West - Singhbhum Chapter

AID -Jharkhand

                                Ho Tribal Women And Child

The project is in operation in Kolhan region in West Singhbhum District of Jharkhand state. This one of the most neglected and disadvantaged regions in Jharkhand State. Even in British times, this region remained neglected and was inaccessible to them. Because of this, they gave special status to Kohan region. Even after independence, the situation remained the same. Kolhan is not accessible by road or any other transport. The road facilities are very poor. There is less transport, electricity or other communication facilities available. Centuries of neglect made the life of the people miserable. 

Bundle of human miseries in Kolhan

 The spectre poverty is manifested everywhere in Kolhan. Poverty of development, poverty of human resources, poverty of education, poverty of governance and poverty of human action is evident here.  Starvation deaths were frequent feature here. Other dimensions of poverty such as selling children, sending children as domestic servants and bonded labourers are the stark reality in the region.

 Death from malaria, diarrhoea and other water bone diseases are regular feature here. Deaths from complicated deliveries are routine event. Carrying sick bodies by hand and in cot are the regular feature here. The plight of human misery is plenty here. The region is closed to the outside world. Except human misery, we can also see other scenes such as dry patches; denuded forest and dark spell everywhere.

 Apart from these natural disasters in the form of epidemics, human induced misery of killing widows and single woman, as witches were frequent feature of the Kolhan landscape. Many women were stoned to death and burnt to death. This man made misery made the life of women more insecure and vulnerable.
 Taking advantage of the human miseries and starvation, the business sending poor labourers to work in brick kilns, quarries and agriculture in other states caused more havoc on the life of the people. They advanced money in off-season and forcefully sent them to work. This form of human trafficking is the other spectre of suffering here. For some, poverty is the raw material for their business. The value of life here is degraded and demeaned by the forces acting on them.

 Unfortunately, the state is another mute players contributing for aggravating the life of the poor. In the name of development, contract culture, construction of roads and physical structures for the purpose of deliberate destruction within few years and then reconstruction with government money is the culture of development. Corruption destroyed the fabric of the public governance. People lost faith on government and their governance.

 With this backdrop, AID has been working in the area, engaged in human building and reconstruction of human life with their participation and action.

Goal and objectives of the project

 The goal of the project is family empowerment for poverty reduction. The purpose of the project is achieving improved family health and education status of Ho families. The entire focus of the project is children, families and communities.

 Activities carried out 

·           Family education to children and their parents

            creation of self-help groups for women and men

·          Strengthening village Panchayat system

         Training, advocacy and promoting community action  

Management of the project

A project unit is functioning in Kolhan. It is operating in 30 villages. Each village has a Family Empowerment Worker. The project is divided into three clusters. Each cluster has a cluster supervisor. They are guided and supported by the project co-ordinator.

Key Achievement of the project

·          In this year, 917 children were provided alternative education. Enrolment campaigns were carried out. 274 children were enrolled in government schools.

·          Health support provided to 847 pregnant women, iron and folic acid provided to 232 pregnant women, 8 risk pregnant women helped through access to hospital delivery, family planning services provided to 143 families and 1850 children immunised, 17 health camps organised with 61 malaria cases, 21 typhoid, 8 diarrhoea cases treated and 47 referred to hospitals.

·          15 Self-help groups formed and 5 male groups were created and 30 village. 3 Workshops for the heads of the village Panchayats were organised.  Panchayats were engaged in the development process.

 The value of the work done through the project is illustrated through two cases studies.