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Participatory response to community needs brings hope and cheer in remote villages in Jharkhand

Bharat Dogra outlines the achievements of HRIDAY, a broad-based development project focusing on the poor and marginalised in Jharkhand’s Palamau District. The project has been able to positively influence the lives of a significant number of people at multiple levels within a few years. While such projects are best guided by participative decision-making, it is also important to expand the horizons of the community and team members in terms of developmental thinking and challenges, so that even more creative and innovative solutions, including out-of-the-box experiments, can emerge and make the entire effort even more exciting and creative, he says

Usha Devi’s family is happy. This OBC (Other Backward Class) household has only a little land in the remote Mahuari Village in Jharkhand but, suddenly, they are seeing some progress and a lot of hope. As a member of a self-help group, Usha Devi was able to take loans at low interest to meet big family expenses such as her daughter’s marriage, earn some money through the rearing and sale of goats (apart from gifting a goat each to her daughter and her maternal home), improve yield and profits from cultivating the land and her kitchen garden using improved methods, and also manage some savings. Apart from these benefits, her young children are getting better education at the balwadi (pre-school), and a grown-up daughter has got a job at a newly started enterprise. All thanks to HRIDAY (Holistic Rural Initiatives for Development Action and Yield).

The development project with a wide focus has been able to positively influence the lives of a significant number of people at multiple levels within the relatively short period of about three-and-a-half years, thanks to careful prioritisation and judicious use of resources. Implemented in 10 villages of Hussainabad Block of Jharkhand’s Palamau District, the various programmes under the project have been structured in such a way that a household can avail of benefits at different levels.

Lalita Devi, who this writer met in the same village, has improved her skills to become the accounts keeper for a self-help group. Her son Rohit went to a coaching centre started under HRIDAY and began teaching other children. The family also benefited from farming and goat-rearing programmes which increased earnings.

As I entered the Dalit basti (hamlet) of Basari Village, I saw a solar-powered drinking water station and a bathing room for women close by. Dhanmaniya said, “This has really been a big help. We do not have to go far for fetching water and the women here can have their bath in complete privacy any time.” Further ahead, I saw other water sources that had been improved in various ways. Women organised under self-help groups said they had benefited from savings initiatives and goat-rearing as well as from the improved basic facilities.

The anganwadi (child-care centre) in Mangal Dih Village was not in a condition to attract small children, and so hardly any children came there. The HRIDAY Project arranged for bright paints for the walls, colourful toys and better seating arrangements, and within a few days, children began finding their way to the new-look outfit. Now, an average of 30 children attend the anganwadi on a given day, according to the caretaker.

HRIDAY, with its emphasis on holistic development, covers a wide range of initiatives to strengthen sustainable livelihoods with special emphasis on farming, health and hygiene, education and vocational skills, drinking water, solar energy and better access to various development schemes, besides finding additional employment opportunities for women. Each of these areas in turn involves several kinds of interventions. In the context of health, for example, improving maternal health and menstrual hygiene has received special attention. Two ambulances have been made available, and will come right up to the doorsteps of the villagers. They take patients not only to the nearest hospital but also to hospitals in big cities like Ranchi, if needed. The health camps organised at the village-level have been helpful for people too.

Usha Devi and her family. As a member of a self-help group, she was able to take loans at low interest to meet
big family expenses, earn some money through the rearing and sale of goats, improve yield and profits from
cultivating land, and also manage some savings. Her small children are studying at the balwadi while the
grown-up daughter works at a newly started enterprise. Photo: Naushaba.

The villagers are quite willing to contribute partially towards some of the benefits, like getting assets for self-employment, testifying to the fact that they find the project useful. While the programme covers all people, women and weaker sections are prioritised. HRIDAY is being implemented by Sahbagi Shikshan Kendra (SSK), a voluntary organisation known for its community-based work as well as for capacity enhancement of other organisations and groups. It is implemented with the support of LIC Housing Finance Ltd and is a fine example of what CSR funds, if sincerely and wisely utilised, can achieve even in a relatively short time.

Sanjeev Charaborty, team leader, says, “There have been many-sided initiatives in this project taken up with a holistic vision. While the success rate has been high, every initiative cannot be expected to be a big success. When our efforts yield less than expected success, often due to factors beyond our control, we take them as learning experiences.” Amit Singh, coordinating manager, says, “Apart from meeting the felt needs of people, we envisaged this project also in terms of providing a vision of where moving forward, guided by needs and aspirations of people, takes us in terms of progress, and the wider lesson emerging from this that can be useful in terms of bigger rural development challenges in the country.”

Ashok Kumar Singh, founder-director of SSK, says, “Our effort has been to focus on the weaker sections and the poor the most. Sometimes the rich and influential people object to help being given to the poor. When goats were being provided to the poorer households under this project, some of the bigger farmers protested saying the animals would harm their crops.  We simply ignore unreasonable objections and go ahead with our priorities.” The team agrees that it can be a challenge to involve the poorest people, as they often do not have land to cultivate, or savings to contribute to self-help groups. Nevertheless, the results achieved even within these constraints are heartening. In fact, quite a few villagers are looking forward to the expansion of the project into its second phase. 

The intangible benefits of HRIDAY include the strengthening of community ties through farmers’ groups, women’s self-helps groups, kishori samoohs (groups of adolescent girls) and youth groups. The team members have also developed close ties with the people, and I was impressed with the rapport that members like Naushaba and Aarti have with the villagers.

(The writer is a senior freelance journalist and author who has been associated with several social movements and initiatives. He lives in New Delhi.)

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