PROPOSED BY: BSWI, WEST BENGAL, INDIA
March 2011
PROJECT PROPOSAL: PART - I
1. Name of the Institution : BARADRONE SOCIAL WELFARE INSTITUTION (BSWI)
2. Address
a) Registered/HQ office : Village & P.O. – Baradrone, Block – Diamond
Harbour, District – South 24 Parganas,
West Bengal 743332, India.
b) Tel. No. : 091 - 03174 256224 / 091- 9434024631
Fax No : 091-03174 257439
c) Email :
3. Registration Number & Date under
Societies Registration Act : S/17562 dated 25/03/1976 under West Bengal
SocietiesAct XXVI of 1961
4. FCRA Registration : Regd. No. 147110100 of 1985
5. Year of starting welfare / : 1976
Development activities
6. Income Tax Exemption No. u/s : DIT (E) / 709 / 8E / 58 / 88-89
80G
7. Aims and Objectives of BSWI:
The primary objectives of BSWI are:-
To identify the causes of poverty and implement suitable action plans towards poverty eradication;
To make the people aware of their local problems and provide them with enough opportunities to tackle problems on their own;
To work towards making the area totally literate through suitable education programs;
To emphasis on women and child development programs and establish their status in the society;
To explore the need of rural health consciousness, design suitable health programs and provide a comprehensive rural health care system
To promote women’s socio-economic status, equality and rights;
To promote improved livelihoods for the marginalized sections of society.
8. Information about our Executive Committee Members:
Name of Trustee Qualification Designation
Mr. Pranabesh Chakraborty M.A. Journalism President
Mr. Prasanta Mitra B.Sc. Vice-President
Mr. Sanjib Bhattacharya B.A. Pol. Science Secretary & C.E.O.
Mr. Pranabananda Bhattacharya BA, LLB. Asst. Secy.
Md. Sabdar Ali Kayal B. Com. Treasurer
Mr. Haran Chandra Paik B. Com. Member
Mrs. Arati Sarkar H. S. Member
Mr. Gourgopal Naskar B. A. Member
Mr. Tarani nakar H. S. Member
9. Number of personnel involved in the project
a) Full time : 21
b) Part time : 36
c) Volunteers : 42
10. Administrative pattern
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Executive Committee
I
I
General Secretary & C.E.O.
I
I
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Education Sector Health Sector Livelihood Sector Women’s Sector Administration
I I I I I
Coordinator Coordinator Coordinators (2) Coordinator Chief Accountant
Supervisors Supervisor Supervisors Organisers Asstt. Accountant
Animators Animators Animators Animators Dealing Assistant
Common Resource Pool
Livelihood Consultant
Group Organisation Consultant
Health Consultant
______
11. A brief description of Development / Welfare
Work done by BSWI since its inception:
Baradrone Social Welfare Institution (BSWI) is a voluntary organization registered under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act. Established in ‘Baradrone’ village of Diamond Harbour block, West Bengal in 1976, BSWI was pioneered by a rural cadre, all of whom were inspired by the conviction that individuals with knowledge resources and empathy for the marginalized must work with communities at the grassroots in order to help them overcome poverty and backwardness. BSWI has a bold vision for creating a world where every person lives with dignity, respect and the opportunity to achieve her/his potential. BSWI is committed to improving the lives of the poor and marginalized through social and economic development processes. Since the year of 1985, BSWI has/has been partnering with foreign agencies like Action-Aid, Oxfam India Trust, BFW, Canada Fund, Irish Embassy, Japan Consulate and others in various projects. BSWI has been providing training and technical assistance in non-formal education, community development, maternal and child health, school governance, integrated literacy, small enterprise development, micro-finance, HIV/AIDS education and awareness and women’s empowerment. BSWI’s projects are designed to contribute to individual growth, as well as to community and area development. BSWI believes that the way towards conquering economic poverty is through enhancing the livelihood capabilities of the poor and giving them access to sustainable income earning opportunities. Today, BSWI’s highly motivated and skilled staffs/professionals are working in the remote villages of West Bengal, immersing themselves directly with target communities. A majority of the families that BSWI works with belong to the Schedule Tribes, Schedule Castes, Muslims and other resource-poor groups. (More in:
12. Annual Budget
a)Developmental / Welfare Programs / : US$ 177800
Program Expenses
b) Staff : US$ 32223
c) Other Administrative Cost : US$ 11112
d) Any other (human resource development) :US$ 2220
Total :US$ 223355
13. Sources of funds (specify amount in last
Two years only)
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2008-09 2009-10
(Rs.) (Rs.)
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a) Government/Semi-Govt. Grants 966230 672400
(Central/State/Municipal)
b) Donations : Individuals 264750 417600
Public Bodies 2352000 2922000
c) Foreign Funds 0 2398541
d) Local Contributions 784950 1023200
e) Membership Fees 9100 10300
f) Income from projects 927505 1671900
g) Service Charges 404013 603100
h) Any donation in kind 0 0
Map of Project Area in West Bengal
PROJECT PROPOSAL: PART – II
Title of the Project: REHABILITATION OF 265 INDIAN TRIBAL GIRL LABORERS
Objectives of the project:
- Eliminate girl-child laobourers: Promote awareness through girls’ education; provide alternative employment opportunities for the parents; advocacy and lobbying with the government departments aiming towards tribal children’s improvement.
- Eradicate early marriages: Sensitizing rural communities and especially the tribal communities create public opinion to oppose and eliminate early marriages.
- Elementary education for tribal working girls: Promote grassroots level awareness through advocacy; promote education and literacy amongst the tribal working girls; promote awareness on girls’ rights and privileges;
- Health of tribal working girls: Provide adequate support to the target area tribal girls through an integrated health program with emphasis on children’s (especially girls’) health;
- Sustainability: To strengthen the economic conditions/livelihood of the families of the working girls through credit & savings for household enterprises; increase their capacity to afford to their girls’ education and well-being; hand over the ownership of the programs to the community themselves at the end of the project.
Problems and challenges the project seeks to tackle:
Indian tribal communities have always been neglected by the planners and the national mechanisms. From time immemorial, the tribal communities are passing through deprivation, agony, starvation, subjugation and oppression. This is not an exception in remote villages of Malda, West Bengal too. The widespread poverty and miseries of the tribal communities in Malda stand on two major factors, i.e., severe food and income insecurity, and social neglect owing to caste and class.The area is neglected in terms of agriculture and industries. The tribal women are the most sufferers in this severe impoverish system. Having food security for less than six months a year and income insecurity (they earn US$1 daily on an average), the women cannot sit idle and ignore the pathetic conditions being faced by the family members. While their men folks leave the villages and migrate to other cities and states for search of jobs, the women folks take the hardship to burn the fire in their kitchens by taking up various alternative job options. Such jobs mainly entail contact laboring, as they take advances from the landlords during the lean seasons and instead they have to work in their fields and workplaces receiving a depressed wage, after repaying the advances. The women leave from the homes at six o’clock in the morning leaving behind their children. Savings and capital creation at the family level to practice household enterprises is not possible as they live on a very meager income as stated above.
In such a situation, the onus of managing the home chores rests on the girls who, instead of attending schools in such a young age of 6-10 years, look after their siblings, cook and feed them, collect fuels, fetch water, wash utensils and is engaged in various household activities. Most of the tribal girls thus miss their girlhood (especially the childhood) unconsciously. They often get rewards from their parents if there is some little wrong in housekeeping in their absence in the form of rebukes and beating. Being ill-fed, ill-clothed, outside the ambit of the elementary education system, hygienically ignored, malnourished andisolated from the main society, the girls suffer silently. For the parents who cannot go outside to work, the girls are considered as earning members in the families. They are sent to work as housemaids, tea-stall workers, brick kiln workers, agricultural labourers and so on. They cannot remember the day when they got square meals, playing time and rests, love and affection from the family and the society. When these girls enter in their adolescent ages, they are married before they attain 16 years on an average, suffer from malnutrition and anemia followed by unwilling and teen-pregnancies. In recent times, some girls of 14-18 years are found to be missing from the communities. The abject poverty of the tribal communities is forcing them to fall in the clutches of the trafficking nets. The selected girls have never been to primary schools, nor have they been encouraged by the families to attend schools. Their families are in the conception that, when the girls have to be married and will have to be housewives, what the use of education to them is. High levels of poverty and indebtedness, ignorance, exploitation and oppression have made them slaves in the Indian society that boasts of prospering and shining.
Need of the project:
There is serious need to eradicate poverty on the basis of income and food security and sustainability, to liberate the girls from the vicious child-labouring practices. The girls must be exposed to a child-friendly environment where they can joyfully live and grow to be illustrious citizens, and can be ideal to others who are witnessing such girlhood agonies. There is need to spread elementary education for such girls in the lackadaisical and marginal society; arrest poverty through concerted efforts forensuring sustainable livelihood systems; strengthen women’s earning capacity to make sure that they discontinue to work outside and better invest on their girls’ education.
This proposed project is needed to demonstrate the community that people have all the strength to tackle poverty by being self-reliant and decisive bodies. So, the project is needed to give the target groups a nudge from where they can take off themselves. The project is very much needed to (i) bring back the eligible and working girls in the elementary education system (ii) sensitize the target groups to give values to their girls and plan for their well-being, and (iii) ensure income and food security through women’s associations (e.g., self help groups) and taking up household economic ventures to replace their daily labouring.
About the target groups:
15 villages have been taken into consideration for coverage under this proposed project for a period of three years. The ground realities, as we have studied in the area, suggests that an immediate intervention is needed in the proposed villages.
Total population of the proposed villages is 19800 consisting of 3306 tribal families. Women’s population is 9504 which are 48% of the total population. The literacy rate of the proposed area is well below the national average which is 41.48% as overall, out of which women’s is only 26.8%. Literacy rate is defined as those who can sign their names only. Only 18% of the eligible girls from the tribal families have continued till class IV in the state primary schools and 4% of the eligible girls have studied up to class VIII. Drop-out rate amongst the eligible girls of the tribal families in the primary education system is around 67%. 265girls from the tribal families are found to be working as domestic and other works. Only 64% of the total under-five tribal children have been immunized against major killer diseases. Less than 42% of the pregnant and caring women from the tribal families have received systematic health care services (TT & Iron Folic intakes and regular growth monitoring) in last year. It has been found that near about 59% girls from the tribal families were married before they attained 18 years and of them, almost 82% girls were pregnant.
The Program & its Implementation Pattern
(A)Non-formal Education:
Non-formal education centers will be opened in each of the 15 target villages and the centers will focus particularly on girl child labourers. This is expected to provide basic education and learning to the girls of the target group. Girls’ education will be made compulsory to avail project support on other areas. Literacy skills will be imparted to the girls so that they are able to read, write and doing simple sums. The learners will be divided into small groups and the volunteers will allocate a definite time to each of the groups. Teaching-learning materials, educational equipments, seating arrangements, sports and cultural materials will be adequately supplied to all the education centers proposed. Extra-curriculum activities, exposure and excursion programs will also be organized as per plans. Parents and local villagers will be motivated to contribute to the efforts which will be of immense benefit to the learners. The education animators will be trained properly to handle the educational program and to manage classrooms effectively. The project proposes to recruit animators or village level workers preferably from the target villages. They will be coordinated by two supervisors, who in turn will report to the Project Coordinator. The girls would be imparted education in such a way that they are admitted in appropriate classes of the State sponsored formal schools after one or two years of studies in the project’s NFE centers.
(B)Health & Hygiene:
Health of the girls will be given a priority status in the project. The target area, being a victim of regular calamities, numerous kinds of illness and health problems has been reported from the area. Girls being the major victims of poor health status, it is vital that they also enjoy good health services. Most of the interior villages still prefer the local quacks or Ojhas (healers) to provide health care services. This is due to lack of awareness, lack of proper medical facility nearby and also generations of traditional health practices. Regular school health check-ups and follow-ups will be done by qualified medical doctors, so as to ensure good health and sound physique of the girls to attend and continue education. We propose to run a Mini Mobile Health Clinic in the proposed villages which will provide exclusive services to the tribal and other poor girls and the children. Mobile Van, Medical equipments, qualified doctors, Para-medicals and assistants are requested to support health needs of the tribal girls and children in particular. Through this mobile health clinic, curative services will be provided to children in need of the area. The Education Animators will teach, organize and act as village level health workers.
(C) Livelihood Improvement:
Our organization believes in the principle that, if money in the hands of women is ensured, there is likeliness of more education, better health care and nutrition for the children and the members of the family. So it is very important that the women enjoy economic freedom and opportunities. This particular project will blend the capacity of the mothers of the girls to enhance their economic capacity to stand on their own feet. Economic empowerment is seen as an important aspect along with venturing into social development and empowerment of the vulnerable communities. With this view, emphasis will be given on livelihood development programs. It is planned that, we will implement the promotion of savings groups and micro-finance program to prepare the women to take the future challenges for their sustainable development.Theproposed project will facilitate the women to be organized, acquiring socio-economic skills, and to be prepared to plan and monitor their own affairs.
Skill training will be provided on better agricultural and enterprise activities. Suitable credit will be provided to women in need initially from the project funds and ultimately through credit linkage service from the banks and financial institutions. A revolving fund will be maintained through the savings program to facilitate the credit functions.
The ultimate aim of the economic programs is to transfer the ownership of the program to the women’s groups. Hence, throughout the project life, efforts will be more oriented towards making the women’s groups stronger and healthier by injecting leadership and management capabilities and involve them more into the planning, implementation and control mechanisms.
Some of the economic activities proposed by the mothers/parents of the selected girls are:
- Vegetable (cash crops) cultivation
- Fish cultivation in ponds
- House poultry
- House duck rearing
- Goat rearing
- Pig rearing
- Mushroom cultivation
- Vegetable vending
- Utensils vending
- Cloth vending
- Fish vending
- Meat vending/stalls
- Tea stalls
- Rice making
- Puffed rice making
- Bamboo baskets making
- Weaving
- Tailoring
- Palm leaf mat making
E) Duration of the Proposed Project:
It is proposed that the project will be run for a three-year period, preferably from June 2011 to May 2014. Although the budget has been prepared for three years, it is open for modification, addition and alteration according to the suggestion and advice of the project personnel and the target community.
Total Budget: US$ 93879
Evaluation Pattern:
Keeping in mind the objectives and approach of the proposed project, indicators will be designed in such way that will enable the ongoing review of progress and course correction. The whole thrust will be on qualitative side rather than only on quantitative achievements. The kinds of factors that will be looked at, to monitor the progress of the work are:-