Sonbhadra

State : Uttar Pradesh
District : Sonbhadra
Peoples Organisation (Sonbhadra Vikas Sangathan)

 Sonbhadra Intervention 

1. Intervention in Sonbhadra

Sonbhadra is the second largest district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the only district in India which shares border with four states namely Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar. Sonbhadra is an industrial zone and is rich in minerals like bauxite, limestone, coal, gold etc. It is called the “Energy Capital of India” because of the presence of many power plants. The Census of India 2011 report of Sonbhadra states that out of the total district population, 22. 64 % are Scheduled Caste (SC) and 20.67 % are Scheduled Tribe (ST). 40 % of the total rural population of Uttar Pradesh resides in Sonbhadra district and Atmashakti’s main focus is to create awareness among the Dalit and Adivasi communities.

Sonbhadra is one of the poorest districts of India. It is spread over 4000 square kilometres, out of which 3700 square kilometres is all forest land. Here, women have scripted a story of the struggle by taking over the land, which they claim is traditionally theirs.

Why we chose MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) as an entry point : MGNREGA act was passed in 2005 under the UPA government of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. The main aim of the act was to enhance livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to every households whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. Under this act, people were given employment in the villages through various works like making roads, dams, canals, ponds, wells etc. The act was a huge success initially but with the allotment of a huge budget, the act came to be misused at various level of the bureaucracy. Since the beneficiaries of the acts was the rural poor, the disadvantaged section, with no access to education and information, the government officials (line officials & their allied public representatives) dealing with the act started manipulating the act for their personal benefits. A major scam of 400 million rupees came into light in 2010.

It was in this backdrop, Atmashakti planned a visit to Sonbhadra in 2014, after which an intervention was started with some like-minded individuals and our intervention has been started.. The main objective was to create awareness among the most marginalized community towards their social, political and economic rights and to link them in the development of the society.

2. Area of Operation 

1. Why Sonbhadra?

Sonbhadra is the only district in India which shares border with four other states. It accounts for 40 % of the total Dalit and Adivasi population of Uttar Pradesh. With almost all the major political parties promising special packages for various regions of the state to garner votes, the situation for those living below the poverty line in the region is as desperate as was a couple of decades back. Sonbhadra has remained poor despite being a revenue-earning district. Revenue level officers are often known to be bribed by politicians or moneyed persons to grab land in their name. In the 1950’s when the area was known to have valuable land, people from across the borders started coming in and claiming the land for themselves, without any legal legitimacy.

Atmashakti had four main reasons to intervene:

1. Highest Dalit and tribal population in the State.
2. Status of food security and livelihood
3. Gaps in implementation of Government schemes for poor and vulnerable
4. MGNREGA Scam

Thus, Atmashakti selected Sonbhadra district for their intervention in Uttar Pradesh.

1. Why Tribal and Dalit? 

The tribal area of Sonbhadra district is Maoist affected and under the burden of poverty. The tribals and Dalit are the most vulnerable section of the community. The forest region has also witnessed industrial growth for several decades. The land of the natives has been lost and things have changed over the areas. The diversion of the forest for industrial expansion, especially power generation has taken a huge toll on the people living there, who are dependent on the forest for their daily survival & livelihood. The total area under forest in Uttar Pradesh is only 9.01 % of the geographical area and population of scheduled tribes in the state is only 0.6 % of the total population. District Sonbhadra, with 37.38 % of geographical areas under forest cover (Forest Survey of India, 2015) and with 20.7 % of the population in the district comprising Scheduled Tribes (Census 2011), both highest in the state, forest is a very valuable asset in terms of Tribal rights under Forest Rights Act, 2006. Unfortunately, resistance movements to their rights being exploited has not gained momentum. Most of the residents were found to be suffering from Tuberculosis and skin diseases. The polluted air and contaminated source of water because of the many industries are making their lives even more difficult. The problem of itching was common among most of the Baiga children.

With every unfolding era of the Indian society, tribal life has been moulded and it has seen different turns which, if analyzed can bring about an existential burden on the female counterpart of the tribal society. If resettlement and migration occur to the urban areas, the problem can be worse. Migration leads to accepting new cultures and adjustment that can be beyond one’s ability and evidences have shown that the burden mainly falls on the female members because it is the mother who mostly stays with the child and passes on the cultural adaptations to children. It might happen that few tribes who work on the patrilineal lines can have different impacts but one has to remember that the overall responsibility of children and nurturing them still falls on the females.

3. Our Objective:

• Ensure constitutional, legal, political, social, cultural, religious, educational, economic and customary rights of the marginalized in Sonbhadra district
• Access to justice and rights through the empowerment of Dalit-Adivasi towards self- sufficiency and self-sustainable economy
• Ensure indigenous community rights in ethnic, linguistic and regional autonomous bodies through participation, organization building and capacity development
• Needs assessment of indigenous and Dalit community keeping in view the socio-cultural settings
• Consistent research of the unique cultural problems and find solutions
• Networking with different village-level organizations and transforming it into a mass federation of Dalit-Adivasi at the state level
• Initiate a process of Dalit-Adivasi cooperative in order to ensure self-sufficiency and financial stability through entrepreneurial initiatives and engagements
• Ensure accountability and transparency right from the village level organization to the federative structure.

4. Key Focus of Intervention

• Formation of People’s collective
• Livelihood
• Women Empowerment
• Rural Education
• Food and Nutritional Security
• Training & Orientation
• Plantation under Hara Bhara Tariya
• Cultural Group formation through UFAAN