Asha Internal Report No.21 : Santhals of Hazaribagh
by Shanmuga
Dates of Visit : 26th and 27th April 2001
Contents
Background
to the Visit
Part I :
The Samiti
The School
Santhal culture and social change
Interaction with children and teachers
Santhal village
Contacts
Part II : Analysis and Suggestions
Part III: Discussion of Fisheries Cooperative Proposal
Background to the Visit
This
is a report of my visit to Jaher Primary School, as requested by Melliyal Annamalai,
active volunteer of Asha.
The
visit was sandwiched between my two visits to Prerna Niketan, another NGO in
Hazaribagh. The visit was for two days and in retrospect I wish I could
have stayed longer as it would have facilitated a deeper understanding and
collaboration with the organisation, Jaher Development Samiti which runs the
school.
Since
this area has strong naxalite movement I was advised not to stay in the village
for the night. However, I did stay in the village on April 26th night in hope
of meeting some naxal youth, in vain.
In
Part I, I document my observations of the work done by the Samiti as well as
discussion on the social change happening in Santhal society. In Part II, I've
given my analysis and suggestions for future. The Samiti has given a new
proposal for Asha to consider for financial support. I've discussed this
proposal in Part III.
Part I
The Samiti :
Ms.
Jahermuni Germaine Alphonso, fondly called as didimoni by the villagers,
came to Charhi, a town in Hazaribagh District, in late 1960s to work in a
missionary organisation, Medical Mission Sisters. She went through nurse
training and post-graduate education in public health nursing and served in Charhi as a nurse for 22 years. However,
over the years she became increasingly uncomfortable with the focus on
proselytisation by the organisation (summarised in her own words, "If I
respect you, shouldn't I respect your religion too?"). But the final
straw was the involvement of the organisation in petty party politics. There
was also encephalitis(brain viral fever) spreading from pigs through mosquitoes
which made independent active health work imperative and in 1990, she moved to
Bagjobra and started the Jaher* (Jharkhand Adivasi Health, Education
and Rural) Development Samiti.
*
Jaher has a more traditional meaning for Santhals. Jaher (or Sarna)
is a portion of the pristine forest or
grove, considered sacred to the Santhal community's chief diety, Singbonga. The same is called Jahira
by the Hos, Jhanka by the Dudh and Dhelki Kharia and Sarana by the Munda tribe. Sacred groves are also
maintained by tribes in islands of
Phillipines
and Malaysia.
Except
Jahermuni, the founder, all members of the Samiti are santhals, which is in
line with the emphasis of the Samiti to help people take their own
responsibility. The activities of the Samiti which initially was health care
has spread to other important areas. The activities of the Samiti, have
impacted more than forty villages, in the two blocks, Churchu and Mandu of
Hazaribagh districts. The main activities are
1)
Health care :
Trained Santhals as village level health care workers. The training was mostly
given to men, because of the need to travel long distances in the jungle when
going from one village to another. These trained workers carry on their work
indepedent of the Samiti.
Form
health cooperatives and support some health workers who need financial help and
also get medicines.
2) Education:
Run the Jaher Primary School with more than 150 children.
Form village school committees of youth in villages. The
committees work for smooth functioning of government schools. In villages like
Harli and Gondwar where the government schools were non-functional, the
comittee has pressured the goverment teachers back to work.
Placed one Santhal youth as motivational and supplementary teacher in
Harli and give him honorarium.
A new school(started in 2001) has been started in Chirubera tola of
Bagjobra for small kids who are unable to walk to Jaher Primary School.
3) Organising the people :
Women's group with small savings and income generation activities like
tree plantation, piggery and fishery.
Fighting for minimum wages for agricultural and unorganised labourers
Get money from Indira Awaaz program for house construction. The villagers
collectively build the houses by shramdaan(donation of labour). There is
a need to fight and protest with Block Development Officer(BDO) for giving the
full sanctioned amount (without protests the BDO takes a cut of atleast Rs.3000
out of Rs.14000 on every house).
The School :
Jaher
Primary School is in village Bagjobra, Churchu block, Hazaribagh district of
Jharkhand. The school is located in the midst of Santhal villages, which are
themselves located in the midst of thick vegetation and woods. All the children
studying in the school are santhals who come from the tolas(hamlets) of
Bagjobra, Bali and few other neighbouring villages. The school is run by Jaher
Development Samiti headed by Ms. Jahermuni Germaine Alphonso.
The
land for the school was donated by collective decision of Bagjobra villagers.
There is a total of five acres of land. Of this the school construction
occupies about one acre, another acre has been leveled out by the villagers as
playground.
The
school was built by shramdaan by the Bagjobra villagers. The work was divided
up among neighbouring tolas - one tola brought wood, another cleared up the
land, one did construction, another brought roof tiles. There was a small
donation of Rs.93,000 during 1992-93 by the community development department of
CCL (Central Coalfields Limited),
Jharkhand towards the construction work.
The school has both
children staying in the hostel as well as children who come from home. For the
year 2000-01, the student distribution is follows.
|
Class |
Boys in Hostel |
Girls in Hostel |
Day scholar Boys |
Day Scholar Girls |
Total |
|
K.G |
4 |
5 |
24 |
13 |
46 |
|
I |
5 |
4 |
7 |
5 |
21 |
|
II |
5 |
6 |
5 |
9 |
25 |
|
III |
4* |
3 |
6 |
9 |
22 |
|
IV |
2 |
4 |
12 |
5 |
23 |
|
V |
2 |
6 |
14 |
10 |
32 |
|
Total |
22 |
28 |
68 |
51 |
169 |
* One child,
Manoj Marandi, is an orphan.
The
school infrastructure is four to five rooms efficiently used for multiple
purposes. One room is used as Jahermuni's residence and Samiti office; one
large structure for kitchen and storeroom, one for and warden's residence,
luggage room for hostel residents. The classrooms are mud structures, except
two which are concrete. The concrete classrooms double-up as hostels at night
time for residential children who use them for study and sleep.
The
school has a borewell with a Mark III deepwell handpump attached. There is one
toilet (round pit) in the school.
The
two teachers Matilda Marandi, the headmistress of the school, Bernadeth
Marandi, warden and teacher, have both received government teacher training.
Subodh Kisku is an untrained teacher as temporary replacement for Binay Murmu
who recently left.
The
language of instruction is Hindi. Since 2000, the teachers have begun to also
teach Santhali (in Devanagri script with required additional symbols).
Santhal culture and social
change :
The
Santhals are part of the austric-languages speaking family that includes
Santhal, Munda, Ho, Birhor and Kharia. The Santhals with population upto five
million are one of the largest adivasi group in India. In Jharkhand, they are
mainly to be found in Santhal Paraganas, Hazaribagh and Singhbhum districts.
I
was fortunate that my visit to the school coincided with that of several
santhal leaders of the region. There
was a socio-political awareness meeting organized in Bagjobra, for which many
leaders from outside Bagjobra came in steady numbers.
Shyam,
Disom Majhi, headman of Babanbai Paraganas, with 65 villages in it, gave me an
overview of the social issues facing the Santhal community in the region.
What
are the social changes happening in santhal society ?
Shyam
Majhi: Lots of things are changing. Take marriage for example. We
santhals never had dowry system.
Now people
have started copying the hindu practice, which is very bad for us. Problems of
dowry and tilak are gradually
beginning(Dahej aur tilak ki samasya abhi abhi shuru ho rahi hai).
What
about changes in livelihood ?
Shyam
Majhi : One major problem in Hazaribagh district is displacement of santhals
due to coal-mining. Also, land near the coal fields becomes non-arable because
of waste pollution and coal dust that settles in the farmland. There are some
people resisting the
displacement but some are also accepting the compensation and moving out. But
the compensations are very unfair. The new
shacks built for displaced families are tiny and huddled together like a
city-slum, whereas the adivasi is used in living in large open area with lots
of trees and vegetation. Some families get ‘lucky’ and get compensations upto
Rs.4 lakhs in liquid cash. But these santhals are not used to seeing such large
amount of money. They're used to
subsistence living. You thrust a lot of money into his hand and see what happens. It is just a tragi-comedy to watch.
You'll see this man who until yesterday worked hard in his fields, bare-footed and in dhoti, today with compensation money
strutting around the streets in shoes and kurta-pyjamas, gold-plated wristwatch, etc. His house windows will get
upgraded from bamboo to glass. Some buy motor vehicles like jeeps and trekkers at exhorbitant costs just to
show off. I knew a man who was cheated to buying a vehicle for Rs.1,20,000
which should have cost him
Rs,30,000. He has no clue what he is doing for a few months and after that all
the money is over and the man and his family
are driven to desperation. Without land there is no hope for food. Many commit
suicide in shame. We go to such
displacement areas and educate people to be aware and help them use the money
prudently.
What
about education, is that having an impact ?
Shyam
Majhi: Of course, it is. But the general population has little awareness of
education or why its needed.
But even
education, I see that our educated youngsters are the ones destroying the
culture. They have no respect for our
traditional
way of life or even their own families. This is the crisis we are facing.
Can
you explain that a bit ?
Shyam
Majhi: Well, take a boy who manages to get educated, say from a mission school.
He becomes very arrogant and
has no
respect for his own people. He wants to follow Hindu or Christian customs,
brings in all bad things, like dowry. Also, when such youth get government jobs they use that to manipulate
the illiterate santhals and gain benefit by corrupt means. The outside world
thinks, wonderful that educated santhal is
helping other santhals; actually he is only breaking their backs.
So,
this is going in wrong path ?
Shyam
Majhi : Overall, education is a useful thing. But we have to make it work for
us and not against us. The children must be taught to respect their own people and culture. The textbooks must
talk about their life. The schools have to teach santhal language.
Education
is also giving girls some say. I'll narrate one interesting incident take
happened recently. I was walking home one day and met a recently married man. I asked him, "Dear
Friend,What do you carry in your hand. Why do you look so anxious ?". He
hesitated and then replied, "Sir, thats my
school textbook, as I'm studying for matric(10th Std). I have to
pass the upcoming exams to bring my wife to my home and begin married life. So,
I look anxious." He
is actually a manual labourer. What happened is that the girl is interpass(12th
Std pass), but the boy had dropped
out of
school long ago. She felt ashamed at being married to him but couldn’t do much
to stop the marriage. But later she has vowed that she will enter her sasural(husband's
home) only after her husband
completes atleast matric exam. So our newly-married youth is now preparing
furiously to take the matric exam.
Not
only the girl is assertive, but everyone including the husband has accepted
this. This is real new in our society.
I
also had a chance to talk to Father Shyam Tudu of the Catholic Church who came
on a casual visit to enquire after Jahermuni's health.
Father,
can you tell me about some of the things you are doing?
Father
Tudu : I am deeply involved in resisting displacement by industries and
coal mining companies in the Jharkhand state.
Why
are you doing this ?
Father
Tudu : You must have heard about Koel Karo massacre in February 2001. But there
are many silent Keol Karos that go unnoticed by
press and urban public. Police are clearly siding with the companies and their
atrocities are growing day by day. The police
are so arrogant that they resort to firing even at peaceful protests. The press
completely ignores all this.
But the
adivasis are not going to take things lying down. They are organising
themselves. Just a few days ago they burnt down vehicles
belonging to a mining company in this district. You are going to see more of
this. As the atrocities grow, so will the
resistance
movement of the adivasis.
Adivasis
have a long tradition of resisting exploiters from occupying our land. Our
leaders fought and died in battles against
the British
even before 1857(Points to the wall in the Samiti's office with pictures of
Birsa Munda, Tilka Majhi and Siddu Kahnu,
three
freedom fighters of adivasis against British in mid-1800s). Though India is
free, we adivasis are still not free, so our fight for freedom is not over yet.
What
is your role in these protests ?
Father
Tudu : I take clear sides with the people. I want to make sure adivasis
understand what is being done to them by these companies and police. At the
same time, I try to put some sense into the police and company people that what
they are doing is brutal and inhuman. With the adivasis, I make sure our means of protests are nonviolent, without
hurting anyone. But with the police resorting to indiscriminate firing like in
Koel Karo, voices like mine will
lose credibility among the adivasis. People want a direct war which will be
totally disastrous.
( I
thought to myself, this Father Tudu is more of a revolutionary! He did not fit
in the preconceived notion of a Christian Father in the image of a Bishop or
Pope. But then, in his historical form, Jesus himself was a revolutionary,
probably the most audacious there ever was, challenging the all-powerful Roman
empire with his universal love and goodwill of unslaved humanity. Seen from
this perspective Father Tudu is perhaps a very appropriate disciple of Jesus.
Father Tudu interrupted my thoughts.)
Father
Tudu : My life is always in danger. I travel alone in my motorbike through the
woods. The mining company goondas
hide in the
woods and attack those who openly support the adivasi struggle. This is a risk
I have to take for siding with my
people.
What
else do you do ?
Father
Tudu: I also run a small school in Charhi. Please come and visit our children
if you have time.
The
two days I was at the Jaher Primary School coincided with a training program at
Bagjobra for village leaders. This training was held by Adivasi Sarwangin
Gram Vikas Samiti (ASGVS), Mandar. Junas Lakra and Clara Kujur from ASGVS had
come from Mandar to give this training.
During
discussions, I found Junas and Clara to be highly motivated individuals with
excellent leadership skills. ASGVS seems to be doing valuable service in
political awakening of the Santhals.
Tell
me about the work of ASGVS ?
Junas&Clara:
Oh, we have tried all kinds of things(laughs). Everything from community
development work, to self-sustenance programs; from organising Santhals to giving training to leaders. We have
to say we mostly meet with failure, but that doesn’t stop us. We keep going.
Which
of your activities will you call successful ?
Junas&Clara:
The training seems to going well. What we do is go from village to village and
give this training. The training is to make the village leaders aware of the
constitutional rights given to adivasis, the powers of the panchayat, the political situation in Jharkhand and
Hazaribagh, etc. The villagers also have to understand the systematic efforts
by the government officials to undermine
adivasis'
political power. The santhals assume government officials as honest and takes
whatever they say as truth.
The
villagers also discuss their current situation vis-à-vis the situation in the
past, what they think have caused the changes and where do they think the Santhals are heading as a community. It is
very interactive. We give some information, but mostly its the leaders
themselves doing the analysis.
Jharkhand
is now an adivasi state. Has that not improved the situation for the adivasi ?
Junas&Clara:
Yes, finally we have an adivasi state. Yet many things haven’t changed. Though
adivasi is half the population in many districts of Jharkhand, his presence is
negligible in the cities and towns. Yes, some politicians will be adivasis. But
they are all unfortunately self-serving. Last week's Hindi newspaper had headline, jharkhand
behal, janta phatehal, par mantri badshaah. That article compared the
situation of the state and the people, and the luxurious life of the adivasi ministers(8 to 9 cars each,
big flats, dozens of servants, laptops, etc.) That sums up what we gained by
having our own adivasi ministers. Also, the government
officials are and will be here for a long time, they come from outside the
state, almost all non-adivasi.
You
said the officials systematically undermine adivasi power. Can you give an
example.
Junas&Clara:
Lets not go very far. Just look at Bagjobra. This has 10 tolas and more than
1000 population. But it is not a recognised santhal village. Why ? Because it has been cut into smaller pieces and attached to
non-adivasi villages. 4 tolas are with village Bodra, 5 with Bali and 1 with
Jordag, these have Mahato, Gwala and Muslim majority.
So panchayat leader will be from their communities, there will be no
representation of adivasi beyond the village level, and even in village level
they'll always be minority. There are two reasons
for this. One is criminal negligence of people who did surveys in the 1960s and
70s, they didn’t bother to visit the area and just marked village boundaries arbitrarily sitting in their offices. Second,
deliberately they split up adivasi villages, so that adivasis don’t have a
strong village(legally recognised) of their own, except in remote areas. The
adivasis are totally illiterate or
even if literate quite clueless about all these tricks played by the
government.
So,
the adivasis have their own traditional village and political structures ?
Junas&Clara:
Oh, Yes! Remember that we've been around for a long time. A paraganas is a
Santhali governance region. Its roughly the size of a block. For each paraganas
there is a headman. In olden times, he was hereditary, now we are holding
elections. 5 people from each village are chosen for this election voting. The
headman continues to be respected man with powers within Santhal society. If
there is a dispute the villagers go to him for peaceful resolution. The government
instead of giving recognition to our system, has deliberately created a
parallel panchayat system, which is mired in party politics with its greed for
money and power. Now the traditional system and government-imposed system get
into tussles which is of no use for the people.
Changing
the subject, are there any particular festivals unique to and celebrated by
Santhals.
Junas&Clara:
There many beautiful things in our culture. Let me share one with you. We have
a festival called Sarhul. It is called the festival of flowers during
March/April time, when new flowers blossom. These flowers are edible, but
before eating the new flowers we remember and offer them to our ancestors.
Also, unmarried male brings such flowers and plants to the village. This is a
way of keeping the traditional knowledge of plants for food and medicines. In
fact, Bagjobra organizes the festival for the villages in this area. You could
have seen this if you had come a few weeks earlier.
What
about the Santhal language ? What is the future ?
Junas&Clara:
We have a single language, Santhali, spoken by all Santhals. But the script was
not there. We have Devanagri, Roman, Bengali(in Bengal) scripts adopted. We
also have an independent script, Ol Chiki, invented by Pandit Ranghunath
Murmu.
One
thing to do is teach santhali in schools. There are many books published in
each script, but there is not much circulation, as most santhals are
illiterate. As more people become educated we may be able to settle on a single
script.
Interaction with children and
teachers :
The
children are very bold and relaxed with teachers and guests(once they overcome
initial shyness).The older children in 4th and 5th Std
are able to converse a bit in Hindi, but they’re talking to each other in
Santhali
The
school curriculum is that of the state schools. The teaching methods though not
particularly innovative are also not without merit. The teachers have been
trained in government system, but have over the years learnt to improve upon
it. There is no beating or scolding of the children by the teachers. The
children on the other hand are by and large quite obedient.
The
three teachers have to handle six classes, which are in separate rooms.
Each teacher handles two classes, giving some exercise for one class to do
while attending to another. This is taxing on the teachers and also reduces the
attention given to the children.
The
children are alert, disciplined and willing to learn.
Here is an anecdote to give you a feel.
The teacher assigned me to the 5th Std, saying, "This is our school's
guest teacher today. He will teach you mathematics for the next period."
Before she left, she said the children are learning arithmetic progression at
this time. So I was asking them various questions on arithmetic progression,
giving analogies in everyday life, etc. The children were lively and enjoyed
the class. After this I gave the class a list of ten 'fill the blanks'
questions. Things like, "7, 13, 19, ..., ...., ...". Amongst them I
inserted one geometric series,"3, 6, 12, ..., ..., ...", to see
what they do. A certain discipline has been inculcated among the children. So
there was no cross-talking among them. The children quietly worked on the
questions. If they had a doubt, they came to me directly without disturbing
their neighbour. At the end, the children turned in the answers. The result was
quite interesting. None of them managed to answer the unfair question. But
nearly a third of them, did the next best thing. They left it unanswered(they
answered all the rest and got them right). Another third becoming suspicious of
their guest teacher's expertise, courteously corrected his error and answered,
"3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18" ! The last third had made a mess of the
problem, though they got the rest of the problems mostly correct. The next hour
was spent in introducing the geometric progression, but grasp was not easy
because multiplication was not yet a comfortable skill.
Following
school hours, the children play with great energy in the playground. After that
the day scholars leave to their home and hostel students settle to prepare food
for dinner. Cooking is mostly managed by the elder girls with guidance from the
warden. The boys help with cleaning work. The food is simple and nutritious.
After dinner the children sit up for individual study for a couple of hours
before sleep.
Santhal Village:
Bagjobra
is one of the largest villages in the area, with 10 tolas spread out over 6-10
kms. In official records, the tola nearest to the school is called Bagjobra
tola and is recognised as part of village Bodra.
Each tola has 10 to 30 families, living in
mud-built huts. The small huts are kept clean and their outside walls
beautifully decorated with colorful designs. The village has none of the basic
amenities. Water is taken from the pond, open toilets, no electricity.
The inside of the huts has nothing except a few clothes and utensils and some
mud pots for storage. The handful of grains in these large pots speak volumes
of their struggle for survival.
One village woman, asks me, "Why are
you looking at the grains so closely ? Does it look very different from what
you eat in your area? Take some with you. It is very tasty and
nutritious." I wince at the thought of depriving the little she has got
for her family. I simply say, "Give me some water. I'm tired."
A
unique feature of Santhal (and other adivasi) villages as compared to
caste-hindu villages is their spirit of equality and collective sharing of joy
and sorrow. The economic disparity amongst them is never too high, the
villagers do not discriminate or exploit each other. It is a tragedy that these
simple, gregarious, loving people are marked out for uprooting and slow
extermination by the rest of the country. This is a failure and shame of our
civilisation.
Contacts :
Ms.Jahermuni Germaine Alphonso
Jaher Primary School
Jaher Development Samiti, Bagjobra
Village Bodra, Tola Bagjobra
P.O.Churchu - 825 411
Hazaribagh District
Jharkhand
The Montfort Religious
Family.
http://www.montfort.org
Society of Montfort Brothers of
St. Gabriel
Indian Monfortian Institutions :
Web : http://www.montfort.net
in Hazaribagh:
St. Gabriel's House (Novitiate)
Sitagarha P. O., Hazaribagh Dt.
Jharkhand - 825 301
India
Phone/Fax: 91 6546 25046
Email : sghaz@koel.indiax.com
Father Shyam K.Tudu S.J.
Masi Massal School
P.O.Charhi
District Hazaribagh - 825 336
Phone: (06546) 32728
Junas Lakra, Clara Kujur
Adivasi Sarwangin Gram Vikas Samiti, Mandar
P.O.Mandar - 835 214
District Ranchi
Jharkhand
Phone: (06531)24624 (STD Booth, call Junas or leave message)
Asha Boston Contact :
Ananth Chikkatur ananth@mit.edu, ap_chikkatur@yahoo.com
Melliyal Annamalai annam38@yahoo.com
Project Information:
http://www.ashanet.org/mit/Public/www/Projects/jaher/jaher.html
Part II : Analysis and
Suggestions
Site
Visit
Putul who first visited the area in Dec 1999,
did not meet Jahermuni, the teachers or the children as the school was closed
for holidays. Site visit does not mean just physically visiting a site! This
project was thus approved without a valid site visit. It seems Asha Boston by
compromising protocols has done much better in finding an excellent group than
by following them in some cases.
Jaher
Development Samiti
The Samiti is not a registered organisation.
The Samiti uses ASGVS registration (obtained in 1993) for official purposes and
FCRA registration of Montford Brothers of St.Gabriel for receiving foreign
donation (now only Asha). In the long run, the Samiti needs to register itself
and apply for and receive FCRA. Jahermuni says the Samiti
tried but didn’t get because it refused to pay bribe. Similarly, there is a
satellite phone antenna lying unused in the school because the Samiti refused
to pay Rs.500 bribe for government official who sanctions the line. Saying no
to bribe is a fine principle to follow, but it should be backed up by pressure
to get the work done. The Samiti must try repeatedly to get itself registered.
With the registration offices moving from Patna to Ranchi, the difficulties may
be less acute.
Without
a phone connection, communication with Samiti is possible only by postal mail.
The postal mails to Bagjobra are subjected to inordinate delays. One way to
speed up communication is for the Samiti to give an address of some reliable
friend in Ranchi or Hazaribagh town with whom they can check for mails
regularly.
Jaher Primary School Finances
The first half-yearly
report(October 2000 to March 2001) since Asha started support is
|
Income |
In six months(Rs.) |
|
Asha Boston ($1500) |
69595 |
|
St. Gabriel group and local contribution |
28507 |
|
Total |
98102 |
|
Expenditure |
In six months(Rs.) |
|
Teachers
salary (Rs.5236*
per month) |
31416 |
|
Food |
56645 |
|
Miscellaneous |
10041 |
|
Total |
98102 |
*
Monthly salary for M.Marandi and B.Marandi was Rs.1581 each and for Binay Murmi
was Rs.2074
The
expenses come to about Rs.1100 per child per year. This is very nominal given
that 50 children are given residence and food.
Student Fees Structure
The student fees requirement at Jaher Primary School as instituted
in 2000 is
Day Scholars
K.G., Ist
Std - Rs. 15 per month
II, III , IVth
Std - Rs. 20 per month
Vth
Std - Rs. 20 per month (started Vth
in 2001)
Hostel residents
Rs. 50 or Rs. 80 per month depending on economic
level of parents
In
reality, the fees payment is irregular and not strictly enforced by the school.
The reason given by the headmistress is that the parents are very poor and
overpressure might lead to withdrawal of children from school. Most often the
students pay partial fees or pay full fees for some months and no fees for others.
Fees payment is better for older children. Here is some sample data from the
fees register for the year 1999-2000.
In
K.G., of 39 students(11 hostel residents) only 3 had paid full fees for
all months. Of these 1 was a hostel resident and the other 2 day scholars. Also
21 students had paid no fees at all.
In
Ist Std., of 26 students(7 hostel residents) only 4 had paid full fees for all
months, all 4 being day scholars. 16 students had paid no fees at all.
In
IVth Std., of 32 students (9 hostel residents) only 11 had paid full fees for
all months, 3 of them being hostel residents. 5 students had paid no fees at
all.
The
school can improve fees payment schedule by sending regular reminders through
the children. But we have to accept the fact that without economic development
of the villages the fees payment may not improve greatly.
Suggestions
based on discussions with teachers and Jahermuni:
-
Recruit more teachers so that children get better attention from the teachers.
Right now, one teacher has to handle two classes.
- The
sleeping space for 50 children is very limited, and this space will get more
congested with future recruitments. If one or two of the mud-structure
classrooms are converted to concrete, that will add space for residential
children to study and sleep comfortably.
- The
school needs a library with picture books, santhali and Hindi books for
children to read. The teachers were particularly interested maintaining a
library. For this, a separate structure has to be built as the available
buildings are already put to multiple use.
-
Vocational training in machinery, tailoring, carpentry and now computers is
given at Davaiyya school(run by St.Gabriel group). Is it possible for us to
send some of our students there to get this training and/or begin such training
in Bagjobra ? Financial help will be needed for this.
-
Self-sustenance activities : Since the women are well organised as
self-help groups in Mahila Mandals, they are willing to learn new skills for
collective self-sustenance activities. The income from this can be used both
directly for school finances and for economic improvement of the people, which
will in turn improve their contribution to the school. The detailed proposal on
Fisheries Cooperatives has been submitted to Asha. This is discussed in Part
III.
Besides
this, are there any other skills the women can learn and use? Is it
possible for some women to be trained at Kaithi centre for beekeeping, or for
Vallabh to visit Hazaribagh for giving the training and helping in initial
setting up work?
-
There is a need for starting schools in other villages. To start with these can
be pre-primary centres. There are some tolas near the school but not so near
for the small children to walk to everyday. Chirubera tola of Bagjobra is 6km
for Jaher Primary School and 13 km from Davaiyya school. So a school with just
one teacher has been started here. The school is from 10 am to 3:30pm, the
salary for teacher is Rs.1,200 per month - mainly from local contributions and
some donation from St.Gabriel group. The enrollment is between 40 to 50
children. Such schools will spread the motivation to give education among the
santhals. Some of them can be upgraded to primary schools, and others can
remain pre-primary centres. Can Asha help in starting more such centres ?
-
Much of the land belonging to the school remains unused. Can some crop or tree
cultivation work be taken up that will bring regular dividends ?
Asha
Boston should discuss these crucial aspects for future development thoroughly
with the Samiti.
Montfort
Brothers of St. Gabriel :
This
organisation is helping the Jehar Development Samiti in various ways. It was
founded by St Louis Marie de Montfort in the 16th century and has spread to 38
countries. It reached India in 1950s and since then has established hundreds of
schools in India. With Majhi, Jahermuni's assistant, I visited the Davaiyya
school run by the organisation. This school was first run by an NGO, Gramin
Vikas, which mishandled money from a Dutch agency. The school was closed and
then take over by St.Gabriel group. The school has classes K.G. to 10th Std
with a total of 655 enrolled students. The headmaster of the school Superior
K.J.Marcose was not present when I visited. But I had a chance to meet Brother
Telesphore, Marcose's assistant. The relation between St.Gabriel group and the
Samiti seem to be very cordial. The St.Gabriel group is well-funded and does
not need Asha's financial support. A word of thanks for helping the Samiti and
also in channeling Asha's funds to the Samiti with their FCRA account is in
order.
Jahermuni feels no immediate concern as the two groups enjoy good relationship.
But in the long run, if we are going to do multiple projects(more and larger
checks), she asks if an alternate channel can be established. One course is for
the Samiti to become registered under Societies Act and apply for FCRA itself.
Another is if a relationship with Asha groups nearby say Kaithi is established
then they can help in the money transfer and also in regular interactions.
Christians
missionary organization in Hazaribagh:
Majhi, when he got a chance to talk
to me alone, says, “You had asked didimoni some questions about
religious affiliation of our Samiti. Please don’t have any doubts about her.
I've known her since I was a child. She is not like the missionary
people." What does Majhi mean by, ‘like missionary people’? He takes me to
visit the campuses of some of the largest of the innumerable Christian
missionaries in the area. The campuses stand in stark contrast to the
deprivation and destitution of the adivasis. With a high fence to keep out
adivasis, the campuses have huge buildings, playgrounds, gardens and groves for
the missionaries and their families. The largest missionaries have land of nearly
20 sq.km. I ask Majhi, "Do you know where they get money to buy so much
land?" He replies, “When did they buy it ? The land belongs to the
adivasi. But they just give small amount of money to the government which then
drives out the adivasi. That money comes from foreign missionaries who fund
these people." There is cold anger in Majhi's voice, as he adds,
"These people, they have no respect for us. They discourage us to
celebrate our festivals or pray to our Gods. They say we should only pray to
Jesus, what we pray to is devil or something. Since they teach these things in
schools, our children believe what they say. I hope one day adivasis become
educated and self-confident and be able to drive out these people." We
visit an auditorium and meeting hall used for large meetings to plan the actual
number of conversions to be done for the next year and which areas they will
target. Next Majhi takes me to a campus with beautiful manicured gardens and
residential building. This is a place for nuns only. These nuns do not go
outside the campus, their main work is to pray to God to forgive the sins of
the local people(i.e. adivasi). Majhi comments, "Do we need this in
Jharkhand? The choicest vegetables and fruits and fresh milk reaches the campus
everyday while the adivasi in whose name they're here starves in half-empty
stomachs."
It
is a feature of Indian secularism to condemn only extremism of Hindu
fundamentalists as led by Sangh Parivar. While there is no doubt that Hindu
fundamentalism of the Sangh Parivar is a much greater danger faced by today's
India, the Christian proselytizing missionaries stand equally culpable in many
areas, often fuelling reactionary Hindu and other forces, particularly when one
finds them among dalits and adivasis.
There
is another message directly relevant for Asha's work in India. One sees a
repeated feature of many missionary groups, not only Christian missionaries,
but also groups like Ramakrishna Mission, Krishnamurthi Foundation and
Auroville. which have gone the way of acquiring and owning large tracts of
land, often antagonizing local people living near their campuses. The group's
focus too shifts gradually from helping the poor to serving the rich, who then
defend the status quo for their own benefit. While the inspiration of the
founders continues to attract self-less individuals to join and serve these
missionaries, the overall impact is a mixed one. Asha must remain alert to this
trend and make sure its love for children does not gradually become distorted
into a love for owning property.
Christians
in development:
Even
in this very brief exposure, we come across widely varying attitudes of
Christians and Christian groups working for the development of the oppressed.
At the one extreme, we have some Christian missionaries living in luxury and
opulence in the name of the poor. At the other, we have Jahermuni who lives in
harmony with the poor. We also have Father Tudu who is willing to put his life
in danger by standing in support of uprooted adivasis. Thus, we must develop a
highly differentiated understanding of the impact of Christians in development.
We must also form judgements, based not on preconceived notions, but on facts
gathered first hand by our own volunteers.
Ms.
Jahermuni Alphonso:
Jahermuni
has rendered self-less service in health in earlier days and in the last decade
by building the community-based Samiti for all round development. Of particular
notice is her abiding respect in the santhal culture and way of life. With
strong Christian belief for herself, she has not forced subtly or overtly, the
santhals to leave their own faith. It takes great courage to do this in an area
dominated by proselytizing missionaries, who constantly seek her cooperation.
Asha Boston must send a special note of appreciation to Jahermuni for upholding
santhal culture and for her work in their development.
After
Jahermuni :
When Jahermuni, teachers and other staff were seated around, we had a
discussion about the Samiti and the school after Jahermuni's time. As long as
she is there, all administrative work will proceed smoothly. With her health
deteriorating, I wondered aloud how well the work will continue after her. The
teachers and co-workers like Majhi at once promised that they'll continue the
work. However, their administrative capabilities are not as developed as their
expertise in specific areas. The Samiti must give special emphasis in gradually
building their overall management and administrative skill. Asha can help this
process by interacting with the rest of team by engaging them in written
communication. For example, the Boston chapter could write (in Hindi) directly
addressed to the headmistress and warden enquiring details about the school and
hostel functioning.
Part III : Discussion of
Fisheries Cooperative Proposal
In
this section we discuss the Fisheries Cooperative proposal submitted by the
Jaher Development Samiti.
Before
we begin, let me mention that I am not supportive of growing animals for food,
that too for the commercial market. On the other hand, if I do not discuss the
proposal here, that can only be interpreted as letting the people live in
destitution without giving them an alternative. Therefore, I'll leave the
responsibility of making the decision to the supporting chapter and restrict
myself to sharing information without recommendation.
We
first note that this fishery initiative will have marginal impact on the local
ecology or environment, for the fish ponds are of small size (about one acre
each) and far removed from each other. The water level can reach upto 20 feet
and can go down below knee level during summer. Thus the fish cant survive in
large numbers in the pond perennially and there is a need to add fish spawns
into the pond ever year.
The
tolas being small (10-30 families) it is possible for the entire tola to work
in consensus in each pond. The adivasis living a cooperative life are ideal for
successful development of cooperatives. The women are already organized into
Mahila Mandal (self-help savings group) in most tolas and are eager to learn
skills and work collectively for their community's economic development.
The
fishery has already been given a trial run from 1997-2000 in two tolas. The
current proposal is to expand the effort to 12 tolas.
The
Mahila Mandal of the two tolas, Dam Damia and Manjhi Tola, have kept a detailed
record of the expenses and yield of trial run.
Dam Damia Records
|
|
Rs. (1997-98) |
Rs. (1998-99) |
Rs. (1999-2000) |
|
Expenses Total Expense |
4000 |
3918 |
5215 |
|
Total Yield |
18360 (612 kg @ Rs.30/kg) |
11305(323
kg @Rs.35/kg) |
17480 (437 kg @ Rs.40/ kg) |
|
Pay for fish-catchers (one-fourth yield) |
4590 |
2584 |
4370 |
|
Return capital to Mahila Mandal
for next year |
4000 |
3918 |
5215 |
|
Remaining Amount (Profit) |
9770 |
4803 |
7895 |
|
One-third Share of profit for Mahila Mandal,Pond owners
and Jaher School |
3256 |
1601 |
2631 |
Manjhi Tola Records
|
|
Rs. (1997-98) |
Rs. (1998-99) |
Rs. (1999-2000) |
|
Expenses Total Expense |
3380 |
4171 |
4956 |
|
Total Yield |
20700 (690 kg @ Rs.30/kg) |
16100 (460 kg @ Rs.35/kg) |
18000(450
kg @ Rs40/kg) |
|
Pay for fish-catchers (one-fourth yield) |
5160 |
4025 |
4480 |
|
Return capital to Mahila Mandal for next year |
3885 |
4200 |
3380 |
|
Remaining Amount (Profit) |
11655 |
7875 |
10140 |
|
One-third Share of profit for Mahila Mandal, Pond owners
and Jaher School |
3885 |
2625 |
3380 |
In
the year 2000-01, there was heavy rains which made the ponds overflow at some
points and there was little yield. This loss could have been prevented if the
ponds were deepened and had embankments built to equal height along the
perimeter. Also the relative quantity of inputs as been tried out in a
trial-and-error manner as the adivasi were untrained in fishery. So, a
technical expert and a trained team is needed to optimise yield as well as to
incorporate safety measures. The yield can be as high as Rs.25,000 per pond,
thus giving Rs.5,000 as profit to each stake holder as well as to the education
fund.
The
fishery will be managed fully by the Mahila Mandals. In order for them to
absorb the technical details, be able to keep accounts, deal with the market
and manage the cooperative’s day-to-day issues functional literacy and numeracy
as well as leadership training is a pre-requisite. This has been included in
the proposal with foresight and past experience. This education will also aid
in initiating other income generation activities as well as empowering the
women in organizing themselves for socio-political say in the local governance.
In
some tolas, the one-third share for school will go to their local school (not
Jaher school). For example, in Chirubera tola, the plan is to give the share to
their own pre-primary centre.
The money is shared among all stake-holders the pond owners and Mahila Mandals who give the capital of land and money, the fish-catchers for their labour and also the school as community investment.
Jaher Development Samiti has come up with an unique economic model well suited for adivasi village development and if shown to be successful can be used for other cooperative ventures.