Monthly Archives: May 2021

Manorama, a smart young woman of 32, stays in Patharabandha slum of Bhubaneswar with her family of six members in a tiny house.

Being poor, in order to supplement her family income, Manorama made of her mind to become a chauffeur. Where there is a will there is a way. Fortunately, she got a chance to get enrolled in the Women on Wheels (WoW) programme initiated by CYSD in 2019.

Women on Wheels is an initiative started by the Azad Foundation in Delhi to empower resource-poor women in becoming professional drivers. This programme enabled socially excluded female members of the society to move from the margins to the mainstream.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day (8^th March, 1999), CYSD launched the WoW programme in collaboration with Azad Foundation and Mahindra Finance in Bhubaneswar to train women between 18-35 age group from various slums in the city to become chauffeurs.

After being professionally trained completing one year course she obtained a valid driving licence. Despite several hardships, she had to wait for several months to get engaged in a job to support her family. Luckily, Manorama got a placement in Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) as the Sanitation Vehicle Driver. Now, she drives the sanitation vehicle engaged for disposal of garbage in Ward No. 47 of the city.

Manorama says that her role in the sanitation drive of BMC is important in creating awareness among the citizenry in allotted zone.  She educates people on the difference between dry and damp waste. She also creates awareness on the importance of maintaining cleanliness and sanitation in homes as well as of the environment. So she enjoys the job.

 “I am really happy that I’m able to contribute to the society through the sanitation drive, especially during this deadly Covid-19 pandemic”, shares Manorama

Manorama is truly a COVID Warrior.

Each hypothesis must be open to be tested, and each belief must be verified to establish reliability and validity. Providing psychosocial support in the hinterlands of Odisha with the collaboration of CYSD with three NGOs gave me a clear invitation to either concede or not concede failure—to me, there was no in between at that time; especially with coordinators, NGO partners (Harsha Trust, Gram Vikas and Srushti) and CRPs who had very little exposure to mental health assignments prior to this project.

Collaboration brings strength, learning, and shows us sights beyond what is usually perceivable as the power of ‘you’, ‘me’, ‘us’ and ‘them’. My first hypothesis on the power of collaboration was tested to be true in the due process.

Our initial encounter with the reality in villages was not as encouraging as anticipated. As part of the training design, however, the “prepared to face resistance” mechanism was in-built. Hence, our second hypothesis that people may resist mental health services was validated too. Though a handful of CRPs felt incapable and were suffered their own lack of confidence, a few of them expressed their fear of contamination; while some of them shared their “experience of listening to other’s problems without being able to do anything immediately.”

In the villages, while people wanted material support, we provided psychosocial support; they wanted to know if corona would go soon, we had to prepare them to be able to live with it for as long as a few years; they wanted help in travelling back to their workplaces, we had to sensitize them about their choices; they wanted a job of their choice, we could only inform them about the available government entitlements.

In essence, our CRPs have travelled the road that wasn’t built before. Some of our CRPs and their families tested positive, and attended training whilst in quarantine homes. In particular, Khirodini, one of our CRPs, deserves a big applause for her indomitable spirit. Some of them faced dire network issues which posed a real problem to their online training. The collective efforts of the CRPs are unforgettable.  Many CRPs would walk for miles on the village pathways just to be able to reach out.

Gradually people started sharing their traumatic experiences, serious psychological issues, behavioral challenges, and emotional distress with our CRPs, after almost two months of regular visitation and serious trust-building on the part of our CRPs.  Issues ranged from fear of death to domestic violence; from substance abuse to suicide attempts; stress of sharing space to helplessness in taking care of children and their education.

Uncertainty, fear, grief, loss were the themes leaving majority of people feeling anxious. People didn’t feel the safety of “knowing” how to deal with the pandemic. However, they were not left alone in this battlefield. Our CRPs sensitized them, supported them, and stayed with them to see their journey go from emotionally vulnerable to emotionally resilient. I extended my support personally and professionally to the CRPs to help them deal with their own emotions and get the confidence to assist others.

Gradually, people started asking for repeated meetings with CRPs, for them to come back at convenient times. In fact, many meetings happened in the harvesting fields and yards.

Accommodating all these people and giving each one individual attention also became a challenge. Some families where alcohol-induced violence was a regular phenomenon restricted their women and girls from speaking up. All of these were problems the CRPs themselves had to tackle. Despite resistance and confidentiality concern 324 distress families were attended for psychosocial requirements.

However, every story has an ending—and this doesn’t end with a ‘no’—we found ways to continue providing support through group sessions. An increasing number of people started to become vocal about their emotional vulnerability, thanks to the courage of a particular CRP Hemalata, who conducted thirteen group sessions out of a total of twenty-nine sessions in a span of two months. It was such a profound experience to see 436 SHG members being sensitized on the prevalence of mental health and emotional awareness. Toofan from Gram Vikas literally worked on a war footing mode and contributed to the supervisions through his case presentations.

However, I wonder why, unfortunately enough, most men resisted taking this support. They vocally denied their need for “this kind of help”—or perhaps they were unaware they needed it. The active participation of male CRPs might have helped the situation, and in the future the same will undoubtedly strengthen the connect and ease among male clients. In this regard, Anita Mahanta from Srishti, played a crucial role by involving student communities, where boys could also participate. Truly unique.

An assignment like this brings one community close to another—but at the heart of the story there are individuals; there are personal stories. And in our case, at the heart of our story, were women; pregnant women, women with visible signs of domestic violence, women with empty stomachs who were beaten up every day for not cooking food that suited the tastes of men in their house. To these individual stories, we were witnesses with empathy. To these individual traumas, we were enablers of emotional expression. To these individual minds, we were a container of their pain and struggle.

The road which was unheard-of in August 2020 was almost ready by December 2020; and the travelers of this road ready by the last week of December 2020. They voluntarily reached out to us and declared the existence of mental illnesses in their families; one call led to another. I mention Phulamani with special emphasis here, one of our most resourceful CRPs, who helped the heads of almost seven families get in touch with me and plan for their treatment.

They openly shared “what does it mean to have a mentally ill child, parent or in-law” and desperately wished for intervention. At this crucial juncture—indeed a milestone in itself—we faced a shortage of resources; mainly in the logistics.

At such a time, collaboration between The Director, MHI, Cuttack, CDMO Keonjhar, psychiatrists from Keonjhar Hospital and Psychosocial Support Team from CYSD provided respite and promise to these patients and their families; an ambulance was also arranged, which was instrumental in their access to the due medical infrastructure; it is with great happiness and optimism that I write about their on-going treatment, which has resulted in not only obvious health changes in them, but also in a gradual change in the social mindscape of their families and community.

Last year, when the unprecedented nation-wide lockdown was imposed, hundreds of migrant workers throughout the country lost their livelihood overnight. They had no work, no roof and no food with the blink of an eye. Walking thousands of miles in tattered chappals, migrants with their families marched towards their hometowns in despair in the scorching heat of late March. Some were brought back by the State Governments through trains and buses. These included many who returned to the tribal dominated undivided Koraput district in the southern part of Odisha, including Rayagada district,

Rayagada, covered with dense forest, hills and natural resources, is a home to major tribes like Kandhos, Jhodias and Souras who sustain widely on agriculture and collecting forest produces.Most parts of the district are untouched by development with low level of education and chronic poverty that has led many to migrate to different parts of the country in search of better livelihood options. The push owing to crop loss and heavy debt burden driving them into poverty.

The unforeseen return of large number of migrants posed multiple serious challenges to the state and civil society. Envisaging to ensure and protect the rights and entitlements of migrants in Rayagada, a Migration Support Service Centres (MSSCs) were set up by CYSD in collaboration with UNICEF. MSSC developed a database of migrants on the basis of age, gender and skill sets acquired by them and the details of their employers for tracking, monitoring and response.

The centre facilitated the registration of workers under Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW), MGNREGS and inclusion in entitlements with the help of local government. It also tried to create an environment for inclusion of the children of the migrants in the social welfare schemes of the government, like the ICDS, ICPS, SSA, Kishori Shakti Yojana, Universal Immunization Programme, Biju Kanyaratna Yojana, Banishree, etc.

MSSC undertook activities for skilling and re-skilling of migrants and youths with a focus on prior learning of semi-skill migrants and development in the capacity of local governments towards integrating the needs of migrants, children, women and other distressed groups in Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) and monitoring at the local level.

Harsha Kadraka, a 22-year-old returnee migrant who received Agri-based skill training on Mushroom cultivation from MSSC says that she is excited to sell her mushroom and earn Rs. 700 – 900 daily. “From a distress migrant to a self-employed has only been possible because of CYSD and UNICEF’s joint efforts” says delightful Harsha.
Besides, attempts were also made in strengthening the local institutions including Child protection committees; mobilizing Gram Panchayats (GPs) to strengthen infrastructures for children at Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) and schools, and facilitating community leadership development at source for safe migration.

The centre has been working towards ensuring better policy and programs for migrants in the context of inter-state registration portability of entitlement benefits. It is deeply engaged in exploring the opportunities for expanding and replicating the model.MSSC is currently functional in 10 Gram Panchayats of Kolanara Block of Rayagada district, namely, Kolanara, Rayagada, Suri, Dunduli, Gadiseshkhal, Bada Khilapadar, Jharidi, Bankili, Rekhapadar, Bhoimoda, Katikana covering 114 villages having 44677 population with 10174 HH. The Centre is benefiting 1049 migrants of 147 families from these 10 GPs.

The project is being implemented on the ground with the help of multiple-stakeholders, like concerned Sarpanch of 10 Gram Panchayats, 10 Samiti Sabhya (Members), 118 Ward Members, 10 PEOs, 10 JRS, 113 AWWs, 131 ASHA, 28 ANM, Medical Officer, BDO, WEO, BSSO, District Labour Officer, Block Chairperson, Community Resource Persons (Volunteers of CYSD-UNICEF) are a part of the initiative.

A total of 1046 migrants’ families are involved in this process; and about 586 new born babies have been registered in between January 2020 – December 2021.Initial intervention revealed that more than 5000 people were deprived of their basic social entitlements like, PDS, Pension, health insurance, Aadhar card, job cards, labour cards, Educational scholarships, immunization, birth and death registration, housing, drinking water, electricity and so on. The most affected of them were the migrant families. In order to address this problem, MSSC with multiple stakeholders’ collaboration intervened at the micro level through the ‘Single Window System’.

Nedi Padmabati, a 45-year-old widow from Darabada village in Rayagada district says that she is grateful to have received a ‘Labour Card’ with the support of CYSD and UNICEF. “Being a widow, it has become very hard and worrisome for me to survive amidst Covid-19 pandemic with the burden of nurturing two children of mine”, says Nedi.

The Labour card will make Nedi eligible in obtaining government benefits like; assistance in case of any accident, death benefit, pension, medical expenses for treatment, loans and advances for construction of own house, financial assistance for skill up-gradation, education for children, purchase of working tools, marriage of two dependent daughters and even assistance in funeral expense.Despite several initiatives, the number of distressed migrants has only seen a surge in the last two decades. The lockdown surfaced the problems of migrant workers and highlighted the dire need to ensure safety and security for 60 million people of the country who are inter-state labour migrants.

MSSC is a small joint effort by CYSD and UNICEF in Rayagada to solve the grassroots problems of Migrant returnee in dealing with the tsunami like issue. However, the necessity for similar initiatives holds special importance. It is the time to provide protection and care for greater outcomes. Projects like the MSSC need scale up, technical support and assistance in this mean time when the second wave of COVID-19 has already hit the state.