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INDIA
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Arunachal Pradesh
Uttaranchal
Gujjars
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An overview of our work in Uttaranchal, India
On November 9th, 2000, Uttaranchal became a new state in India. Carved from the largest state in the country, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal is a mountainous state surrounded by the neighboring states of Himachal Pradesh, Harayana and Uttar Pradesh, and the countries of Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Many people in Uttaranchal had long argued for independent statehood for the mountainous region of Uttar Pradesh because of the distinct differences between the land and culture of the area from that of the plains region that comprises the rest of Uttar Pradesh.
Statehood brought a new independence to the region, but also many challenges. How would the needs of this new state, with 13 divisions, 95 development blocks and 15,669 inhabited villages be met? The population of the state is largely rural and agrarian. People express need for clean water supplies and sanitation, improvements in health, increased infrastructure, more jobs to combat migration, and resource protection. How would the state and the communities address these needs?
The role of women in Community-based Change
In June, 2001 Future Generations signed an MOU with the government of Uttaranchal to provide expert assistance in developing a system of community-based development. Since signing this MOU, Future Generations has partnered with an Uttaranchal NGO that has been working in the region since 1979, Shri Bhuvneshwari Mahila Ashram (SBMA). Together, these organizations have begun a program of training women from villages in five selected blocks in basic health care, identification and treatment techniques, as well as in basic skills for organizing and confidence-building to encourage them to form women's groups in their own villages to both share their new skills and begin to work with their communities to identify needs and solve problems. These women have decided to call themselves Sanjeevanis, meaning Givers of Life.
In 2002,three training programs were hosted in the town of Anjanisain for 105 women from villages in these five blocks. Twelve Sanjeevanis have also visited community-based health and development programs in Jamkhed, Maharashtra, to observe the process and successes of those programs, and bring what they have learned back to share with their community and adapt lessons to work in their own local situation.
Building the capacity of the Panchayati Raj System
In addition to this work with Sanjeevanis, Future Generations and SBMA are in the planning stages of a program to work with Panchayat leaders, the local governance system in India, to provide support and offer training in working with communities and encouraging community-based development.
Mobilizing the Gujjar Muslim Communities through a process of Community-change
To support the process of community change in Uttaranchal, Future Generations India also provides support and guidance to Sohan and Ursila Singh, who have been working with the Gujjar communities of Uttaranchal for over fifteen years. For more detailed information on the Gujjars, please click here <Gujjars>.
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