http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/allahabad/Projects-underway-to-generate-income-for-tribals-dalits-/articleshow/7373832.cms
Projects underway to generate income for tribals & dalits
TNN, Jan 27, 2011, 08.44pm IST
VARANASI: About 3,000 dalit and tribal families of Maoist-affected
Mirzapur and Sonebhadra districts have been connected with income
generating activities under a project `Peoples Empowerment for
Accessing Rights to Livelihood' (PEARL). The project is being
implemented by a Delhi based NGO, with the help of local NGOs.
These NGOs are implementing the project in 60 villages of Rajgarh
block in Mirzapur district and Nagwa and Chatra blocks of Sonebhadra
district. These villages are dominated by financially weak and
backward castes like Kol, Mushar, Banvasi and dalits, said Rajni Kant,
member of an NGO. According to him, the people have been linked with
income generating activities through self-help groups (SHGs). These
SHGs are engaged in agriculture and other cash crop based activities.
Also, efforts are being made to ensure their access to natural
resources and forest produce. Another aim is to get approved tribal
status for Kol, Gond, and Mushar communities, who are categorised
under Scheduled Castes in UP.
The basic objective of the project is to develop village level
people's institutions, cluster and regional level bodies in the
process of community empowerment, Rajni Kant said, adding that the
PEARL project is being executed in select villages across the country.
Recently, a workshop was organised in the city to discuss various
aspects of livelihood and people empowerment. Deputy director
(agriculture) Ashutosh Mishra, who attended the workshop, said that
the situation could be improved by connecting the rural youths of
Varanasi and Vindhya divisions with agricultural activities.
The area is rich in minerals like bauxite and coal, forest produce
like Mahua, Tendu leaves and Chironji. But, denial of forest and land
rights is one of the major problems that tribal people have been
facing throughout the country, said Kant and added that though the
Central government has passed a bill that recognises the rights of
tribals and other forest dwellers over their land amid forests, its
effective implementation is still a distant dream. For over a decade,
the area has been under rising influence of Maoist movement. Since the
area is surrounded by dense forest, the Maoists find shelter in the
forest, resulting in high paramilitary activity, which further impacts
the life of the local dwellers. Both the districts share their
boundaries with four states -- Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh
and Bihar -- facing Maoist problem.
Notably, the PEARL project has been initiated by Indo Global Social
Service Society (IGSS) with the assistance of local NGOs, including
Human Welfare Association (HWA), Mahila Swarojgar Samiti (MSS) and
Diocese Development Social Welfare Society (DDSWS). Besides, Banaras
Hindu University (BHU) has also undertaken a project funded by World
Bank through National Agricultural Innovative Project (NAIP) of Indian
Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for livelihood security to the
tribal and dalits of Mirzapur and Sonebhadra districts. According to
Prof Saket Kushwaha of agricultural economics department and
co-principal investigator, Institute of Agricultural Science of BHU,
has started a project `Ensuring livelihood security through watershed
based farming system modules' in the two districts in September, 2008,
with a budget of Rs 688.039 lakh with an objective to facilitate
income for about 3,000 households of over 30 villages in the next four
years. The other partners of the project are Indian Institute of
Vegetable Research (IIVR), Banwasi Sewa Ashram (Sonebhadra) and
Surabhi Shodh Sansthan (Mirzapur).
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