During Primitive Tribal Women Panchayat called by Vikas Bharti, 13 community women leaders from native tribes of Jharkhand were felicitated by Chief Minister Raghubar Das for strongly taking the helm of improving standards of education, livelihood and basic amenities in their respective communities. But this strength had to be discovered for it was buried deep in hardships of life.
Cut off from the advancements of the age, growth index for the aboriginal people in Jharkhand had been dismally low, courtesy—absence of employment, education or health facilities, and condition of women from State’s primitive tribes was worse still. This changed after Vikas Bharti we came to know Vikas Bharti, said Raimuni Ginuwar, one of the aboriginal women honoured in the congregation.
Coming from Chulhamati village under Ghaghra Block of Gumla, Raimuni named Vikas Bharti crucial in restraining poverty and illiteracy in her village. Other women who shared stage with her at the congregation also credited Vikas Bharti and its training projects for their new found confidence.
“Previously women of my village did not even left their homes, now we go Block office with our demands and get them fulfilled. We formed a self help group named Sarna Bachat Samooh started a public distribution shop and goat rearing. Presently, we have `15,000 to our name in total,” Raimuni said.
Across the State, Vikas Bharti has been training women to process local produce and raw materials into finished goods. Goat and pig rearing is another field the organisation has trained women in. Education and medical facilities also receive adequate attention.
A para teacher herself, Raimuni encouraged children of her village to attend school. “Children were not interested in studying. I pursued their parents to send their children to school, telling them that if students are there in the school then the teachers will have to come too,” she said.
She further added, “We are now planning to get a road built in our village now as we have to face problems when a expectant woman is to be taken to hospital for delivery. We have been assured by the Block office that we will soon get PCC roads.”