of a learning process which can be

integrated into a complete performance. This perspective allows us to view the process of

learning as the acquisition of knowledge, the application of knowledge into skills, and the

integration of skills with attitudes, values, and dispositions into abilities or competencies.

These are the very important aspects of the learning process one requires and forms the basis for

understanding options, forming opinions, making decisions, and carrying out informed and

responsible actions.

The following table illustrates the knowledge, skills and attitude required by the Sahiyogonis to

work efficiently in the field:

KNOWLEDGE SKILLS ATTITUDE

Gender, Patriarchy and Power

relation in the existing social

structure

Data collection and Analysis

to identify the most

marginalised and vulnerable

groups

Motivated to work on

women’s issue

Social, Political and

Economic Scenario of the

area, with special emphasis

on caste

Group formation and

Facilitation of Samooh

meetings

Confident to voice issues in

community and in front of

required authorities

Constitutional provisions and

Law pertaining to women and

vulnerable groups

The details of these laws is

Analytical skills to monitor

and evaluate the work of

Mahila Samakhya

Non-Judgemental attitude

towards issues of women

from varied backgrounds

provided in the annexure

Government Policies and

Social Protection Schemes

with special emphasis on

eligibility, entitlements and

procedures for each of the

schemes

Leadership skills Must be approachable and

interactive, in order to ensure

participation of marginalised

and vulnerable communities,

who do not readily voice their

issues and demands

Transparency and

Accountability in

Government Machinery with

special emphasis on Social

Audit

Emotional regulation and

Distress tolerance ability

Must listen attentively to

issues raised by women and

be forthcoming in resolving

these issues

Participatory Methods- PRA

(Participatory Rural

Appraisal)

The details on PRA are

provided in the Annexure

Dedicated to work on

women’s empowerment and

enable participation to

develop of capacities and

leadership in women

members

Interpersonal effectiveness

and ability to balance

feelings and rational thoughts

FACTORS AFFECTING THE WORK OF SAHIYOGINIS

SOCIAL FACTORS

Patriarchy

The patriarchy remains an unbeatable challenge in promoting women's groups and female

leadership. This is reflected in the apprehension displayed by families in sanctioning permission

to women to go out and work. Women lack agency and voice in the public arena. A number of

Sahiyoginis have had to struggle with their families, in order to go out and work in a field that

requires women to lead a path of gender equality. Similar experiences have been noted in

formation of Samoohs.

Safety

As mobility of women is restricted, majority of the public spaces are occupied by men. Taking

into account the nature of society and inequitable gender relations, safety remains a delusion for

women in general and Sahiyoginis in particular. There exist cases of Sahiyoginis being subject to

cases of violence on the street at late hours.

ECONOMIC FACTORS

Double burden

The burden of domestic and care work responsibilities falls disproportionately on women.

Sahiyoginis, who have taken up the decision of working with Mahila Samakhya have to balance

domestic responsibilities along with the work assigned to them at Parivartan.

Economic status of Sahiyoginis

Majority of the Sahiyoginis come from weaker sections and lower wealth quintile households.

These circumstances often push women into informal sector due to their interrupted work

histories and domestic responsibilities.

Economic status of women members from Samoohs

Most of the women members of various Samoohs come from weaker sections. Taking into

account the widespread migration from the region and heightened responsibilities on women to

fulfill domestic as well as economic duties, women are left with very little time to engage in

group and community discussion and decision making.

POLITICAL FACTORS

Political Parties and Female Leadership

The political movements and discourses in the region have seen limited participation from

women. The social norms that follow patriarchal values are reflected in the lack of robust female

leadership in the political arena. Even though the reservation for women in Panchayat has been

increased from 33% to 50%, it was observed that women’s participation in democratic decision

making remains limited. The women representatives are often referred to as their husband’s or

male member’s name.

Economic condition of women representatives

Most of the women representatives belong to lower wealth quintile households. They are not

paid suitable and regular honorarium for their work. Under these circumstances, the women

leaders are pushed to find remunerative work that provides economic support to the family,

instead of building their political career or political awareness. Hence, the objective of bringing

women’s issues to the forefront and enhancing women’s participation in decision making

remains unfulfilled.

Lack of Opportunities for Capacity Building

The women representatives are not trained adequately to run Panchayats effectively. A number

of meetings are attended by their husband or other male members from their family. Lack of

regular training sessions for building the capacity of women representatives, along with the

abysmal support structures/systems are responsible for the current state of affairs.

Corruption

Corruption in governmental institutions is rampant and exists through a strategic network of

various office bearers. The reasons behind this, is the fact that majority of resources, institutions

and power lies with men from upper class and dominant castes, this inevitably excludes the

weaker sections and denies them their due share. The redressal mechanism are few and

ineffective. Even, the Gram Sabhas are not conducted regularly. In this context women

representatives and women’s groups find it difficult to challenge and remove the existing

corruption in bureaucracy and implementation of schemes such as IAY, MGNREGA, and other

social protection schemes.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF MAHILA SAMAKHYA

Domestic Violence

The following case is about Baby Kumari, the wife of Ranjan Kumar. They reside in the Banthu

Shriram village of Chandauli-Gangauli Panchayat.

● It is one of the many cases of domestic violence handled by Mahila Samakhya, where

Baby Kumari faced harassment and was mistreated in her own house by her husband and

the in-laws.

● As the situation aggravated, Mahila Samakhya initially tried to resolve the whole issue by

consulting both the families.

● Since the issue never settled, Sahiyoginis from Mahila Samakhya collectively mobilised

the women of the village and took up the issue to the Mahila Police station to file a

complaint against the husband. The husband at that point took cognizance of the situation

and the case was withdrawn.

● The members of both the families were then called to Parivartan and the whole issue was

resolved by making Ranjan sign an agreement stating that no such actions will be

repeated henceforth.

● Regular follow ups are undertaken by the Mahila Samakhya.

Panchayati Raj Institutions

The following is the case of Nainpati Kunwar from Salahpur. She comes from the Gond

community and belongs to one of the poorest households in the village. She has 5 children, 3

girls and 2 boys. Her eldest son is suffering mental health issues, which takes a toll on her

meagre income that she derives from Sharecropping.

● She was entitled to Lakshmibai Samajik Suraksha Yojana, where widows of the state

belonging to BPL are provided with Rs. 300 as monthly assistance.

● Her allowance stopped when the Government mandated the linkage of bank account to

receive entitlements under the existing social protection schemes. She did not receive her

widow's pension for seven months.

● It was during this state of distress that Nainpati navigated her way to Meena Didi,

Sahiyogini from Salahpur. After listening to her case Meena Didi, took her to the Block

Office and introduced her to the Vikas Mitra. Subsequent meetings with the Vikas Mitra

and the regular follow up undertaken by Meena Didi, helped in resolving her issue and

she received a sum of Rs. 2000 the same month.

Economic Empowerment

The following is the case of Rekha Devi is a 26 year old widow residing in Bhavrajpur. Her

husband died during the fourth year of their marriage. Rekha is raising two children, a boy and a

girl all by herself.

● After her husband died, Rekha’s and her husband’s family started coercing her to get

married to another man, as she was just 21 years old when her husband passed away.

● Rekha did not want to get married to another man considering the implications of it on

her children, but at the same time she was concerned where she would derive the

financial support to sustain her family. Rekha had been a part of the Basdev Samooh

from 2013 and she fielded these issues in front of the Sahiyogini, Tara Didi.

● Tara Didi encouraged Rekha to use her Sewing Machine and start her own enterprise

from home. Tara Didi and Rekha collectively promoted Rekha’s mirco-enterprise. Today,

she has designated one of the room inside her house for stitching and selling other

essential items. This form of self-employment yields her sufficient money to sustain her

family and live a life of dignity.

Health:

The following is the case of Chinta Devi from Hardeopatti. She is a Khadwar by caste. She has 3

daughters and her husband is an auto driver.

● Chinta Devi’s husband used to beat her earlier for delivering two daughters. He was not

at all happy after the delivery of their third daughter.

● After the third girl was born, he left his wife on her own. The women had to do all the

work of the household and take care of the newborn all on herself. No medicine or proper

food was being given to Chinta Devi. As a result, she grew pale and thin day by day.

● When Sarita Devi, Sahiyogini of the Shanti samooh in Hardeopatti, noticed Chinta’s

health and cross checked, she got to know that she was not under any medication. After

listening to her case, Sarita with the help of the women members of the samooh talked to

Chinta’s husband and with his consent took her to the nearest PHC where the doctor gave

her iron supplements. Chinta’s health improved gradually.

Education:

The following is the case of Prabhavati Devi from Bharauli. She is a Chamar by caste. Her

husband has migrated to a foreign country and she lives with her three daughters, two sons and

mother-in-law.

● Prabhavati wanted her eldest daughter Priyanka to get educated. However, Priyanka

failed in her class 10th examination after which Prabhavati’s husband wanted her to stop

further education and get married. Despite several requests by the mother and daughter,

he was firm on his decision and used physical violence against them.

● Prabhavati discussed this issue with Raisa Khatoon, Sahiyogini of Roshni samooh. The

women and the Sahyogini motivated and encouraged Prabhavati to fight for the education

of her daughter.

● Priyanka reappeared for the exam without informing her father who had left after the

vacations. She passed with good scores. When her father was informed, he too was very

happy and decided to let their daughter study further. She cleared class 12th as well and is

currently learning to work on computers in Ziradei.

CAPACITY STATUS

The capacities of the Sahiyoginis were analysed by the students by reviewing the achievements

of Sahiyoginis, previous training sessions provided to Sahiyoginis and regular workshop

undertaken by the coordinator, Rupa Ji each saturday to build their knowledge, skills and

attitude. Apart from the reviewing the work done and tainings provided privously , the

observations that emerged during meetings of various Samoohs, training workshops conducted

on Parivartan Campus were utilised as a basis to understand the capacity status and investigate

avenues for capacity building for the Sahiyoginis.

The Sahiyoginis have been provided with three training sessions since the beginning of the

Mahila Samkahya in Parivartan. The subjects covered, year and duration of the training sessions

are as follows -

1. Skills and Attitude related to samooh formation and skills for data collection to survey

households, 2013 (5 days)

2. Government Schemes and Social Behaviour Change, 2014 (5 days)

3. Gender Sensitisation, 2015 (2 days)

Hence, certain knowledge, skills and attitudes already exist with the Sahiyoginis. These can be

sharpened along with addition to the existing capacities. The following table illustrates the

existing capacities of the Sahiyoginis along with areas for sharpening and addition of knowledge,

skills and attitude.

KNOWLEDGE SKILLS ATTITUDE

Deeper understanding on

Gender, Patriarchy and Power

relation in the existing social

structure is required

The Sahiyoginis posses skills

to collect data, but there is

need to sharpen their

analytical skills in order to

understand and identify the

most marginalised and

vulnerable groups

The Sahiyoginis are

motivated to raise and work

on women’s issue

Deeper understanding on

Social, Political and

Economic Scenario of the

area, with special emphasis

on caste is required

The Sahiyoginis posses skills

on group formation and

facilitation of Samooh

meetings

The Sahiyoginis are confident

to voice women’s issues in

community and in front of

required authorities

Training sessions on

constitutional provisions and

Law pertaining to women and

vulnerable groups should be

provided

Analytical skills to monitor

and evaluate the work of

Mahila Samakhya through

participatory methods should

be developed in Sahiyoginis

Non-Judgemental attitude

towards issues of women

from varied backgrounds

should be inculcated

Training sessions on

government Policies and

The Sahiyoginis posses

leadership skills. Emphasis

The Sahiyoginis are

approachable and interactive.

Social Protection Schemes

with special emphasis on

eligibility, entitlements and

procedures for each of the

schemes has already been

provided. It would also be

useful to provide Sahiyoginis

with regular follow up

workshops to ensure clarity

and efficient delivery

should be paid on developing

leadership skills in

Sahiyoginis that freshly join

Mahila Samakhya

This ensures participation of

marginalised and vulnerable

communities, who do not

readily voice their issues and

demands

Training workshops on

transparency and

accountability in Government

Machinery with special

emphasis on Social Audit

should be provided to

Sahiyoginis to develop

capacities to work with the

government machinery

Sahiyoginis posses emotional

regulation and distress

tolerance ability

The Sahiyoginis listen

attentively to issues raised by

women and are forthcoming

in resolving these issues.

Detailed discussion on

Participatory Methods- PRA

(Participatory Rural

Appraisal) accompanied by

practice of these methods is

required to ensure

participation, inclusive

development and

sustainability

The Sahiyoginis are dedicated

to work on women’s

empowerment. However, they

should encourage greater

participation in order to

develop of capacities of

women members and local

leadership

Interpersonal effectiveness

and ability to balance

feelings and rational thoughts

should be sharpened

CRITICAL OBSERVATIONS AND FINDINGS

Nature Of Work

● The Sahiyoginis have to bear double burden of balancing domestic and care

responsibilities along with the demands of their work. This is one of the main reason that

puts constraints on their working with ease.

● They have to travel for 10 to 15 km at times for going into the field but are not provided

with any travel allowance.

● The Sahyoginis are not provided with Social Protection from the Parivartan such as

maternity leave and health coverage.

Agenda And Prioritisation Of Issues

● The coordinator along with the sahyoginis prepares an agenda at the beginning of each

year. This consists of subjects of discussions that are required to be covered each month.

Hence, the weekly meetings every month are geared towards undertaking and discussing

these subjects.

● Sahiyoginis also take up issues (not mentioned in the agenda) as and when the need

arises. They prioritize issues as per the need of the members.

● As the agenda prepared at the starting of each year is accompanied by tasks and

information that needs to be disseminated each month, Sahiyoginis have to work with

deadlines and considerable workload. This methodology takes away the opportunity to

focus and work extensively on one particular issue because of the time constraints.

Participation

● The composition of majority of the samoohs reflects considerable participation by

women belonging to socially and economically backward communities. Even while

conducting the surveys Sahiyoginis primarily focused on weaker sections for group

formation.

● The women from the dominant castes were rarely seen in the groups, they were hardly

allowed to come out of their homes and thus they were not part of the Mahila Samakhya.

● The month wise agendas for the whole year for the meetings are prepared through

discussion by the Coordinator and the Sahyoginis.

● However, the participation of women members from the Samoohs in the formulation of

the agenda is limited.

● Moreover, the women members who come to participate in various programmes held on

the Parivartan campus are not provided with any refreshments which further impedes

their motivation and active participation.

Training Of Sahiyoginis And Newly Joining Sahiyoginis

● There is no mechanism as such to provide training programmes to the newly joined

Sahyoginis. They have to accompany other sahyoginis on the field for one to two months

to gain exposure and experience.

● Provisions for regular training sessions for Sahiyoginis and women members do not exist,

restricting their capacities and efficiency at work.

Political Participation

● There is limited participation from women in the gram sabha.

● The awareness among women about their rights, entitlements and due procedures is

limited.

● The women ward members are not provided with regular payments and adequate

honorarium, due to which their investment in their work is limited and they often don't

voice their opinions and raise women’s issues.

● The Sahiyoginis elected as ward members or as elected representatives are not allowed to

continue their work as Sahiyoginis, limiting their interaction and political participation.

● The main goal of the group is to assure public participation of women members with their

active participation in the following five areas: Education, Health and sanitation,

Domestic Violence, Economic empowerment and Panchayati Raj Institutions.

Advancing women’s political participation and leadership and economic empowerment

can be emphasised upon in a better way.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

International Labour Organisation- Decent Work

● International Labour Organisation(ILO) has adopted a framework on Decent Work

Indicators to support monitoring of decent work, during the 18th International

Conference of Labour Statisticians in December 2008.

● This Framework covers ten substantive elements which are closely linked to the four

strategic pillars of the Decent Work Agenda, that is, (i) International labour standards and

fundamental principles and rights at work (ii) Employment creation (iii) Social protection

and (iv) Social dialogue and tripartism:

● These 10 substantive elements representing the structural dimensions of the decent work

measurement framework under which both statistical and legal framework indicators on

decent work are organized and classified are as follows-

1. employment opportunities

2. adequate earnings and productive work

3. decent working time

4. combining work, family and personal life

5. work that should be abolished

6. stability and security of work

7. equal opportunity and treatment in employment

8. safe work environment

9. social security

10. social dialogue, employers’ and workers’ representation.

● This framework was utilised to examine decent work deficits and suggest necessary

changes, in order to ensure that Parivartan follows the decent work policy agenda.

Participatory Tools

● Participatory Rural Appraisal is an inclusive approach which ensures that all the sections

of the community participate and voice their opinions.

● PRA champions local knowledge and puts forth a methodology aimed at enabling local

people to take control over their own development, ensuring ownership and sustainability

of development initiatives.

● All local community members can participate in PRA meetings and workshops, as it uses

local materials and land, instead of paper- which privileges the literate and more

articulate. Particular attention is paid to include marginalised and disadvantaged groups:

'The poor, weak, vulnerable and exploited should come first’.

● This helps in understanding social structures, local dynamics, ascertaining local needs,

establishing priorities for development initiatives, and baselining and monitoring through

a participatory approach.

Mahila Samakhya within the framework of Integrated Rural Development

● Intergrated Rural Development aims at making sustainable improvements in the living

conditions in all the aspects of daily life of the poor and the most marginalised

communities.

● As different aspects of the life are interrelated, different verticals need to work together

through a participatory approach to building local capacities, knowledge and

infrastructure that helps communities reach a permanent improvement in living standards.

Sustainability

● Sustainability of samoohs is examined by the ability of the groups to function effectively

following the exit of Sahiyoginis from the field. The samoohs are required to be

autonomous and self-managed in order to ensure sustainability.

● Social sustainability is ensured through regular meetings, cohesion among the group

member, developing capacities of the women members on gender awareness, action on

women’s issues, especially violence against women, education and health, along with

developing local leadership.

● Economic sustainability is ensured through tangible benefits improving the economic

well beings of the members, promotion of self employment, long-term collective

economic ventures and linkages with other agencies for economic empowerment.

● Political sustainability is ensured through increased awareness about rights and

entitlements, building capacities of women members to raise their issues on appropriate

platform, occupying positions of political significance capacities, building networks with

the government representative and ensuring accountability of the government machinery.

SWOT Analysis

● SWOT analysis is one of the effective tools for the analysis of environmental data and

information – for both, internal (strengths, weakness) and external (opportunities, threats)

factors. It helps to minimize the effect of weaknesses , while maximizing the strengths.

SWOT analysis helps gain insights into the past and think of possible solutions to

existing or potential problems — either for an existing program or a new one.

● The SWOT analysis template is normally presented as a grid, comprising four sections

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

● SWOT analysis promote:

1. A better understanding of barriers to change, innovation, and the transfer of knowledge to

practice;

2. improved outcomes; and

3. more efficient allocation of the resources.

● The SWOT Analysis of Mahila Samakhya is attached in the Annexure.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Parivartan is a resourceful organisation with efficient staff. The Mahila Samakhya has been

successful in raising women’s issues on a public platform and resolving women’s issues. This

has had considerable impact on women’s empowerment socially, economically and politically.

We would like to conclude by providing the following recommendations that would help

Parivartan to achieve the goal of Integrated Rural Development with special focus on Women

Empowerment.

Provisions For Sahiyoginis

● Sahiyoginis should be provided with Social Protection Schemes like maternity leave and

health coverage to ensure compliance with ILO’s decent work agenda.

● They should be provided with child care facilities in order to reduce the added burden of

care work and domestic responsibilities and enable them to work more efficiently.

● The Sahiyoginis should be provided with travel allowance to commute as they have to

travel long distances for working on the field.

Capacity Building Avenues For Sahiyoginis

● The Sahiyoginis should be provided with regular training workshops and follow-up

workshops on constitutional provisions, laws pertaining to women and vulnerable groups

along with Social Protection Schemes. Additionally, skills and attitudes should be

sharpened based on their capacity status.

● Provision for training sessions should be provided for the newly joint Sahiyoginis.

● The Sahiyoginis should be dedicated to build capacities of women members belonging to

various Samoohs. This would also help women’s groups to learn how to organize

themselves and work efficiently through the use of common resources.

Participation

● Sahiyoginis should be trained in PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) to ensure a

participatory approach that champions local knowledge and enables the local people to

take care of their own development.

● PRA should be used a tool to conduct baseline surveys and for monitoring the initiatives

undertaken by Mahila Samakhya.

● Women members should be provided with refreshment and other requirements during the

functions conducted on Parivartan campus. This will contribute to the much needed

motivations required by women to attend the functions pertaining to their well being.

● The preparation of agendas should be done through participatory approaches that ensures

the needs and aspiration of women members are taken into account. The agenda would

then highlight the issues and concerns pertaining to the members which would increase

their involvement.

● Advancing women’s political participation should be given more emphasis to create a

stronger network and penetration in the political arena. Additionally, the Sahiyoginis

could be provided with opportunities to stand for election, provided compliance with the

norms and principles of Mahila Samakhya.

Sustainability

● Use of PRA would ensure that women take up initiatives for their own development.

● The sahyoginis should encourage local leadership and ensure development of capacities

of the women members.

● Mahila Samakhya should provide tangible benefits to the women members by providing

Sahiyoginis with agendas that dedicate more time for the same.

● This would help the women members to organize themselves and increase their

efficiency, thus making it more sustainable.

Integrated Approach

● Mahila samakhya and other verticals should work together with a participatory approach.

This would enhance their working abilities and provide support networks to ensuer

integrated rural development.

Building Networks

● The sahyoginis should work with the women ward members and other elected

representatives to create a better network between the local people and government

machinery.

● The Sahiyoginis call for a “Nari Jutan” every year wherein all the women members, ward

members, mukhiyas and elected representatives assemble. This could be used as a

platform for grievance redressal, building a stronger network with the various elected

representatives and in maintaining accountability of the government machinery.

● Additionally, the meetings with these stakeholders can be conducted on a quarterly or a

regular basis for the better functioning and effective operation.

 

   

ANNEXURE

MAP OF PARIVARTAN’S SCHEMATIC WORK AREA

 

 

FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION CHECKLIST ON VILLAGE PROFILE

● Name and address of the village

● Total geographical area

● Total Population

● Composition of Communities (caste)

● Religion

● Type of families (Joint and Nuclear families)

● Average size of the family

● Average member of children per family

Access to Roads

● Linkage of Roads

● Means of communication

● Types of Vehicles

Community Assets

● Chaupal

● Community Hall

● Sources of drinking water for communities

● Religious Places i.e. Temples, Mosques

● Ponds

Status of Sanitation

● Availability of Toilets

● Status of Guttar

● Garbage disposable mechanism

● Pattern of Village Cleaning

Education

● Availability of schools (Balwadi, Primary school, senior secondary and high school)

● No. of students in each of the schools

● Composition of boys and girls

● Status of student’s dropout rate

● Any issues pertaining to the school’s education

Occupation

● Types of occupations in the village

● Migrants to the gulf countries

● Patterns and extent of land ownership

● Mode of cultivation (Modern, primitive, traditional, adaptations of new forms of

agricultural activities)

● Income of families (Richer, Middle class and poor people)

● Details on the livestock, animal and animal husbandry, uses of them etc.

Health Status

● Health services available in the village

● Status of health services

● Utilisation of health services of the people

● Types of illness

● Mode of access for health services

Celebrations and Community Support

● Major festivals celebrated in the village

● Mode of celebrations

● Community participation

● Quality of celebrations

● Mode of support prevalent to people in good and bad times

Village Governance

● Village Panchayat

● Ward members and representatives

● Mode of work of the Panchayat

● Any major contribution of the status of work of the panchayat

● Are people happy with the work of the present village panchayat

Government Programs and schemes

● Government programs implemented in the village

Major issues, problems and concerns of the village

Major concerns and needs of the village

Perception of Parivartan

VILLAGE PROFILES

VILLAGE: BELAHI

Panchayat: Baliya

Block: Aandar

District: Siwan

No. of Wards in the Village: 2

Aandar block in Siwan consists of 18 Panchayats including Baliya. Baliya Panchayat consists of

7 villages. Belahi is one of the villages. On the north of Baliya is Bangra Ujjain and the south is

Madeshlapur. On the east of Belahi is Baliya and on the west is Miya ke Bhatkan.

Total Geographical Area of

the Village

300 Bigha

Total Population 1258

Composition of Communities

in terms of Caste

Rajput- 108 households

Yadav - 25 households

Kumhar - 40 households

Gond - 8 households

Teli - 5 households

Badhai - 14 households

Hajam - 1 household

Muslim - 3 households

Composition of Communities

in terms of Religion

Hindus and Muslims

Type of families Joint family mostly

Average size of families 8-10

Types of occupations ● Agriculture is the prime occupation for all caste

groups.

● Landowning Rajputs and some Yadavs are farmers

while other castes (mostly intermediary castes)

practise sharecropping.

● Some are engaged in pottery, livestock rearing,

carpentry and services etc.

● Women are involved during ‘Ropni’ and ‘Sohni’ i.e.

harvesting and weeding of crops.

● Some have small shops in or out of the village.

Migration from the village ● Migration has been rampant. Men migrate to Arab

countries where they work as welders, fitters,

plumbers etc.

● Some men have also migrated to metropolitan cities

like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata etc. where they work as

guards, daily wage labourers, auto-rickshaw drivers.

Many men have also migrated to Surat, Pune and

other cities.

● Many women and children have migrated along with

the men.

Land use pattern ● Rajputs are the major landowning castes. They have

4-5 bighas of land.

● Some Yadavs are also landowners. But they own less

land in the range of 1-2 bighas.

● Almost every household has small pieces of land on

which their houses are constructed.

Modes of irrigation Tubewells (at the rate of Rs. 140 per hour)

Modes of cultivation Modern modes of cultivation- using tractors (at the rate of Rs.

50 per kattha in dry land and 100 per kattha in wet land),

fertilizers and pesticides.

Animal Husbandry 60% of the households have cattle.

Rajputs use the cattle for their personal use. Yadavs use them

as an additional source of income (by selling milk).

Income The income of the households vary. Women get Rs

2000-3000 by working in the fields during ‘Ropni’ and

‘Sohni’ season. Average earning of the households from

agriculture is Rs 50,000-60,000 annually on an average.

Migrant men send around Rs 3000-4000 per month to their

homes. However, those who work in Arab countries send

more.

ACCESS ROADS

A kaccha roads connects the village to the Ziradei-Aandar road.

The roads in the village are mostly pakka roads.

Many households have cycles and motorcycles. A few households have four wheeler vehicles.

Vehicles on sharing basis can be got from the main road.

COMMUNITY ASSETS

There are some ‘parti’ lands where the cattle graze. These are those pieces of land which are

unfit for cultivation.

There are 3 temples in the village. The nearest mosque is in Miya ke Bhatkan.

There are 11 government handpumps in the village. Many households have private hand pumps.

There are no Chaupals or community halls in the village.

There are 6 Ponds in the village (5 public and 1 private). The water is not safe for drinking as the

household garbage is mostly thrown in these Ponds.

There are no wells in the village.

EDUCATION

There are two government schools in the village.

One of the government schools is primary and has classes from I to V. The school has been there

since 1945. However, the building has been rebuilt. The building has 7 rooms. There is a

separate room where Mid-Day Meal is cooked. There is one government handpump in the

school. There are toilet facilities for both girls and boys. The school has 5 teachers including the

headmaster. There are 90 girls and 39 boys enrolled in the school. Hindi, English, Math and

Social Science are taught in the school.

The other government school is a upper middle school and has classes from I to VIII. The school

has been there since 1965. However, the building has been rebuilt. The building has 8 rooms.

There is a separate room where Mid-Day Meal is cooked. There is one government handpump in

the school. There are toilet facilities for both girls and boys. The school has 8 teachers including

the headmaster. There are 111 girls and 79 boys enrolled in the school.

There are no dropout students on record for these schools.

Majority of the students in these schools belong to Backward Caste and Extremely Backward

Caste.

Teachers in these schools come on time and the teaching is good.

Many children in the village take private tuitions. As the parents are not educated and cannot

help the children in their studies, they opt to send them for tuitions.

The nearest high school is in Bhavrajpur. The nearest private school is in Bhavrajpur. The name

of the school is Shanti Vidya Niketan. There are two ICDS centres in the village. Greater number

of boys are sent to private schools as parents consider that the education is better in private

schools. The education of girls is stopped once they reach their “marriageable age”.

HEALTH

The nearest PHC is in Narendrapur. There is a referral hospital in Siwan. The nearest private

hospital is in Miya ke Bhatkan named Fatima Nursing Home.

There are two MBBS degree holder doctors in the village. However, none of them practise in the

village. There is a non-licensed medical shop in the village. The shop is run by a compounder

who prescribes medicines in times of emergency. There are no traditional healers in the village.

There is no ‘dai’ in the village. However, they come from Bhavrajpur where there is a Dai Tola.

The ‘dais’ are of Chamar caste. One household in the village still calls ‘dais’ as the lady who

needs service is mentally challenged to some extent. Recently, she delivered for the third time.

There are two ICDS centres in the village. However, both are in the same ward of the village.

The ICDS provides vaccines and food to the children below 6 years of age.

There is one ‘Asha’ in the village. She is from the Hajam family. Her name is Leelawati Devi.

She is 34 years of age and is working since 2010. The affluent section of the village goes to

private hospital for delivery of their babies. While the poorer sections go to government PHC.

The major diseases in the village are cold and flu. There were incidences of jaundice and

typhoid. Gastric issues are also common.

Ambulance comes to the village in times of emergency. However, most people use their own

means to go the PHCs.

SANITATION

There are no government toilets in the villages. Well off households have built private toilets. A

large population of the village goes for open defecation. There is no system of drainage in the

village. The household garbage is thrown outside, mostly in the Ponds (Pokhars). There is no

proper system of garbage removal.

OCCUPATION

A majority of Rajputs have agricultural lands. Other communities mostly do sharecropping on

their land. It is very evident how farmer and peasant relations work out in the village. The

produce of paddy is 70-80 kg/kattha. The produce of wheat is 50-60 kg/kattha. The produce of

mustard is 30-35 kg/kattha. The landowning farmers get the produce of the labour of the landless

peasants who get 10 kg/ katha of the production.

Other occupations in the village include pottery, carpentry, livestock rearing and services. Some

have small shops in or outside the village. Caste based traditional occupation is still visible in the

village. Pottery in the village is done by one of the Kumhar families. Similarly, the Hajam family

was made to settle in the village to serve their traditional occupation of barber on the occasion of

marriages, deaths etc. and on other general times. Yadav families still have cows and buffaloes

and rear and sell milk. The cost of milk is Rs 30/kg. The carpenters (Badhai) are involved in

carpentry.

MGNREGA is not functioning efficiently in the village. A very small number of people in the

village have job cards.

The mode of cultivation is modern. Fertilizers and Pesticides are used effectively. The people

have knowledge about High Yielding Variety of Seeds. They use tractors for ploughing. Despite

no proper irrigation system, irrigation is done through boring pumpsets. The tractor is used at Rs

50/kattha in dry land and Rs 100/kattha in wet land. The price changes with the price of oil. The

cost of pumping water is Rs 140/hour. Seeds are bought from Aandar. The major crops grown

are rice, wheat and mustard. The cost of seeds is 300/kg for paddy, 40/kg for wheat and 250/kg

for mustard. Pea is also grown in the village. Fertilizers are also got from Aandar. The cost of

urea is 330/50 kg. The cost of DAP is 1100/50 kg. The average income of the households is Rs

4000-5000.

In one of the private ponds in the village, Malhas from the nearby villages come to catch fish and

sell it.

CELEBRATION AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT

All major festivals of Hindus and Muslims are celebrated in the village. Holi, Diwali, Chhath,

Dussehra are times of festivities. Apart from that Sivaratri, Teej, Sohni etc. are also celebrated.

Makar Sankranti, Satuani etc. are days of marked importance. Id, Bakrid etc. is also celebrated.

There is communal harmony in the village. Fairs happen during Dussehra and Sivaratri. In

Dusshera, an idol of Goddess Durga is established in the village. Every caste group celebrates

the festivals uniformly. Shiv Charcha is a new trend in the village. It is like a meeting where

‘Guru Bhaiyas and Guru Bahinas’ discuss incidents from the life of Shiva. Shiva is taken as the

Guru of all.

Caste issues exist in the village. Inter-caste marriage is not welcome. Though not evident, but

feelings of in-groups and outgroups exist. Rajputs are the most dominant group in the village in

terms of number and social, economic and political status. The Rajputs are the ‘advisors’ for the

other caste groups in various issues. However, no other help is received from them.

In presence of Rajputs, other caste groups avoid sitting on the raised platforms and prefer sitting

on the floor. However, in Shiv Charcha, everyone sits on the floor together.

VILLAGE GOVERNANCE AND STATUS OF VILLAGE SCHEMES

The Panchayat is reserved for women Mukhiya. The Mukhiya is Mrs Babita Devi. The village

Sarpanch seat is also reserved for women. The village Sarpanch is Mrs Malti Devi. The Block

Development Committee member seat is also reserved for women. The BDC member of Belahi

Panchayat is from Baliya village and her name is Mrs Chinta Devi.

There are two wards in the village. One of them is reserved for women. Mr Balchand and Mrs

Meena Devi are respective ward representatives from the village.

There has not been any Gram Sabha in the knowledge of the villagers since 4 years. Same is the

case for Panchayat. The representatives do not seem to be concerned with the issues of the

village. Caste is an important factor is deciding the election results. Also, women votes are

decided by the men of their houses. The people are not satisfied but at the same time do not seem

to care about the working of the Panchayat.

ICDS/Aanganwadi, old age pension, widow pension, scholarships, erstwhile IAY, PDS etc. are

some of the government programs and schemes of the government being implemented in the

village. The government scheme of giving Rs 12000 to every household which has built a toilet

is also being implemented. MGNREGA is a failure in the village.

There is a ration shop in the village. The dealer gives kerosene, rice and wheat to the eligible

families. Rice and wheat is given at 4kg/person in the household. BPL cards are with those who

are eligible. However, the many families were removed from the list recently due to non-linking

of Aadhar with the card. The names are being entered in the list again.

Aadhar and Voter IDs are available with the people.

NEEDS AND ASPIRATIONS OF THE COMMUNITY

There is irregular supply of electricity in the village.

The roads are not maintained and kaccha in some parts of the village.occupied the land. The

community members themselves are conflicted over the forced ownership, so they constantly

fight with each other over who would occupy the

There is no proper drainage system in the village.

There is a problem of sanitation and hygiene. Even if the households want to build toilets, they

do not have money to build it. Government gives Rs 12000 for the construction of toilet but the

payment is made after the toilet is actually built and is mostly delayed. The amount is not enough

for getting a proper toilet constructed.

No irrigation facility is made available by the government.

There are no street lights in the village.

The PRIs have failed to function properly.

There is a lack of basic services like banking in the village.

ISSUES RELATED TO WOMEN

● Women have less mobility as compared to men. However, they go out for open

defecation. Women also go out to collect money from banks, which are sent by their

husbands who live outside the state or the country itself. They also go out in groups to see

the fairs when they happen. Older women have a little more mobility than young women.

Young Rajput women do not come for Mahila Samakhya meetings also.

● Women do veils when elder men pass by. Newly wed women keep longer veils.

● Women are considered less capable than men. Men are the decision makers in most of the

households. Men eat first and then women eat in the houses.

● Even though the representatives are women, their husbands and other male members are

at the helm of all affairs.

● Menstrual Health is still less talked about in the village; not even in the upper middle

school.

PERCEPTION OF PARIVARTAN

There are mixed views regarding Parivartan. Women said that they get no benefit from Mahila

Samakhya. Men said that Agriculture vertical provides no help to them. The teachers in the

school said that the Education vertical has helped students to learn new knowledge and skills.

Parivartan has not been able to do participatory community organization in the village. On one

hand, dominant castes seem to be with Parivartan, weaker sections have not received much

benefits.

VILLAGE:SIKIA

Total Geographical Area

of the Village

470 Bigha

Total Population Approximately 950-1000

Composition of

Communities in terms of

Caste

Brahman- 12 households

Rajput- 30 households

Gond- 30 households

Bhar- 25 households

Composition of

Communities in terms of

Religion

Hindus

Type of families Joint family mostly

Average size of families 8-10

Types of occupations Brahman- 50% dependent on agriculture, 50% work in big cities

or work abroad in construction

Rajput- 30% dependent on agriculture, 70% work in big cities in

construction

Gond- 10% dependent on agriculture, 90% work as labourers

(35% work in villages, 55% work in cities)

Bhar- 15% sharecroppers, 85% work as labourers (35% work in

villages, 50% work in cities)

* Big cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Gujarat

* Foreign countries such as Saudi Arabia, Oman

Migration from the village Brahman- 50% work in big cities or work abroad in construction

and in iron and steel industries.

Rajput- 70% work in big cities in construction

Gond- 55% work in cities as labourers

Bhar- 50% work in cities as labourers

Men from Gond and Bhar community mostly migrate to metro

cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Gujarat for contractual work (Brick

Kilns and construction work).

Land use pattern Brahman- 5 to 12 Bigha

Rajput- 6 to 10 Bigha

Gond- 15 kattha to 2 Bigha

Bhar- 5 Kattha to 2 Bigha, some work as sharecroppers

Gonds and Bhars do not possess much land to cultivate, they

work as labourers and sharecroppers on the land belonging to

Rajputs and Brahmins.

Modes of irrigation Tubewells (at the rate of Rs. 120 per hour)

Modes of cultivation Modern modes of cultivation- using tractors (at the rate of Rs. 60

per kattha), fertilizers and pesticides

Animal Husbandry 60% of the households have cattle

Rajputs and Brahmins use the cattle for their personal use,

whereas Gonds and Bhars utilise their cattle as an additional

source of income (by selling the milk from cattle,etc)

Income Gond and Bhars- The women mostly work on the fields as

labourers and sharecroppers. They earn about 3000 a month and

men earn about 10,000 (working in big cities) out of which they

send about 4000 rupees to their families.

ACCESS TO ROADS

The village is connected to Miya Ke Bhatkan and Gothi via Pucca Road. There also exists a

Kuchha Road connecting Sikia to Narayanpur.

The roads running through the village vary in terms of quality. The Rajputs have access to best

of roads in the village-Pucca roads, whereas the settlements of Gonds and Bhars have roads of

substandard quality- Kuccha roads. Due to this Bhars and Gonds face water logging during the

rainy season, which aggravates issues of transportation and mobility. At times Bhars and Gonds

use the water logged fields to reach the main road.

COMMUNITY ASSETS

The village comprises of a grazing land, which is in closer to the houses of Rajput community.

The nearest temple is in Narayanpur and another temple is under construction in Sikia.

There are 5 government hand pumps in the village to provide for water facilities. These hand

pumps are dug to about 200 feets, providing fresh and clean drinking water. Three of the five

handpumps are closer to Gonds and Bhars households. Majority of the Rajput households

comprise of private hand pumps. The village does not contain any Chaupal or Community hall.

EDUCATION

The village has a Government Primary School, till 5th class. The perception of this school

among Gond and Bhar community is largely positive. The villagers feel that the teachers in this

school are punctual and provide good quality education. However, the infrastructure of the

school lacks the provisions mentioned under Right to Education Act,2009. The school did not

contain toilets and it was not secured by boundary walls/fence.

The nearest Government Middle School, till 8th standard is in Gonthi.

The nearest Government High School, till class 10th is in Bhavrajpur.

There are several Private Schools in the area, which are popularly opted for by the richer section

of the village.

In spite of the supposed quality education, many students go for private tuitions, which are

conducted in the school premises. The tuition fees is about 100 rupees per month.

HEALTH

The village has an Asha Worker, who lives in the centre of the small village. Her daughter used

to work as a Sahiyogini with Mahila Samakhya and is married now.

The Anganwadi that was available in the village has been shifted to another area near Sharma

Tola in Miya Ke Bhatkan. Due to this women and children are devoid of nutritional intake as

provided by Anganwadi.

The nearest PHC is in Narendrapur, which is about 5 km by the motorable road. Institutional

deliveries have increased in the village as most of the childbirths now take place in hospitals.

The lower wealth quintile household use government health facilities, such as- government

hospitals, Asha Workers, etc. The higher wealth quintile households prefer private medical

facilities.

The government hospitals engage in several unfair practices, due to which villagers have faced

hurdles in accessing basic health services. There are cases where they have been given expired

medicines, asked to purchase medicines from outside and refused services till they deposit a sum

of money.

Ambulance facility is available with the government hospitals but its accessibility remains

negligible as in most of the cases families have had to payas much as Rs. 300 on transportation

from their pocket.

The diseases that commonly occur in the village are fever, diarrhea, pneumonia, typhoid and

complications related to pregnancy.

SANITATION

Majority of the households in the village do not have toilets and practice open defecation.

Women often have to walk long distances at night or early in the morning to defecate in the

open.

The village lacks an efficient waste management system. There are no drains or gutters in the

village. Most of the garbage is thrown either in pit holes, road sites, water bodies and farms

making the villagers extremely vulnerable to various diseases. The responsibility of cleaning the

village lies on individual households, due to which the garbage gets accumulated in public

places.

CELEBRATIONS AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT

All the major festivals such as Diwali, Chhat, Dussehra, Holi, Jitiya, Shivratri, etc are celebrated

in Sikia. All the caste groups come together for celebrating these festivals. However, during

Chhath three different Ponds are used by different caste groups as place of worship. Even when

various caste groups gather for festivals Rajputs and Brahmins eat first, whereas Bhars and

Gonds eat later. Women in each caste groups are the last ones to eat.

People in the village help each other in times of need. However, this holds true for people

belonging to the same caste groups.

VILLAGE GOVERNANCE

Village Mukhiya: Usha Devi

Ward members from Sikia: Satyanarayan Saha and Sangeeta Yadav

The Gram Sabha takes place at the Mukhiya’s House. It is not conducted regularly, the last Gram

Sabha was held one year ago. Many a times, the villagers are unaware of the Gram Sabhas that

are conducted in the village and are made to sign documents to prove the strength of the Gram

Sabha.

GOVERNMENT SCHEMES

The majority of villagers are unaware of social protection schemes.

Under MGNREGA, people are unaware of process and entitlements. Some of the gond women

who have worked under MGNREGA are yet to get their due wages. Some of the villagers who

have not registered their aadhaar card have been refused their BPL entitlements, due to which

they are unable to get their ration.

The villagers are charged 50 rupees per person to get their adhaar card made.

People were unaware about the procedure under the government scheme ‘Shauchalay Nirman,

Ghar Ka Samman’ (Toilet in every household). Under this scheme the state government provides

Rupees 12,000 per family for construction of a toilet in urban and rural areas.The amount as

guaranteed has been scrutinized for not taking into account the labour and materials required to

build a toilet.

NEEDS AND ASPIRATIONS OF THE COMMUNITY

Agriculture: Most of the times, because of the shortage of rainfall and lack of other modes of

irrigation, crop production is affected. This affects the livelihood of people directly or indirectly

dependent on agricultural activities, especially the sharecroppers.

The BDO or the officials do not visit the village and do not address to the issues pertaining to the

various communities in the village. Irregular and improper functioning of the PRIs hamper the

ability of villagers to access Government Schemes and Programs.

Proper Drainage System: There are no proper drainage system in the village and the water gets

accumulated in front of the houses in rainy season. There is need for regular cleaning mechanism

along with an adequate drainage system.

The women also aspire to build toilets, so that they not restricted to late nights or early mornings

to access sanitation facilities.

PERCEPTION OF PARIVARTAN

The villagers hold mixed opinions about parivartan.

The Education Vertical has helped the children from different villages.

VILLAGE: KHEM BHATKAN

Total Geographical Area

of the Village

251 Bigha

Total Population 1500

Composition of

Communities in terms of

Caste households

Brahmin- Pandey and Tiwari - 64

Ahir (Yadav)- 150

Srivastava (Lala)- 8

Kamkar- 27

Baitha (Dhobi)- 10

Gond- 10

Kaanu- 8

Baasphore (Dom)-1

Mushar- 12

Thakur (Hajaam)- 2

Muslim- 1

Composition of

Communities in terms of

Religion

Hindu and Muslim

Type of families Mostly Joint families

Average size of families 4-5 in case of nuclear family, 6-12 incase of Joint families

Types of occupations Kayastha- 2% work in agriculture, they have lended their land to

other caste groups to work as sharecroppers, 98% run their own

businesses

All the other castes groups are mainly engaged in agriculture,

very small percentage of people from other household have

migrated to metro cities to work in construction businesses.

Most of the people belonging to the Kharwars and Thakur

community do not possess any land or very little land to cultivate,

they work as labourers and sharecroppers on the land belonging to

the people of Tiwari community. Others work as welders and

painters in big cities such as Delhi, Mumbai etc

Migration from the village 2% of the families from each caste group migrate to metro cities

to work in construction business.

Modes of irrigation Privately owned tube wells (at the rate of 130 rupees per hour)

Modes of Cultivation Modern modes of cultivation- using tractors (at the rate of Rs. 60

per kattha), fertilizers and pesticides

Animal Husbandry 60% of the households have cattle (mostly used as additional

source of livelihood for Gonds and Bhars)

COMMUNITY ASSETS

● Temples: 2

● Hand pumps: 5 government Hand pumps

● Grazing ground: There are two grazing grounds. But these are very far away from the

houses of Kharwar and Thakur, so they bring fodder for the cattle from their fields and

then feed them. Also, the grazing grounds are very small, are not big enough for the

whole villagers to feed their cattle. Hence, the community grazing grounds are mostly

used by the people living in the vicinity.

● Ponds: 2

● There are two community land but the families from Tiwari community have forcefully

occupied the community land. This has resulted in contestation over land between

different Tiwari families.

● Panchayat Hall: One panchayat hall in Narendrapur.

● Gram Sabha takes place on the Chaupal in Narendrapur.

SANITATION

● Toilets- There are no toilets in the houses of Kharwar and Thakur (नाई) in the Tiwari

Tola (Hamlet). They have one or two room houses; there is no place, no land for a proper

one room house, making it impossible to negotiate for space in order to build toilet.

People were unaware about the government scheme ‘Shauchalay Nirman, Ghar Ka

Samman’ (Toilet in every household). Under this scheme the state government provides

Rupees 12,000 per family for construction of a toilet in urban and rural areas.

● Women belonging to Kharwar and Thakur caste groups go out early in the morning or

late at nights to defecate in the open. The women do not carry water pots with them and

often walk kilometers without cleaning themselves. One of the reasons for doing this is

that carrying water pots along with them makes it evident that they are going out for

defecation. The fact that they can only go out early in the morning or late at nights to

defecate has also nurtured unhealthy practices such as not eating properly.

● Only the people belonging to the Brahman caste (Tiwari in this case) have toilets.

● The village does not contain adequate drainage system or gutters. Since the ponds have

no water, most of the garbage is thrown either in the ponds or in the fields.

● There are no provisions for regular cleaning of village roads and common spaces.

EDUCATION

There is one school, Rajkiye Prathmik School where classes are run from class 1 to 5.

Ratio of boys and girls: 175 students – 76 boys and 99 girls

➔ The ratio of girls is more than boys. One of the reasons for the high enrollment of girls is

that most of the parents going out of the villages to work, take their sons along with them

leaving the girl child with their grandparents and relatives in the villages.

➔ Under Mukhyamantri Balak and Balika Cycle Yojana and Mukhyamantri Poshak Yojana,

the children have not been provided money to buy cycles and school uniforms. Under

Mukhyamantri Balak and Balika Bicycle scheme, the girls of Std. IX and X are provided

cash to buy a bicycle. Earlier the amount was Rs. 1600 but, from this year the amount has

been increased to Rs. 2500. Under the Mukhyamantri Poshak Yojana, girl students of

Standard III-VIII are provided financial support to purchase uniform and supplementary

study materials or stationary items necessary for their studies. The girl students of

Standard III-V are provided Rs. 500 per year to buy two pairs of uniform and stationary

items required for their study. For students of Std. VI-VIII, the amount is Rs.700 per year

for the same purpose.

➔ Mid-day meals are provided but they have not been given utensils to keep their food.

There are days when the students are not provided with food due to shortage of ration. On

those days students go back home to have lunch.

● There were only two classrooms for conducting classes from 1 to 5. Some of the classes

were taken under the big Peepal tree in front of the school. During rainy season,

conducting classes becomes a huge problem. There is another building under construction

(since 2006) in front of the school which has not been completed because of the shortage

of funds. The school authority argued that the installments that were provided were given

at rates fixed in 2006 without taken into consideration the inflation.

Narendrapur: Rajkiye Madhyamik Vidhyalaya, a government school where the students go for

schooling after completing their education till class 5th from the Primary school. This school

provides education till class 8th.. There is one Private School which provides education till class

10th and for class 12th, students go to Ziradei.

Under the Bihar government scholarship, SC/ST students of 7th and 8th are provided with 1800

rupees.

Anganwadi: 40 children- 22 girls and 18 boys. Anganwadi centers do not provide proper food

and most of the time the children are given biscuits in their meals.

HEALTH/ HYGIENE

● There is one PHC in Narendrapur where people go for treatments pertaining to smaller

health issues, such as fever, diarrhea,etc and childbirth. There is no ambulance for taking

patients to the hospital. They have to take the help of private transport which when

reserved, costs Rupees 300-400.

● For severe illnesses people have to travel to Sardar Patel Hospital, Siwan.

● Types of illnesses: Typhoid, Fever, Pneumonia, diarrhea, etc.

● The government hospitals are criticised by villagers as officials do not attend to the

patients properly, reflecting their lackadaisical attitude. Most of the low income

households and families belonging to Kharwar and Thakur community are forced to go

the government hospitals due to their economic status, whereas, families belonging to

Tiwari Community go to private health centers.

.

CELEBRATIONS AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS

● The major festivities are Diwali, Holi, Teej, Chhat, Janmashtami and Durga Puja.

● The festivals are celebrated together by various caste groups in the village. Even though

the villagers claim that there exists equality and cordial relations between various caste

groups, the Tiwari community eats first during festivals, followed by Kharwars and

Thakurs, lastly by women.

● The community members come out to help each other during bad times. However, the

system of help prevalent in the village is restricted to the same caste groups. Kharwars

and Thakurs help their community members by providing for motor vehicles during

health emergencies and money at very low or no interest rates in cases of emergencies.

However, the Tiwari community helps Kharwars and Thakurs by providing informal

credit facilities at usurious rates, as high as 10 percent per month.

VILLAGE GOVERNANCE AND STATUS OF GOVERNMENT SCHEMES

Ward member: Baby Kumari (Brij Kishore’s wife)

Mukhiya: Shubhash

● Majority of the villagers are unaware about the Social Protection Schemes.

● They lack information regarding the procedures and entitlements under MGNREGA. It

has been observed by the villagers that the Mukhiya hires JCB on contract for purposes

of fulfilling the work assigned under MGNREGA, declining them their right to work.

The money under MGNREGA is transferred to the bank accounts of the villagers, but the

Mukhiya makes the villagers withdraw that money to fill his own pockets, leaving the

villagers with Rs. 200 as their share.

● The villagers were unaware about the government scheme ‘Shauchalay Nirman, Ghar Ka

Samman’ (Toilet in every household).

● They never had any information about the time and place of the Gram Sabha

Proceedings.

PERCEPTION OF PARIVARTAN

● The education Verticle have worked considerably in this field for the betterment of the

children. Children from different villages come to Parivartan to learn computers and also

in Bal Ghar Angan (Anganwadi center)

● Apart from the Education verticle, the women are unaware about Parivartan’s

interventions in other areas.

 

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR COORDINATOR OF MAHILA SAMKHYA AND SAHIYOGINIS

I- PROFILE OF THE SAHIYOGINI

Name

Age

Caste Group

Religion

Educational Background

Monthly Income

Type of family

No of family members

Head of the Household

Occupation of the head of the Household

Any other source of income in the family

Are you a part of any political party or political organisation

II- ORGANISATIONAL PROFILE

When was the organisation formed?

Constitution of the organisation (Rules, Regulations, By Laws, Norms etc.)

Why was the organisation formed? (Objective and Vision)

Structure of the organisation?

Who are the office bearers?

III- GROUP FORMATION

1. When did you join Mahila Samakhya?

2. Why and how did you join Mahila Samakhya?

3. Who were the trainers and how long was the training process?

4. What was the content of the training/ What were you taught during the training process?

5. How do you use the skills that you learnt during the training process? (skills, knowledge,

attitude)

6. How do you form a group? (Mobilisation strategy and criteria)

7. How much time it takes to form a group?

8. What responses do you face when you go for forming a group?

9. What is the average number of women? Is there any cap on the membership? Yes/No.

If yes, then explain the number.

10. Why do women need to come together?

11. Who are the women that come for meetings? (Profile of members)- Including, caste,

class, occupation and educational background

12. Are the groups homogeneous or heterogeneous?

13. What are the strengths and challenges of such groups?

14. What is the frequency of the meetings? Explain the frequency

15. What do you do during the meetings?

16. How do you identify issues and prioritise them?

17. What is the course of action when issues emerge- Generic and Issue based?

18. How can you make groups sustainable and effective?

19. What tools do you use for mobilization, capacity building and intervention?

20. What are the different issues faced and management of such issues within the group?

21. Knowledge about various schemes?

IV- SWOT ANALYSIS

What do you think is the impacts of MS programme on women members?

● Decision making inside the household

● Community participation

● Freedom of mobility

● Land and property rights

● Discussion and intervention regarding Health and hygiene

● Impact of these discussion and intervention on women and girl child

● Discussions and intervention regarding education.

● Impact of these discussions and intervention on women and girl child

● Participation in Gram Sabha

● Awareness and enrolment in Government Schemes

● Strengths and challenges in handling cases of violence

● Capacities of Sahiyoginis (knowledge, skill and attitude)

● What are the possible ways to achieve the objectives of MS

● What threats do you face while working in the field (political, social and economic).

FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION CHECKLIST FOR SAHIYOGINIS

TRAINING SESSIONS AND GROUP FORMATION

● What are the training sessions provided to Sahiyoginis?

● Who were the trainers and how long was the training process?

● What was the content of the training/ What were you taught during the training process?

● How do you use the skills that you learnt during the training process? (skills, knowledge,

attitude)

● How do you form a group? (Mobilisation strategy and criteria)

● How much time it takes to form a group?

● What responses do you face when you go for forming a group?

● What is the average number of women? Is there any cap on the membership? Yes/No.

● If yes, then explain the number.

● Why do women need to come together?

● Who are the women that come for meetings? (Profile of members)- Including, caste,

class, occupation and educational background

● Are the groups homogeneous or heterogeneous?

● What are the strengths and challenges of such groups?

● What is the frequency of the meetings? Explain the frequency

● What do you do during the meetings?

● How do you identify issues and prioritise them?

● What is the course of action when issues emerge- Generic and Issue based?

● How can you make groups sustainable and effective?

● What tools do you use for mobilization, capacity building and intervention?

● What are the different issues faced and management of such issues within the group?

● Knowledge about various schemes?

SWOT ANALYSIS

What do you think is the impacts of MS programme on women members?

● Decision making inside the household

● Community participation

● Freedom of mobility

● Land and property rights

● Discussion and intervention regarding Health and hygiene

● Impact of these discussion and intervention on women and girl child

● Discussions and intervention regarding education.

● Impact of these discussions and intervention on women and girl child

● Participation in Gram Sabha

● Awareness and enrolment in Government Schemes

● Strengths and challenges in handling cases of violence

● Capacities of Sahiyoginis (knowledge, skill and attitude)

● What are the possible ways to achieve the objectives of MS

● What threats do you face while working in the field (political, social and economic).

SUCCESS STORIES

● What are the cases that have emerged?

● Why are these cases coming up?

● What have been the interventions in these cases?

TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR SAHIYOGINIS

The Sahiyoginis have been provided three training sessions apart from a workshop that is

undertaken every Saturday by the coordinator, Rupa Ji to build their knowledge, skills and

attitude.

Trainings conducted (days)

Trainers Content of the training

Knowledge, Skills and Attitude learnt

Use in field

Skills and Attitude related to samooh formation and skills for data collection for surveys 2013 (5 days)

Yashoda Lakshmi Ushma Savitri Poonam Vibha

1.Condition of the villages and understanding of village communities 2.Surveying 3.Group formation 4.Overview on Mahila Samakhya’s work and function

1.Surveying 2.Understanding dynamics of caste, religion and gender in the villages 2.Group formation 3.Positive interaction and building cohesion with the women

1.Surveyed village communities to understand village profile 2.During surveys, samoohs were marked and formed 3.The skills and attitudes learnt during the training are utilised to enhance participation of women in samoohs

Government Schemes Social Behaviour Change 2014 (5 days)

Yashoda Ragini Rupa Ushma

1.Information about government programs and schemes like MGNREGA, Pension schemes etc. 2.Procedures and rules for accessing various government programs and schemes 3.Gender Sensitisation 4.Activities on behavioural change were conducted

1.Knowledge building on current social protection schemes provided by the Government. 2.Enhancing the ability of Sahiyoginis to link women and their families to Government Schemes and Programs. 3.Built confidence in Sahiyoginis to understand and deal with cases where access to Government Social Protection Schemes was restricted or unavailable 4.Knowledge about the difference between sex and gender 5.Understanding the way of talking to women to increase the cohesion

1.Empower and facilitate women through knowledge to access Government Schemes and Programs 2.Various women have been linked to the available Government Schemes and Programs 3.Helped to make women understand the basics of gender equality. 4.Helped to involve more women in the activities of samooh

Gender Sensitisation, 2015 (2 days)

Kumkum 1. Gender Sensitisation 2.Information regarding patriarchal male dominated

1.Knowledge about patriarchy as a structure and ascribing gender roles as an outcome

1.Looking at women issues through a feminist and more progressive lens 2.Making women

society and the issues which it leads to

2.Information regarding gender equality was consolidated 3.Informed dissemination of information regarding gender issues to the women developed as a skill 4.Sensitive towards women issues

understand their problems in the broader context of society and identify areas for change.

SAMOOH FORMATION

While conducting surveys, women from different households in different villages gathered and

then the Sahyoginis interacted with them. During the interaction, the Sahiyoginis motivated the

women to form groups.

And later, the sahyogini used to go to the villages and started interacting with the women,

listened to their issues and grievances. The Sahiyoginis along with the women sat together and

other women joined in the group and participated in the discussion. This continued as and when

the sahyogini visited the village and the groups started forming. Some other women joined the

group when existing members of the group informed them about the group if they thought some

help for them could be sought by joining the samooh.

The women members mostly belong to the backward castes (यादव, लोहार, ब�नया) and scheduled

caste (चमार).

It almost takes one to one and a half months to form the group.

The Sahiyoginis face various questions from the women members such as

● Why have the Sahiyoginis come to the village

● What will the Sahiyoginis gain on forming groups and talking to the women

● What benefits will the women get on joining the samooh

The maximum cap of members is 20. It is easy to conduct meetings with 20 members, members

are interactive and focused. They get time to talk and share their issues. The focus of the group is

maintained.

Women need to come together so that they would listen to each other’s issues and understand

them. This would further bring a sense of togetherness among the women members and help

them to understand each other’s issues in a better way. They become more vocal and open in

sharing their problems.

The women who attend the meetings and are the members of the group are mainly from the poor

households belonging to the backward caste (Kharwar, Baniya, Yadav and Teli), Scheduled caste

(Gonds, Bhars) and EBC (Thakur). They are mainly engaged in agricultural activities and work

as sharecroppers. Most of the women members have education qualification till class 8th or

below.

The groups that are formed are mainly homogeneous leaving one or two groups which are

heterogeneous. Some hamlets in the villages where the groups are formed, majority of the

member belong to one caste but one or two women are there who belong to the other castes.

Understanding each other’s issues, breaking caste barriers. There is no woman from the upper

caste in the group; they do not sit with the other members of the group in the discussion. And in

most of the cases it so happens that the women belonging to the upper caste are not allowed to

come out of their homes and for any discussion or interaction with the outside the members, they

either remain inside the house or stand at their doors.

The meetings are conducted once in every week in each of the groups and at times once in 15

days because sometimes the shahi yoginis are compelled to come to the office for some meetings

and discussions. (Parivartan Campus)

SUCCESS STORIES

INFORMATION EMPOWERS

Nainpati Kunwar comes from the Gond community in Salahpur. She belongs to one of the

poorest households in the village and the conditions of her family has been deteriorating ever

since her husband died due to lung cancer, two years ago.

Nainapati and Ramu had 5 children together. The eldest daughter Rinki married 3 years ago and

now lives with her in-laws in a village nearby Siwan.

After Ramu’s death Nainpati was aggrieved about Pinky’s marriage, as she had reached the

“marriageable age”. Nainpati had started spreading the word regarding her daughter’s marriage

in and around the village in order to get her daughter married at the earliest. On one of those

days, when Nainpati went to meet her relatives in Hakma, she was informed about a man who

could possibly marry Pinky without any dowry. Enchanted by the news, she went to the boy’s

sister’s House in Hakma. The sister’s mother-in-law informed Nainpati about Prateek. Prateek

comes from a rich household in Banaras. However, Prateek’s wife had left him after marriage

and his family was looking for another girl to get him married to. Nainpati agreed to get her

daughter, Pinky married to Prateek. Pinky and Prateek married in a temple in Banaras without

any Kanyadaan or any Dowry. Pinky’s marriage came as a relief in times of economic hardships

that followed Ramu’s death.

Renu, the youngest daughter studies in the class 8 in the Middle School present in the village.

Nainpati’s oldest son, Brijesh is suffering from issues of mental health. She takes her son for

regular monthly visits to a hospital in Chapra. The medicines cost her about Rs. 2000 every

month. Inability to provide for medicines has caused several difficulties in the past. She provides

for these expenses by asking family members and neighbours for monetary help. Given her

economic and social condition, people often give her money at no or negligible interest rate.

Her youngest son Somesh is just 13 years old and he studies in the same school as Renu.

Somesh is viewed as the potential breadwinner for the family, who can help uplift family’s

financial condition. He seldom engages in petty work such as boarding and lodging for various

purposes in the village. Even though he is able to manage some additional monetary relief to the

family, Nainpati believes that he is too young to engage in any form of labour work as it will

hamper his development and growth.

Ramu’s father owns a total of 1 bigha land in the village, which when divided between four

brothers will provide Nainpati with a mere 500 Kattha to sustain her family. Currently Nainpati

cultivates land that she takes for sharecropping, in order to provide for her family. Ramu used to

work in a mill in Kolkata and he was getting 1100 rupees as pension. After Ramu’s death

Nainpati gets 400 rupees as his pension. As Nainapati was 37 years when Ramu died, she was

eligible for Bihar State Government’s Scheme, Lakshmibai Samajik Suraksha Yojana. Under

this scheme, the state government provides assistance in form of monthly security pension of 300

rupees to widows of the state belonging to BPL families for their welfare. She had registered for

the scheme in Aandar Block Office after Ramu’s death. She was receiving this pension till it was

made compulsory by the Government to link every beneficiary’s bank accounts for social

protection schemes.

Nainpati unaware of the specificities and procedures for linking her bank account for the

Lakshmibai Samajik Suraksha Yojana, gave her husband’s account number. After registering her

husband’s account number she had been making regular visits to the bank, but she was

disappointed to find out that the bare minimum she was receiving from the government on the

account of her husband’s death had been stopped. Desperate for help, she asked her neighbours

and fellow villagers for what could be done in order to reinstate the pension. She was informed

by the villagers that there is a woman in the village, who makes regular visits to the Block Office

and she might be able to help her. Following the trail, Nainpati reached the Sahyogini, Meena’s

house. She shared her grief with Meena and asked for whatever help she could provide.

Meena took up this case immediately and took Nainpati to the Block Office in Aandar. Meena

introduced Nainpati to the Vikas Mitra and explained him the details of Nainpati’s plight. The

Vikas Mitra assured Meena that he would help Nainpati and would sort out her issue at the

earliest. However, Nainpati made several visits and the Vikas Mitra was nowhere to be found.

She informed Meena Ji about this, so Meena Ji called the Vikas Mitra to ask him why he had not

taken up Nainpati’s case seriously. To this, Vikas Mitra replied that he would be in the office

that day and asked Nainpati to come to his office. Nainpati rushed to the office to meet him, the

Vikas Mitra informed her that the reason for discontinuation of her pension was because she had

provided for her husband’s account number and not hers. Vikas Mitra helped Nainpati in

changing the account number to her account. She finally received a sum of Rs. 2000 after that. It

was a joyous moment for a woman, who suffered for months due to the lack of appropriate

information and guidance.

A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE

Rekha Devi is a 26 year old widow residing in Bhavrajpur. She married Harish when she was 17

years old. They shifted to Delhi right after marriage, where Harish used to work as a factory

worker. Their marriage was full of joys of spring, they had two children together, an elder girl

child- Sunita and a younger boy- Hitesh. Unfortunately, in the fourth year of their marriage

Harish’s health started deteriorating. In times of bad health they collected as much money as they

could from friends and family members in order to meet Harish’s health expenses. Soon after

Harish's health started improving, he left work and they shifted back to Harish’s village,

Bhavrajpur. They lived in a separate house from Harish’s parents but maintained cordial

relations with all the family members. After staying in the village for about 6 months Harish’s

health collapsed again and he died of kidney failure when their son was just 2 months old.

Rekha was left in a state of despair and Harish’s family along with Rekha’s family started

coercing her to get married again as she was still very young. The families stated that her youth

could bring shame to their family and in order to mitigate any such dishonour it was important

for her to find another man. The pressure on Rekha started getting stronger with every passing

month.

Rekha has been a member of Basdev samooh in Bhavrajpur since 2013. She decided to speak

about the issues she was facing to Tara Ji, Sahyogini from Bhavrajpur. Rekha expressed her

concerns about marrying another man, when her children were so young. She was aware of the

fact that the next man that she marries might not treat her children well and that could cause

discomfort to her children that she loved so dearly. She also indicated the difficulties her children

might have to face in their own personal and community life, provided Rekha marries another

man. They would be called names and put down on the fact that their mother married another

man. The stigma around a widow and women’s sexuality often leads to cases of isolation and

marginalisation, making it impossible for the women and families to lead a productive life. Tara

Ji sympathised with Rekha and told her that it would be a shame if Bhavrajpur, which is the

biggest village in Siwan can’t provide a widow with economic support and independence. Tara Ji

was aware that Rekha owns a sewing machine, she suggested that Rekha should take up stitching

as means of livelihood to support and sustain her family. At the same time, she proposed that

Rekha should inform other people in her neighbourhood about it, while Taraji encourages

women and families in the village to go to Rekha if they need to get anything stitched. Starting

from just a sewing machine, Rekha has proceeded to add decoratives for clothes and smaller

things such as notebooks, purse, etc with Tara’s suggestions and support. Today she is able to

sustain her children with this form of self-employment. This has helped Rekha in building her

confidence and sense of self-worth enabling her to lead a life of dignity.

WE WILL FIGHT, WE WILL LEARN

Lehron se darr kar nauka paar nahin hoti,

Koshish karne walon ki kabhi haar nahin hoti.

Prabhavati Devi’s dream to get her daughter, Priyanka, educated was shattered when she failed

her class 10th examinations.

Prabhavati Devi is a resident of Bharauli village in the Bharauli Panchayat. She is a Chamar by

caste. Her husband has migrated abroad to work in as a helper. She lives in her house with her

mother-in-law, three daughters and two sons. She works as an agricultural labourer. She joined

Roshni samooh of Jagriti Mahila Samakhya in 2014. Raisa Khatoon is the Sahyogini of the

samooh.

Priyanka is the eldest of her five children. Prabhavati had a desire that her daughter will not

remain uneducated as herself. However, in 2014, when her daughter failed her class 10th exam,

her husband was very angry. He believed that as Priyanka had failed in her exams, she was

incapable of doing any good. He was not ready to let her give the exam again. He thought it was

a waste to spend time, energy and money on her education. Rather, he wanted to get her married.

Though, Prabhavati protested, he was not ready to listen. When he visited the house during

vacations, both mother and daughter tried to make him understand the importance of education.

However, he was not ready to listen and even used physical violence against both mother and

daughter.

Prabhavati was a dedicated member of the Roshni samooh. In one of the meetings, he informed

the Sahyogini and other members about her problem. She said that her daughter wanted to appear

for class 10th exam again and get educated further. She also informed the members about what

her husband had decided. The members discussed the problem and it was decided that Priyanka

will fill the form for class 10th exam in the next year. The women and the Sahyogini motivated

and encouraged Prabhavati to fight for the education of her daughter. However, her husband was

not ready to change his decision.

After a few days, Prabhavati’s husband left advising her to look for a suitable groom for

Priyanka. When she came for the meeting again, Sahyogini asked what her husband had finally

decided. On knowing the situation, the women asked her not to inform her husband anything

and let Priyanka reappear for the exam. Prabhavati felt a sense of strength and decided to go

against the decision of her husband.

In the coming year, 2015, Priyanka appeared for class 10th exam and came out with flying colors.

Prabhavati had succeeded. When her father was informed, he too was very happy and decided to

let their daughter study further. In 2017, Priyanka cleared class 12th exam as well. She is also

learning to work on computers in Ziradei. Priyanka wants to study further and Prabhavati is

determined towards it.

HEALTH IS WEALTH

Swastha Mahila,

Sukhi Parivar

Chinta Devi was going pale day by day after the delivery of her third daughter.

Chinta Devi is from Hardeopatti in Garad Panchayat. She is a Khadwar by caste. Her husband is

an auto driver. She lives in her house with her father-in-law, husband and three daughters. She

joined Shanti samooh of Jagriti Mahila Samakhya in 2016. Sarita Devi is the Sahyogini of the

samooh.

When Chinta Devi delivered her third daughter in a row, her husband was not happy at all. A

patriarchal man, he used to beat her wife earlier for delivering two daughters. After the third girl

was born, he left his wife on her own. The women had to do all the work of the household and

take care of the newborn all on herself. Her husband did not care about the mother or the

daughter. No medicine or proper food was being given to Chinta Devi. As a result, she grew pale

and thin day by day.

In one of the meetings, the women of the Shanti samooh drew attention of the Sahyogini towards

the condition of Chinta’s health. Sahyogini asked Chinta why she looked pale and thin and

enquired if she was taking proper medicines after the delivery of the child. Chinta Devi started

crying and told her problem to the samooh. The samooh decided that the she will be taken to the

PHC and will be treated. The Sahyogini decided to talk to her husband. However, as he was out

during day time, she could not meet him. The women of the samooh then came up and talked to

her husband. Her husband then allowed Chinta to be taken to the PHC.

The Sahyogini then took Chinta Devi to the PHC. The doctor sent her some tests and it came out

that she was deficient in iron. The doctor then gave her iron tablets and some food supplements.

After some time, there was marked improvement in the health of Chinta Devi.

The women of the samooh also talked to Chinta’s husband regarding taking care of the girl child.

They made him realize that girl children are special and how they have made their parents proud.

Currently, both Chinta and her daughters are living a healthy and happy life.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

We will fight, we will win!!

This case story is about the village Banthu Shriram of Chandauli-Gangauli Panchayat which

happened in 2016. It is about a woman named Baby Kumari who got married to Ranjan Pandit of

Bhojhata village in Gopalganj district. They both belong to the Kumhar community. They have a

daughter who was of two years ago when the issues between the wife and husband aggravated.

After giving birth to a baby girl, few months later Ranjan left for Saudi Arabia to work as a

welder. He returned after one and a half year from there.The issues heightened when Ranjan

returned from Saudi Arabia. They were married since five years but there were problems

between husband’s family and wife started soon after few months of marriage. Ranjan and his

family misbehaved with Baby and Ranjan used to even beat his wife. They even did not provide

proper food to Baby. Baby’s family tried talking to Ranjan’s family and makes them understand

but nothing happened and the issue further worsened. This issue slowly came into the discussion

in one of Mahila Samakhya’s meeting. The team of Sahiyoginis went to Ranjan’s house to solve

the issue and have discussion with the Baby’s in-laws. They assured the Sahiyoginis that no such

things would happen in the future. But it continued and every time after the in-laws gave

assurance to the Sahiyoginis, they repeated such inhumane acts and misbehaved with Baby. The

in-laws were planning for Ranjan’s second marriage and this news reached the members of

Mahila Samakhya. The women members went to Ranjan’s house and tried to solve the issue.

They asked Ranjan and his family to sign an agreement paper wherein it was clearly mentioned

that they would not be misbehaving with Baby. But the in-laws refused to sign the agreement

even though they were assuring that no such acts would be repeated again. So, the villagers

asked the members to not leave without getting the signature on the agreement paper because as

soon as the Sahiyoginis would leave, Ranjan’s family would misbehave. Sahiyoginis with Rupa

Ji brought Baby along with them and went to Gopalganj police station. They filed a complaint

against Ranjan and his in-laws accusing them of being involved in domestic violence. The

complaint was filed with Sarita, police station in-charge at Gopalganj police station. But the case

did not move forward till then Baby was living with her family. The Sahiyoginis along with

Rupa Ji and Baby’s family went as a pressure group planning to surround the police station and

ask them to look into the matter seriously. Ranjan’s family then became serious about the whole

issue. They were ready to talk to baby and her family regarding the whole issue. Both families

came to Parivartan and discussed the whole issue. Ranjan and his family signed the bond that no

such behavior would be acceptable and that they won’t indulge in any kind of harassment

towards Baby. Baby went along with Ranjan to their house and no such issues have come up

since then. There have been regular follow-ups and discussion with Baby’s family which

indicates that the dynamics within the family is now normal.

SWOT ANALYSIS

The SWOT analysis template is normally presented as a grid, comprising four sections Strengths,

Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

INTERNAL FACTORS:

Strengths: It determines the organization’s strong points. These are tangible and intangible

attributes (internal to an organization). Strengths should be from both: an internal and external

perspective.

Weaknesses: It basically questions the areas in which the organization should improve? It is

important to look at it from both an internal and external perspective. One should include each

and every opinion of stakeholders and also look at the aspects where the members are lacking

and need an improvement.

EXTERNAL FACTORS:

Opportunities: An opportunity is a major situation in an organization’s environment and

represents the reason for them to develop. Useful opportunities come from: changes in regulatory

circumstances, changes in government policy and some of the programmes and plans initiated by

the organization.

Threats: These are external factors on which the organization doesn’t have control. Threats are

factors that could negatively affect organizational performance.

Strength Weakness Opportunities Threats

Forming support groups for women to acquaint them about the issues confronting women in the community and building cohesion

The Sahiyonigis are not provided with Social Protection from Parivartan, such as- Health coverage and Maternity leave.

Training programmes for the newly joining sahyoginis should be undertaken.

Security: The area of work is very sensitive which poses threats to the safety and security of the Sahiyoginis. If they get late

among the community members.

beyond a certain time in the evening, there is a huge risk on their safety and security.

Enhancing awareness among women regarding women’s and social issues such as menstrual hygiene, sanitation, education.

The Sahiyoginis are not provided with any travel allowance.

Training workshops on law and constitution, social protection schemes and gender to be conducted regularly to maintain clarity, avoid confusion and maintain efficiency.

Patriarchy- women are kept inside due to the male dominated society, it is a great challenge to mobilise women to come forward and actively participate in forming groups and holding discussions.

Enhancing women’s participation in community decisions through motivation and creating awareness about Gram Sabha Proceedings.

Mechanism for training programmes for Sahiyoginis freshly joining Mahila Samakhya are not provided.

The women should be provided with travel and food in order to heighten their motivation and enhance their participation in functions conducted on Parivartan Campus.

Casteism- During group formation, the women belonging to the Rajput and Brahman caste do not come forward to form groups.

Enhancing awareness among women regarding Social Protection Schemes, such as- Widow Pension, Disability Pension, Old Age Pension, MGNREGA, etc.

Training workshops are not succeeded by follow up workshops, leaving behind doubts and causing confusion on the field.

The Sahiyoginis should be provided with Social Protection such as health coverage and maternity leave to ensure inclusive growth.

Irregular Panchayat: For most of the issues wherein the Sahiyoginis have to approach the sarpanch or the mukhiya, the case is not properly addressed because of the irregular meetings of the panchayat members.

Enabling and empowering women to access Social Protection Schemes by helping and accompanying them to the required Government Office.

The domestic and care work responsibilities fall disproportionately on women in general and Sahiyoginis in particular constraining their work.

Child care facilities should be provided for sahyogini in order to reduce the added burden of childcare and domestic responsibilities.

Apathy of police and officials: The police or the officials most of the time do not take up issues of the concerned people or they do not have proper mechanism to attend to such cases which becomes a hurdle in the working of Sahiyoginis.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS FOR WOMEN

(i) Equality before law for women (Article 14)

(ii) The State not to discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex,

place of birth or any of them (Article 15 (i))

(iii) The State to make any special provision in favour of women and children (Article 15 (3))

(iv) Equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to

any office under the State (Article 16)

(v) The State to direct its policy towards securing for men and women equally the right to an

adequate means of livelihood (Article 39(a)); and equal pay for equal work for both men and

women (Article 39(d))

(vi) To promote justice, on a basis of equal opportunity and to provide free legal aid by suitable

legislation or scheme or in any other way to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not

denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities (Article 39 a)

(vii) The State to make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for

maternity relief (Article 42)

(viii) The State to promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the

weaker sections of the people and to protect them from social injustice and all forms of

exploitation (Article 46)

(ix) The State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people (Article 47)

(x) To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India

and to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women (Article 51(A) (e))

(xi) Not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the

Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct

election in every Panchayat to be reserved for women and such seats to be allotted by rotation to

different constituencies in a Panchayat (Article 243 D(3))

(xii) Not less than one- third of the total number of offices of Chairpersons in the Panchayats at

each level to be reserved for women (Article 243 D (4))

(ix) Not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the

Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct

election in every Municipality to be reserved for women and such seats to be allotted by rotation

to different constituencies in a Municipality (Article 243 T (3))

(x) Reservation of offices of Chairpersons in Municipalities for the Scheduled Castes, the

Scheduled Tribes and women in such manner as the legislature of a State may by law provide

(Article 243 T (4))

LAWS RELATED TO WOMEN

● Hindu Marriages (Validation of Proceedings) Act, 1960

https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1889984/

● Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986

http://indiacode.nic.in/fullact1.asp?tfnm=198625

● Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006

http://lawmin.nic.in/ld/PACT/2007/The%20Prohibition%20of%20Child%20Marriage%2

0Act,%202006.pdf

● Indian Divorce Act, 1869

https://indiankanoon.org/doc/806295/

● Equal Remuneration Act, 1976

http://labour.gov.in/womenlabour/equal-remuneration-acts-and-rules-1976

● Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (Amended in 1995)

http://www.ilo.org/dyn/travail/docs/678/maternitybenefitsact1961.pdf

● Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005

http://ncw.nic.in/acts/TheProtectionofWomenfromDomesticViolenceAct2005.pdf

● Prohibition of Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace Bill, 2010

http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Sexual%20Harassment/sexual%20harassment%2

0bill.pdf

● Vishaka Guidelines Against Sexual Harassment at Workplace

http://www.iitg.ac.in/iitgicc/docs/Vishaka_Guidelines.pdf

● Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005

http://lawmin.nic.in/ld/P-ACT/1956/A1956-30.pdf

● Indian Succession (Amendment) Act, 2002

https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1529594/

● Married Women’s Property (Extension) Act, 1959

https://indiankanoon.org/doc/996519/

● The Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, 1956

http://www.hrln.org/hrln/child-rights/laws-in-place/1715-the-immoral-traffic-prevention-

act-1956.html

LAWS PERTAINING TO VULNERABLE GROUPS

Persons With Disability

● The Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016

● The Persons with Disability (Equal Opportunity, Protection of Rights and Full

Participation) Act, 1995

Persons belonging to Scheduled Castes and Schedule tribes

● Schedule Caste and Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989

PARTICIPATORY RURAL APPRAISAL

Information on Participatory Rural Appraisal along with tools can be found on the following link

http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/ad346e/ad346e0f.htm

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANISATION- DECENT WORK

ILO’s maual on Decent Work can be found on the following link

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---integration/documents/publication/wc

ms_229374.pdf

REPORT ON WORLD LITERACY DAY

8th of September, 2017, Parivartan Campus

The team of Mahila Samakhya celebrated World Literacy Day on 8th of September, 2017 in the

Parivartan Campus. The program was attended by around 80 women from the villages coming

under the work area of Parivartan.

The program started with a welcome address by coordinator of Mahila Samahkhya, Mrs Rupa

Rani. She highlighted the importance of women’s education and literacy. She then called upon

her colleagues from Parivartan, Dr Amarnath Tewari, Mr Mithilesh, Mr Ashutosh and Mr

Brijesh to talk about women and importance of literacy in their lives. The speakers highlighted

that how a family is benefitted when the women gets literate. Mr Ashutosh through a song titled

‘Pathshala’ (originally composed by Mr Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena), brought out the desires of a

woman to go to a school and get educated.

The day was graced by the presence of Prof. Manish Jha, Dean of School of Social Work, Tata

Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Prof. Jha also highlighted the importance of women’s

education. He highlighted that literacy is necessary for women to get engaged with different

institutions.

Mr Vivek Anand, working with Tata Institute of Social Sciences, mentioned how education is a

basic right for everyone. When women get literate, they can ask for information from the

government in written which will put pressure on them to work and discharge their duties

effectively.

Mrs Rupa then said that women are bases of the family. If the woman gets educated, the family

will not get educated. Through a story, she highlighted the importance of education, literacy and

group for women.

Next Sahyoginis and students of TISS engaged with Mahila Smakhya, Kritika and Priyanka,

sung a song for the women. The song titled ‘Tod tod ke bandhanon ko’ depicted how women

come out of their homes by breaking the shackles of the society. And when they come out, they

remove all the atrocities and show a new world.

The women were then taken to Hariyali Krishi Gyan Kendras where they were shown videos on

Parivartan and two Meena Episodes (Murgiyon ki Ginti and Kya Meena ko School Chodna

Padega).

The women then moved to Sabha Grih where students of TISS presented a role play on the song

‘Meri Fikar karo tum nahin’. The song is about how an illiterate woman asks a literate person to

write a letter to his husband stating him not to worry about her. The role play covered all aspects

of women empowerment.

Next the Sahiyoginis presented a play ‘Choto choti Nimiya Gachiya’. The play was about a girl

who was not allowed to go to school. However, she wanted to get educated and hence would

practise reading and writing while she took her goats for grazing. The play highlighted how the

girl saved her father’s life by reading what was written on the bottle which her mother mistook

as medicine.

The one day was a successful one. There a good turnout of women which was great source of

motivation for the organizing team. The women were interactive and well received the message

that was tried to be given.

However, there were certain things which could have been managed better. It would have been

better if arrangement of food or tea and snacks was done for the women who had come. The

organizers are expected to cover up this aspect in future programs for women.

REPORT ON WORKSHOP CONDUCTED BY Mr. VIVEK ON SOCIAL PROTECTION SCHEMES

The workshop for the Sahiyoginis of Mahila Samakhya was conducted by Mr Vivek Anand on

September 11 th . Out of the 15 Sahiyoginis, 15 were present for the workshop. The purpose of

the workshop was to make the Sahiyoginis aware of the realities of the village in terms of caste,

class, poverty, government schemes and programmes etc.

The workshop was divided in two sessions. The Sahiyoginis were divided into 4 groups of 3

members and 1 group had 2 members. In each of the sessions, groups were given 5 questions and

they had to write the answers on a chart paper and present it in front of the other groups and the

facilitator.

The 10 questions were as follows-

1. How would you identify the poorest household in the village?

2. Why do you think these households are poor?

3. What are the different caste, tribe, religious and other groups in the village?

4. Do you think all the village community members have equal rights? How?

5. Who takes part in making important decisions in the village? Give example of some

decisions taken.

6. What are the government social programmes? Name one and discuss the objectives.

7. Are these programmes working well in the village? Why? Why not?

8. What happens when the programme fail to reach people who need them the most?

9. What can be done to improve the effectiveness of these programmes?

10. What can social auditors do to ensure that programme work well?

The groups were given 30 minutes to discuss and write the answers.

In the first session, the Sahigonis were given questions related to poverty and how caste and

other social categories intersect with it. The Sahiyoginis mentioned their understanding of poor

households as those who do not have pakka houses, have more expenditure than income, do not

have government jobs and do not get any benefits from the government. They briefly described

the caste and religious groups in the villages. They mentioned that though every group has equal

rights, it is not realised in real sense.

In the second session, the discussion was around social programmes. The Sahiyoginis mentioned

various programmes which are active in the villages. They mentioned that the programmes that

were active in the village were not implemented properly. They also mentioned their role and

action that should take place so that the benefits reach the people.

Mr Vivek said talked about intersectionality of caste and poverty. He mentioned how certain

caste groups are made to remain poor. He also mentioned that rights are equal for everyone but

they are not realised because there are structural problems in the society. He mentioned that the

decisions can be taken at various levels. Decisions of the village are taken by dominant groups

while decisions of the family are taken by male members. He also mentioned that social

programmes are those that are provided by the government for the benefit of those who are the

poorest of the poor. He mentioned that the programmes exist but somewhere there are issues at

the government level as well as at the level of the beneficiaries. He said that the Sahiyoginis

should take help from those who know about the programmes and help those who need it in

return.

The Sahiyoginis had a fair idea about the issues. However, they were not able to articulate it

properly. They said that they had trainings pertaining to these topics. However, as no follow up

trainings happened, they were not able to get a proper grip on the topics. They mentioned a need

of trainings related to policies and laws.