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In the tribal families of Tangarpalli Block of Odisha, women run their household economy. Men in general forcefully take away the little cash and kind saved by women for buying country liquor. This behaviour of men tremendously affects the household food security and increases hunger of the family, as shared by the beneficiary women. The women SHGs of the beneficiary communities decided in favour of the women of the household to be the recipients of the kits containing about 28.2 Kg dry ration material. Although the ration material is for two weeks, a majority of the 80% recipients considered it is a substantial onetime gift for them. They will manage household nutrition for at least a month if they supplement with their small stock of minor millet (Mandia), collection of seasonal vegetables grown in the forest including the local delicacies - wild mushroom and bamboo shoot. The story is typical for the 257 such beneficiaries. A majority of above 80 per cent of the recipients were women. About 5% of recipients were people with disability (PWD), and 35 per cent were either female-headed households or single women. Fifteen per cent were a widow. About 90 per cent were without ration card to access to the government-sponsored food security program. Most of the recipient families included returnee migrant members in the wake of COVID-19 lockdown. “Hunger leads to violence.” The relief kit will relax her pain at least for sometimes – So says Suchitra Suchitra, who belongs to the Oraon Tribal Community, has three other members in her family to support. Suchitra has lost her job as a domestic help in Rourkela in the wake of COVID-19 lockdown. Suchitra is landless, and she has no ration card. She does not have necessary documents to avail ration card although she is one of the poorest of the poor in the community. Due to lock down and quarantine rules, she could not move for any work and stayed at home. Inclusion of her name for a free relief kit created many hopes until she received one. She said it was a big thing for her at the time of the COVID crisis. Being a woman, feeding the family is a huge responsibility on her and it has become further challenging for her in the wake of the continuous lockdown and exhaustion of her little saving. Her husband is demanding of food and often resorts to violence and abuses. She says hunger leads to conflict and violence as everybody is confined at home. The relief will relax her pain at least for sometimes till she explores for a new job. The story of another beneficiary Subasini Joora, a Gond woman, is no different from Suchitra. She has a fear that the situation may not change. Amdist scarcity of food, this is how women in tribal households of this part of the country manage family nutrition along with increased gender-based violence during the confinement. Still, the fight against hunger continues in this tribal majority district! Babita Paule’s Ration Kit And Her story of Gender Based violence (GVB) Babita is about 45 years old but not sure about her actual age as she has no documentary proof. She stays with her husband and her son. Paule had been working as domestic help and a cook in the nearby town. Covid-19 snatched her job as her employers evicted her. She is passing through many uncertainties as she is unsure about when normalcy to return. Paule shared that she has become a victim of daily violence from her husband ever since she returned home from Rourkela after the declaration of the lockdown. The fight is on the demand of the husband to buy liquor. Paule refuses to surrender the small saving which she has saved to tie up with the crisis and run her kitchen. When she was earning, she had never objected to meet the demand of her husband. Paule shared that it was not only in her case, but it was also widespread in her community where the incidence of gender-based violence had increased, and women and girls were the victims during the confinement in the wake of Covid-19. For Paule, the ration kit from SRADHA, is a gift from the God, as she expressed getting emotional. Although relief from violence is far, good food for the husband may reduce it to some extent. But she says it may also lead otherwise. Seeing this amount of ration, her husband may further pressurize her to share her cash which she has saved for the difficult time. She says even though the ration kit is for two weeks, she will be able to manage it for at least a month or more by adding a vegetable from her back yard and supplementing with forest produce like forest mushroom, greens etc.

THREE STORIES AND MANY MORE!

THREE STORIES AND MANY MORE! Relief Kits And The Stories behind Poverty and Hunger The Stories Behind Poverty and Hunger Although the ration material is for two weeks, a majority of the 80% recipients considered it is a substantial onetime gift for them. They will manage household nutrition for at least a month if they …

THREE STORIES AND MANY MORE! Read More »

• Value Chain for ASM communities • Skills for Life • Handicrafts and Handloom • Non-Timber Forest Produce • Centre for Agri-business Management (CABM) • Value Chain Development • Supply Chain Development

Artisanal & Small Mining Communities of Kalahandi

Uncategorised / By sradhaindia

Artisanal & Small Mining Communities of Kalahandi Odisha’s (Orissa) Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput districts (known as KBK region), are the poorest districts in India. Odisha state rank is 22nd out of 29 states in India in the Human development index. The region is known for endemic poverty, youth unemployment and serious challenges in infrastructure and …

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Journalism is a medium to communicate with the masses. Due to the paucity of time and space, it is not possible for media, newspapers and radio channels to keep up with every form of news at the community or local level. Citizen journalism is an active involvement of the public or citizens in communicating information at the grassroots level. The term citizens media refers to forms of content produced by private citizens who are otherwise not professional journalists. Citizen media is causing fundamental changes in the media landscape. • Media is now much more democratized because it is open to many people. • Consumers have now become producers and vice-verse. • A read-write Web has allowed people to write easily on the Web. • The democratization of access to media has provided the audience many choices Citizen journalism in India is an outcome of modern technology. The drastic increase in social networking and advancement in technology has made citizen journalism platforms more active and reachable. Citizen journalism finds its way as an alternative outlet to help marginalized rural youth to raise their voice against the local problems and disparities that they find hard to talk about otherwise. India being one of the largest democracies in the world, citizen or participatory journalism would benefit the country in every possible way. It is for the common people, and will redefine the structure of mainstream journalism. It plays a vital role in empowering people, especially the poor and impoverished, to raise problems and issues which hitherto suffered government neglect and indifference. People living in far-flung areas and regions with low level of educational qualifications – now use smart phones and computers to report on issues that never captured the attention of mainstream media. Issues like inadequate socio-economic development, neglect by the government, economic exploitation, access to basic services, social conflicts & violence, problems in accessing to government provisions and entitlements have all garnered attention through citizen journalism.

Citizen Journalism in India

Uncategorised / By sradhaindia

Citizen Journalism in India Journalism is a medium to communicate with the masses. Due to the paucity of time and space, it is not possible for media, newspapers and radio channels to keep up with every form of news at the community or local level. Citizen journalism is an active involvement of the public or …

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Governance systems at all levels, i.e. global, national, and local, have experienced stress as a fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. The governance institutions faced a mismatch in their capacity at different levels with the challenges they are required to manage. However, in India, it is widely reported that panchayats at the grassroots level produced better outcomes for their citizens. India has 2.5 lakh gram panchayats, over 6 lakhs villages and around 4500 urban local bodies. Their role in tackling the impact of COVID-19 pandemic is growingly recognized both by highest political authority and civil administration in India. The Chief Minister of one of the states of India even empowered sarpanches the power of the district magistrate to ensure a decentralized way of tackling the pandemic, with registry facility and mechanisms for community-based monitoring. When the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise exponentially across the country, in states like Odisha, Kerala, Karnataka, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh the impact of the virus has a flattening curve and authorities have attributed this to the empowered local government institutions. An assessment of the panchayats’ response and capacity in tackling the impact of Covid-19 may be a lesson for the government and the policymakers to further strengthen the capacity of local government institutions in different geographical areas. The Indian case of decentralized governance may become a lesson for the governments throughout the world especially those who have centralised several key features of their efforts to tackle the COVID-19 crisis.

Participative Governance in the context of COVID-19 Pandemic

Uncategorised / By sradhaindia

Participative Governance in the context of COVID-19 Pandemic Governance systems at all levels, i.e. global, national, and local, have experienced stress as a fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. The governance institutions faced a mismatch in their capacity at different levels with the challenges they are required to manage. However, in India, it is widely reported …

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THREE STORIES AND MANY MORE!

Artisanal & Small Mining Communities of Kalahandi

Citizen Journalism in India

Participative Governance in the context of COVID-19 Pandemic

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