When Wandering is Pain rather Than Pleasure—A study of contributions given by VSSM. (Vicharta...

Paper Title: When Wandering is Pain rather Than Pleasure—A study of contributions given by VSSM. (VichartaSamudaaySamarthanManch)

ICPR Sponsored three days National Seminar On

Tribal Rights: Philosophical Base, Problems and Prospects

April 10-12, 2015

Organized By: Department of Social Work Jain Vishava Bharati Institute (Deemed University) Ladnun- 341306 (Rajasthan)

Sub Themes:Tribal Rights: Overview and Contributions of National and International Organizations


Name: Dhirendra Nandlal Patel

Abstract by Dhirendra PatelPage: 1


Designation: Research Scholar

Mailing Address: “ Guru Krupa, 15, Maneklal Colony, Naranpura,

Ahmedabad- 380013

Contact No: +91 8401685111, +91 9825005760

Email Address: [email protected], [email protected]

Sub Themes:

Tribal Rights: Overview and Contributions of National and International Organizations


Introduction:

About fifteen percent of country’s areas have been used by tribal communities for their habitat to various ecological and geo-climatic conditions ranging from plains, forests, hills to inaccessible areas. They are identified as having primitive traits, a distinctive culture, shyness of contact with at large, geographical isolation and socio-economic backwardness. During the period of British Administration, the tribal had virtually no statutory right but enjoyed only certain concessions/ privileges such as right to take water for agricultural purposes, digging of well and canals, free grazing in open forests, removal of timber, bamboos, reeds, canes etc. They use forest, land and water for their livelihood. After independence the Government, as per its constitutional commitments, has undertaken several steps in forms


mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


of legislative actions, formulation of policies, development and implementation of programmes for implementing the philosophy of social justice for tribals. In order to strengthen philosophy of social justice, varied kinds of tribal rights have been given regarding use of forest produce, land and water to tribals. Rightsof local self governece has also been bestowed in tribal areas. But it is a matter of examination and evaluation that whether these tribal rights have been able to nurture philosophy of socialjustice in Indian psyche where justice exercised within a society particularly as it is exercised by and among the various social classes of society.

Meaning of Denotifed Tribes

As per Wikipedia “Denotified Tribes (DNTs), also known as vimukta jati, are the tribes that were originally listed under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, as Criminal Tribes and "addicted to the systematic commission of non-bailable offences." Once a tribe became "notified" as criminal, all its members were required to register with the local magistrate, failing which they would be charged with a crime under the Indian Penal Code. The Criminal Tribes Act of 1952 repealed the notification, i.e. 'de-notified' the tribal communities. This act, however, was replaced by a series of Habitual Offenders Acts, that asked police to investigate a suspect's criminal tendencies and whether his occupation is "conducive to settled way of life." The denotified tribes were reclassified as habitual offenders in 1959.

Definition of Nomadic and Semi-nomadic Communities

For the Cambridge International Dictionary of English (1995), the word nomad means ‘a member of a group or people who move from one place to another rather than living in one place all the time’ (p.959). Although no hint is given in this definition about the lifestyle of nomads, the activity forming the pivot of their society, the example given in this Dictionary to illustrate the usage of this word is, ‘Nomads travel these arid regions with their camel herd’, which amply shows that the author has ‘pastoral



nomads’, or more specifically, ‘camel nomadism’, in mind, or when we conceptualize nomads, the pastoral communities are the first tofigure in our mind.

The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (1995: 786) defines nomadas ‘a member of a tribe or people that moves with its animals fromplace to place and has no permanent home.’ The second meaning given here is: ‘a person who does not stay long in one place.’ Themeaning of nomad that the Concise English Dictionary (1962: 777) gives is: ‘One of a tribe that wanders about seeking pasture for their flocks’, and like the Oxford Dictionary, the second meaning of this term is ‘wanderer’. It is clear from these two definitions(from different dictionaries) that the first meaning of the term nomad is with reference to animal breeding: Nomads are animal breeders, and move with their animals in search of pasture.

International Call for repeal

The UN's anti-discrimination body Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) asked India to repeal the Habitual OffendersAct (1952) and effectively rehabilitate the denotified and nomadictribes on 9 March 2007.

Reservations for Nomadic, Semi-Nomadic in India:

In 2008, the National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (NCDNSNT) of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment recommended equal reservations, as available to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, for around 110 million people belonging to the denotified tribes, nomadic or semi-nomadictribes in India. Along with the tribes designated as, "Nomadic" or"Semi-Nomadic", the denotified tribes are eligible for reservation.

Issues faced by Indian Tribals:

Below are the issues faces by Indian Tribals.



a) Unequal opportunity,

b) Abuse of power and liberty

c) Unfair distribution of resources, rights, opportunities and duties

d) Injustice in personal relations of people and

e) Imbalances in political, economic and social life of the people,

f) Unequal distribution of means, benefits burdens etc. throughout the society (biological, social, economic and cultural development of individual in a society) and

Nomadic and Do-Notified Communities of Gujarat:

Nomadic Communities of Gujarat:

Bajaniya Bhand Bhavaiyya Bava-BairagiBhopa Bharathari Gadaliya GaroGarudi Ghantiya Jogi KathodiKotwaliya Madari Marwadi Vaghri NatOad Pardhi Raval ShirligarSaraniya Turi Vaadi VansphodaVanzara Shinagvala,

Vanzara Kangasiyala

Vitoliya



Few Examples of Nomadic Tribes with their Occupation.

1) Nomadic Tribe-----Nat Occupation----Playing Acrobat

2) Nomadic Tribe---Sarania Occupation-----Sharpening Knives & Tools



3) Nomadic Tribe ---- Bhavaiyya Occupation----- Performing Folk Plays

4) Nomadic Tribe-----Gadalia Occupation------Making Iron Tools



5) Nomadic Tribe ------Kangasia Occupation -----Making Wooden Combs, Selling Bangles



6) Nomadic Tribe ------- Vansfoda Occupation ------ Making Bamboo Baskets



7) Nomadic Tribe ----Lawaria Occupation ----- Selling Iron Stoves

De-notified Communities are:

Bafan Chunvaliya Dafer VaghriChhara Vagher Koli HingoraMey Miyana Sandhi Theba

Their population is estimated to be 40 lakhs mainly concentrated in Saurastra and North Gujarat region. 40 communities fall within the ambit of NT-DNTs in Gujarat and 40 lacs is the estimated population of these communities. 14 of these 40 communities are some of the most marginalized communities of our county.

About Vicharta Samudaay Samarthan Manch ( VSSM ):



VichartaSamudaaySamarthanManch –VSSM, is a collective platform of members from Nomadic (Vicharata) and De-Notified (Vimukht) Tribes (Samudaay), individuals and organizations' empathizing with these communities. VSSM is working with the mission to give social identity, citizen’s rights, education, health facilities, housing and livelihood options to the various communities of Nomadic and De-Notified Tribes (NT-DNTs). Their presence is in following Districts of Gujarat:

Ahmedabad

Amreli

Banaskantha

Gandhinagar

Mehsana

Patan

Rajkot

Sabarkantha and

Surendranagar

Vision: The Communities of Nomadic and De-Notified Tribes Attain and Lead A Life with Dignity.

OBJECTIVES:



Ensure all the children from NT and DNTs enjoy their fundamental Right to Education.

Enable the communities of NT and DNTs avail their fundamental rights and entitlements.

Facilitate creation of alternate employment opportunities in lieu of the traditional occupations that have been rendered obsolete with time.

Ensure that the NT and DNTs acquire a roof, a place to settle and get an address of their own.

Activities of VSSM:

1. Advocating For Change2. Education3. Livelihood4. Housing5. Influencing Progressive Change

1) Advocating For Change: The currentsituation of the Nomadic and De-notified tribes is a consequence of decade long social, economic and political neglect. This situation is not expected to change unless these communities are permitted to develop and realize their fundamental rights. By permission we mean the society at large embracing these communities without any discrimination plus, the political parties and governments recognizing theexistence of them.



VSSM actively lobbies for change in various legislations and policies so as to make them more specific and sensitive towards the special needs of NT and DNTs. The learning and outcomes of our experiments at grassroots support our arguments for demanding change in certain inadequate government policies.Some of the outcomes have been:

o A confident claim that our efforts of sensitizing the fellow citizens and policymakerson the chronic issues of the NT-DNTs have resulted into the policymakers taking note of the existence of these vast chunk of population and mentioning them at every relevant platform, documents and widening the reach of many of the welfare schemes designed for marginalized communities of this country.

o The first breakthrough came Chief Minister of our state recognizing the fact that the large populations of Nomadic and De-notified Tribes have never been counted in the censuses. This was following a public program organized by VSSMin the year 2006 to bring to the notice of the authorities the existence of these communities in our state and country. After the end of the daylong program the government took note of the demands and from the next day 5 crore Gujaratiesbecame 5.5 crore Gujaraties.

o The collective efforts of various voluntary organizations' of the country including VSSM, working on the Rights of Nomads resulted in to introduction of regulation that mandates calculating the homeless population in the Census of India.



o The State’s Ex. Chief Election Commissioner Shri. Vinod Babbar’s sensitive approach and directives to his team and district Collectors lead to issuance of Voter’s ID cards to 20,000 individuals from NT-DNTs in one and half year. This number has risen to a total 70,000 individuals so far.

o A regulation making NT-DNTs eligible for receiving benefits under the Manav Garima Schemewith just voters ID card as a supporting document. The family needs to be listed in the BPL list of the village but since most of these communities are not part of any revenue village their names do not appear in the BPL list. The continuous lobbying by VSSM has resulted into this ordinance.

o VSSM’s advocacy with the State Food and Civil Supply Department to make the process of acquiring Antyodya Ration Cards, NT-DNT friendlyhas resulted into issuance of a directive by theJoint Secretary of Food and Civil Supplies Department. The directive mentions that if the applicant from NT-DNT community has Voters ID card, she/he will not require any other documents to support their application and the Antyoday Ration Card should be issued to the family.

o Similarly the society at large is also becoming increasingly sensitive towards the plight of these communities. VSSM is trying to reach out to the privilegedclass of our society by sharing platform and engaging in adialogue with them. A major breakthrough came when ShriMorariBapu came forward to do a Ramkatha for the causethese communities. The result of these Ramkatha has been



the struggles of NT-DNTs getting noticed at a wider level including the government and bureaucracy.

2) Education:

Majority of the NT-DNT communities fall amongst the most economically and educationally backward communities in the state.Multitude of reasons like perpetual migration, societaloutlook, indifference of authorities and to an extent, ignorance and some stubbornness on part of the communities themselves, are behind such conditions of these communities.

“Education for the children of NT and DNTs features highest on our priority list; we feel everything else, but the age oflearning for these children,can wait. Children education has never featured high on these parents priority against the need for daily sustenance. We, as VSSM and per needs,are prepared to impose upon parents the importance of sending children to school.”

The current educational programs by VSSM include:

Bridge Schools

Balghars

Residential Academic Hostels

Doliya Girls Hostel

Doliya Boys Hostel

Vadgam Boys Hostel

Bridge Schools: The Bridge Schools act as a virtual bridge between the settlement and government schools and came into existence as a need felt to acclimatize, socialize, groom andpersuade the children,from NT-DNT communities, to initiate the process of education. The rationale driving this program is to acclimatize children to the environment of classroom learning, ignite a passion for learning within them, instill



importance of some basic hygiene values, initiate the processof socializing with other communities and later mainstream them in the village school

Balghars: The Balghars are essentially function as day-care cum activity centers for children between ages of 0-3 and 3 to 6 years. When the parents are away working and elder siblings attending the Bridge Schools the younger children are taken care of in the Balghars. They function in the same premises along with the Bridge Schools. The basic objectives of the Balghars are to: • Provide nutritional support to children below the age of 6 years to prevent malnutrition • Provide Early Childhood Education (ECE) that eventually facilitates their school enrollment.

Residential Academic Hostels: A lot of the NT-DNTs are required to wander and migrate in search of livelihood. In such circumstances provided focused and continuous education becomes impossible. Earlier a lot of efforts were directed towards enrolling the children from these communities in various residential facilities available across the state butthe approach of the management, teachers and co-students keptpushing the enrolled NT-DNT children out of such institutes. The need to have a separate facility for children willing to learn had been immense. VSSM facilitates 3residential academic facilities for the children of NT-DNT children.

Doliya Girls Hostel: In the year 2012 with the support from Shri Indubhai shah – Tithal, ‘Jain Heet Vardhak Mandal’ Mumbai and The Giant Group of Central Mumbai a residential hostel facility especially for girls only has been set up at the DoliyaTirth in Surendranagar. In the initial phase 10 girls between the ages of 6-14 years were enrolled in this special facility the number has grown to 25 and is expected to raise to 50 in 2013. The schooling of these girls happens



at the nearby Doliya Girls School.

Doliya Boys Hostel: The success of the hostel initiative for girls has triggered the need for have a similar facility for the boys from the community. VSSM launched a boys hostel at Doliya in 2013.

Vadgam Boys Hostel: VSSM has inspired a lot of nomadic and de-notified communities to come together and work for the progress of their communities. On the same lines a Raval community association has come into existence in Banaskatha. The associationhas been engaged into a lot of activities for the progress of their community. The association made effortsto understand the reasons for the community’s marginalizationand it was realized that their approach to education was one of the primary reasons for the prevailing conditions of the Ravals.A community initiated and VSSM facilitated hostel has been functioning for the Raval boys at ‘Raval Community Center’ in Vadgam.The focus is enrolling boys who have completed elementary education but fail to study further in absence of higher education facility in their village or in vicinity. The management and administration of the hostel is completely done by the community while VSSM performs the roleof facilitator.

The Gujarat State Social Welfare board aids the daily expenses of the hostel. The need to have a building extensionto accommodate the growing number of hostelites was supportedby well-wishers of VSSM.

3) Livelihood

Creating Livelihood Generation Opportunities

The emergence of a modern and industrialized society has rendered the traditional occupations of the NT-DNTs either



reeling under tremendous threat for survival or almost obsolete. Under such circumstances earning decent income for these communities has become a major challenge. There is an immense need to create alternate prospects of employment or to enhance the existing skills the communities possess so as to make them more contemporary in nature.

Since last couple of years, VSSM in partnership with the communities has been striving to help the communities refine and utilize their inherent skills to earn a decent livelihood. In our continued efforts, training workshops are organized at regular intervals. VSSM intervenes at multiple levels to create vocational options for the communities.

At the grassroots level VSSM equips the craftsmen engaged in traditional occupations involving dexterous skills, by building their capacities on the identified facets so as to enhance their skills and where need be introduce them to new vocations. So far, series of training workshops have been conducted with communities of Nathwadee, Saraniyaa, Gadaliyaa, Bawa, Kangasiya, Salat and Meer. Thetrained members have begun earning from the skills they have mastered.

VSSM is in process of forming district level forums of performing artists to increase their bargaining capacity and provide equal platforms to all the performing artists groups of the state. VSSM and the performing communities have also partnered to bring a new facet to the ancient yet marvelous theatre art forms like Bhavai and Acrobatics. VSSM also facilitates the artists in buying new and modern musical instruments, make-up kits, costumesetc.



On the polity front VSSM engages with various, state run vocational training institutes, departments promoting cottage industries, institutes of performing arts etc. Theobjective behind such exercise is to explore the possibilities of training the youth from the NT and DNTs under the various training programs offered by such prominent institutes. Efforts are also made in direction of influencing creation of training programs focused specially for these communities.

4) Housing:

5) THE HOUSING PROGRAM

a. Over the years, accumulated learning and understanding on the complex issues of the NT -DNTs has made VSSM strongly recognize the fact that if these communities had to be pulled out of the perpetual cycles of poverty and marginalization, it is pertinent to get them to settle down and have a place of their own. Once a housecomes into existence, a sense of stability sets in and the family starts working towards leading a more settledand stable life. With centuries old occupations that require wandering lifestyles, these communities have never been able to settle down and with progressing times their desire to lead settled lives is becoming increasingly conflicting and challenging.

Once the plot for construction of house is allotted, theprocess of applying for funds for the construction of house is initiated. The NT- DNTs are eligible for funds for construction of houses under the government’s PanditDindayalAwasYojna. The scheme entitles them Rs. 45,000/- for the construction of the house.



VSSM Supports: The role of VSSM in such circumstances isto provide the matching balance funds to supportthe completion of house. In given times and with the marginalization of these communities it is difficult to distinguish and decide as to who should get the priority. But the approach VSSM has adopted is that of ‘UNTO THE LAST’- supporting the most marginalized and vulnerable amongst the marginalized. Families that beg for surviving, widows, Dafer families, women engaged in flesh trade, daily wage earners whose economic conditions are extremely weak, families engaged in making cane baskets.

VSSM Accomplished: i. During the year 2011-12 government approved funds

for 26 families to whom VSSM also supported with balance fund requirement.

ii. VSSM also facilitated completion of 137 houses for those families who were unable to save enough to complete the construction of their homes.

iii. VSSM has also fully constructed homes for 12 families who lived under extreme poverty and yet did not even feature on the government’s BPL list.

iv. Thus far, VSSM has supported construction and completion of a total of 175 homes.

v. IN 2013 almost 468 families were allotted residential plots.

vi. 155 Vadee-Madaree families from Surendranagar’s Dhangadhra town, 96 families from Rajkot’s Parevda and Rampara Beti villages have been allotted plots to construct homes whereas 217 Bajaniya, Saraniyaa,Vansfoda, Nat and Raval families of Deesa in Banaskantha have been allotted residential plots.

ACTIVITIES | INFLUENCING PROGRESSIVE CHANGE



INFLUENCING PROGRESSIVE CHANGE:

The numerous initiatives by VSSM at the grassroots as well aspolicy levels are designed to steer in change in the prevailing conditions of the Nomadic and De-notified communities. Some of the continued efforts in this direction are:

1---Restructuring the traditional community associations:

The collective efforts of some communities and VSSM has resulted into formation and restructuring of 6 CommunityAssociation of Raval, Bajaniya, Nathwadi, Vansfoda, Bharthari, Kangasiya communities.

The continuous dialogue by VSSM with the elders of thesecommunities has resulted into increasing number of youthwith progressive mindsets given space by community elders in such associations. Such transition becomes very crucial when it comes to introducing certain unorthodox initiatives targeted to curb child marriages,dowry, expenditure on related marriages, deaths and rituals related to illness.

The dynamic young leadership also becomes instrumental in changing the perceptions of communities on issues like education and livelihood earning. As a result of the efforts of the community association the Raval community of Prantij and Deesa blocks made a path breaking choice by organizing mass marriages to avoid unnecessary expenses.

2--------Political participation:



VSSM has considered it necessary to have political participation from the NT-DNTs on any possible level, but these communities have always resisted it. As the time progresses we are seeing growing acceptance of these communities by the privileged society. Such acceptance is boosting their self-confidence and self-esteem. The last couple of years have seen members from Nomadic and De-notifed communities showing preparedness to participate in the political activities at the village and block levels. They are even gaining political support from other communities.

Members from Nomadic and De-notifed communities have contested elections at village and block panchayatlevels, and a couple of them have even won the elections. JayantibhaiRaval from Vagad village, Prahaladbhai from the village of Bajaniyapura have been elected as Sarpanch from these villages where as Shankarbhai Nat has been elected as member of Panchyat in Tokarwad village. Jayantibhai with his remarkable zest and wisdomis doing some exemplary work in his village winning confidence and appreciation of those who once opposed him vehemently. Similarly the dedication and hard work of Dilipbhai Raval, elevated him from the position of member to Vice-President of Pratinj Nagar Palika (town-corporation).

VSSM has also recently launched campaigns on De-addiction and Savings Group formations to inculcate the habit of savings amongst these communities.

DISTRICT BLOCKS SETTLEMENTS FAMILIES



Patan 7 84 1629

Mehsana 3 153 3355

Amreli 1 3 200

Rajkot 4 13 229

Ahmedabad 7 20 1213

Sabarkantha 3 31 1185

Surendranagar 10 153 1934

Banaskantha 11 529 12188

Gandhinagar 1 9 230

Total 46 995 22163

Quantitative Data of VS S M's achievements till 2011

Sr.No.

Detail Total numberof Beneficiary

People1 No. of children enrolled in the

mainstream schools2305

2 Income Generation activities initiated byNo. of people

250

3 No. of people to have received election cards

70000

4 No. of people to have received ration cards

65

5 No. of people to be included in BPL list 396 No. of people benefited under Employment

Gurantee Scheme32

7 No. of individuas to have received Job Cards

83



8 No. of women to have benefited under Widow Pension scheme

14

9 No. of people to benefit under Antyoday Scheme

5

10 No. of people to have received benefit ofHousing Scheme

926

11 No. of people to have received plots 292512 No. of people to have received houses 7813 No. of places to have got cremetorium 314 No of people to have benefited under

Sankat Mochan Scheme4

15 No. of people to have received Ration Cards

5000

16 No. of individual's names included in Voters list

610

17 No. of settlements to have got water connection

5

18 No. of individual water connections received

67

19 No. of individuals benefited under Oldagepension scheme

45

20 No. of people to have received Adhar Cards

103

Case Stories: 1

Give us a plase to stand we will move the earth

57 women from various nomadic communities staying in Ahmedabad’s Vatva, Bhaktinagar, Shahwadi, recently took tailoring training. The training was conducted with the support of ATIRA and SadvicharPariwar. During the training that was spread over a month these women learnt to stitch salwar-kameez and saree blouse. After the training they expressed their desire to acquire loan to buy a sewing machine so that they can do job work from home.



Case Story-2Gomti’s desire to earn and live with dignity fulfilled….

Gomti is the youngest of the three daughters of Virabhai Gadaliya. Having been born in Gadaliya community meant she had aninherent skill of making and selling iron tools and vessels. Gomti got married and widowed at a very young age. Later she went on to marry again but was soon divorced because of disputes with her husband. After the divorce she came back to stay with her parents.



Case Story--- 3

Jara Hath tum badhao kya kuchh hai kar dikhana… khwabo ko sach banana.. (Dafer Sajanben)

8 families from Dafer community have been staying in Nagra villageof Surendranagar’s Wadhwan block since many years. The villagers have accepted these families as part of their village. Houses for these families were constructed from donated funds.Sajanben with her kiosk and homes constructed by VSSM.



4---

'I do not want any loan, what if I am unable to repay the money????'

Parvatiben Salat is a woman from whose life responsibilities just does not cease to exit. Parvatiben has been residing in the village of Vavdi since last many years. After the death of her husband at a very young age Parvatiben raised her 3 sons and 1 daughter single handedly.



‘

5-----

Sonalben’s determination makes all the difference…….

She was born in extreme poverty and later survived under extreme poverty too but she is determined not allow her children to inherit such poverty. Sonalben Bajaniya, a very strong willed and wise lady and her husband Dineshbhai Bajaniya earned living working as labourers and survived on the daily wage they earned.

‘I now have a house because of VSSM and the government, a house ofmy own saves me a monthly Rs. 2000 and with your support the business is also doing well. How can I thank you enough, I don’t have words to express my gratitude for all that you have done for me,’ says a rather emotional Sonalben, a gutsy lady who is willingto swim against the tide for the betterment of her family……..



6----

Enterprising Veenaben….

For many years now nomadic families have been staying on the government wasteland on a small hill in Kamod village of Ahmedabad’s Daskroi block. One of these families is of Veenaben Raval. Veenaben has been staying here with her husband, four children and ageing in-laws. The couple had to work really hard tomake ends meet and support the medical bills of old parents. It was important that Veenaben pitched in and earned as her income was important for her family.

The children are receiving good education, studying well. The family is happy. Veenaben has earned a new status in the society and has become a role model for other women in the village.



8----- Gangaben supplementing the family income…..

In the picture is Gangaben with the tools she sells.



9---

Supporting nomadic families earn their living…..

In the past the nomadic tribes survived the generosity of the people they looked after. The respect between the communities was mutual. Once the crops were harvested the famers kept the share for the nomadic families of their regions. There was no grudge against these families. They also had a right over the produce. These days however, these communities are asked to work and earn their living, the practice of sharing food grains with them is hardly followed. The families also do not like to go an ask for food but prefer to work and earn living.



Jethabhai a resident of Diyodar earned living by playing Ravanhatta but people kept telling him to work and earn so he decided to start selling cosmetics and artificial jewellery to earn living. He requested us to support him in buying a hand cart.

Similarly Chetanbhai Kangasiya and Shravanbhai Kangaisya were daily wage earners and getting work everyday was not possible. There were days when they had to remain workless. Their request VSSM was for a hand cart to ferry goods from main wholesale marketto retail shops around the town. VSSM supported for the purchase



of a hand cart.



Dineshbhai set up fruit kiosk near Diyodar bus stop with the support of VSSM. The hand cart he bought is also used to ferry goods and parcels from the bus station to its destination. He too makes around Rs. 300 daily. such support…….

10-------

Lalabhai’s dream is to become a big trader …….

Lalabhai Bajaniyaa is a resident of Hirapur village of Viramgaum block. Until he got married Lalabhai worked with his father Bachubhai who sold seasonal produce like groundnuts, potato, onion, banana, grams etc. Bachubhai owned a chakda (a type of indigenous auto). In the picture Lalabhai’s house stocked with tomatoes to be sold at wholesale rate and Lalabhai on his way to work...



11-----

"We shall need to change and we are heading in that direction” Rvjibhai



Rvjibhai Bharthari is a resident of Bhavsor village of Mehsana’s Vijapur block. The traditional occupation of the Bharthari community is to sing lullabies and its an occupation that involveslot of wandering/

11)

Antyoday Ration Cards for 42 families of Nava Deesa

An empathetic and considerate district and local administration ofBanaskantha is setting examples for other administrations to learnfrom. Recently the administration issued Antyoday Ration Cards to 42 extremely poor nomadic families of Nava Deesa. It is necessary to note here that Antyoday cards are meant for the poorest of the poor, the amount of monthly ration is more under this card type and hence it plays an important role in ensuring food security of these families. VSSM had made applications for 52 families of



which 42 have received cards and another 10 families will be receiving theirs in coming days.

The nomadic families that are extremely marginalised are unable tofeed their large broods in absence of regular income. There are families who go to sleep hungry in such case Antyoday cards help in atleast ensuring the children are fed a decent meal.

12)

Participative process ensures optimum utilisation of precious resources….

13)

Nomadic Tribes Settlement - Construction under progress..

VSSM is proposing to construct homes for 143 families in Juna Deesa. The 70 families that recently received allotment letters have received cheques of Rs. 21,000 as aid towards constructing homes. The pictures are of sample house under construction at thesite and one of the families whose house we are to construct..



Before

Current house



14)

Pulling out from the clutches of the cycle of poverty



15)

Journey from a helper in a shop to vegetable vendor



Reference:

http://www.vssmindia.org/

http://nomadictribes.blogspot.in

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomads_of_India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomadic_tribes_in_India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denotified_Tribes

http://socialjustice.nic.in/pdf/NCDNT2008-v1.pdf


http://socialjustice.nic.in/pdf/NCDNT2008-v1.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denotified_Tribes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomadic_tribes_in_India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomads_of_India

http://nomadictribes.blogspot.in/

http://www.vssmindia.org/

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