Camp in Tehri Garhwal reveals ignorance
The government has initiated various schemes and policies in order to provide sustainability to the under-privileged people. The irony is, majority of the rural population are devoid of the benefits earned from these schemes and the reason behind this backlog is ignorance and lack of information. The Soochna Seva team witnessed one such case of ignorance when they conducted a camp in Sivir village in Narendra Nagar block of Tehri Garhwal district. The team met Purushottam Singh; he was a farmer and also worked as a manual labourer. During off-season he worked under various contractors and often did not receive money in time. He thought of migrating to other states in order to earn more but he was hesitant about leaving his family and the village. The veil of ignorance was lifted when he learned about the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) during the camp. This scheme provides unskilled work to the labourers in their hometown and prevents migration. It ensures livelihood security in rural areas by providing 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer so that they can do unskilled manual work. During the session the team also explained about the importance of job card and the process to fill up the form for NREGA. After a week went by, the team acted on Purushottam’s case. They helped him to fill up the form to apply for a job card and also assisted him in obtaining it from the block development office. Today Purushottam is working under NREGA and is receiving money directly in his bank account. He feels that this decision of not leaving the village was a good one because these days he is getting money in time and the money is sufficient enough to feed his family. He was thankful of the Soochna Seva team and appreciated their efforts in reaching out the most marginalised sections of the society and empowering them.
AASHA workers find help in Soocha Sevaks
On a hot summer afternoon on July 29, 2015, two Soochna Sevaks in Guna district visited the Sub Primary Hospital of Umri village and met AASHA workers who expressed their grievance of not receiving their salaries for the last three months. Understanding the urgency of the situation as the families of most of these workers depend on them financially, Soochna Sevaks contacted the Block Medical Officer Ms Sarojini J Baig. She without delay asked them to contact Mr Durgesh Sharma, in-charge of clearing the payment of AASHA workers in the block. The team contacted Mr Durgesh and also asked him to interact with AASHA workers to know about their grievances. He assured that the payment would be regularised from the next month. He guaranteed that the salary of past three months will be deposited in their accounts in a couple of days. Three days later, on August 2, 2015, Rajaram Dhakkad, one of the Soochna Sevaks, phoned an AASHA worker Anju Rajput to know the status of their salary. She told him that the action did wonders in no time and their salary was in their account the very next day. She thanked the team and praised their smart efforts to sort out their problem.
Saving livestock in Ranchi
Simon Tirki was once a flourishing farmer of Semra village in Itki block of Ranchi district. Due to his old age he stopped going to the field and began keeping livestock to generate some income to survive. Problems sneaked into Simon’s house when his goats died and he could not do anything to save them. He had no knowledge about seasonal diseases and the precautions that were meant to be taken care of. Soon his woes came to an end during a vaccination camp conducted by the Soochna Seva team in his village. At first, Simon did not come with his cattle, as he thought that the camp will be of no use to him. But the team encouraged and informed him about the importance of vaccination camp. Simon acted immediately and within half-an-hour he returned with his cattle and vaccinated all the goats and oxen. He was also informed that within 6 months it is important to vaccinate the cattle. He also learned the methods to increase the productivity of the cattle by seeking artificial medicines. The vaccination camp was a successful one for the team and also acted as a soothing balm for Simon. He gave his gratitude to the Soochna Seva team for saving his cattle. After the event was over, Simon invited the team to his house for dinner.
Helping locals write formal complaints
Locked doors, jammed windows, empty corridors and a vast stretch of pastures spread inside the premises of the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Bakhri village tells a sorry tale of reckless management. People of Bakhri village in Ramnagar block of West Champaran complained to a Soochna Sevak, “The health centre remains closed almost all the time. Even if it opens, it is of no use in absence of beds, medicines and ambulance service.” Soochna Sevak mentored the locals in writing a complaint detailing their problems to the District Magistrate of West Champaran and forwarded a copy of the letter to other concerned departments. Indentifying the urgency of the issue, the DM visited the public health centre and found out that the PHC staff rarely visit the centre. They forge their attendance and collect salaries for doing nothing worthwhile. He put the squeeze on the concerned officials and instructed them to arrange the required amenities at the health centre. The intervention bore effective result soon. The PHC is now in its pink of health.
Bringing hope in Barmer
Soochna Seva team has been working extremely hard towards the betterment of society by making people aware of the rights and opportunities provided by government for making one’s life sustainable. One such effort came into light from Kuship village of Ramdev Nagar block in Barmer district. Here Soochna Seva team helped Gabri Devi to obtain Pension Plan Order (PPO) card for Old Age Pension Scheme that she has applied three months ago. Gabri Devi Meghwal is a 50-yr-old woman and she married Mangaram Meghwal(57) around thirty years ago and they have been working as daily wage labourers since then. Poverty coupled with hunger and old age has made their life miserable. They do not have aadhar card and BPL card and due to this they live without electricity connection. Gabri Devi cannot see properly at night and hence she finds it difficult to carry out her daily chores after evening. Also, her declining age has weakened her bones and she could not do much of physical labour. Even Managaram is old and he cannot look after his wife alone. The couple manages to earn rupees 1200 through NREGA and at times earn around 600 to 700 rupees by working in someone’s field or by doing some other odd jobs. They do not have any caretaker as they are childless. To help her out Soochna Seva team met her during a camp in Ramnagar block of Barmer district. Along with other villagers the team collected documents from her and pushed the application further for approval. Since, Gavri Devi is 55-yrs-old and under the provisions of Rajasthan government she is eligible for Old Age Pension plan. So, on July 7, 2015 the Soochna Seva team distributed Pension Plan Order (PPO) to 22 people in Barmer district. Receiving a PPO card is not at all an easy process, as it involves 6 levels of permissions from government offices right from the panchayat to the district level. Among the people who received their PPO cards was Gavri Devi Meghwal. The amount that she will be receiving will get deposited in her bank account in State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, opened under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna by the help of Soochna Seva team.