As a boy, ‘Vishwa’ had to trudge several kilometres on rocky, dry terrain to reach his nondescript school. He went on to become one of India’s greatest engineers and visionaries, earning a knighthood and the title ‘Bharat Ratna’ among many other accolades.

For his innumerable services to society, the birth anniversary of Sir M. Visvesvaraya, September 15, is celebrated as Engineer’s Day.

But one of his most far-sighted achievements is probably the importance he gave to education and the thousands of schools and institutions that he set up when he was the Diwan of the erstwhile kingdom of Mysore (1912-1918).

And in a great tribute to him, a rejuvenation of sorts is happening now in his hometown, Muddenahalli.

Government High School Muddenahalli in Chigatenahalli village, Chikkaballapur District, is a school founded in 2006 at the foothills of Nandi Hills. It was inaugurated on Independence Day as the first model government school in the district – changing the destiny of many students.

The compound is bright and welcoming, the pathway to the Anganwadi doubles up as a game board, pictures of great English, Hindi and Kannada authors of the past beam down from the walls in the Languages Lab, the ceilings have been painted with stars, and in the Science Lab, Warli art is used to depict the human skeleton, test tubes, rockets and mobile cell towers!

All these creative ideas came from teachers and government officers. The artwork was envisioned and executed by drawing teachers working in government schools in the district.

So how did a modest government school get transformed into a modern, smart school that promises to be a visual and mental treat for its students?

“The result is totally due to the creativity, drive and hard work of our entire team,” says Fouzia Taranum, IAS, and Chief Executive Officer of Zilla Parishad, Chikkaballapur. “We have very good, highly-motivated teachers who come from a merit-based selection process. Together with officials of various government departments, the MNREGA team, the Panchayat Development team and the many volunteers and donors, we came up with a plan to create model schools and anganwadis in each of the 28 Zilla Parishad constituencies. But more schools heard about this, and now we have 38 schools and 50 anganwadis on our list,” she adds.

Cheerful anganwadis for early learners

The National Education Policy 2020 emphasises early childhood education in these words: “The learning process for a child commences immediately at birth. Evidence from neuroscience shows that over 85% of a child’s cumulative brain development occurs before the age of 6, indicating the critical importance of developmentally appropriate care and stimulation of the brain in a child’s early years to promote sustained and healthy brain development and growth.”

Even before the NEP was released in July 2020, the Chikkaballapur team had done its survey and drawn up plans to improve the infrastructure of the schools and anganwadis using funds allotted through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

More than improving just the physical space, they wanted to make the anganwadis an energising and inspiring space. High school teachers collaborated to create a manual for anganwadis teachers, a guidebook in English and Kannada called ‘Chinnari Champs’.

The COVID pandemic may be keeping the little ones away from anganwadis and schools. Still, their teachers have been making innovative teaching aids and stocking anganwadis with storybooks and well-made Channapatna toys. Outside, old tyres and eucalyptus wood have been repurposed to build safe and attractive play areas. Moringa, banana and curry leaf plants have been planted alongside herb gardens. The heady waft of change is in the air already.

Concentrating on Education

When Fouzia Taranum, IAS Batch of 2015, was posted to Chikkaballapur in August 2019, her focus was on education. The mid-term Class 10 exams showed that the district stood 20th among the 34 educational districts. Teachers and officials sat down to discuss how things could be improved for the 15,000 students who had to write the board examinations in March 2020.

“When I went on field trips, I was very impressed that teachers were working voluntarily during the holidays to help students to prepare for their exams,” says the CEO.

Through the holidays, teachers worked to create helpful worksheets, made home visits, and mentored small groups of students. Students were also taken to the actual centres where they were likely to write their final exams so that they could be familiar with this new setting. The 3000 students who were identified as slower learners were given additional help.

When the results were announced in August, many headlines read: ‘Chikkaballapur district tops in Karnataka Class 10 exams’.

Sports, academics and more

The model school with its spanking new kho-kho, kabaddi and volley-ball courts, well-equipped social sciences, mathematics and science labs, and a serene yoga and meditation room await students. The aesthetics in the Languages Lab is meant to help children develop Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing (LSRW).

Owing to the COVID situation, students have not yet started coming to school. Instead, they are helped to become self-learners through the Karnataka government’s Vidyagama programme, where teachers meet students in places like community halls, religious places or under trees.

The team had developed the model school on an approach called BALA (Building as a Learning Aid). “But improving infrastructure like building toilets and labs in educational institutions is comparatively easy. We wanted to bring about behavioural change too,” says Fouzia Taranum.

Going by the support received by the Chikkaballapur ZP team from the local communities, the members are confident that change is definitely in the air. They are sure that students will benefit greatly from schools like the model school in Muddenahalli. Maybe, the schools will even give rise to young girls and boys like Vishwa, the boy who grew up to be Sir M. Visvesvaraya!

Mala Kumar is a freelance writer and editor. She is the author of several books for children including ‘Sir M. Visvesvaraya: The Man who Built Bridges, Dams and a Nation’ published by Pratham Books.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

This article has been published in partnership with RSPO

From lipsticks to soaps and chocolates–palm oil is undoubtedly one of the most versatile and popular edible oils in the world.

But, when it has not been sustainably produced and sourced, this very popular oil has been known to destroy the habitats of native species like the Orangutan, Sumatran tiger and Sumatran rhino, and threaten the ecology of over 25 million hectares of forests!

However, despite its reputation, the oil palm tree is a highly efficient crop using between 4-10 times less land than any other vegetable oil crop on the planet. It also contributes to food security for the masses and improvement of livelihood for millions of smallholder farmers in India and around the world. According to a 2017 study, nearly half of all the products we use contain an ingredient of palm oil–these include edibles like chocolate, ice cream, cosmetics like creams and lipsticks, as well as our soaps, detergents and more. But the problem is not with the crop itself – it’s with the way palm oil is produced, particularly in the past, where cultivation practices included slash and burn techniques for land clearing among other unsustainable practices.

So the question remains–do we stop the use of palm oil completely or do we produce it in a sustainable manner?

As per the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) on Responsible Consumption and Production, systemic cooperation among stakeholders in the supply chain, from producer to final consumer can help “reduce future economic, environmental and social costs, strengthen economic competitiveness and reduce poverty”. Additionally, the Climate Action goals suggest international coordination to help developing countries achieve a low-carbon economy. Together, these SDGs vouch for sustainable, coordinated, and conscious efforts of cultivation and production.

When it comes to palm oil, several organisations across the world are taking the latter route. They are working with stakeholders such as cultivators, suppliers, and brands as well as governments to make oil palm cultivation sustainable. One among them is the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an international, multi-stakeholder organisation co-founded in 2004. RSPO unites stakeholders from the different sectors of the palm oil industry including oil palm growers, palm oil processors and traders, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers, banks and investors, environmental or nature conservation NGOs, and social or developmental NGOs to develop and implement sustainable, long-lasting solutions through credible global standards.
WWF, IUCN, Unilever and PM Haze are some organisations and businesses who are working to support sustainable palm oil practices, production and procurement.

The Journey of Palm Oil

Palm oil is not a recent discovery, the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) originated from West Africa and traces of it have been found in Egyptian tombs dating back to 3000 BC. Over the years, the oil started gaining popularity in other parts of the world– particularly in Europe. And with the Industrial Revolution, it became a highly sought-after commodity.

In 2018, the worldwide annual production of palm oil was 77 million tonnes. This number is expected to reach nearly 240 million tonnes by 2050. Since oil palms grow well in tropical areas, countries like Malaysia and Indonesia have taken the lead in its production. Together these countries account for about 13 million hectares of oil palm plantation– supplying 85 per cent of the world’s total production.

And, India consumes over 12 percent of the global supply!

Since 2001, our demand has increased by 230 per cent, but as we don’t produce enough palm oil, we import about 9 million tonnes every year–mostly from Malaysia and Indonesia.

Oil palm has been developed on various other types of land including degraded/disturbed forest, shrubland, pasture, other agricultural land/former plantations. Some oil palm has been developed on peatlands, which hold up to 28 times the carbon as a rainforest growing on mineral soil. If a single hectare of peatland is converted to oil palm, it can release about 6000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide. The destruction of rich forests also takes away the homes of thousands of animals, including endangered species like the orangutan, rhinos and tigers.

The sheer amount of consumption and imports signal that we must adopt sustainable practices to lower the carbon footprint. Many have suggested we end the production and consumption of palm oil completely. But is the idea of not using palm oil a sustainable and viable solution?

No. In fact, it can cause more damage than good. This means if we stop producing palm oil and shift to other oil crops, it will lead to more destruction of forests and biodiversity.

Instead, what we need is regulations, sustainable practices, and a shift in norms to reduce the carbon footprint and environmental impact of oil palm cultivation.

Why should we demand sustainable palm oil?

“A boycott of palm oil means companies buy alternative oils that require 4-10 times more land, water and other resources that could cause more damage to the environment. As it currently stands, oil palms produce roughly 35% of the world’s vegetable oil on less than 10% of the land allocated to oil crops” according to an IUCN report.

Some of the key steps taken by RSPO to make sustainable palm oil the norm:

• Inclusivity of smallholders: RSPO has stepped up its collaboration with local partners in producing regions to improve smallholder inclusion. Its Independent Smallholder Standard aims to increase the inclusion of smallholders into the RSPO system through a mechanism which takes into consideration the diversity of challenges and situations faced by smallholders globally, together with their varying needs and concerns while adhering to the key pillars of RSPO’s Theory of Change (ToC): Prosperity, People and Planet. In addition to various types of training and resources, the RSPO also offers a Smallholder Support Fund that provides financial assistance to oil palm smallholder farmers, allowing them to become a part of sustainable palm oil supply chains more easily.
• Addressing deforestation and biodiversity loss: Sustainable palm oil production comprises legal, economically viable, environmentally appropriate and socially beneficial management and operations. This is delivered through the application RSPO’s Principles and Criteria (P&C), and the accompanying indicators and guidance. In fact, the results of a recent study found that RSPO certified sustainable palm oil has a 35% lower global warming impact and a 20% lower biodiversity impact from land use changes than non-certified palm oil produced in Indonesia and Malaysia.
• Achieving a sustainable palm oil supply chain: Bringing together all stakeholders from growers to consumers, the RSPO Supply Chain Certification Standard and Systems has created a robust traceability framework that encourages transparent and responsible behavior by businesses around the world.

Until sustainable palm oil becomes the norm, it is important for consumers to understand that there are different ways that palm oil can be produced. Labelling products that contain Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) and the use of the RSPO Trademark on products are simple ways for consumers who do not know anything about palm oil, to easily identify “sustainable” palm oil.

Join the movement and ask your favourite brands if their products contain CSPO. Take the pledge now and tell your family and friends to do the same. Take the pledge here.

(Written by Tanvi Patel and Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

In a quiet corner of Belapur, Navi Mumbai, tucked between the hills on one side and the sprawling city on the other, is a small residential colony. This isn’t your regular colony in a busy suburb, however. Here grow fruits, vegetables and flowers. Butterflies and bees come and go aplenty.“While the world is struggling to buy essentials during these trying COVID times, we have a cherry blossom harvest here,” says Capt. Pawnday, one of the senior-most and pioneer volunteers of the AGRO Society.

In the late 1990s, a group of citizens who bought homes and settled down in Sector 9 of Belapur realised that the barren land adjoining their complex was being encroached upon. They realised the only way to save that land was to green it up. With CIDCO handing over the land under a high-tension wire, it was impossible to use it for anything else. Measuring nearly one hectare, the decision to green the land also gave way to the founding of the AGRO Society, a residents’ association committed to environmental friendliness and conservation of the sensitive ecosystem in that area.

“Our complex sits right in the middle of a rich and sensitive ecosystem — layers of green, a valley, the hills. It was natural for us to then fill our housing colonies with lanes that are lined with flowering shrubs, courtyard gardens, kitchen gardens and even terrace gardens,” says Suresh Bhagwat, another senior volunteer who has been involved in AGRO Society’s activities from inception.

The primary aim of the AGRO Society is to keep the open land free from encroachments and develop it as a green area. Under this broad umbrella of greening, the AGRO society has explored many concepts. They first terraced the land to prevent soil erosion due to the heavy rains Belapur gets in the monsoons. They followed it up with sinking a natural open well and then followed it up with creating a pump system, laying a network of pipes for irrigation. After this, they planted gardens and other arrangements resulting in a vast expanse of a vegetable farm, a relaxing Nana-Nani Park for senior citizens, and a lush playground for younger residents. When these were regularised, they also created a butterfly and botanical garden in 2014.

The vegetable garden aims to grow crops throughout the year and sell its fresh organic produce to the residents as well as neighbouring areas. Since its inception, AGRO Society’s volunteers have experimented with growing crops; most of it has been through trial and error. The success has been in experimenting and the lessons they learnt from it. Today, there is a large variety of crops including exclusive articles such as herbs, medicinal plants and fruits besides seasonal vegetables. The AGRO Society holds its vegetable sale twice a week and is managed through online groups where they take orders as well as for delivery coordination.

The Botanical Garden & Butterfly Park (BG&BFP), which came in the second phase of development, was developed on an extended land on the eastern side with a similar purpose, i.e. to save it from being encroached by the adjoining colony for car parking. Encouraged by the visit to Ovelakar Wadi in Thane, AGRO Society volunteers started planting a variety of host and nectar plants required for the butterfly park. They soon realised that the park could also be developed into a botanical garden, and combined the work for both.

From planting saplings, digging pits, filling dump areas, to making paved pathways from waste tiles, building small bridges over small streams, the BG&BFP has come a long way. Today, it works with an objective of protecting nature, providing an opportunity for people to interact with nature, supporting educational activity and is a source of material for consumers. Through continued voluntary efforts, the BG&BFP has grown into an extremely green expanse full of butterflies and a variety of plants.

To a visitor, it is a green lush oasis in the midst of urban chaos. There are a few enthusiasts who come to sit by the lotus pond for hours, simply to be away from the urban setting. While there are others like the police inspector who comes by to be with nature since it acts as a stress-buster in his busy life.

Senior members take pride in the kind of activities this park and garden have given rise to. For example, a teenage philatelist enthusiast, with a specialisation in stamps with a butterfly theme, won an award for his project done using the butterfly park. Members of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) visit the BG&BFP regularly for conducting surveys; several schools and other organised groups visit the garden.

The biodiversity of the entire AGRO Society plot includes a variety of around 250 types of trees, 100 types plants, which in total attracts 25 to 30 species of birds, 30 to 40 varieties of butterflies and numerous insects.

The AGRO Society has many events to spread the word of their work. It has been organizing activities and events such as the Basant Utsav, a popular environment conservation annual fest open to all nature lovers of Navi Mumbai. There is Smriti Udyan for those who wish to plant a tree sapling in the memory of loved ones. There are educational tours for school children to promote sensitivity towards conservation of natural heritage and workshops on Zero Budget farming, home gardening, terrace gardening. They also hold events to sensitize children and elders on the role and importance of butterflies and insects in our environment. This is apart from nature trails and informative walks in the Butterfly Park and Valley Park. They conduct various environmental, horticultural and agricultural awareness drives and offer research and Internship facilities for students undergoing vocational training courses.

Multiple partnerships with organizations with similar objectives have been established like the farming workshops with Subhash Palekar Natural Farming, plastic recollection drive to convert plastic into city amenities with Project Mumbai, nature trails with BNHS, electronic-waste collection drive for scientific recycling with Stree Mukti Sanghatna, nature sketching with Navi Mumbai Urban Sketchers, solar cooker making and terrace gardening workshops with Marathi Vidnyan Parishad, celebrating ‘music in nature’ with the Drum Circle, etc.

In the future, AGRO Society aims to develop a mini nature theme park for children to ignite young minds on burning issues related to the environment such as trees and plant life, types of butterflies in and around Mumbai, honey bees and other insects, types of birds around as well as types of snakes and their role in ecology. They plan to do this through subject models and informative boards. As an additional attraction, they plan to build a treehouse, which urban children may be completely unaware of. The BG&BFP is in the process of developing a spot for aquatic plants and an orchid house.

During months of the COVID19-related lockdown, the Society served its residents as well as its neighbouring residents with healthy, organic, safe and freshly produced essential vegetables and fruits managed by its own resident volunteers. The Society truly lived to the status of being ‘atmanirbhar’ before the countrymen could figure out its true meaning was.

The community demonstrates a workable model consisting of three wings; (i) The members (over 100) (ii) The volunteers who contribute to the vegetable farm and BG&BFP through various means (iii) partners who have joined hands with various environmentally-conscious initiatives for workshops, nature-related creative works, recycling drives, events, school trails, environmentally-friendly product creation, etc. All the three components contribute to funding, be it through events, membership, donations, vegetable sale, etc.

The open and flexible approach of the community has helped the society sustain so many years; however, the AGRO Society strives to better its position in achieving formal recognition. The community continues to appraise and influence decision-makers – CIDCO and Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporations for mandating the greening of land under high-tension wires and formally institutionalizing the community caretaker model. That would give Society a legitimate position to establish a steady financial arrangement.

Today, the AGRO society successfully plays a dual role for its community and the nearby areas in Navi Mumbai; growing vegetables along with its sale and maintaining ecosystem through the BG&BFP, and encouraging urban residents to take measures towards environmental sustainability.

AGRO Society is open to joining hands with environment enthusiasts and associations in any form to strengthen this experiment in Urban Community Living to stop valuable neighbourhood resources to revert to their earlier status. It welcomes people to join them or start more such self-sustainable initiatives in other similar areas through community ownership for a sustainable future. And as Mario Almeida, one of the most active AGRO members, says, “We need to keep experimenting and encouraging young volunteers to join this effort for as long as nature keeps giving its blessings, we have to take care of it, just like we do of our elders!”

You can reach out to the members at:
Facebook : agrocbd
Instagram: @agrocbd
Email : agrobelapur@gmail.com

(Written by Prachi Merchant and Edited by Sandhya Menon)

As new COVID-19 infections tear across India, setting new daily records for active cases and deaths that epidemiologists say were utterly predictable and disastrous. However, the virus was largely brought under control in the Ganjam district of Odisha by September, when compared to what it was in May/June 2020.

“In May and June, Ganjam was the hotspot for COVID-19 cases in Odisha, and the doctors in the area were working almost 48 hours at stretch, sometimes just enough time for a quick meal or change of PPE in between. Thankfully, that’s changed in the last few weeks,” says Dr. Jagdeep Nayak, Senior Resident at the Department of Anaesthesia at the MKCG Medical College, Berhampur, Ganjam.

As of 2 September, it recorded 107 positive cases only – the lowest since May. The district continues to witness a decline in the rate of infection, with a recovery rate of more than 80%, and the total death rate being 1.05%.

“We’ve seen a dramatic drop in the number of severe cases in the Ganjam region,” mentions Dr Nayak

How did this turn around happen?

For that, we will have to rewind to March this year. Even as the virus was making its appearance across cities, including Odisha — the Ganjam administration was praised for being COVID-19 free for a month despite being a popular tourist destination.

The problem began when the Odisha Government decided to bring back migrants stranded in various parts of the country due to the nationwide lockdown. Due to Ganjam’s connectivity both by rail and road, the government decided to bring back 50% i.e. 5 lakh out of the total 10 lakh migrants to Ganjam. As a result, Ganjam bore the brunt of thousands of cases caused by the migrant population and also because of its demographic characteristics; geographical positioning and links with other states. Most of the migrant returnees were from COVID-19 hotspots i.e., Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana.

“Although we had prepared ourselves for the aftermath of this decision, we were shocked with its intensity in the initial days. The major people affected were the people with comorbidities and in their ripe ages,” says Dr Nayak.

As resources started to get updated and available, the situation on ground and in hospitals started improving. The administration increased testing, extensive contact tracing, testing of all close contacts, and a second round of screening of recovered patients to check for relapse. But then this pandemic started to take its toll on the weakest section in terms of health. The migrants had mingled with the society in spite of strong efforts from the administration, and there was a sudden rise in cases.

“The cases started to come in clusters and people with comorbidities and weak immunity started reaching hospitals in huge numbers. But this time we were even better prepared due to the increased number of ICU beds and manpower at our disposal. We now have more than 5895 Covid Management Committees at the grassroots level which are doing their best to contain the spread of the disease. The district now has three Covid-only hospitals with 588 beds (261 occupied), nine Covid Care Centres with 3,744 beds (around 450 occupied), 98 ICU beds (80 occupied), and 1,763 with oxygen cylinders available (121 occupied).”

The government predicted an emergency and to tackle the challenge, was prepared with a robust healthcare infrastructure which helped a lot in containing the spread of the virus. The Sarpanchs were given the Collector’s power within their jurisdiction to carry out the registration and quarantine exercises to ensure a smooth return. The migrant returnees were made to stay at the quarantine centers for 14 days and were provided with Rs 2000 as incentives. Furthermore, 144 Temporary Medical Camps (TMCs) and 521 Covid Care Homes(CCHs) were set up with a capacity of handling more than 16 thousand symptomatic and asymptomatic people.

Santilata Nayak, the Sarpanch of Manitara Gram panchayat under Buguda block in Ganjam who in May was the first to exercise the “Collector’s power” given by the State government and imposed 7-day long shutdown in the area to contain Covid-19 says, “We were made aware of the incoming dangerous situation where workers would return from Covid hotspots around the country which would cause spike in cases. Therefore, we ensured in our blocks all the quarantine and safety measures were followed strictly whether it was registering the workers who were returning or ensuring they were isolated for 14 days. Every resident of the village ensured the same.”

Furthermore, the stricter implementation of lockdown guidelines and social distancing norms, helped the district administration manage the situation. Such aggressive measures had an immediate impact on the improvement in parameters.

Also, focus on increased testing, tracking and treating of patients in the district helped the administration in bringing the numbers down. Ganjam was also the first district in the state to undertake door-to-door surveillance both in rural and urban areas to assess the health of the population.

“So far 84 per cent of the villages and 55 per cent of urban areas in the district are in the green zone and of the 3,053 villages in the district, 2,611 are in green zone and 544 in red zone. As of now, swab samples of one lakh people in the district have been collected. Of them, 14,122 persons were tested positive for COVID-19. The RT-PCR and rapid antigen tests have helped in checking the spread of coronavirus in the district,” claims Ganjam Collector Vijay Kulange.

Additional Initiatives

Beyond the diminished rate of infection, the district administration has taken a number of initiatives like providing tele-counselling to COVID-19 patients. This initiative is led by trained psychiatrists, and patients who have recovered from the disease will be appointed as ‘Covid Monitors’ to provide counselling to at least 10 patients. They are provided an honorarium of Rs 1000 for the same.

Regular feedback is also taken, to ensure implementation of the suggestions received during the calls made for counseling. Till 2 September, more than 10,000 persons had been contacted through tele-counselling.

Additionally, patients in home isolation will be provided a Medicine Kit and information about the process to consume the medicine will be provided in Odia. The Caregiver and family member of the patient are provided with necessary IEC material.

In July, the government further deputed additional three IAS officers, 18 senior OAS Officers and 77 ORS Officers to strengthen the official mechanism in the district. Similarly, 30 MBBS Doctors, 82 Ayush Doctors, and 27 lab technicians were deployed to reinforce the health infrastructure in Ganjam.

Starting plasma therapy treatment in Berhampur is also part of the multipronged approach to fight Covid-19 in the district.

Recounting his experience, Nageswar Rao, a businessman from Berhampur who recovered from COVID-19 says, “I was diagnosed on 21st July and was seriously ill. However, the nursing staff was very supportive and kept checking on me. Initially , the doctors would visit once in two days but after 5 days, they regularly came to check on me. The district administration’s arrangements were quite satisfactory considering that they were dealing with thousands of cases.”

While obviously caseloads and infection rates do vary wildly, often month to month, in general, the overall trend in the country is upwards. Which is why this article focuses on a particular time period – March to September.

Measures taken at the time show how the curve can be bent downwards, and are a good guide for the rest of the country. Let’s hope we all emerge from this pandemic stronger, and safe.

(Written by Taruka Srivastav & edited by Vinayak Hegde)

“A rhino,” pointed out my guide from the front of our jeep. All of us turned to look at the magnificent creature on our left happily munching away on grass, stopping only to drive away oxpeckers from its back.

I was deep within Manas National Park in north western Assam in January 2020. In front of me was a vast expanse of wooded hills, fertile grasslands, and tropical forests punctuated by periodic sighting of animals. Located on the foothills of Eastern Himalayas, Manas is home to many rare species of flora and fauna including the pygmy hog, Indian elephant, and greater one-horned rhinoceros.

We had finally spotted a rhino after five hours of driving around. The famous Indian one-horned rhino made an appearance from behind a thicket of tall yellow grasses. With a sea of blue mountains and wild green bushes behind it, the creature looked perfectly at home, safe and unperturbed.

However, things were not always so calm and peaceful in Manas.

Less than 20 years ago, Manas National Park was a virtual death trap for thousands of unsuspecting animals including the vulnerable Indian rhino.

Poaching was rife and killing of animals was rampant. And that was because Manas was located right at the heart of Bodoland, a culturally-diverse and politically-volatile autonomous region in India.

Bodoland had always been wrung by ethnic tensions. When the Bodoland Nationalist Movement started in 1986, the whole of north western Assam was plunged into a state of lawlessness.

Forests were left open and unguarded. Rhinos were poached and sold across the border in Bhutan. Elephants and tigers were ruthlessly slaughtered. Smaller animals were killed for meat. Trees were felled and timber was siphoned off. Manas was badly caught in the quagmire.

Rampart poaching and deforestation eventually led to a serious shift in the ecosystem balance within and outside the national park. After a while, there were no animals left to kill nor did any underground water remain. Springs dried up, trees disappeared, and Manas was left barren.

There had been as many as 100 rhinos in Manas at the beginning of 1980s. During the insurgency that lasted between 1986 and 2003, all of them were wiped out.

These years also saw the killing of six forest staff and several domesticated elephants and the reckless destruction of camps and range offices.

The wildlife sanctuary, which had been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, stood at the brink of imminent disaster.

That is when the formation of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) in 2003 came as a godsend.

Ethnic tensions eased as Bodo autonomy was recognized in 2003. BTC members started taking an active role in conservation. They educated poachers on how poaching was affecting their own ecosystem. Most importantly, they encouraged locals to participate in the process and instilled in them a sense of pride and belonging for their motherland.

Budheswar Bodo, an ex-poacher from the 1980s who lost an arm in a nasty wildlife encounter, recounts, “BTC members made me realise that the protection of my motherland rested on my shoulders. For the first time in many years, I felt that Manas truly belonged to me and my fellowmen. It was my forest and it was my responsibility to nurture and care for it.”

A prolonged discussion with Budheswar and two other ex-poachers made it evident that these people had given up poaching not necessarily for an assured income or a respectable lifestyle (though they were important factors) but for their own sense of belongingness. Recognition of Bodoland had finally made the poachers feel at home.

Over the second half of 2003, a 3-tier structure was put in place to restore Manas to its former glory. It included members of the BTC, ex-poachers, and local youth organizations that played a vital connect between the government and the erstwhile rustlers.

Kalen Basumatary, head of Manas Maozigendri Ecotourism Society (MMES) – one such grassroot organization, fondly reminisces of the time when they would go out with a mission every day to reform former poachers. Kalen and his friends were instrumental in shifting public opinion from poaching to protecting. They ran anti-poaching and anti-logging campaigns.

“It wasn’t an easy task”, Kalen notes. “But it was definitely a fulfilling one. Every time I brought a poacher back into the fold, it felt deeply gratifying.”

He proudly points out that none of their employees have gone back to poaching in the last decade even though it has seemed lucrative at times.

With the launch of Indian Rhino Vision 2020 in 2005, rhinos began to be reintroduced into Manas.

Ex-poachers were made an integral part of the entire effort. They knew the forests of Manas like the back of their hands. They knew all about animal habitats, feeding times, cries, and calls. They could track and bring back animals if they went astray. Needless to say, they made the best protectors.

Slowly but surely, the rhino number at Manas increased. It is now back at 40.

Tigers and Asian elephants can be seen again. Even migratory birds who had sensed danger earlier have started flocking back to the sanctuary. Tourism is much better now giving locals the hope of an eco-friendly and sustainable future.

Manas is now home to countless birds and animals as well as hundreds of poachers who, for a while, had forgotten the touch of their motherland.

As I wrapped my head around this human face of wildlife conservation, I stumbled upon a water hole that was bubbling with the clean underground water. Birds swooshed by over my head and a peacock called from a distance. I could almost hear elephants trumpeting back home while a baby rhino played in the mud. Manas was fecund and green again with life and hope.

(Written by Soumya Gayatri. Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

When the pandemic began, little was known about COVID-19, except that it was highly contagious and people with comorbidities were worse off. But even that much spurred 61-year-old Pushpa, who has been a diabetic and suffering from hypertension for over 15 years now. She resolved to (finally) start on a journey towards being healthy and fit.

“What do you do when you are in the midst of a pandemic with no cure in sight? The only logical thing for me to do was to take care of my family’s physical and mental well-being by way of nutrition” says Pushpa Kansil, Founder of Vedic Blends.

“Growing up, the answer to all wellness and nutritional first-aid came from my mother’s kitchen. She had a solution for almost everything; her form of nutrition was functional. I took a leaf out of her book and started using herbal blends, teas, and concoctions to better my family’s health.”

As the weeks passed and the pandemic spread, it became clearer that it would take months, if not years, for normalcy to restore. At the same time, the economy was nose-diving, taking with it many businesses – big and small – including that of her husband, who has a manufacturing facility catering to the automotive aftermarket sector.

The COVID-19 induced lockdown seemed like the final nail in the coffin.

“On the COVID-19 front, there was no cure in sight, and on the business front, no visibility on cash flows. With the livelihoods of our employees dependent on us, we just couldn’t get ourselves to close down the business, knowing it could be months before they would find other opportunities. We had to adapt, and quickly,” says Pushpa.

By then, Pushpa had created several recipes that boosted immunity using superfoods and herbs. The word also got out, creating a steady demand within her extended family and among her friends. This is what sparked the idea for ‘Vedic Blends’ – a bootstrapped startup focussed on creating plant-based functional herbal blends and concoctions.

A befitting response to both the sides of the pandemic – it aimed at not only bringing back a focus on health but also helped sustain employment for existing employees of the family and expanding to accommodate more, despite the economic downturn.

“When we started, I was making our products at home, and the reach was limited by word of mouth. But it helped us find our feet and a set of loyal customers who speak highly about the quality, taste and efficacy. The real growth started when my son helped us build our presence online. The same set of people who were using our unbranded products became our biggest proponents.”

Vedic Blends now has an FSSAI approved facility, retails on Amazon India and their own website, ships pan India and has an in-house nutritionist. Current offerings include products aimed at physical and mental well-being – Project Metabolism, Project Immunity, Project De-Stress and a one-of-its-kind Turmeric Almond Latte.

“We want to create value-added, functional products using nature’s best adaptogens, herbs and superfoods. When I think of a new product, I think of my kids and try to answer the following questions – can they fix it in under 2 minutes? What value does it add? Is it effective? Does it taste good? We knew we had got our products right when we started getting repeat orders, for us there can be no greater validation” says Pushpa, a mother of two.

Overcoming challenges of building a new business from scratch (raw material supply chain, packaging, production and logistics) during the lockdown wasn’t easy, especially for a 61-year-old who used to struggle with technology.

“The way to do business has changed completely. Most things had to be managed and coordinated remotely or online to minimize exposure. Everyone chipped in. My husband helped me set up food-grade manufacturing and establish best practices. Technology played a big role in helping us locate and connect with quality suppliers all over India. Extended family located in different parts of the country helped. I am proud to say that Vedic Blends now sources from farms & suppliers in Tamil Nadu, the Western Ghats and other parts of India. It is a phenomenal experience, and the learning curve is steep. The biggest challenge for me was and remained to get comfortable with technology – some things I understand, some things I don’t, but I learn every day.”

The micro-manufacturing unit is located in New Delhi. “Batch type production enables us to ship out the freshest blends to our customers.” Vedic Blends is funded by the mother-son duo’s savings. “It wasn’t an easy decision, putting our savings in a business that is fiercely competitive. Hence, it is a matter of great pride for us that our customer repeat percentage is more than 48%, we featured on Luke Coutinho’s wellness market and this Diwali we are doing festive gifting for a few families, startups and corporates, including Coromandel.”

A Botanist and Masters in Law by education, Pushpa, has worked as an editor at a law publishing in the past. “So many people are struggling without jobs, and the economic outlook looks dim. Small businesses will play a big part in the recovery and movements like ‘Vocal for Local’ help. We must all do our best to bring more people into the workforce and ensure a part of our spend goes to small businesses. I believe in Empowerment by Employment, and so far, Vedic Blends has enabled me to employ two women. My vision is to be able to support five more in the next six months.”

What can we expect in the future from Vedic Blends?

“We are strengthening our product portfolio with two product launches planned this year and a new category launch early next year. We will stay true to our product philosophy – all of these products will be proprietary plant-based recipes and formulations in the wellness and nutrition category. We are working to partner with e-grocery retailers and speciality stores. The ultimate goal is to spread the magic of India’s heritage at a global level.”

Get in touch with Vedic Blends here.

(Written by Abhinav Kansil and edited by Vinayak Hegde)

Chandranath Pandey, a 51-year-old resident of Baldirai village of Sultanpur district, Uttar Pradesh, was hoping to find a “high-paying job in a big city” to fulfil his dream of living a better life. While he did not get a job in the city, he still managed to achieve his dream through farming.

After earning his diploma in electrical engineering from Government Polytechnic Faizabad in 1988, he worked as an electrical engineer in a government office in Sultanpur, where he earned Rs 4500 monthly. Unhappy with his job and unsure of the scope of his career, he began working as a contractor in his village. Simultaneously, he also began farming his own land.

“As a contractor, I could not increase my earnings by much. I wanted to earn more to give my children a better education and a better life for my family. I also wanted to do something unique with my farmland and not just grow crops that are necessary at home like rice, wheat and veggies. I wanted to make it a profitable business,” says Chandranath, who has dabbled in farming for almost three decades now.

By growing sugarcane, Chandranath was earning a profit of less than Rs 1 lakh, which wasn’t worth “the time taken” or his efforts. So, he strived to find something unique, more profitable and low-risk and eventually stopped growing sugarcane in 2018.

About five years ago, Chandranath heard of Ram Saran Verma, who won the Jagjivan Ram Kisan Puruskar award for cropping varieties of banana in his farmland in Barabanki. He also won about 20 awards at district, state and national levels. Inspired by his success, Chandranath went to meet Ram to learn how to grow bananas efficiently and earn a profit.

After noting down the tricks of the trade from Ram, Chandranath began harvesting bananas in a quarter-acre plot of farmland. By the 14th month, the fruit was ripe for the picking and Chandranath yielded a profit of nearly Rs 4 lakh for the first time. Since then, he has been dedicating a quarter acre of land to grow bananas.

Tips and tricks on banana farming

Chandranath reveals that banana farming is low-risk as every season is suitable for the banana plants. He says that even heavy rain can’t affect the crop. “It also doesn’t demand much care as compared to sugarcane or any other crop,” he adds.

He further adds that farmers must be careful while buying compost fertilizer. He says that instead of believing medicine and fertilizer sellers blindly, farmers should consult experts before making such purchases.

He also suggests that farmers grow different crops in one place – a phenomenon called crop-rotation. For example, if a particular piece of land is used for growing bananas in one year, then it should be used for other crops in the following year. This technique helps to yield better crops.

Farming, a profitable venture

“From farming alone, I earn more than Rs 12 lakh a year. My day job earns me just Rs 11,000 a month,” says an assertive Chandranath, who adds that now he has farm labourers to help him with his harvest.

He adds, “Farming is a very profitable business. Those who have farmland but are facing a financial crunch should opt for a farmer’s loan and then work hard to become successful. It’s just a matter of striving to farm in more efficient ways.”

Chandranath also grows crops like tomatoes, tarui (sponge gourd) and other vegetables along with bananas. From his tomato produce, he earned nearly Rs 2 lakh as a profit. He also yields watermelon from a quarter-acre, which he reveals is ready to sell in just three months. “Growing watermelon is also profitable as it is harvested in three months and will earn you more than Rs 2 lakh in a quarter-acre farmland,” he shares.

“Although I wanted to fulfil my dream while securing a well-paying job in a big city, I am doing it in my homeland. Now I have everything that I have ever dreamed of,” says Chandranath, adding that he bought three acres of farmland through the profits he has been earning from farming for the past five years.

Chandranath has two sons — one is a software engineer and working with HCL (Hindustan Computers Limited), Pune, while the other is working as a junior engineer in a government department in Sultanpur district. “I am happy with both my sons, who are now financially independent. My dream of seeing my children happy in life is fulfilled,” he says.

After improving his earnings through farming, Chandranath now tries to help farmers with tips and tricks of optimising farming techniques. “I want Sultanpur district to be the hub for all the crops like bananas, cauliflowers, tomatoes, green peas and lauki (pumpkin). Farmers in Sultanpur should supply various vegetables and fruits to other parts of India,” he says.

(Article by Bilal Khan. Edited by Yoshita Rao)

On World Human Rights Day, 10 December, the conversation in the media twisted ever so slightly towards child rights when Bollywood star Ayushmann Khurana chose to speak about it.

Featured image source: Facebook

As of 2011, there were as many as 10.1 million child labourers in India, with many estimates not covering the unorganised sector, having still dismal statistics. It was in 1992 that the government ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children, as a part of its liberalisation agenda. However, it was the crusade, which had begun in the 1980s, based on management principles that helped change the course of India’s struggle with the menace of child labour.

Management education was introduced in India in the ’60s. It was the establishment of IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta in 1961 that the management education seeped into the broader society. The intellectual genius of Ms Shantha Sinha, the founder of the Mamipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation (MVF — a child’s rights organisation), and a recipient of a Padma Shri and Ramon Magsaysay awards, combined the elegance of management principles with the epidemic of oppression of child rights.

India has had a complicated relationship with child rights, and thanks to the efforts of people like Mrs Sinha that the country stands a chance to win the war against child oppression. In an exclusive interview with her, she tells me how the anti-child labour movement was uncovered and has stood the test of time.

Let us start at the beginning. Who or what inspired you to undertake the struggle for child rights in India?

I think all of us are the products of our era. You are young, and your era is much different from what it was in the 1960s, which was characterised by radical democratic movements for egalitarian society and justice. That was the most inspiring influence on all of us. It isn’t easy to talk of one person but we can talk of the mood of the era, the zeitgeist, to which all of us belong. In 1962, what influenced us was the war with China. I was in class VIII or IX, and we were given woollen balls to knit sweaters to participate in the National Defence Fund. Nationalism was the order of the day, and the mood was for justice, and that is where I owe the call for change and transformation.

What were the roots of the movement? How did the movement grow and who were the key people for catalysing change?

I would like to focus on the key enablers which helped the movement expand. It was the triad of management principles, organisation principles and expansion. Everything started with the belief that if you follow a confrontationist stance, you are polarising the society. What is much more important is how you can harmonise society rather than leave debris of hatred and violence. After much soul searching, we focussed our energies on making and leaving behind a self-sustaining community that supports children, not one where the polarisation of different stakeholders makes everyone feel anxious about the change.

I was very much influenced by the Gandhian principles from the nationalist movement – wherein I looked at his (The Mahatma’s) process of resolving conflict. Whenever there is a change, there is bound to be conflict. But how you resolve that conflict and how you harmonise the society became the core organisational principles for Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation (MV Foundation). When we study a movement, we look at the narrative – but what is much more important are the management principles which shape the movement along the way.

In this light, I admire the work of Mother Teresa. We admire the work that she did, but what we forget is that she had her organisation in more than 90 countries. It was an all-women organisation (headed by nuns) but nobody tries to find out how she did it. All the high-quality work was based on management principles, which to the world, just seems to be happening! I would encourage everyone to look at the management principles whenever we look at a movement.

So, it was back in 1992 that we framed our Programmatic Principles and the Code of Conduct. They have stood the test of time, and they continue to guide us. These principles are all based on the constitution of India, and engender the tenets of non-violence, inclusion and trust in the front-line workers. Any movement is based on emotion and very little is written about the interlinkages of these principles (i.e. the ideology) and the emotive content. Together, these become powerful forces of change.

Even in the pandemic, we see youth-led activities as bubbles of positivity everywhere. What is your message for the youth of today?

My only lesson would be to go with the constitution of India even when you feel you do not align with it. There is so much we can take-away from the constitution and the amendments.

Watch the full interview here:

Aayush Gupta is a second-year management student at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.

When Sonam Shekhawat was around five years old, her father took her to watch Jurassic Park in the theatre. While watching the movie, she found herself in awe of the characters, who, as her father said, were created by humans. This thought remained stuck in her mind — she, too, could create characters for television and the big screen. This drove her to begin writing stories.

At the age of 11, Sonam, born in Karauli and raised in Jaipur, wrote poems that were published in several newspapers and magazines, and for which she also won a few national awards. At the age of 15, she began writing long stories, and even wrote a 500-page novel, which she eventually didn’t publish. “I was writing a story about four brothers. It was like Ramayana, but in a modern context. I only realised how long it was when I finished all my school notebooks while writing it, and had to ask my mother if we could buy more. My parents were surprised — it was only the beginning of the year, and I was already asking for more notebooks!”

Many feathers in her cap

Soon after her schooling, Sonam pursued a degree in Animation and Multimedia from the Birla Institute of Technology. After finishing college, she got the opportunity to work with Reliance Animations as a 3D artist intern for three months. While she was working there, one of her senior colleagues, Sathya Narayanana, told her about Mensa (the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world), and suggested that she sit for a test. The result was astounding — Sonam found out that her IQ matches with only two percent of the world’s population. This explained her high precision memory and creativity. 

While still interning, she was provided an opportunity to write for a series named Shaktimaan Animated, which used to air on Sonic and Nickelodeon. She wrote the series’ title theme, as well as several tracks from its soundtrack. 

In 2012, Sonam moved on to Green Gold Animations, which was, at the time, the only company working with Disney. She wrote for a show named Mighty Raju. She went on to write 50-60 episodes for Chhota Bheem, and even wrote the script for four to five movies and 20-30 songs of the franchise. 

Sonam also conceptualised and created shows like Little Singham, Golmaal Junior and Bhoot Bandhu. So far, 17 shows produced in India have been written by her. She has also conceptualised and created shows airing in Europe and the US.

When asked how she connects with children through her shows, Sonam says, “I’m a child trapped inside an adult’s body, so I find myself connecting with children very easily. I’ve always felt like I belonged in the animation industry.” 

In 2015, looking for a change in the content she was writing, Sonam joined Dreamworks Animation – Awesomeness TV. Here, she wrote for a show called All Hail King Julien, which is currently streaming on Netflix. All three seasons of the show were nominated for an Emmy Award, and Sonam won for Outstanding Writing for her animated series’ third season. With this, she became the first Indian to win an Emmy for writing. 

At present, she heads the Children and Family division of Nucleus Media, London. She credits her six-year-old son as having played a major role in her victory, and helping her gain a better understanding of children.

“My son watches a lot of cartoon shows, and he himself is a great storyteller, and very creative. He inspires me to never stop what I’m doing — he tells his friends that his mother makes cartoons, and that he would like to do the same thing when he grows up,” Sonam says.   

She adds, “I always knew I liked kids, but when my son was born, I realised how much I truly loved them. He’s the most wonderful aspect of my life. Through him, I learned how much children observe when they watch something on TV. It’s not just the characters they watch — they absorb every detail in the background as well. Another aspect I love about them is how their solutions are always unconventional and creative. This brought a change in my writing, and I would make my characters solve problems using creativity.” 

‘Encyclopedia of Animation’

“I was only 20 when I started my career, but I seemed 16 — not because I was short, but because I was always childish by nature,” Sonam says, adding, “I was very curious, jumpy, and on edge. It was easy for people to not take me seriously, but I made a lot of changes eventually. After a point, people started noticing my work and creativity.”

Her photographic memory soon earned her the nickname ‘Encyclopedia of Animation’. She was able to remember episodes frame by frame during production, and was able to recall what frames or shots can be reused from whichever episode at any given time. 

She says that while she has won many awards, the Emmys will always be special to her, as she was the first Indian writer to receive one. 

“Being an Academy Award-winning writer is definitely a matter of pride. People suddenly started recognising me on international platforms. It completely changed the direction of my career. Instead of worrying about what studio would take me, I was now able to choose which one I’d like to work with instead,” Sonam adds. 

“When the news was printed in Rajput magazines, many women came to me and said they were inspired to build their own careers the way I had,” she says, adding, “Women can have a career and a family. I’m a writer, but I’m also a mother. If this is the kind of space we create for all women, we can excel.” 

Sonam says that after she got married, she told the people she worked with that she now had other responsibilities to take care of as well. “I should never be asked to choose between my family and work. I was extremely upfront about it, unlike many others who felt like they would appear weak if they brought up familial responsibilities. But it’s not really their fault, because men have made a difficult world for women, and that needs to change,” she adds. 

The initial stages of her career were not easy. The first challenge she faced was convincing people that she could, in fact, write. “Everyone, from producers to marketers and directors, considers themselves writers,” she says.

“When my husband introduces himself as an investment banker, or my brother says he’s an architect, no one says, ‘Wow! Investment banking is something I also do as a hobby.’ It’s the same for writers. Sitting in a room full of directors, producers, and artists, it was difficult to tell everyone they’re not going to be the ones writing the show — I am,” she says. 

Another challenge was being able to tell compelling stories. “It takes a lot of experience to be able to make your story look good on TV. You have to rely on your storytelling skills. You should be able to stand in front of 50 people and narrate a story that can make them laugh and cry, and experience every emotion you’re trying to portray,” she says. 

Sonam said she gained a lot working in the creative industry. “The people from the industry taught me the principles of storytelling,” she says. One of them, she says, is to work on the hook, hold, and payoff rule. Other principles include understanding and managing a character’s conflicts, working on their strengths and weaknesses, and creating obstacles for them that they can overcome and emerge as heroes.

A moment to remember

Among the sea of fan mails Sonam receives as a prominent screenwriter, one has stood out. It was from a person named Sushant S Mohan, who also runs a news channel in India. 

“Hey Sonam, I saw the Chhota Bheem bioscope episode. I hope you are the writer. I want to thank you, because this episode made me remember my childhood days. I used to run with 10 paise to the bioscope in our village to see the story of the prince and princess,” the letter read. 

 “This message was from an adult,” Sonam says, “who put aside his bustling news life for a while and watched an episode of a cartoon show. He took out the time to look me up and drop me a message. This is the most special message I’ve received.” 

What’s next?

Currently, Sonam is working on projects like Space Delivery, and some shows centered around Indian mythology. The latter, she says, is a bid to “create excellent shows for international audiences” and bring forward the “true colours of Indian culture”. 

“The Indian animation industry creates shows for local audiences, and while we have seen some gain popularity on international platforms, nothing has become as epic as, say, Avatar, or Deathnote. I want to create an epic like these that will be remembered for generations,” Sonam says on her plans for the future.

Written by: Krishna Prasad 
Edited by: Divya Sethu

Democracy is often identified with participation and participation is a fundamental aspect of any democracy. While voting is one way we participate in democratic processes, the Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy (PLCP) provides a way through which we can become pro-active citizens in our day-to-day lives. It provides citizens with a channel to provide their feedback and comments on future laws. This piece aims to cover the basics of the pre-legislative consultation policy and how one can participate in the process to make their voices heard.

What is the Pre-Legislative Consultation Policy (PLCP)?

It is a process through which citizens engage with the government by providing feedback and comments on policies and draft bills. A draft bill is a proposal made to the Parliament to become a law. It is this draft bill that is placed before the public for their feedback. Prior to 2014, this process was not uniformly recognised or followed consistently.

However, in 2014, the Central government introduced the PLCP. Under this, it has been mandated that every Ministry must place draft bills in the public domain for comments/feedback for 30 days. The document put out for public consultation should also provide reasons for the need of the law, financial considerations and explanation of legal terms in simple language. The document is also required to cover the possible impact it could have on the citizens and their fundamental rights. It is only after the completion of this process that the draft is sent for approval to the Cabinet.

How is the policy being implemented currently?

The 2014 policy required every Ministry to publish the draft bills on their websites and any other means through which it could reach a wider set of citizens. In case, the law impacts a specific group of people, it is the duty of the Ministry to ensure the relevant information reaches the group concerned. The feedback and comments are made public on the Ministry’s website as well. Since 2017, the number of laws which are opened for public feedback are growing at a rate of 111%.

The main issues being faced by the government are in terms of awareness of the
Pre-legislative consultation process. At times consultations are put out in the public domain but there are no responses from the citizens. On the other hand, large volumes of feedback are often not processed because of internal capacity constraints.

How can you participate in the pre-legislative consultation process?

Taking part in this process can seem intimidating as all of us are not familiar with legal language. However, the policy requires each department to release the key objectives of a draft bill when calling for public comments. This makes it easy to go through the draft bills. User-friendly platforms like Civis —a non-profit organisation that makes it easy for you to find out about the upcoming laws and policies, and MyGov also regularly update the bills up for consultation along with a summary of the draft bill in simple language, free of any legal jargon. While websites like OurGov.In aggregate all laws open for public feedback.

On Civis, one can submit their own feedback on the site and see other responses as well. It gives one the opportunity to understand what your fellow citizens feel about a particular issue. This facilitates public dialogue. All of the feedback from the Civis platform is then conveyed to the appropriate government department, and updates to the law are shared with citizen leaders.

One can also participate by spreading awareness about the pre-legislative consultation policy. This can be done by sharing one’s own feedback on various channels and encouraging people to do the same. This will also tackle the issue of awareness being faced by the government. The more citizens get involved, the higher the success of the process.

Why should you participate in the PLCP?

As we currently witness the protests of the Farm Bills we know that laws have a huge impact on all aspects of our lives. The PLCP gives us a chance to ensure that future laws reflect the needs of the citizens. It also provides an avenue for us citizens to bring to the notice of the government the concerns they may have with the draft bill. Through participation in the public consultation process, we contribute towards creating a vibrant and proactive citizen body.

Written by Kopal Mittal, Research Fellow, Civis; Edited by Yoshita Rao

In Koraput district, Odisha, lies a remote village called Kanjariguda which is home to an Adivasi community of farmers who predominantly grow ragi and rice. The village is so remote that villagers have to walk several kilometres—across forests and mountains—to hull their rice or access basic services such as mobile charging, photocopying or printing.

In 2019, a women’s self-help group (SHG) established a decentralised rice and millet milling centre in Kanjariguda. This eased the drudgery that came with a lack of access to a mill for more than 500 rice farmers and 270 ragi farmers. Earlier, they had to spend much more time and money to get basic work done. Now, the income generated by the centre is equally divided amongst the SHG members.

Apart from milling, the centre also offers other essential services such as printing and mobile charging—services that are in high demand as they are needed for school work, government documentation, and other purposes. Everything at the centre is powered by solar energy.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Kanjariguda went into a strict lockdown, alongside other villages in the district. Later, when shops began to open up, the disruptive power cuts and lack of access to diesel (for those reliant on generators) made it difficult to get work done.

So, local nonprofits took it upon themselves to spread news of the functional solar-powered centre to the nearby villages. Within a few weeks, people from 17 villages in a 12-15 km radius began coming to the centre for essential services. This increased the mill’s demand and income, helping farmers in these uncertain times.

Solar-powered equipment (in an area that experiences frequent and long power cuts) made the centre seem reliable. New customers, recognising its convenience, continue to use it even post-lockdown.

Rajani Jani, the president of the SHG says, “Farmers get milling services within a very short distance. We have been moving from village to village to share information about our milling machine. Spreading the message this way has been very effective in promoting our business. Ragi is very nutritious—especially for young children, as well as pregnant and lactating women. We plan to start sale of ragi powder to the nearby anganwadi centres, to ensure a supply of nutritious food for the children.” And Rai Jani, the secretary of the group agrees.

One of the biggest challenges going forward, for entrepreneurs from poor households and those who are restarting their businesses, will be their ability to take risks. Decentralised livelihood models, driven by sustainable energy, that build on existing local institutions like SHGs allow for risk to be shared, while also benefiting the whole community.

This story was sourced from ‘Let’s Rise Up’, a campaign by SELCO Foundation and IKEA Foundation and was published on idr.

(Text by Pradyumna Kumar, Pushpa Kumari; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

The bicycle today has become an item of luxury and a fitness accessory for many of us. For people from my generation–having grown up in the late 80s and 90s–the humble bicycle would find a mention in our parents’ nostalgia trips, famed stories of how they travelled from one end of a city or town to another on them. I would often hear my mother and her siblings wax lyrical about their father’s (my grandfather) bicycle, which is a constant companion in so many of his old pictures. Since all of my mother’s sisters lived in New Delhi. I’d often hear about my grandfather, the late Atulya Kumar Banerjee’s travels’, particularly about an epic bicycle journey that he undertook in his 20’s from Calcutta to Kashmir in 1933.

My maternal uncle or Mama, Aurobindo Banerjee, a retired IRS officer told me all about it after noticing my growing curiosity after my older brother and I discovered a set of letters and pictures tucked away in a cupboard at home, belonging to my late parents. My uncle and my youngest aunt (my mother’s younger siblings) showed me an impeccably kept journal my grandfather and his friends kept of their bicycle trip, amusingly titled ‘Speedy Stars’.

The diary is complete with pictures from the start of the trip (they were flagged off with much fanfare), to careful cataloguing of the entire journey. It looks more like a conventional notebook, the kind you and I may have taken to school. Its hardbound cover neatly contained in a glossy sheet of coloured paper.

“The diary, along with a few other items was handed over to me by my father’s friend and reporter for the Speedy Stars, Romani Mohan Mitra. He was my maternal grandfather’s student and that is how he knew my father. They were very close friends and I suppose he knew of my interest in history and such things”, says my uncle (mama).

Compared to the frayed and tattered letters and pieces of paper with the ink barely legible, this diary feels newer than my notebooks would at this time. The diary is perhaps only half-full, with a combination of pictures (which are worn out and the people along with my grandfather are barely recognisable) and newspaper articles stuck to them with detailed descriptions of each.

The journey started on 12 March 1933, on the day of Dol Jatra (Holi) and was completed on 27 April 1933. Dadu and the rest of his team made it to their destination after about a month and a half, with a lot of the journey taking them through what is now Pakistan. “The money collected from the cyclists for the tour amounted to Rs 250. This would have been a lot of money today, almost Rs 2,50,000, I believe”, says mama. They also raised donations from other people and sold photos, according to the records in the diary.

No one in my family could tell me a lot about the origins of the club, but from the newspaper articles in the diary, it says that it was like a fitness club of sorts, and they were attempting certain speed and endurance records too. Why did they do it?

“Adventure. Plain and simple adventure. He was a writer. A creative person delves into all these things,” mama says. Mama is extremely passionate and a keen writer himself. He tried to get details of the journey published in the Indian Express a few years ago but to no avail.

The sights they saw…

Three pages contain details of the journey: the members of Speedy Stars who undertook the journey, the financial contributions they made or the fund that were collected, and details of when the adventure began and from where. They passed important places like Asansol, Bagodar, Sasaram, Benaras, Allahabad, Kawnpore (now Kanpur), Kannauj, Brindaban (now Vrindavan), Delhi, Karnal, Moga, Firozpur and Lahore during this journey.

While the diary doesn’t mention too many details about the team members, one of the newspaper clippings quotes Mr P Mullick, Secretary of the Speedy Stars Club, as saying that “the club has been organised with the purpose of giving an impetus to the sporting spirit and young men who have a special liking for sports.” Mama says that Mr P Mullick couldn’t go on the trip with the group. Maybe this handwriting is his and he started maintaining this while the others were away.

Pictures in front of the Red Fort in Delhi, the Taj Mahal, a junction at Sialkot, the Dal Lake and the Shankaracharya temple in Srinagar are some places that are evident from the pictures. The journal also contains clippings from now-defunct newspapers like Liberty, Advance and the Amrita Bazar Patrika.

Another article published in Liberty with an eye-catching caption – ‘Four Bengalees’ Lure of Adventure’ – reports of the group’s arrival at Cawnpore (Kanpur) from Fatehpur. “All of them were in high spirits, excellent health and good moods. They described their thrilling experience of the journey which led through hills and forests… the young men halted for 36 hours (at the Bengali Union) and were looked after with great attention and care. At dawn on the 29th ultimo (of last month) they joyously rode and whirled their wheels off towards Etawah amidst cheering, shouts and prayers. The Members of the Union pray that the young adventurers may enjoy perfect health and keep up their spirits to accomplish safely their daring enterprise.”

The diary is almost scrapbook-like, much like how I would make my own diaries of numerous Cricket and Football World Cups, I would keep a record of in school, without ever knowing about my grandfather’s book-keeping ways. It is unclear as to how long the Speedy Stars continued for (the club appears to have had a registered address), or how successful they were in championing the cause of sports and physical fitness.

The bike: my grandfather’s faithful companion

My grandfather, Atulya Kumar Banerjee, was born in Burdwan (Bardhaman) on 10 June 1910 and moved to New Delhi from Kanchrapara in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal in 1952 with his job in the railways. With his wife and six children in tow (my mother was the second oldest and would have been eight or nine), Dadu moved to the Railway colony at Tilak Bridge. However, his date of birth on the India-Pakistan passport issued to him in 1955 is different – 1 August 1911. This passport was issued to him because his job took him to Pakistan for work a few times.

He had dabbled with editing and publishing his own magazine, a Bengali literary journal called Rikta, which ran from 1932-1935, a profession my great grandfather had been in before him. Perhaps he never got the recognition; a collection of his manuscripts and writings remain unpublished, kept lovingly by my uncle and aunts.

Rikta covered mainly literature, politics and current affairs of the time. These are mainly copies of the originals with the covers missing. My uncle donated quite a few of these to the Aurobindo Ashram some time back. Dadu used a pen name, Shree Shebok, for this, but interestingly, his contact information as editor and publisher is mentioned at the bottom of the last page of the journal. You can see some interesting advertisements in the journal too, for quintessential items like ointments and tea and Boroline, of course!

There are several pictures of my grandfather along with his beloved bike, after he had been married; it remained a faithful companion for many years. According to my uncle, “He (like his friends accompanying him on the journey) had very ordinary cycles, mostly second hand, as were then available in those days, years before indigenous manufacturing activities started. I don’t exactly remember if he ever opened up on the trip (or on the Bengali journal he started around that time) to us. But if it was the same one we saw and was with him until it was stolen a few years before his death in 1984, it was an exquisite piece – a British Humber with a handle with a pure brass handgrip. He was extremely possessive about it and meticulously maintained it, though I used it extensively. Your mother too rode it.”

There’s another special thing about this bicycle journey my uncle tells me, “My maternal great-grandfather, Balai Deb Sharma, was a newspaper editor and a revolutionary. He went to prison quite a few times and funnily enough he met my grandfather in 1933 at the first stop of the bicycle journey in Burdwan. In fact, my grandfather promised him then itself that he would marry my grandmother.” Mama has heard this story from his mother.

I generally look at stories of Partition or when India was under British rule and not a lot of people talk about adventures and discovery by the youth, probably because people had other priorities.

Most of the articles highlight the reception they received from people wherever they made their pitstops – mostly at Bengali clubs. I have a fascination for travel, not only to experience a new place but the journey that takes me there and what one finds out along the way. Dadu’s picture with the bicycle has a shikaari shambhu look to it, but that is how I entertain myself when looking through such things. It is no coincidence that I made my first motorcycle trip in 2008 at around the same age my grandfather would have been in 1933.

(Text by Tanmoy Mookherjee, words by Aurobindo Banerjee, photographs by Tanmoy Mookherjee and Navdha Malhotra. This article was first published on The Museum of Material Memory).

I was always a plant lover but with several priorities and endless responsibilities that come along with being a practising architect, there weren’t many opportunities or enough time that would enable me to do enough justice to even call gardening a hobby!

But the pandemic turned a lot of things around. With work-from-home came so many opportunities; truly, as if life was waiting for this moment. Most important amongst them, was the chance to spend some quality time with my 4-year-old son. With small baby steps, together we continued our gardening activities which got full attention in due course and my son was engaged with me as a full-time assistant. What better can a parent wish as a learning experience filled with love, laughter and realisations?

So here are a few facts that made us our better selves in these months.

Soil Space

Space and size cannot be a constraint but the quality of sunlight and the direction of your plants/pots do matter.

During the lockdown, we got closer to our tiny little front-yard which provides approximately 138 sq ft of soil surface for plantation. Out of this, 77 sq ft is a lawn and hard surface together.

I deliberately reduced the lawn portion to enable more space for other plant species to enhance the diversity it brought to us. Hence in the remaining 61 sq ft lies our wilderness, tiny farmlets, edible landscapes, co-sharing experiences and a whole lot of joy. Our garden gave us some papayas which we could share with our neighbourhood friends, surplus tomatoes includes one of the harvests with 73 in numbers at a single go, handful of capsicums, chillies, brinjals, guavas, bottle gourds, curry leaves, mint leaves, ajwain leaves, drumstick leaves, beetroots, carrots, spinach, red spinach, methi, and endless blooms and fragrances.

For a Mumbaikar, 61 sq ft is a huge green space. So yes, a tiny space of soil can enhance your life.

Food for thought

Today, we realise that everyone should have knowledge about cooking; likewise, I would say that everyone, irrespective of their age should know how to grow their own food.

Growing an edible landscape is key to a lot of questions and healing for many illnesses. Apart from its endless benefits such as learning to be patient, valuing every bite of your meal, being conscious towards food wastage, developing a sense of gratitude towards the farmers and the traditional wisdom which we often ignore or simply value them very little. When you grow your own salad, you make sure it is consumed fresh and finished well.

The many challenges that come across while you plant a seedling and watch the failure or the miraculous harvests, you only learn to keep up with the unpredictability and enjoy the process despite some disappointments. You also start empathising with the farmers even more.

This empathy is important to come at an early stage in life as it teaches you to not be selective with particular shapes and sizes or specific colours or even the tastes of your harvest.

Today, if a 4-year-old understands to eat a papaya that could be less sweet than expected, a cucumber which is slightly distorted but delicious, a tomato that looks funny yet the same as others when it comes to taste, he knows it is perfect the way it is.

We then allow ourselves to evolve with our acceptance of diversity in all aspects of life.

Diversity as a lifestyle catalyst

We have a total of 113 plants in all sizes, habits, colours, variations and fragrances, in our front yard, inside our living spaces and on our terrace. The diverse flora happened only as a gradual and conscious process. When I learnt how a particular bird or an animal is attracted to a specific tree, I tried to explore more and brought some variety in the green space. This ensured more eco-guests (as I call them) visiting us and very often.

So we have varieties of finches, red-vented bulbuls, Mynas, common tailorbirds, purple sunbirds, Indian blue robins to name a few; and chameleons, ladybugs, honey bees, butterflies, of course, the monkeys and a few others that make guest appearances.

We saw the cocoon and how the caterpillars mutate into beautiful flying butterflies. Such miracles from nature are very inspiring. So few plants are dedicated to these butterfly cycles. Like a lemon plant is purely for the cocoons on it, we don’t expect lemons from it, there is another lemon we planted to receive a harvest.

This space became our learning platform.

We saw how each plant nurtured a specific bird or an animal and how diversity has brought so much love and charm to the space. I would only say that all the sanity that I have throughout this period and still going on, I owe to this newly developed love affair with the growing wilderness in my front yard and the learning experience of co-existence.

Zeroing the waste

Our green waste goes to the compost earthen pots (matkas) and we love feeding our plants with the same. Watching the whole cycle has given us much pleasure. All our green wastes like the peels, leaves goes into making a compost and that segregation is another important factor. We are still developing this process further to encourage as many in the neighbourhood.

Happiness attached

So here come the mental benefits as a perk of the process. Listening to the chirping birds, watering your plants, mulching, playing with the soil and harvesting has really given us more than food. It has kept us away from the negative thoughts, it has drained our energies in something productive, it has given us happiness amidst all the stress and tantrums (respectively to me and my child).

We look forward to it, we enjoy the tiny habitats or ecosystems that we have participated in, and we learn to change with the changing season and along with our co-exiting companions who do it very wisely. So now we want to share this happiness, and so whenever there is somebody’s birthday or celebration, we gift them a sapling and in return we get to hear some happy stories. Another fact to share, children love planting, especially when you tell them that this one’s for you!

I am also one of the active members in the green committee of our society. With the availability of our physical presence with work-from-home, we as a team decided to add more greens to the private and common areas by encouraging members and taking guidance from the professional gardener.

Till June 2020 we had successfully planted around 101 saplings in common areas and encouraged 80 houses to include a sapling in their private spaces, again with a diverse approach in mind.

We led a silent plantation drive keeping all the safety and precautions, ensuring no one gets infected. Today, the society’s green WhatsApp group is flooded with photos of increased bird species and shared tips for more organic gardening along with all praises to children who are developing this as a passion.

So I end my experience sharing on a note to develop furthermore. I intend to research co-existence in urban areas, planting for mental health and waste management at home-level first, then neighbourhood level and further as it grows to a global level one day. I could start today only because of my parents and grandparents who have given me this exposure in my childhood and the least I could do is, to pass it on further which I am happier to do now.

(Written by Ruchita Jagzap; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

A country’s biggest strength is its youth and socially active citizens. We are talking about people like you, who are keen to get involved and who provide constructive inputs and support to their governments.

Here are a few organisations and ways that we, as citizens, can engage with to quite simply — be the change we want to see in society.

ICLU

The Indian Civil Liberties Union (ICLU) is a collective of citizens, lawyers, students and activists from across the country. They primarily assist in providing legal aid and legal awareness to the masses through a collective effort, both in online and physical spaces. The ICLU focuses specifically on the poor, marginalised and migrant labourers for their outreach effort. They came to light during the NRC process in Assam and the anti-CAA (anti-Citizenship Amendment Act) protests in 2019.

ICLU has been at the forefront of providing legal aid to students and protestors who were harassed, detained and arrested during the anti-CAA protests across India. This organisation can be contacted through their social media platforms. Invitations are sent to volunteers to engage with them.

Reap Benefit

Reap Benefit is a citizen-oriented, problem-solving organisation. They focus on “solving everyday issues using local data, local solutions and local campaigns”. Apart from taking direct action, like creating a DIY air quality monitor and dustbins, they use the internet to organise various important forums for discussions on matters of common concern. Reap Benefit runs a platform called Solve Ninja to allow citizens to get in touch with them and contribute to hyper-local projects they are working on. This includes helping physically on a project-by-project basis, online through their web app, and through a network of volunteers aimed at inducting more and more young people in their effort.

YUVA Mumbai

YUVA has interventions in housing, education, health, livelihoods and governance. They work on a community based approach. YUVA helps local communities solve challenges and obstacles in their own local areas, by providing awareness, gathering feedback on local issues (which forms a part of their Government advocacy efforts) and running campaigns that build a spirit of community. From empowering young girls through sports, to ensuring that water is made available to residents in one of Mumbai’s bastis — YUVA has a large ambit of work which they undertake. They can be contacted through their website, as well as their various social media channels.

Civis

India is the world’s largest democracy. The essence of democracy is the ability of a person to participate in the decision-making of one’s country. This ability has now been codified through the pre-legislative consultation policy (PLCP).

Formally introduced in 2014, the pre-legislative consultation policy (PLCP) requires that each Department/Ministry should proactively publish their proposed legislations for public feedback. The rationale behind this policy is that it seeks to involve the citizens and get their feedback on various policies. Participation in this process provides citizens a chance to participate in law-making that has a direct impact on their own well-being.

The importance of the policy came to the forefront when the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) draft, 2020 was released. Participating in this process is one of the most direct ways we can become active citizens. Civis is an organisation that makes participation in PLCP easier. It provides an active platform that simplifies the policies put up by the various Ministries for consultation by providing a short summary. It has a user-friendly interface which collects your feedback on the policies and submits them to the concerned Ministry directly. Participate in open consultations through Civis’ website.

Jhatkaa.Org

The cornerstone of democracy is the ability to approach your leaders to ensure that your demands are heard. It is an important way through which we hold our elected leaders accountable. Jhatkaa’s work embodies this important aspect. The organisation identifies the issues which require active action by the leaders and mobilises citizens to take effective measures. These concerns are then raised with the respective leaders. They achieve this through petitions, public engagement, building volunteer movements, media engagement, mass phone calls and emails to public representatives, member-generated research and reportage of issues. Jhatkaa’s vision is to create a more equitable, inclusive and sustainable India.

In this manner, citizens can engage with the leaders and directly motivate action. Participation in public mobilisation is a powerful way of becoming an active citizen.

IChangeMyCity

Janaagraha is an organisation that actively works towards improving the quality of life in Indian cities and towns. Their work focuses on actively collaborating with citizens. Its philosophy for achieving its goals focuses on engaging students, employees and the broader citizenry by delivering learning modules. It also aims to create various platforms to provide data to engage stakeholders in urban matters. One such platform where you can engage is called IChangeMyCity. The site uses the power of the internet to connect people locally, and helps them discuss and act on their civic issues. On IChangeMyCity you can post complaints on potholes, unattended garbage, bad roads and other civic issues in your neighbourhood and get these complaints resolved.

SATARK NAGARIK SANGATHAN (SNS)

Democracy entails the right for citizens to hold its democratically elected leaders accountable. There are various tools through which we can hold various government departments and political parties accountable and ensure transparency. One of these is the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act, 2005). SNS focuses on citizens’ participation in governance by using the RTI law to obtain information about the various activities of the government. This information is crucial in securing information and holding groups accountable to ensure that rights are not infringed. It also helps achieve financial accountability and transparency to ensure that public funds are used to meet the needs of the public. They have focused their work in the slums of Delhi.

Through the information gathered from the RTI Act, they hold the government accountable for delivery of ration, pensions, health, sanitation and education. Using official information, complaints and petitions are filed and public hearings are organised to demand action against corruption and wrongdoing. The Sangathan has also been using the RTI Act to make elected representatives more responsive and accountable.

BHUMI

Bhumi is a youth volunteer organisation having its presence in many states. It provides young people with a platform to serve society and bridge the gap between the educated and the uneducated. Its work is mainly focused on two areas — education and civic projects. Bhumi’s volunteers educate and mentor children from villages, slums and orphanages and teach them subjects like English, Maths, Science, Arts, etc. Their civic participation program, Catalyst, involves engaging volunteers in causes like animal welfare, community welfare, disability, environment, health, etc.

AVAAZ

Avaaz has a mission to organize citizens of all nations to close the gap between the world we have and the world most people want. It encourages and empowers people to take action on pressing issues of global, national or regional significance like corruption, poverty, climate change, etc. Avaaz is involved in community campaigns like signing petitions, funding media campaigns, contacting governments and organising offline events for the inclusion of views and values of different people in the decision making.
The Avaaz community campaigns in 17 different languages and has a growing online community which provides a rapid collective force to give reasonable input in political decision making.

CHANGE.ORG

Change.org is a large social change platform spread over several countries. It provides people with relevant information on issues of public importance and also provides them the tools to start a campaign and gather support from thousands of other people by signing it. Change.org’s mission is to empower people everywhere by creating the change they want to see. Popular topics of Change.org petitions are economic and criminal justice, human rights, environmental issues, education, etc.

(Written by Ayan Gupta, Kopal Mital, Rajvi Sanghavi and Vaibhav Yadav who are Research Fellows at Civis. Civis is a non-profit organisation that makes it easy for you to find out about the upcoming laws and policies, understand them and share your feedback on these draft laws and policies with the government.)

Every day for the past four years, Mandakini Gogoi and her husband, Rituraj Dewan, have been travelling from their home in Guwahati, Assam, to the forests of the Loharghat range. It is largely a mix of business, pleasure, passion and hard work that encourages their daily grind to certain small villages there. They are very comfortable with the village folk, who come to the centres they have created in the region to spin, weave, dye and churn out miraculous textiles that are created, honed and polished before sending them off to the Indian market and also to many foreign buyers.

The best part? They do it all with the help of their small team—a mix of local artisans and some textile experts—without causing any damage to the forest area where they work. Instead, they help in maintaining the ecological balance of the area. Considering that this area of Assam is one of the most biologically rich and also among the most heavily threatened, for frequent tree felling and poaching incidents, this is no mean feat. There are quite a few NGOs and other companies that work here but not everyone can claim to preserve the biodiversity of the region or even ensure that local artisans get a fair price for their hard and uniquely skilled work.

Slow Fashion Beckons

It had taken Mandakini and Rituraj years of research before launching 7Weaves Social Pvt Ltd, a sustainable textile unit, in June 2017. The name is a tribute to the textiles or weaves from the ‘Seven Sisters’. They looked into the region, its people, possible textiles to be produced, the know-how of the business of sericulture — a common practice in Assam where silkworms are reared to produce cloth, particularly the Eri silk fabric procured from Eri silkworms.

It also meant they needed to study global markets and trends for the demand of this fabric and have it worked upon by the locals of the forest area, who mostly learn to weave and spin as part of their family tradition.

The challenge that faced them was to produce textiles that would make the cut internationally while not harming the environment and ensuring fair wages to the artisans. Both Mandakini and husband Rituraj were formerly employed in the healthcare sector and it was her dream that led to both of them quitting their corporate jobs and returning to their home state to set this up.

“It was a huge task for people like us who had no knowledge of an industry like this, leave alone methods like spinning, weaving and working in close tandem with village people with whom it takes time to build a rapport and earn their trust,” admits Mandakini, who wanted to provide gainful employment to the women.

From stumbling through every step to visiting international fairs and markets, the husband-wife duo’s efforts have now been awarded a Certificate Of Excellence from the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India and the HEPC (Handloom Export Promotion Council).

“I have been a proponent of preserving the ecological balance and protecting biodiversity, since the time I was a school student, actively working towards it and presenting papers in journals. It is a cause that I hold above all, in my life. When we got an opportunity to do that, we followed that road in the blink of an eye,” says Rituraj, who is a former international marketing expert. He adds, “It took some time to figure out how the entire chain worked but now we have a fairly good system in place, thanks to all the studying and research we did that was both practical and theoretical.”

The aim and agenda of 7Weaves is a wholehearted focus on ‘slow fashion’, which means producing something mindful, holistic and slow. These products have a slower production schedule, small-batch collections and zero-waste designs that try to reduce textile waste that clog landfills. Therefore their model is mapping the future for sustainable, ethical textiles.

“Eri silk rearing is a traditional practice of the indigenous communities who live in the Indo Burma biodiversity hotspot. The process is based on traditional ecological knowledge of the community who share the biome. The 7Weaves model works with the community to work on a small surplus without changing the current status quo and incentivise the people for sustainable use of resources and long term conservation which leads to biodiversity conservation,” says Mandakini.

The term ‘Womb To Weave’ is applicable here as the silkworms are reared in their company’s centres, and then the process of waiting begins as the worms start making their cocoons for hibernation. It is only when the worm leaves the cocoons, out of its own accord, that the cocoons are gathered and the village women begin the process of sorting the thread. Then the weaving begins.

While they have international experts on their panel to guide them, they also welcome trained people who are passionate about the environment to help them achieve their objective. Textile designer Sneha Chaudhury, a NIFT graduate, who is from Lucknow and has now shifted her work base to Assam says, “It has been a different and very interesting learning experience for me and though initially, it was difficult communicating with the village folk; now, it’s easier. We work in tandem. They weave their designs and I tell them about what will work in terms of trends that will sell internationally.”

A Sustainable Step Forward

The entrepreneur couple soon realised that to produce textiles from natural sources and protect the environment, one has to work only with indigenous communities. “They belong to the region so we cannot dispute their knowledge and understanding of the region that needs to be preserved and yet it will also provide them with a source of livelihood,” says Rituraj.

The indigenous communities still maintain traditional knowledge regarding weaving with natural fibres and dyeing with natural materials. Local weaver Surabhi Rabha, a soft-spoken 25-year-old who has been with the company since its inception and now trains new weavers and supervises all weaving schedules says, “I used to weave in my home earlier and take a few orders that I would get on and off. After I joined, work has become more regularised and systematic and it is useful for me because this skill that is passed down through the generations will otherwise disappear. I earn about Rs 6,000 monthly. We are also covered under a corporate medical policy of Rs 5,00,000 each and entitled to get 50 per cent of the profits of the company annually.”

Every piece of cloth produced here helps restore the rich biodiversity of the area. The community reduces waste by only using what is necessary and planting and replanting crops and herbs that can be used for their dyes.

As more and more plants are identified for their economic value and sustainable use, conservation becomes integrated as an important part of the livelihood of the locals. “Our onus is on skilled local people getting their fair dues. So, we usually pay them 50 per cent of the profits annually plus a fixed salaried income, irrespective of the work output. We chose the Eri silk particularly because we felt it has a great future,” explains Mandakini.

Eri silk production is also one of the least harmful methods of sericulture as the worms that produce silk are not killed. Their cocoons are harvested right after the silk worms leave them. Hence Eri silk is also called the ‘Ahimsa’ silk.

As for the markets, abroad and in India, they are slowly but surely recognising the potential of this unique venture. Their regular buyer, Carolin Hofer of Jyoti Fairworks, who is based in Germany says, “We have been with 7Weaves since their inception and we were impressed by not only their beautiful fabrics but mostly their holistic vision, the people and the eco-friendly nature of the business. They clearly are one of the most inspiring undertakings that we have met along our journey being a fair fashion label and an important ally in the movement towards a more sustainable textile industry.”

She adds, “Eri silk has appealed to us and many of our customers, as it has a great and very original story to tell with amazing thermal characteristics — keeping you cool in summer and warm in winter. I believe in its potential in the textile market, especially with the currently growing awareness for sustainability. We are currently working with companies from France, UK, Belgium, Germany, Australia, Canada and Japan. There are two kinds of orders that we do: sampling and production. Sampling takes about 4 to 6 weeks and production can take up to 6 months. Our production orders range from 450 to 500 metres per month.”

And what does the future hold for 7Weaves? “Opening more centres and diversifying into other textiles, which we are already doing and continuing to provide gainful employment for the upliftment of local artisans, especially with a focus on women’s empowerment,” Mandakini signs off.

(Written by Tashneem Ali Chaudhury; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

Ambika Khare, born in Panna on 26 December 1932, passed away at the age of 88 on the night of 16 April 2021 of heart failure. A man ahead of his time, a great supporter of Panna Tiger Reserve, winner of Sanctuary Asia’s Green Teacher Award for his seminal role in running Panna Nature Camps, lifelong teacher, educationist, mentor — he was larger than life. The kind of person you felt would live on forever.

In 2009, it was officially accepted by the Forest Department that Panna Tiger Reserve, a prime tiger sanctuary located in the Vindhya mountain range in Madhya Pradesh, had lost all but one of its tigers. Led by the then Park Director, Shri Rangaiah Sreenivasa Murthy (IFS) the Panna revival plan was launched. Two female tigers, followed by a male tiger were introduced from other Tiger Reserves of Madhya Pradesh. On 16 April 2010, the first litter of four tiger cubs was discovered, marking Panna’s remarkable turn around. This date has since been celebrated as Panna’s unique ‘Tiger Birthday’. Even this year, there were elaborate plans of the citizens of Panna to celebrate the 11th birthday, but the worsening COVID-19 situation put all plans on hold.

Outpouring of heartfelt condolences

Mr Rangaiah Sreenivasa Murthy, IFS (retd.) ex-Director Panna Tiger Reserve and the architect of Panna’s revival, posted, “Really sad news. My association with Sir is 12 year long, he was a gem of a person. His contribution towards making the unique ‘Panna Nature Camps’ an effective tool of joining people with the park, will be remembered in the times to come.”

Arun Singh, a senior and feted journalist from Panna, told me over the phone, “Even at this age, close to 90 years, he had a zest for life. He would go out for walks in the forests close to Panna, he would teach for up to 3 hours daily. Being largely isolated at home due to the pandemic may not have gone down well with his zest.”

As part of Panna’s revival, apart from implementing the tiger reintroduction programme and increasing anti-poaching measures, there was a dire need to spread awareness and start a dialogue with the local community. The Park Director, Rangaiah Sreenivasa Murthy, conceptualised the idea of the Panna Nature Camps.

In 2009, a week-long camp for selection and training of resource persons was conducted with the oldest participants there being then 80-year-old Ambika Khare and then 70-year-old Devidutta Chaturvedi. Both were retired school teachers who performed the best and were selected. From 2009 onwards, every year the camps were held every Sunday for the winter months of November to February, with 30 participants for each camp and about 500 participants largely comprising children covered every year. The two had an old connection of teacher and student – Devidutta sir was a student of Ambika sir. Their relationship dated back to the 1950s and they continued to work as a team all their life. They said, “Humko na daam chahiye na naam, hum chahte hain karna keval kaam [Don’t want money nor fame, we just want to work]”.

Ambika sir, as he was fondly called, taught mathematics, science and English, and almost everybody in Panna was his student. An educationist to the core, he set up a school following the philosophy of Aurobindo, which, even today is run within his extended house premises in Panna town.

This work did not go unrecognised. Ambika Khare and Devidutta Chaturvedi received the prestigious Sanctuary Asia 2016 Earth Heroes ‘Green Teacher’ Award. This national recognition was a highly cherished one for both. Being well aware of their advancing years, they trained Manish Rawat and Bhavani Patel, school teachers from Panna, to carry on their noble work.

I met Ambika Khare for the first time around 2014 when I was working on a children’s book about Panna Tiger Reserve with Mr Murthy. We built our narrative through the eyes of Khare Sir and Chaturvedi Sir, and through a teenage girl who has participated in the Panna nature camp. It was just impossible to imagine Panna and its children without the duo.

In the last four to five years, while a back problem kept Chaturvedi Sir restricted largely to his home, Ambika Khare, despite his advancing age, continued to participate in outdoor activities and camps. His enthusiasm was infectious and his love and curiosity for nature unending as he continued to engage with the education of Panna’s children.

This inspiring man and his student nurtured generations of young naturalists. They are the foundation upon which Panna thrives.
I remember there was a programme in Panna during the launch of the Panna Nature Camps in 2019, where earlier attendees were present in large numbers. While they were asked to stand up and share their experiences, a saree-clad shy woman stood up and said that she fondly remembered the first nature camp that she was a part of. Today, she is a school teacher in Panna, and is taking forth what she had learnt in the camp.

I last met Ambika Khare in the last week of December 2019 when I spent a day in Panna meeting up old friends. He was as always dressed in his dapper safari suit, with smart white shoes, a welcoming smile, exuding an openness, curiosity and gentleness. There are innumerable lessons that one can take from a man of this stature. But the one that remains with me is his unique contribution to Panna’s revival for over a decade starting at the young age of 80! Through his students, his family, the institutions he created his life’s work, which will continue to live on and thrive.

Two cubs of the first litter survived to adulthood, and as per the 2018 national tiger survey, Panna had 31 tigers. But the future of Panna is at stake due to the Ken-Betwa River Linking project.

However, while the whole of Panna and Panna lovers across the country were gearing up to celebrate Panna’s unique Tiger Birthday on April 16, it is poignant that Ambika Sir passed away on this very day. Knowing him, I am sure his message would have been to do everything to save Panna and Ken.

(Written by Peeyush Sekhsaria, amateur naturalist, co-author ‘Our Tiger’s Return – The Story of Panna Tiger Reserve’; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

As a child, I fancied having a huge garden to myself and despite several attempts, I faced tough luck in growing mango plants at home. After extracting the juicy pulp, for years we have been discarding the skin and seed of the mango. I felt sad thinking about the number of seeds that are going to waste and wondered if there was any way they could be used. It was only a few years ago that I finally got myself to do something about it.

I began researching the seed to know more about how to germinate it at home and if it is even possible to grow a mango plant from the seed of the fruit without processing it. After all, it was the child in me waiting to taste success to have a mango plant of my own.

It took some failed attempts but when I finally learnt the right way to germinate a mango seed, it began feeling that with every wasted seed, there’s a sapling I am losing which has the potential to turn into a tree. And it wasn’t even nearly possible for me to house saplings at home for all the mangoes we, as a family, consumed. This got me thinking if the seeds of a mango are consumable and what health impacts does it have.

To my surprise, mango seeds have been used for years in Indian cuisine as a post-meal mouth freshener, and more importantly, in powdered form, they are considered a good choice for people battling high blood pressure and cholesterol. After this knowledge, I frantically saved every seed to either germinate or process it to make it consumable.

It has been 3 years now since I grew my first mango sapling at home and the plant is thriving on my terrace garden. However, it was during the previous year when the experience and learning took an interesting turn in the growth chart. While the lockdown and uncertainty around COVID-19 loomed, I experimented with different methods on how to germinate the mango seed from the fruit.

With one particular method, I ended up successfully germinating more than 30 seeds with barely any resources.

All that I needed were mango seeds, a bagful of coconut fiber (coir), water and a container with a lid. After the seeds began germinating—since I did not have many small pots immediately available—I used milk packets to plant them so that it would be easy to give the saplings away to any person who has space to plant it in soil.

Based on several attempts, here is the easiest method with a high success rate:

Step 1: After devouring the pulp of the mango seed, clean its hard shell.

Step 2: Carefully cut open the shell without damaging the inner seed.

Step 3: Peel off the thin brown layer on the smaller seed and wash it clean.

Step 4: In a container with some coconut fiber (coir), place the washed seed and sprinkle water so that the coir absorbs it.

Step 5: Cover the container with a lid and place it in the shade.

Step 6: Sprinkle some water every few days if the coir is dry. Ensure that the water is just enough to keep the coir moist and there is not too much of it.

In just a few days, the seed should begin to sprout and in 10 days, the seed should grow inch-long roots with a stem popping out in the other direction. It can then be planted in a small pot and covered with potting mix, and placed in an area with a lot of sunlight to watch it turn green into a healthy sapling.

The germinated mango seeds do not take too long to give their first few leaves after they’re potted, so there is something new to watch out for every week in the garden. The first 30 days of the seed’s journey are a fascination to watch. So, next time before you drop the seed into the bin, think again.

Regarding the skin of the fruit, ever since I began mixing it with a little mud and keeping it in a closed lid, there has been a free supply of nutrient rich compost at home. Moreover, the brownie points for saving it from contributing to the pile of landfill waste is always an added bonus.

(Written by Naina Sarda, Cloud functional Consultant; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

India is looking to phase out its single-use plastics by 2025. But how will we manage to overcome this Herculean feat when the country consumes over 3.3 million metric tonnes of plastic a year?

On 11 March, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change issued the draft Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules 2021 in which they proposed a blanket ban on a number of plastic items, amongst other things.

This follows India’s announcement at the 2019 United Nations Environment Assembly, where it piloted a resolution calling for a global phase-out of single-use plastics by 2025.

Reducing Plastic Waste

These amendments to the Plastic Waste Management Rules of 2016 seek to improve the collection, segregation, refining, treatment, and disposal of plastic waste in a sustainable manner. This will in turn reduce waste generation and its environmental effects. Although a number of State Governments have already issued their own notifications prohibiting the use of disposable carry bags and single-use plastic, this move by the Central Government is a welcome step towards a unifying effort.

Moving towards sustainable and environmentally conscious management of waste is an important priority and reducing single-use plastic is the first step towards this.

Internationally, both Agenda 2030 and the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) also aim towards reduction of plastic, with SDG 12 being “to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”. An integral part of SDG 12 is reduction of plastic waste, and implementing this Notification will hopefully help further this goal.

It is also crucial that we make our voices heard and do our duty as environmentally conscious and responsible citizens.

The People’s Perspectives

A total of 28 respondents contributed to the Amendments to Plastic and Waste Management Rules that formally closed on 11 May 2020. While most individuals supported the ban and felt like it was a progressive step taken by the government, some offered a holistic view of the implications of a policy like this.

Mridula Joshi, founder of Ullisu, a sustainable product business, says, “We need to culturally prepare the public about the plastic ban. They need to empathise with it, rather than fear it. Therefore I feel a law like this needs to be implemented gradually as opposed to a blanket ban.”

Another environmental activist, Aakash Ranison, feels that this ban will come as a respite on the waste-pickers and others directly working in this industry due to the harmful chemicals they deal with on a regular basis. Given that plastic comes from crude oil, he says, “We’re already too late to stop climate change. Hence, there should be no further delay to pass a law like this.”

A lot of respondents were also able to provide positive resolutions and suggestions that might strengthen the result of such a policy. They feel like providing smaller businesses with an incentivised plastic alternative, encouraging alternate sources of livelihood and placing the packaging industries under restrictions might help create a ripple effect for India to stop using plastic and start thinking sustainably.

The Notification Calls For:

• Complete prohibition on the use of plastic bags, sheets or like with thickness less than 50 microns.
• No longer using plastic sachets for storing, packing or selling gutkha, tobacco and pan masala.
  Banning the import, sale, use, and manufacture of single-use plastics across the country due to their high environmental effects and impact on marine habitats
• Expanding the scope of application of the 2016 Rules to include brand-owners and plastic waste processors (recyclers, co-processors, etc).

The 2021 Rules also add new definitions to the law. Non-woven plastic bags are to be defined as plastic bags made up of sheet or web-structured fabric of entangled fibers or filaments bonded together by mechanical, thermal, or chemical means. Non-woven fabric is defined as a flat or tufted porous sheet that is made directly from fibres, molten plastic, or plastic films. And Plastic Waste Processing is defined as any process by which plastic waste is handled for the purpose of reuse, recycling, co-processing or transformation into new products.

The largest provision in this notification is the ban on single-use plastic, through manufacture, distribution, stocking, sale and use of certain products will be prohibited in two phases. The first phase begins on 1 January 2022, when products like earbuds, plastic flags, and candy sticks, among others, will be banned. The second phase, from 1 July 2022, bans single-use plastics, including plates, cups, glasses, and cutlery, invitation cards, cigarette packets, and plastic banners of less than 100 micron.

You can help shape policies like these by giving your comments to the Central Government in the form of a response — whether it’s an addition, an implementation idea, or something else. At Civis, we’ve created a space where you can discuss the issue with other concerned citizens and submit your responses directly without the hassle of worrying about the method. Head on over to civis.vote to do your part, and speak to the government.

(Written by Kopal Mital, Arushi Sethi, Manasa Kashi, Research Fellows at Civis; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

It was a March afternoon when a young couple in a village of Tamil Nadu was busy caressing plants at its farm. The word which comes to mind after seeing their farm is ‘jungle’. When we met the couple, my first question to them was, “Why are you here amidst these plants when the entire country is frightened and indoors because of the pandemic?”

A smiling young gentleman replies, “These plants are our annadata [food provider] and this field is our food basket – 100 per cent pure and natural. We are concerned about the virus but this entire field is our life and our source of eternal peace.”

Harivartha Prajeeth, a postgraduate in Electronic Media from Pondicherry University and a well-paid ex-employee of a multinational company, decided to return to his village for farming. Later, his wife Dr Mangayarkarasay Leela, an MBBS, also known as Dr Manga, joined him. “It was a well thought out and wise decision. Being in tune with nature and making the world aware about natural food, natural farming, and healthy living is most satisfying,” says Dr Manga.

The art of ‘do nothing’ farming

The couple has been following ‘natural farming’ practices since 2017. Their 3-acre farm in the native village of Dr Manga, Ramanathpurama, in the Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu, has been their ‘karmabhumi’ [place of work]. Following Fukuoka’s method of natural farming and permaculture, the couple neither plough nor use any fertilizer or pesticide in their farm. They use the broadcast method for seeding without following any specific patterns and believe that wherever the seeds fall, they carve their way and grow naturally. They find indigenous varieties easier to grow and manage. Seed saving of traditional varieties has been the major objective and activity of their farming.

“When I first took over this piece of land, I planted watermelons. It is said that harvested watermelon seeds are impotent. So, we left a few harvested watermelons in the field for the wild pigs. The wild pigs ate the fruit and left their droppings in the ours and the surrounding fields. Next year, we found watermelon plants germinating in different fields. Farmers of the surrounding area were surprised to notice this,” says Prajeeth.

Instead of deep ploughing they prefer mulching and creating a layer of top-soil by using fallen green and dry leaves and then plant seeds. By doing so soil erosion was avoided and also provided much-needed nutrients for seeds to germinate and plants to grow. Many farmers have been visiting them and learning about their way of farming.

Sivaraman, a young farmer from the same village says, “Many of us have used their techniques and they are not only cheap but very useful also.”

“We call it ‘do-nothing farming’, and it works”, says Dr Manga.

After the farm operations, the couple watch birds hopping from one plant to another. They considered this an effective way of increasing soil fertility and seed multiplication. They have earmarked a small area on the farm which is like a natural habitat for birds and insects.

At first, Prajeeth was hesitant to share how they chanced upon the idea of farming and natural farming but after being mildly cajoled by his wife, he says, “The reason is personal. I was seriously ill and I and the doctors were almost hopeless. However, a miracle happened and I recovered. After I was discharged from the hospital, I decided to do something different which would not only keep me closer to nature but would also give me eternal peace. I left my cushy job in 2015 and started farming.”

Asked why not traditional farming and why natural farming?

He says, “Although I was doing organic farming, I wanted to do something different and kept exploring options. I had read a book titled — The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming, by Masanobu Fukuoka and was quite impressed. The idea of natural farming itself was inspiring. I discussed this with a few of my close friends and most of them advised me against it. However, my resolve was firm and finally I started natural farming in 2017. Since then, there has been no looking back.”

According to the farmer couple, organic farming requires a lot of manpower and resources which are usually difficult for small farmers to arrange, and there is still no structured market for organic products in the country that can ensure the right price to the farmers. The couple’s basic premise of their farming was ‘minimum cost and maximum nutrition,’ and Fukuoka’s permaculture method was found the most appropriate.

Encouraging livelihoods

They grow green gram, black gram, groundnut, millets, roselle, jackfruit, banana, coconut, guava, and vegetables. Their guava harvest is very popular among the locals because of its taste. They harvest around 40 kg of guava every alternate day during the season. “In April, in addition to guava, we sold coconut, pumpkin, jackfruits, and bananas for Rs 20,000. Overall, we make Rs 40,000 to Rs 45,000 per month from farming,” informs Prajeeth.

Their ‘do nothing farming’ has opened small but sustainable opportunities for businesses too. They prepare ‘fresh-from-farm’ baskets of homemade groundnut balls, ragi balls, roselle jam, seasonal fruits and vegetables, tea bags, and other herbs.

These baskets are sold at a price ranging from Rs 300 to Rs 500 per basket, depending on the products and the season to the customers through their partner organisations. Their fresh-from-farm baskets have entered homes in Chennai and Pondicherry. “The taste of our products is natural, and the shelf-life is also more than that from chemical-using farms,” Dr Manga says.

Asked about their profits, Dr Manga smiles and replies, “We don’t calculate profits. We don’t use any external inputs and we sell all the products at a reasonable price.”

To scale up production, they have joined hands with Gratitude Farm Private Limited of Auroville which delivers organic vegetables, fruits and other food products in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring states. “We have now linked seven more farmers in this area and we have started supplying products to them. We have named our organisation as ‘farmer cloud’ and it is doing quite well, though we have just made a beginning,” Prajeeth says.

Subhalaxmi, a school teacher in one of the senior secondary schools in Chennai explains, “After I visited their farm once, I have become an ardent admirer of their farming style and a happy customer. Their naturally grown fruits have unique tastes and are easily digestible too.”

As more and more people want to learn more about their model they have started training youth in their farming practices. Their field-based sessions are well attended and create a lot of interest. Now, even farmers of surrounding districts have started visiting their farms. Till date, more than 500 youth have undergone their training.

While the model looks interesting and sustainable, the question remains — can it be scaled up for commercial purposes? “As patience and belief in nature and natural products are hard to come by and commercial farming demands more from less, it has not become as popular as we hoped. Though there are very few who have joined us till date, we are sure if farmers and families start practicing on smaller scales, they will find it’s worth it. But yes, for us, ‘do nothing farming’ is an art of living and not a way of farming,” says Dr Manga before signing off.

(Written by Swetapadma Rout, a student of Master of Business Administration (Rural Management) and Niraj Kumar, a professor of Rural Management at XIM University, Bhubaneswar; Edited by Yoshita Rao)

“Four walls can’t stop women from being astounding and many of them have already made their mark against the grain,” says Pravasini Batakar, a 33-year-old from Odisha’s Kandhamal district.

In a rare display of commitment to improve the tribal population’s access to health services in remote areas, she is helping underprivileged communities in Tumudibandha block get access to basic healthcare facilities.

Tribes in Kandhamal mostly live in hilly terrain and forested areas where they endure poor infrastructure with no roads and telephone connectivity. This often becomes a barrier to accessing healthcare. Pravasini knew that working in these areas would be tough for her. Because transportation services in these areas are squat and tribal communities often follow rigid socio-cultural norms and traditional healing practices. But, she wasn’t concerned about that and extended her services keeping in mind those in need.

Tribal and other marginalised communities cannot thrive without good health and the onset of the pandemic has further pushed them to the fringes.

So, Pravasini’s role is now more significant than ever before.

She says, “Undernutrition is the core of all health problems for them and the inequality of access to health facilities also adds to a higher maternal and child mortality rate.”

“So, ever since I joined, I vowed to help these communities so that they get access to basic healthcare service at their doorstep,” Pravasini adds.

In 2018, Pravasini worked as a ‘Jansathi’—grassroot worker which translates to ‘friend of the people’—with Jeebika Suraksha Mancha, a people’s collective of the non-profit Atmashakti Trust. But after working for three months, she showed her interest to work on the Malnutrition-Free Villages project of the organisation, under which Health-Kit was being formed

Since then, she has been working as a ‘Health Animator’ under the Health-Kit intervention — a community-owned model that aims to provide basic preventive medicine to the community through the trained village-based Swasthya Sathi (health worker) and links them with the state and central government’s existing health schemes. The Sathi does everything from maintaining registers to supporting government health workers in the village.

There are 21 varieties of basic preventive medicines available in the kit.

Unlike many others, Pravasini is not privileged enough to provide this service only out of her good will. She comes from a humble background and needs to support her family. Despite that austerity, she would make 2-3 rounds of the villages every day, to monitor the work of 76 male and 37 female Swasthya Saathis in Tumudibandha block and educate villagers about the importance of healthcare. During the rainy season, she even has to cross streams and waterways to reach these villages.

Pravasini further adds, “Women and adolescent girls in these communities usually hesitate to share their health issues with the family, especially with male members, due to their social settings but they are able to share everything with me, a woman. This helps me know their needs and create a space to guide them.”

Villagers and the people’s representatives are all praise for Pravasini as a do-gooder.
“Earlier, for treating a minor fever or headache, we had to travel 8 to 10 kilometres to reach a Primary Health Centre, established by the government. It was expensive as we spent the entire day and also spent Rs 200 to 500 per visit. Coming down from the hills for treatment is also a difficult task. Sometimes, when we reach the hospital, we come to know that medical professionals are not available. But we don’t have to do that now thanks to Pravasini and her team who came to our village and motivated people to form a Health-Kit. Today, we are able to avail medicine for common ailments [like fever, cold, diarrhea, headache and cough] from the same. Her team is also persistently educating and counselling people about health, which itself is an empowering exercise,” says Sasmita Majhi, Sarpanch of Guma Gram Panchayat.

Majhi adds, “The State Government should also make similar efforts to serve the unmet health needs of these communities in cut-off areas where referral transportation services of the government such as 102 and 108 [the Free Referral Transport Services and Free Emergency Ambulance Service, respectively] are mostly unavailable.”

“Pravasini’s job does not end here. She also educates people about the ill effects of child marriage, menstrual hygiene and motivates people to develop backyard kitchen gardens to meet the balanced nutritional requirement of these families,” says Nityananda Thanapati, programme manager of Malnutrition-Free Villages project that has helped 181 villages of over 21,000 villagers in four blocks in Kandhamal.

“Research reports and our long work experience with these communities give away that tribes often experience poor access to health and wellbeing. That made us propose the Health-kit, a cost-effective and community-owned healthcare model to cater to their essential health needs. So, it is heartening to witness that the model is being accepted well by people across the vicinity where the role of women like Pravasini and Swasthya Sathis are catalytic. We need more such women like her,” says Ruchi Kashyap, Executive Trustee of Atmashakti Trust, the organization which works with Jeebika Suraksha Mancha for the implementation of the project.

(Written by Naba Kishor Pujari, a Bhubaneswar-based freelance journalist and a development professional; Edited by Yoshita Rao)