JEEVIKA strengthening Right To ASK@Umariya

12th Feb 2013: JEEVIKA is now creating a common platform for the tribal community to bring out their issues in front of govt. officials and discuss it and get the action plan for the same. In connection with the same a public hearing been organised in Pali ( Umariya, Madhya Pradesh) where SDM of Pali and other govt officials were there and around 400 community members from JEEVIKA project villages have participated in the process. Almost about 103 queries been answered and the programme has gone for entire day.

Source: Daily updates from JEEVIKA JDSS-Jabalpur team

Key results in Indore-Dhar JEEVIKA project villages in Jan 2013@JEEVIKA IDSSS Indore

After the orientation program on Forest Right Act (FRA) on 28/01/2013 in Khurda cluster, which was attended by forest officials (deputy ranger), the director of IDSSS, the local media, local leaders and selected farmers from both clusters who have penalty receipts (forest & revenue) of encroached land, has enhanced the process of obtaining land entitlement for the farmers. There are two lists of beneficiaries with the department, the one which is already passed but not allotted yet, and the second is the list of beneficiaries under process. This activity is the result of the orientation program on FRA.

One Gram Sabha meeting was organized at Balwari panchayat on 30/01/2013 at Dhani cluster. The purpose of the meeting was to highlight the need of extending the school building in the village and facility for providing drinking water to the children with in the campus in view of the increasing number of school going children. The meeting was presided over by the Sarpanch, Panches, four Govt. teachers, village leaders and 42 villagers. In the GS meeting the participants expressed their needs and problems. One issue was the irresponsible behavior of the Panchayat secretary who doesn’t attend any meeting of the Panchayat. The demand for extending the school building was accepted by the Pachayat authorities. Regarding the problem with the secretary, it was decided to inform the district authority for necessary action. Meanwhile VAT (Village Action Team) committee was formed in the village Balwari. VAT is formed with Panchayat leaders, teachers, community health worker and village larders. The roll of VAT group is decision making, planning, implementing and monitoring of development activities in the village. (List of VAT members)

An orientation program on Jeevika was conducted for the SVD Society brothers of Khurda seminary by the cluster and field coordinator

s. The orientation was quite successful because the participants volunteered to perform Nukkad Natak in the Jeevika target village at Kassi Kho on the topics of alcoholism and good governance. They have agreed to conduct more such awareness programs through Nukkad Natak in other target villages.

There was a public rally organized on 26th January, starting from village Kaparkheda to Khurda high school. Nearly 250 villagers including women, children, teachers, local leaders and farmers. The rally was taken out with banner and placards with massages on organic farming and environment protection. The rally was concluded in the school ground with great enthusiasm and the people have responded positively to the Jeevika project intervention in the area.

By JEEVIKA-IDSSS-Indore team

Strengthening Gram Sabha in Tribal Pockets of Madhya Pradesh (93% increase in Gram Sabha meetings in 108 days of JEEV IKA implementation)!

In JEEVIKA project Panchayats out of 67 tribal Panchayats in 58 Gram Panchayts , gram Sabhas have been organised on 26th Jan 2013 ( comparing last year total 30 gram Sabhas in a on 26th Jan 2012)-an increase of 93% in gram Sabha meetings. In India , governance with rural community startes with Gram Panchayat and the core meeting Known as Gram Sabha (OR Village assembly is a meeting of all adults who live in the area covered by a Panchayat.Anyone who is 18 years old or more and who has the right to vote is a member of the Gram Sabha). There must be a minimum of two gram sabha organised in a gram panchayat in a year, but situation in tribal pockets of Madhya Pradesh are different, in 67 Gram Panchayats of 7 districts of Madhya Pradesh ( Ujjain, Shivpuri, Khandwa, Shehore, Dhar-Indore, Jhabuwa, & Umariya-where JEEVIKIA project from last three months is going on) in last year on 26th Jan 2012 only about 30 gram Sabhas have been organised with hardly any prastav from community/CBO and with hardly any participation by women members of the villages. Although with JEEVIKA we have just completed 108 days but we are able to make change in the sytem at community and at Panchayt level in terms of gram sabha through the following:

•Making PRI ‘s officially as the technical partner of JEEVIKA project implementation ( signed support letter from all 67 Panchayts)

•Initiating PRI literacy classes in each and every programme of JEEVIKA

•Established JEEVIKA cluster office base in the project field itself and staff staying in the project villages

•Regular interaction with PRI members and providing them sufficient guidance to facilitate gram Sabhas

•Clarifying the importance of Gram Sabha amongst the community and PRI members with Rallies (11)and Nukkad nataks (6)

•Facilitating community 10 writeshop on putting prastav in Gram Sabhas

With JEEVIKA project changes observed in 108 days are ( in terms of Gram Panchayt) JEEVIKA project

•Out of 67 gram Panchayats in 58 gram panvchayts Gram sabhas have been organised on 26th Jan 2013 ( last year this number was 30)

•In the concerned 58 Panchayats, it first happening that in the beginning of the year Gram Sabhas are happening and at least with 8-10 % of women participation. ( base line figure indicate it 2-3%)

•Community Participation was 45% ( compare to baseline of 20%)

•In the gram sabah 11 prastavas (recommendations) from Community side has been given

•This gram sabhas in the project villages are not merely restricted with the discussion amongst PRI members, but community has also not only become the part of discussion, but also recommended suggestion for decisions.

•With Gram Sabhas community, JEEVIKA team members have also taken session on organic cultivation and shared about the practices related with it.

•JEEVIKA project has been discussed in GRaam Sabhas

The basic thing for this change was , its not that community and PRI can not facilitate Gram Sabhas, but only thing they were hardly aware of its process and impact, and with JEEVIKA we have only strengthen it.

For more on JEEVIKA log on to:

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeevikaCARITAS

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jeevika.caritas

On JEEVIKA MP Channel: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXuRdZRUBp-XpmJ7eMgz9rg

Training in colloboration with Govt. on PRI@JEEVIKA Indore

Jan 2013: Government institutions in the form of Panchayati Raj are the technical partners of JEEVIKA project in its implementation and now team of JEEVIKA in collaboration with them providing regular training to the community on various aspects of PRI , which mainly includes knowledge building on government schemes and importance of PRI for community development.

By JEEVIKA team ( IDSSS-Indore)

Empowering women farmers@ JEEVIKA Umariya

Project team members of JEEVIKA (JDSS-Jabalpur) are now trained on organic farming and have initiated a new concept of training women farmers on organic cultivation so that they can train their male family members on organic cultivation and thus would accentaute the identity of women farmers in the family and in the society.

On 25th Jan 2013 ( a day before Republic Day of India) in village Chadakala ( Podi cluster of Umariya District) JEEVIKA prokect team has facilitated a one day ( full day) workshop cum training on organic farming for 15 women farmers form the said village. Such trainings are now on regular basis especially for women to train and upgrade their skills on organic cultivation. The best part of these trainings are that all such trainings are being facilitated by our JEEVIKA team members and women farmers have started practicing making organic input for rabi cultivation.

By Mr. Rajesh ( Project Coordinator-JEEVIKA-JDSS-Jabalpur)

Strengthening Public Distribution System through community collectivenes with JEEVIKA@Shivpuri

This is a village where 60 families of tribal community living, PDS system are totally paralyzed here. Community people haven’t seen sugar on ration shop for more than a year; they are getting one moth’s kerosene oil in three months which, same condition with rice and wheat also. Leela and Geeta Adiwasi, members of a self help group Jai Bajrang Sahoom told us that “Gram Sevak kept distribution register in his custody and eating our whole ration, we are having to self help groups here one is 5 years old but there is no meetings of groups.”

After hearing about this problem Project Coordinator (Nagendra Chaturvedi) and Cluster Coordinator (Purshottam Das) contacted following Sarpanch of village and planning for working on this problem with community people.

By Mr. Nagendera ( Project Coordinator, JEEVIKA-GCSS-Gwalior)

Shramdaan by community for Maintenance of Common Property Resources (CPR) under JEEVIKA at Shehore (Madhya Pradesh)

Two things are quite important in development process the first one community involvement and the 2nd one innovation! With JEEVIKA (at Shehore-ANWC-Bhopal) we giving shape to a new model of community based project , where in with the orientation of the project community has been mobilised to have “shramdhan” i.e. voluntary physical work in the village for some common cause in the form of repair or maintenance or creation of Common Property Resource (CPR) or to mini create structures for water conservation. A common agreement has been discussed along with community and signed and a register has been maintained by the people for “shramdaan” and has been done in the project villages before the implementation of the JEEVIKA project and has been decided by the community with facilitation by JEEVIKA project team). The initiation of shramdaan in the project has given a new model of ownership for the JEEVIKA project and also able to create a system of maintenance of common property resources. An estimated wage cost if calculated in money) would be around INR 9000 and 15 CPR has been maintained through shramdaan in JEEVIKA project in the 14 project villages of Shehore district.

Watch Live shramdaan on : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgqR32TCvSA

For community initially it was difficult and were not interested but when JEEVIKA team members including (who all are staying in the project villages, although they are not from the same area) have initiated discussion on CPR and its maintenance and its future sustainability during night community meetings, community has started realising and with initiation by one village, other villages have also started shramdaan for maintenance of CPR.

Let’s hope for creating a community based sustainable change in Madhya Pradesh!