Specially Written for Vikalp Sangam
As we drive through the dense jungles of Jim Corbett National Park, I see sign boards with faces of tigers all along the way. I wonder if a tiger would cross our path that day. Unfortunately or fortunately, none does. I am with Shankar Datt who is taking me to a remote region called Sult, which is nested in the ‘buffer zone’ of the National Park in Uttarakhand. As we move along, I am trying to paint a mental picture of the place before we reach. It takes us about 4 hours to reach Sult from Rudrapur, the industrial town of Uttarakhand. Sult comprises about 256 villages with about 138 panchayats with an official population around fifty thousand, although many have migrated out for work and the real population is estimated to be about half of that, mostly consisting of women, children and the elderly. As we enter the region, I see small villages sprinkled across the region like white drops in the green forest blanket. Shankar is one of the founding members of Shramyog, the initiative that was started in 2011 by him and Ajay Kumar who wanted to empower the people of Sult. Shramyog has been trying a unique experiment to empower the women and youth of the region to tackle day-to-day and long term issues facing them.
When we reach Sult, Shankar generously invites me to a cup of tea at his home, where his parents live. Shankar was born in this region and had an interesting life journey. He moved out of his village for further education and work, but unlike many decided to come back to his roots and serve his own people. “We started Shramyog with a vision of an exploitation-free society where we live in harmony with nature and others. We wanted Shramyog to be a people’s organization that is driven by the needs of the people and run by the people. That is why we don’t take any external support that is not in alignment with the needs of people”, Shankar emphasizes. “So when we came here we went to the people and asked what they wanted. We organized a walk called ‘Adhyayan Yatra’, which went from village to village and tried to understand their needs and aspirations.” They observed that there was very little participation by the people initially. That is when they realized the first step is to organize people. They soon started organizing the women in the villages and formed what is now called the “Rachantmak Mahila Manch’ (Creative Women’s Platform) – a group of women who now meet regularly and discuss issues, exchange knowledge and take collective action. Over the years, this group of women have taken up many issues, small and big. Since Sult is in the buffer zone of a Tiger reserve, there are very frequent animal-wildlife conflicts leading to killing of livestock and injuries to humans. The women’s group was able to advocate for higher compensation from the state government increasing it from 4 Lakhs to 6 Lakhs per casualty. This group meets once a year in November for a two day gathering called ‘Sult Mahila Mahotsav’ (Sult Women’s Festival) to take stock of the activities of the last year and envision the future. The gathering is filled with discussions, cultural activities and celebrations.
Shankar explains to me the three foundational pillars on which the Shramyog works – “Sahyog”, “Shiksha” and “Sangathan” which roughly translate to “Co-operation, Education and Organizing”. Shramyog aims to strengthen these pillars through various activities and initiatives. This is to ensure that the community is empowered from within and is not dependent on outside organizations. The first pillar is “Sangathan” or “Organizing” which aims to organize people under various platforms. Women are organized as “Mahila Manch”, Youth as “Yuva Manch” and children as “Bal Manch”. All these platforms have an organized structure and regular meetings and events are organized to keep them active. The second pillar is “Siksha” or Education that focuses on various educational activities and workshops on topics that are relevant to the people such as health, livelihood, governance, environment etc. Shankar tells me that in a few days he is organizing a bootcamp called “Prakritik please” to help people understand the importance of eating healthy and natural foods, a good example of how this pillar works. And the third pillar is “Sahyog” or “Support” is for any support that the people need from Shramyog which might be beyond their capacity. This comes last because Shramyog’s vision is to ensure that people are empowered on their own first before they take any external support.
After the tea, we go to the office of Shramyog. It is a small and beautiful place facing the mountains. There I met two young team members, Vikram and Aasna of Shramyog who have been passionately working there for more than five years. The Shramyog team is structured very consciously. The team members work there in a spirit of service. The organization is funded mostly through donations from small donors and money is not always certain. The team members take up different kinds of consulting work to raise money for their sustenance to ensure that the work of Shramyog continue irrespective of the funding situation.
I also met a young teenager named Hardeep who grew up in the village but is now working in the city. He is back in the village for a family wedding. I speak to him about his work and what he thinks about what is going on in the country. I am inspired by his knowledge and awareness about world affairs so I ask him how he knows all of that. He tells me about “Bal Manch” (Children’s Platform) that Shramyog helped create to empower the children of the region. As part of the platform young people are given exposure and voice to understand the world around them. Some of the youth have now grown up and are now actively participating in the community.
Next day I met one such youth named Vijay who went on to fight the local panchayat elections and is now actively serving. I asked him what motivated him to fight the elections to which he said that he was inspired by the fact that there was people power behind him and that is why he chose to fight as an independent candidate and won. I also meet Devki Devi, one of the ‘Shram Sakhis’ as they are called locally who are the local women leaders responsible for organizing women in a cluster that comprises of 7-8 villages. The Shram Sakhi helps organize the monthly meeting where the women meet to discuss their issues and also exchange knowledge and plan activities. “When it started, it was not easy to organize women in the villages as it was considered women’s role to be at home. There was hesitation among the men to allow the women to go out and organize like this.”, said Devki Devi. Over time, seeing the good work the Shram Sakhis have done, it has become more acceptable. All the women in the collective meet once a year, on the last Sunday of November to celebrate, plan and share their stories. The day is marked by cultural events and celebrations.
Shramyog has also helped set up a local newspaper called “Shram Patra”, that is published every month to help the people in the region be updated about what is happening locally and nationally. It has a readership of about 5000 people locally and 30000 online. Women write about their issues and helpful tips are shared. Local news relevant to the region are shared. This newsletter has empowered the women and people of Sult to have their own voice. Having a significant readership comes with its own challenges and pressures, especially of political nature to write favourable editorials, but so far the team has been able to resist any such pressures and keep it free of electoral politics keeping its focus on the issues of the region. The newsletter is largely funded by local people by paying a nominal fee.
Before I leave, I visit the local store called “Shram Utpad” (Shram Produce) which sells local produce such as turmeric, red chilli, soaps and other daily use products produced in the village. It is a small shop that has shelves stocked with the local produce. This has allowed the villagers to earn an extra income. This initiative has also helped the villagers connect directly to consumers to get a better price which was earlier being exploited by the middlemen. Shankar tells me that earlier the villagers would get half the price for their produce but now they know the actual value of their product and feel empowered to negotiate. Shankar offers me a packet of turmeric from the store which I gratefully receive.
After visiting the store, I take a bus back to Ramnagar, the nearest town. I feel inspired by the power of people to organize themselves and address their issues collectively. Shramyog has enabled a transformative process in the region that empowers the community from within rather than giving them aid directly. It is important to learn from this approach that it stands in contrast to the conventional approach taken by NGOs and governments of giving aid and making people dependent on them and leaving them helpless when the aid dries up. Shramyog’s work in the Sult region demonstrates that it is very important to do the foundational work of community organizing if we wish to bring long lasting transformation.
About the Author
Chandramouli works with the Alternatives team at Kalpavriksh Environment Action Group, where he helps coordinate the Vikalp Sangam Network and supports with design of courses on Alternatives. He is passionate about citizen empowerment and grassroots change in the times of ecological and humanitarian crises. He believes in the power of inner transformation to bring outer transformation in the world.
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