Creating Change at the Grassroots
P
aar village in Bina Tehsil, district Sagar is one of the many underdeveloped villages in the district. With agriculture as its primary source of income and unskilled daily wage labourers on the rise, the struggle to earn a decent living is high. A year ago, the community did not have provision of WASH facilities, livelihood opportunities.Bharat Oman Refineries Limited (BORL) established its first and only petroleum based plant in Bina. This meant better opportunities in the area. Being a socially responsible entity, BORL aimed to create improvement and started with the village nearest to it (Paar village, 2 kms away).
BORL
partnered with Technology and Action for Rural Advancement (TARA). TARA’s
sustainable community development programme, ‘Hariyali, Udyamita aur
Sampannata’ was implemented in 2015 in Paar village. The
programme was customised based on the needs of Paar village.
‘Hariyali, Udyamita aur Sampannata’ programme
follows a three phase approach of implementation, over a period of 5 years.
At Paar village, the first phase of the programme was implemented
over a period of nine months and the following components were covered:
• Basic Needs Fulfilment – Literacy, Safe Drinking Water, Sanitation and
Habitat
• Institutional Strengthening – Youth Club/ CIGs/ Farmer’s Club
• Employability Skills – Vocational and Life Skills for Youth and Women
• Enterprise Development – Setting up of Micro-Enterprises
By the end of nine months, over 60 women were made literate and capacities of 90 women were enhanced through skill development. The school was equipped with refurbished toilets and had access to safe drinking water through provision of Jal-TARA water filters. 80% of the households now have access to safe drinking water. The community was provided with a one stop shop facility for its training, sports and library needs through the Community Resource Centre (CRC). Five model enterprises were set-up, catering to over 45 women on the completion of their enterprise development training, thus creating a well-defined platform for sustainable livelihoods. These women and community members were further engaged through common interest groups as a formal means for accessing entitlements.
The purpose of this programme is to bring a radical transformation in the villages – to usher rural India into the twentieth century. The adequacy and effectiveness of the programme can be measured from the social, environment and economic impact it has on the community. Women come out and take part in the literacy and skill development programmes despite their social barriers; livelihood opportunities provide a means of sustainable livelihoods and lastly awareness on WASH leads to healthy communities.
Vivek
is a student at the primary school in Paar village. Though he is a
very enthusiastic young boy, he was not very happy with the lack of toilets
in the school. The lack of a toilet in school led to most students leaving
for home after lunch. But now things are different. In 2015, TARA with
support from BORL, provided the school children with hygienic WASH
facilities. They refurbished the existing dilapidated toilets providing
toilets separately for boys and girls. Safe drinking water was also provided
through Jal-TARA filters. A feather in the cap was the youth club that was
formed within the village. This gave the children access to sports equipment
and library at the Community Resource Centre (CRC).
Now children like Vivek are extremely delighted to come to school and don’t miss their classes. They also enjoy playing carom and cricket with the materials provided by the youth club. These facilities have in turn led to better attendance in school.
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Pulari Kurian
pkurian@devalt.org
Sohina Singh
ssingh2@devalt.org