Model
Village: People’s friendly village (Janmitra Gaon)
This plan of action
is based on the decision taken jointly by JMN & CRY to concentrate on only
three intervention areas such as Baghawanala, Shivrampur and Belwa. These areas
are selected by JMN to make model villages and slum for child rights. Other
than model building, JMN will focus on mobilizing Boonkars (Weavers),
Dastakar (Artisans), Mushars and Nats
in Varanasi district for the protection, promotion and fulfillment of their
livelihood rights and Human Rights in general and Child Rights in particular.
Specific objectives
of the Model Village:
The specific
objectives of the project are to build up two villages and one urban slum as
models for child rights through taking up the following specific activities:
Right to Development:
·
To ensure all children to
access the pre-primary, primary schools of the government and middle schools of
area. (But we cannot bind the rich people to send their children in Government
schools.)
·
To ensure quality education
to all children.
·
To ensure 100% enrollment,
retention in educational institutions available now and beyond.
·
To activate for complete
activation of VECs.
·
To take in to mainstream
the Physically Challenged Children.
Right to Survival:
- To ensure 100%
immunization of children and pregnant women.
- Activation of
all SCs and PHCs.
- To ensure the
regular health check ups of pregnant women and children.
·
To ensure active
participation of Panchayat Health Committees.
·
To ensure the citizenship
& identity of each & every individual focusing on Dalits and
marginalized.
·
Abolition of starvation
and malnutrition.
·
To
reduce the child mortality rate by 50 percent, MMR by 75 percent and IMR by 25
percent.
Right to
Protection:
- To ensure land
rights of Dalits and minorities.
- To ensure
protection of Human Rights of Dalits.
- To ensure
minimum wages of unorganized labour.
- Put an end to
the bondage of children in particular and their parents in general.
- Eviction of
self proclaimed upper caste from GS land and distribution of these among
landless marginalised families.
- Suitable
implementation of Land Ceiling Act and distribution of surplus land among
landless, especially Dalits.
- To ensure
protection of rights of the weavers.
- Suitable
implementation of government’s employment schemes.
- To raise demand
‘Education for All and Work for All’.
- Building
awareness among the people of their rights and duties.
- Sensitizing the
Local Self Government and demand their participation in the struggle
toward establishment of CR.
- To ensure 100%
elimination of child labour in these village and slum.
- Building
people’s campaign against Injustice & exploitation.
- To ensure
maximum attendance of people and participation of people in Gram Sabha
meetings as stipulated in the Panchayati Raj Act.
- To reduce the
marriages by 100% below 16 years and reduce the marriages by 50% between
the age of 16-18 years including Gauna.
Right to
Participation:
- Ensuring
participation of the children in decision making process in the village
- Encouraging
children to build children’s parliament.
- Mobilizing
youths in all campaigns against injustice.
The activities mentioned above are our parameters/targets, which
has been derived from the Millennium Development Goals, targets set by Planning
commission.
Grassroots intervention in
field of Human Rights Development and Democracy (Janmitra Village): (Policy to
Practice)
Campaigns
are very important, but this alone is not enough: implementation & change
at grassroots should never be assumed & require additional activity.
A
narrow focus can be effective in getting an issue formulated but problems
caused by poverty are more complex. If the campaign is not widened out at a
later stage it is unlikely to achieve effective change. The challenge comes if
there is desire to go beyond informing the grassroots of what is good for them
towards ensuring real change as well as engagement & empowerment at
grassroots which will develop civil society with potential influence on much
other issue. Work at this level- to change attitudes & behaviors & to
build capacity & skills need a lot of thrust & require non hierarchical
organization with close personal contact.
Jan Mitra Gaon is a village where every individual is
assured of his or her social, economic, political and cultural rights as per
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is living together within the
society without any form of discrimination.
PVCHR believes in participatory activism, which will
mean collective demand generation and social transformation.
Concept of Jan Mitra
Village
Background:
The feudal system
prevalent in eastern U.P. has always suppressed the proper growth and
development of dalits and the weaker sections in society. This feudalism is the
reason behind the marginalisation of the dalits and it has always prevented
them from being able to attend schools from generation to generation forcing
them to work as child labour, bonded labour, etc. from a very early age. The
feudalistic society has always found it convenient to keep such a margin in the
society so that their ‘interest’ is safeguarded at all times. It is high time
that dalits are empowered and the weaker sections in the society labour,
opening a door for the vulnerable groups to do schooling and is given the
necessary opportunities to rise to the mainstream of society.
Jan Mitra Gaon is a
concept of the people, by the people and for the people. The idea was formed by
studying the grassroots problems through discussions and by taking up the
problems with Administration, human rights bodies’ etc. over a period of five
years. Focus was given to issues like child rights, land rights, dalits etc.
One might reach a policy through practice. However, for real grassroots level
change, advocacy alone is not enough, but one has to come down from policy to
practice which is seriously lacking from the present day society. People
friendly village concept is being developed by fusion of village republic
concept of Gandhi and social democratic critic of Dr. Ambedakar .Jan
Mitra concept has a three pronged functional system:
(a)Jan
Mitra Educational Concept.
The
word “education” is derived from Latin, meaning “to lead or draw out”. That is
to say, to lead or draw out the potential we all posses; to stimulate awareness
of what we really are: beings with limitless capacity for courage, wisdom,
compassion and bliss; beings who are inter-women with all others and yet
completely individual; being who, as the jewels in the myth of Indra’s net,
both reflect all others within themselves yet also create them.
We
need a method of education to liberate us from servitude to the market and all
its wares, and free us to fulfill our potential.
Depending upon the
situation in various villages, it envisages activating of Creche where parents
of young children who are engaged as agricultural labourers, weavers etc. can
leave in these crèches. This will also enable the older girl children to attend
school instead of remaining in the houses looking after the youngsters in the
absence of their parents; this will also create a friendly environment for the
pre-primary school children to go to formal schools on attaining the age of 6.
This will act as a deterrent for the parents for not engaging their children as
child workers. Under this concept people friendly centers will also be opened
for children & adult. Reactivating the formal primary schools and health
centers is another important aspect of the Janmitra concept. Thus, education
under Jan Mitra concept will break the cycle of poverty, improve equity,
empower women, and create health awareness and moreover improved democracy and
accountability.
(b) Organisational Development of Marginalised Groups : The PVCHR Village Committee
will consist of 50% or more members from dalits, women, children and minorities
and this Committee will be overall responsible for the successful
implementation of the concept. It is the responsibility of this Committee to
motivate the marginalized groups to fight Panchayat elections, which will be a
major break through for such groups to come to the mainstream of society. The
community will be made to fight for their own rights, make collective demands,
fight for their land rights, rights to life with dignity etc. They will also be
motivated and encouraged to take up collective issues with human rights bodies,
etc. under the campaign programme.
This Committee will be responsible for the setting up of a
children panchayat under which a children chaupal will be organized every
month. The Panchayat will be formed parallel to village Panchayat. The Children
panchayats in all the villages children and forward them directly to the
President of India.
(c)
Jan
Mitra Village Committee:
The
marginalized groups will be brought to the mainstream of society through the
Panchayat system, especial focus on Gram sabha and this will enable them to
bargain for their rights on a sustainable basis.
If
elected panchayat head is pro-people then Jan Mitra village committee will
formed for making the model village. If the elected panchayat goes against
marginalized people, then CBOs will lead the movement in positive direction and
will fight for the rights of marginalized people.
(4)Collaboration It is clear that no one organization can
effectively campaign at all different levels, which often requires very
different attitudes, strategies & skills. To achieve this complex mix of
work, different types of organizations are called for collaboration between
them and these different organizations can therefore help in moving the
campaign forward.
.
Child
Participation of JMN
Conceptual
Understanding of JMN on Child Participation
JMN considers all children upto
18 years as children. In this feudal society, chief of family takes all
decisions. This phenomenon is available either in patriarchal or matriarchal
family. The structure of family and society is constituted on this
premise. Although the democratic system
of governance has been adopted in this country, but there is no room for
participation of all persons equally. Regarding participation of children, all
adults, families and above all society seem to be diffident. If we closely
observe behaviors of children, we find that children fight among themselves and
become united after sometime. However, this does not happen with adults. Adults
make division in the society on the basis of caste, religion, class and gender
and try to inject this division among children.
JMN considers children as an
integral part of democracy; and their voices need to heard in all decision
making process. However, JMN does not believe in creating anarchy in the name
of democracy. In this context, JMN thinks that individuals including children
make the society. So it is to be seen that some individuals do not take away
rights or enjoy rights at the cost of rights all individuals. In the same vein,
society as a whole does not deprive individuals.
JMN also does not like to form a parallel BAL
Panchayats as that Panchayats. The organization considers that it is the duty
of the government organs to oversee that local panchayats functions properly.
The organization feels that
children should become aware and conscientise about their own rights. And this
conscientisation process should not be imposed on them; rather it should grow
out from them. So there is a need to have sustained dialogues with children to
know their viewpoints about society and after knowing their viewpoints children
should be engaged to dissect of their viewpoints. Such dissection will
facilitate the process of building perspective among children about society.
Activists should learn from children and should engage children for further
learning. Then only programme of children should be designed and implemented.
The organisation likes to
ensure that children should be engaged in curriculum design, teaching and
learning and evaluation of schools. The
organisation believes in creating an environment where every individual
including child can equally and intelligently participate in learning and
exchanging knowledge and ideas.
Right
to Participation
v Children will take decision.
v Children and adults
will take decision jointly.
v Opinions of children
have been taken.
v Children have taken
decision, which have been prescribed or asked.
v Children’s voices are heard and children’s
perspectives are looked into.
Present position of
child participation in JMN
JMN works in two villages:
Belwa and Shivrampur. It also works in urban slums- Baghawanala.
Belwa: There is a Bal
Panchayat in this village which is known as Sant Kabir Bal Panchayat. This BAL
Panchayat stands in fourth category.
Shivrampur:
This village has also a BAL Panchayat, which is known as
Dr. B.R. Ahmedkar. Maximum members are school going Dalits and other backward
castes children.
Baghawanala: There is a Bal
Panchayat in this slums,which is known as Munshi Prem Chand Bal Panchayat.
Maximum members of this Panchayats are working children and child labour.
This Panchayat stands in fourth
category.
Who are
members of Bal Panchayats?
Any child in the age
group of 6-14 can become member of Bal Panchayats.
How are
leaders and where does the work would be done?
All children will
elect a coordinator and an assistant coordinator in a village. All coordinators
and assistant coordinators will assemble together at the Panchayat level to
elect a coordinator and assistant coordinators.
What
are the functions of Bal Panchayats?
Bal Panchayats
members will understand child related issues and will develop perspective on
child related issues. Bal Panchayat members will together in every month. They
will organize and agitate along with adult members of the community against
exploitation, violation of child rights.
How does Bal
Panchayas will ensure child participation?
Members
of BAL Panchayat members will reach to all children and sensitise them about
their rights. Members will work towards ensuring participation of all children
in decision-making.
What would be the
role of adults?
The role of the
adults would be facilitator of blooming and ensuring participation of all
children.
Time frame:
Baghawanala: Baghawanala is a
slum dominated area on the bank of Varuna River. There are 175 the most
marginalized families. It will take three years to make it as a model area.
Shivrampur: It is a village in
Harahuwa block of Varanasi, where we have won the pachayat pradhan election.It
will take three years to make it as a model village.
Belwa: It is a village in
Badagaon block of Varanasi. In this village we have been working since 2000.
This is the village, where a man of mafia has been village head for so many
years with out any challenge and fight. Marginalised People of this village had
never been able to exercise their vote independently. We have struggled there a
lot to ensure the right of the marginalized people and for their democratic
rights. (Full story of this village has been enclosed.) It will take three
years to develop the base of a model village, but as for as LSG is concerned it
will take more 2 years to organize
the onslaught movement as last fight against the remnant feudal forces of this
village.
In
Shivarampur and Baghawanala, it might be that it may have taken one year more
or less.
Large area?
We
thing that our area of working for model village is not too large. We have been
working intensively among marginalized communities on priority basis and at
other places we are engaged among backward communities, who are facing fear of
further marginalization. We are trying hard to fight against discrimination on
base of gender and caste, in those areas which are dominated by superstitious
upper caste to encounter against health and education‘s problems. We
are raising the voice of south from village level to global level on behalf of
the politics of South (marginalized communities or countries) against
marginalization or exclusion by feudalism and imperialistic globalization.
Village
Belwa can be taken as a example given as under mentioned:
Belwa
|
Intensive Engagement
|
Engaged
|
Encounter
|
|
Badepur-1500
|
Kotpar-400
|
Tiwaripur
-600
|
|
Musaharn-100
|
Muslims
&OBCs,SC of Belwa Khas
|
Belwa
Khas(upper caste)
|
|
Kharaka-800
|
Badipar-125(SC)
|
Badipar(Brahmin)-575
|
|
Hatia-600
|
Bhamahi-300
|
|
|
Bahapar-100
|
Mahuwatar(ST)
|
|
|
Usarahia-100
|
Dhebuha-500
|
|
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