Community Empowerment by Dr. SBM Prasanna, Dr. K Puttaraju, Dr.MS Mahadevaswamy (books under 200 pages TXT) 📕

to recover from, this problem (Sharing Solutions 1992). SHG’s are started by NGO’s that generally have broad anti poverty agendas. SHG’s are seen as instruments for a variety of goals including empowering women, developing leadership activities among poor people, increasing school enrollments and improving nutrition. SHG is a homogeneous group of micro entrepreneurs with affinity among themselves, voluntarily formed to save whatever amount they can conveniently save out of their earnings and mutually agree to a common fund of the group from which small loans are given to the members for meeting their productive and emergent credit needs at such rate of interest, period of loan and other terms as the group may decide.The SHG movement has gathered pace in countryside and is directly or indirectly contributing towards the economic development of rural areas.

OBJECTIVES

To analyse the SHGs special reference with JagruthMahilaSangathan.

To studys the Dalit women development through JMS.

METHODOLOGY

Type of study: The study employs descriptive study.

Sources of data: The study is based on secondary data. The data has been collected from the books, journal, and relevant websites.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

B Siddappa in his Article “Self Help Groups In Karnataka: An Assessment” said that, the women members of SHGs who had been leading below subsistence level before the membership of the SHGs, after becoming the members of SHGs have improved their living standards through their earnings. It is one of the outstanding achievements of these members. Their strength and household contribution is still improving and contributing much towards the socio-economic transformation.

Ravi V and S Ramesh in this article “Impact Of Microfinance On Socio-Economic Status after joining SHG in Karnataka : A Study” reveals that, the impact of microfinance on changes is more intense on factors like access to credit sources, health services, immunization, and sanitation facility etc leads to change observed with respect to asset building, decision making, family planning and girl child development awareness. Active intervention by district administration, professional bodies and voluntary organization is needed for successful empowerment.

JAGRUTH MAHILA SANGATHAN - A DALIT WOMEN AGRICULTURAL LABOURERS COLLECTIVE

Jagruth Mahila Sangathan (JMS) began and initiated as an idea of Dalit women empowerment in 2000 by a small group of individuals who were involved in Narmada Bachao Andolan and incidentally there that AID was introduced to these activists. The collective has grown through the women leadership and a change is visible in the 10 years in the lives of Dalit women. JMS has become a symbol of resistance to oppression and also a symbol for the potential of creative energy of Dalit women. JMS is a Dalit women agricultural labourers collective, having a membership of 800 women households from Dalit and other backward communities. The women leaders who have been trained so far take leadership in various issues and they are supported by local youth who work as karyakarthas. The work was started by group of youngsters from different parts of the country with an understanding that marginalised communities, and within them Dalit women agricultural labourers needed to be organised as a first step in the work towards social transformation using the self help groups model the women were brought together.

Leadership and Organisation

JMS is managed by local leadership for transparent governance and enhanced ownership, the coordination committee of JMS also called the sanchalana samiti which is responsible for the on-going work and takes decisions on important policy matters. This team is elected by women themselves as representatives of JMS. The programme team of local youth from the core staff-activities who execute the work and they support the sanchalana samiti. Then from the community are the honorary women volunteers who work at the field level, who give full time to work for the women’s collective. JMS works in two talukas namely Sindhanoor and Manvi of Raichur district covering 12 village panchayaths. From each village two women leaders are nominated by their sanghas to represent the village unit in the meetings. Annually two or three meetings of these representatives are facilitated at Pothnal. Larger issues of sanghatan, policies, difficulties and constraints are discussed at this meeting. It has also monthly meetings that discussed issues with PDS, Devadasi system, untouchability, etc.

Goals:

Facilitate a vibrant Dalit Women Agricultural Labourers’ Collective addressing wider issues of social justice, civil/cultural, socio- economic and political rights.

Access Rights related to local governance, housing, sanitation, pensions, health care, food security, Right to work and Right to information.

Secure educational rights of Dalit children.

Secure health rights of the rural poor by mobilizing people to work for people’s participation in making the health programmes successful by participating in community monitoring and community action.

Initiating agricultural development and ensure food security for small and marginal farmers through sustainable farming techniques, development of marginal lands through collectivization of small landholders.

Secure livelihoods of the rural poor through micro-entrepreneurship using natural resources and locally available materials.

PROCESSES :

Right To Health:“Our health in Our Hands” – An initiative in primary Health Care:

JMS is part of the people’s Health Movement and has taken lead in the district in the right to primary health care campaign. Existing in extreme economic depravation Dalit women carry the burden to domestic responsibilities, production within the unorganized sector and reproduction in the domestic sphere. Their social and economic status necessitates a condition of premature and repeated reproduction and production, which result in life long conditions compromised health status. In this regard the people’s health movement was started in the year 2000 at the backdrop of the failed promise of Alma Ata Declaration-1978 summarised in the phrase “Health for all by 2000”. In the mobalisation that happened in karnataka JMS was a part. As a part of reflecting upon the health situation of Dalit communities two small enquiries were undertaken with the support of community health cell,Bangalore. One, accessibility of Dalit children to Anganwadis and second, primary health care servises to Dalit communities in primary health centers.

JMS has been one of the active people’s organization in the Right to primary health care campaign in the district of Raichur. It maintained a close relationship with PHC’s and sub centers in the area of work. It has initiated in 2003. The campaign was called ‘Nodi Nimma Arogya Kendra’(Come, see your health centers). From the year 2005 as the community health work of JMS got intensified JMS came in touch with Janaarogya Andolan Karnataka(JAAK). The CHWs of JMS got functioned as ‘bare-foot doctors’ and as healers at the primary health care level. Over the last 10 years. On February 1st, 2007 ‘Right To Health Demand Day’ at Raichur where the women submitted memorandum to district health officer asking for the primary health care services in the PHCs. A study was made of 27 PHCs in Raichur. Planning and participation in the district committee of JAAK on 28thseptember 2007 followed by survey of PHCs and the recording of denial health care in 5 PHCs-Byagwat, Hirekotnekal, Thorandinni (ManviTaluka,Raichur district) and Balaganur, Ragalparvi PHCs (Sindhnur Talukas).

Community Health Works are known to treat people with numberof skin diseases prevalent in the are, patients with paralytic stroke, anemia, migraine headaches, virtiligo etc. The herbal products such as pain oil, skin oil, cough reliver decoction oil, hair oil, etc are medicines and local remedies as the base and in great demand from many parts of the country. They have been able to councel and treat 10000 men and women from all castes and creeds over these years through their regular ‘Thursday Clinics’. The CHWs rejuvenated their health unit in 2011 by again refreshing themselves with new energy. In the year 2012 insights on issues of mental health and disability also focussed within the community.

Community Monitoring and Planning under NRHM – Village Health and Sanitation Committee (VHSC) training: JMS was one of the three organizations which took active part in the Community Monitoring and Planning (CMP) programme in Raichur district. Community Health Cell was the nodal organization for Raichur district and the programme was implemented through the PHM partners in Raichur viz. Roovari, Samuha and JMS. This was a pilot programme in community monitoring undertaken in 9 states under NRHM. In Raichur district, 4 PHCs were selected in each of the three blocks (total 12 PHCs) and the training of the Village Health and Sanitation Committees (VHSCs) was done in each of the villages of these PHCs. A total of 135 villages coming under 12 PHCs were covered in Raichur. JMS was instrumental in training VHSCs in 50 villages. The PHCs chosen were Pothnal, Thoranadinni, Byagwat and Hirekotnekal.

Right to Social Security and Pension parishad: One of the issues that JMS wanted to address and was always falling short of strategies for was the issue of the aged or senior citizens. The issue of their vulnerability among the Dalit communities not only as unorganized sector but even as resourceless Dalits is very critical. There was a public meeting that was organized in Raichur on this issue in which JMS participated.

Right to Food and Campaign Against Malnutrition: JMS has been an active member of the Right to Food Campaign in Karnataka. The campaign for universal PDS, proper functioning of the system, accountability etcwere the issues that JMS raised earlier. During 2011-2012, the issue of undernutrition among children was highlighted in Raichur. Regular vigilance at the local level, identifying the undernourished children, monitoring by sanchalakis etc. have improved the functioning of the centers.

Right to work :Right to work and adequate wages has been one of the important aspects of JMS campaigns, JMS being the collective of women agricultural labourers. Since the year 2000 JMS has raised been part of collective mass actions in the district demanding effective implementation of of NREGS. Being a drought hit area,Raichur is one of the districts having massive outmigration of labour. The efforts of JMS towards making right to work a reality.In 2002 three days struggle to get work under ‘food for work’ under drought mitigation scheme which resulted in getting work for 300 people for a week.

From the year 2002 to 2005 struggle against the mechanized harvesting,the mechanized harvesters employed in harvesting paddy reduced the days of work for agricultural labourers. The agricultural labourers had to bargain hard for Rs.600/- per acre for harvesting and threshing the paddy. With the harvesting machines, the rate per acerage was decreasing. JMS carried on the campaign against the mechanized harvesting for three years. The campaign included awareness in the villages, petitions to Tehashildars and the District administration. In the year 2004, as a result of the campaign, the district administration banned the entry of the harvesting machines in the entire district. The people then got wages worth Rs.1500 per acre and more number of days in the entire district.

“Joint Action Committee”- A collective effort at NREGA implementation: Joint Action Committee was formed at Raichur for effective implementation of NREGA and to controlling corruption. JMS has been an active partner in this effort undertaken campaign to raise people’s issues and to struggle for people’s rights. JMS also organised 100 days social audit. Inspected the works claimed to be done under NREGA information was obtained by visiting households. The JMS sanchalakis and the team members took up trainings in villages seriously.In number of villages coming under the Manvi and Sindhanur talukas, JMS sanchalakis organized meetings, trainings and capacity building on NREGA to take action at the local people.

Right To Education: Chilipili Child Labourers Special School.

Jagrutha Mahila Sanghatan is a collective of Dalit Women Agricultural Laborers in Raichur district, Karnataka State of India. It is a People’s Organization which the Dalit Women formed for increasing their collective social bargaining power, asserting their rights with dignity and empowerment. This collectivization process has created a platform for the Dalit Women of Raichur District to address their issues through collective political consciousness and collective strength to address issues relating to their own entitlement and dignity. This process also addressed another important issue- that of liberating their own children from child labour and bonded labour. This was towards preparing a generation of Dalit children who are also capable of addressing issues of injustice and inequity that their families especially their mothers face.

Raichur district has more than 50,000 child laboures