People We Serve...
Besides the Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation Programs of JVS, as a Development Organization, since last one decade our Organization has been working in 100 Tribal villages of Melghat in Amravati District. Since the year 2003, JVS expended its program interventional areas and began to cover about 40 rural villages in Washim District, 50 rural villages in Achalpur Block of Amravati District.
Our close interactions and working experiences with these communities have provided us with deeper insights into the rhythm of living of these communities, the daily hardships and struggles these communities go through, the way these communities remain marginalized from their own growth and development and the way they are exploited by the vested interest groups of the society, etc. The vast majority of the tribal population of working area (about 80%) consists of the indigenous tribal group known as the Korkus, Gonds, Nyahals, Gaulis Gaulans, tribes. Within the Scheduled Castes there are several sub categories.
General Health And sanitation
Due to the efforts of the government and some non-government organizations (NGOs), public health facilities have increased in the tribal and rural areas over the past years. After, 1994, a few new Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and sub-centres were set up by the government; and, outreach health programmes have been started by some NGOs. However, the incidence of diarrhea, malaria and scabies is quite high. The situation with regard to the reproductive health particularly of the adolescent girls and young women is disturbing. Due to illiteracy and absence of conscientization on social and sexual life, the number and rate of premarital sex and related pregnancies are high among the target groups. There is a lack of hygienic practices at the time of menstruation, pregnancy and childbirth.
Though, there is no medical study, but the data from informal sources indicate that the incidence of the reproductive tract illnesses (RTIs) is quite common among the tribal women. In recent times, trafficking of girls and young women from the tribal area has increased. This has considerably increased the threat of HIV/AIDS. Unfortunately, awareness among the local people about the causes and consequences of the RTIs and HIV/AIDS as well as their prevention is extremely limited. Although, the health facilities have increased in the region, these are inadequate considering the increase in the tribal population and spread of the tribal habitats. Most of the health services are concentrated in big villages, which are not easily accessible to residents of many interior hamlets. Because of the lack of transport, even the sick persons have to walk several kilometers to take advantage of available health facilities. And, often the quality of the available health services is sub-standard.
Due to the increase in population, congestion of houses in the villages has increased. People throw their household refuse and wastewater usually around their houses. In recent years, in some villages, government has made cemented drainage without any regard to the natural slope. In all such villages, the cemented drainage is full with solid wastes, which has been creating more problems for sanitation than before. Due to the absence of individual and community toilets, the Melghat tribal communities take to the practice of open edification. And so also due to the absence of the availability of sufficient water, many members of the Korku tribal communities especially the children do not take bath for days together or wash their cloths for weeks together. Safe drinking water is a major problem in these villages and the people of the area are accustomed to drinking any kind of water including stagnant river water, the very same water they use for washing their clothes for feeding the animals. Poor sanitation has a direct bearing especially on the infant mortality.
Malnutrition, stunted physical growth and retarded mental health of children Malnutrition in the Melghat region including the target villages is a chronic and recurring problem and, deeply rooted in the socio-economic backwardness of the people. In fact, it is the malnutrition induced sudden deaths among children in large number in 1994, which has brought the Melghat and the Korku tribe in the limelight.
The number of children below five years of age under the IV grade (or the most serious level of undernourishment) has reduced on account of the special efforts made after 1994. But, those children suffering from II and III grades of malnutrition are still common in all the tribal villages/hamlets. They account for more than 50%. Even minor problems with their health like, diarrhea, fever, cough and cold, etc. make their nutritional status vulnerable and push them down to more serious grades of malnutrition. The proportion of the children under different grades of nutrition/malnutrition varies from one season to another. It is more during the pre-monsoon and the monsoon months and less during the winter.
Careful observations of the malnutrition, the related situations and in-depth informal discussions with many people in villages during the course of the JVS work in the region, reveal that malnutrition and the related deaths were not of recent origin (during and prior to 1994). Whenever, there was shortage of food, or emergence of epidemics, people in the villages were dying of starvation or diseases due to lack of food. Children were dying relatively more in number. The evidence of the chronic malnutrition could be seen easily in the thin/stunted bodies of many tribals. The measures undertaken during the last 10 years have been able to control the incidence and prevalence of malnutrition and malnutrition induced deaths among children. But, these measures have not been able to increase appreciably the proportion of children whose nutritional status is " just on the border of danger line' or who are "on road to good health" according to the growth monitoring cards maintained by the Anganwadi workers. The nutritional measures which are started by the parents or introduced by the government and/or other agencies nine-ten months after the birth of a child have limited impact. It has been observed that, in tribal families, people don't give solid or semi-solid food to a child unless its teeth erupt (after 6 to 9 months, sometimes even upto 12 months). Until then, the only source of nutrition for the child is its mother's milk, which reduces progressively as the child grows; and, it is never sufficient after four-five months of age. The, women in the region are also undernourished and overwhelmingly anemic. Nutritional or even normal food intake during their pregnancy does not increase. As a result, the growth of the fetus or unborn child is usually not satisfactory. Birth of the underweight or low birth weight babies is very common among the target communities. Many of such babies, though survive, but their physical growth is stunted and mental growth is retarded. Persons with retarded physical and mental growth cannot produce children with healthy body and mind, which are important for social and economic advancement. This vicious circle continues year after year. Education
More than 75% of the adult population (aged 20 years and above) is illiterate. Illiteracy rate among the adult females is as high as 85%. According to the school registers, almost all children in the age-group 6 to 14 years are enrolled. The drop out rate among these children is more than 40%. Most of these tribal villages have only primary schools (upto 5th standards). Most of the children in these villages after completing the primary schooling do not continue their education further. The literacy rate among the children aged 6-14 years works out to be around 55%. Only about 35% of the children in this age group have studied beyond the primary level. Those completing education upto high school account for less than 15%. Education up to the high school is free. Girls are given monetary incentives for attending school. In addition, there are some Residential schools for the tribal children. In spite of all these facilities, the level of education of the tribal children has not improved much. As of now more than 40% of the girls in the age group 6-14 are illiterate, though their names are enrolled in their village schools. The dropout rate of children is on the rise for the last two years due to increased migration from the tribal area due to lack of employment opportunities on account of less rain. The drop out rate may further increase if the situation with availability of water for irrigation does not improve.
Another major problem of education is the official language of instruction. The school text books are in Marathi - the State Language. But, the tribal children know to speak only their tribal dialects. Their understanding of Marathi is very poor as their interaction with the Marathi speaking persons is extremely limited. Most of the children, especially in the interior hamlets, find it difficult to follow the text books in Marathi. Due to the language problem, the learning process of the tribal children is very slow.
Irrigation:
The tribals and the
rural communities in the region depend on the monsoons for
irrigation
of their crops. For the last few years, the rainfall in
the rainy
season has been less and irregular. Non-availability of
water when
needed for irrigation is becoming a major problem for
agriculture,
for most of the tribal farmers. It is becoming difficult
to grow
even one crop in a year. From the neighboring nalas and
some wells,
only about 15% of the agricultural land get some water for
irrigation
after the rainy season. But, nothing is grown in the
agricultural
fields during the summer.
Agriculture:
On an average about
50% of the households of the Tribal and Rural Areas own
agricultural
land. Of those who own land, about 60% of them have less
than 4
acres and the remaining 40% of them own more than 4 acres.
35% of
the households are landless daily wage earners. Most of
the agricultural
practices are still primitive to a large extent. Many of
the tribal
farmers are using traditional methods (of ploughing,
harrowing,
sowing, weeding, etc.) and also traditional equipments for
agriculture.
The agricultural output from such methods is limited. The
main crops
grown are jowar, toor and Bengal gram (chana), wheat and
rice.
Lack
of employment/self employment opportunities leading to
poverty:
Agricultural land
is limited. Agricultural practices are largely primitive.
Limited
land and lack of irrigation make it difficult to generate
additional
employment for the growing population. In fact, due to
wide fluctuations
in the rains, lack of irrigation facilities, it is not
possible
for the agricultural sector to continue providing even the
same
level of employment opportunities every year. The forest
policies
have further reduced the opportunities for
self-employment. Earlier,
the tribals were allowed to cut bamboos, wood, and collect
some
other produces from the forests, which were taking care of
their
basic needs, at least for their survival. But, now they
are not
allowed to do so. These unfavorable factors combined with
increasing
population have been causing very serious rather
unprecedented problems
for economically gainful employment opportunities for the
tribal
population. One could see the growing effects of the lack
of employment
opportunities and the consequent poverty in the form of
increasing
seasonal migration.
Transport:
There
is a major road passing through the thick of the
Melghat forest.
There are some minor roads also connecting the Melghat
area
with the neighboring towns. But, a large number of
villages
and hamlets are still not accessible easily by four
wheelers.
The tribals have to walk several kilometers for
reaching the
main road where public transport is available. But,
the frequency
of the pubic transport is very limited. The people
find it difficult
to carry heavy goods from one place to another. One
can rarely
get a conveyance during the night even on the main
roads. Absence
of the availability of adequate transportation
facilities restricts
peoples movements especially when they are sick or in
danger
of death. It also adds to the segregation suffered by
the native
people.
Exploitation:
By their very nature,
the Tribal Communities of our Region are very innocent
people. The
unscrupulous forces in and around Melghat region try to
exploit
them in the areas of wages, sales and purchases, loan,
interest,
mortgages, government welfare schemes, etc. Some of the
examples
from the target villages could be mentioned as that of the
labour
contractors giving less wages, or taking more commission,
or cheating
in accounts; conductors of the passenger buses ask for
changes (coins)
but some of them often don't return the small balances;
traders
in the weekly market buy their produce very cheap and sell
their
own on a higher price; in matters related to bank loans,
the bank
managers ask for several documents, make the clients to
visit the
bank several times, and, when the loans are sanctioned, a
cut from
the sanctioned loan amount is often expected. Though,
there are
no moneylenders in the target villages, some shopkeepers
sell their
goods on credit at a very high rate of interest (5% to 10%
per month).
Most of the tribals lack proper knowledge and information
about
the government's welfare schemes meant for them. The
tribal of our
Region, by and large, are politically exploited groups and
are used
as vote-banks during the elections. Political
consciousness is almost
absent in these groups. Most of the times, the adults of
the target
groups sell their vote for a bottle of liquor or a price
Rs. 10.
Superstition:
The tribal and rural
communities of our Region are innately superstitious in
nature.
From birth to death, from health to illness, from house to
farm,
the tribal communities of Melghat area practice various
kinds of
superstitious practices. They relay more on mythical
healing processes.
For example, when a person falls sick the village magician
is called
up and he pierces a burning iron rod to the body of the
sick person
or the sick person is beaten with heated iron rod to
remove the
evil spirit from the sick person. These communities have
more faith
is such village magicians and their crude and mythical
practices
than to relay on medical practices which is often seen as
the last
resort. In this processes the family of the sick person
shells out
quite a lot of money to the village magicians or they are
given
their remuneration in the forms of goats, cocks, etc.
Another example
of superstitious practices of Melghat tribal communities
is that
at the beginning of the monsoon every householder conducts
a mythical
religious ceremony in his farm, offering goats and chicken
to please
the deity, which is followed by common drinking and
celebration
and in this process the family spends quite a lot of money
as most
of the time, they borrow money or animals for such
celebrations.
Giving intoxicating alcoholic drinks to sick people as
cure for
the sickness is quite common among the tribal communities
of Melghat.
Although such suppositious practices have come down in the
recent
past but still some of these practices are continued in
varying
degrees.
Alcoholism:
Consumption
of local made intoxicating drinks had been an integral
part of the
tribal and rural life. A family or common village
celebration is
incomplete without common drinking. And these communities
have 12
to 15 such common celebrations in the villages all through
the year.
During the social celebrations where common drinking is a
must,
even the small children are also given alcoholic drinks,
which gradually
form drinking habits in them. Most of such drinks are
prepared in
the house with the ingredients available in the village
and in the
nearby forest. In the Melghat Tribal communities, both the
husband
and wife drink equally. One of the striking things about
the Melghat
Tribal communities is that they have been living in these
areas
in the same situations since many generations. When their
population
was very small, the households had enough land to grow
food for
themselves, they had freedom for collecting the forest
produces
needed for their consumption and they had no restrictions
on grazing
their livestock on the forestland. But, in the recent
years, the
newly promulgated forest policies have come on their way,
infringing
their inalienable natural rights. Also, the land holding
of each
family has reduced after its division and sub-division
among its
male members. Due to poor land holding and absence of
irrigation
facilities most of the families have become economically
unviable.
Further subdivision of the land holdings has compelled
their owners
to forego them in favor of their other siblings. Some of
the families
with very small pieces of land have sold them. In the
process, about
25% of the families have become landless. They are being
segregated,
alienated from the land, and uprooted from their natural
way of
life. In addition, some of them are being victimized and
pressurized
by the vested interest groups to evict from the
forestland. The
tribal communities, which have been instrumental in
preserving the
forest and maintaining its eco-systems, are now branded as
destroyers
of the forest and poachers of the wild animals. The Korku
tribals,
of the Melghat forest region, by their nature, are
submissive, silent,
and passive in suffering oppressions and exploitations.
They are
voice-less when it comes to their rights, and suffer from
inferiority
complexes. Absence of sufficient motivation from within
the community
and lack of direction and guidance from external sources
have further
added to their present difficult situation. Use of the
primitive
methods of agriculture, lack of land development, etc.
keep them
bound to their poverty. They have little or no purchasing
power.
In recent years, seasonal migration from many villages in
the Melghat
area has increased. It has been observed that for the
tribal communities,
education, good health, nutritious food and friendly
environment
for the growth and development of their children have not
been important
priorities. Beliefs such as "we live for the day", " it is
our fate",
"we cannot change our destiny", "some of our children will
die anyway
and so we will have more children", etc. act as
psychological blocks
in their development processes.
The root causes of almost all the above-identified
problems are
1) Economic poverty leading to very poor purchasing power
and subsequent
seasonal migration of the whole family in search of work,
2) Illiteracy of the people leading to superstitious
practices
3) The denial of the fundamental rights of the tribal as
the people
of the soil/Adivasis which make them victims of severe
oppressions
and injustices,
4) Absence of tribal-friendly Forest policies,
5) Fragmentation of ancestral agricultural land
