Joseph P Overton Fellowship

http://schoolchoice.in/fellowship/

Winners of The Joseph P Overton Fellowship for Education Policy

Centre for Civil Society’s School Choice Campaign launched the Joseph P Overton Fellowship for Education Policy this year. We received 53 applications from candidates across India. In our first round, we have shortlisted eight candidates for the fellowship from eight states.

Working independently at the state-level as part of the year-long fellowship, Joseph P Overton Fellows will focus their research and analyses on the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. Track the upcoming work of the fellows onhttp://righttoeducation.in/ and watch this space for more winners!

Candidate Name	State
Bharat Rout	Delhi
D.Neelima VL	Andhra Pradesh
Eshita Kundu	West Bengal
Geromic George	Rajasthan
Naba Kishor Pujari	Orissa
Spriha Nupur	Uttar Pradesh
Swapnil Kumar Shanu	Bihar

An obituary to Dr.Umesh Patri

Published in Paryabekhyaka, an Odia daily on 9th February, 2013

http://odisharteforum.org/

The Odisha RTE Forum- a collective domain of important education networks and alliances, donor and implementing agencies, civil society organizations, teacher unions and concerned individuals has been constituted in the line of the National RTE Forum and acts as the state chapter for the same. The Forum came into existence through a collective process in tune with the national outfit in the formative stage and was later carried forward by its State Working Committee. However the Forum was formed unanimously on 19th October 2011 and since then the working committee has been sitting regularly to discuss on emerging issue in the realm of RTE.

Working Committee
To carry forward the activities of the Forum it was agreed upon that initially all the agencies, organizations and networks who have initiated the process of the Forum would be taken as members of the Working Committee. Those apart, keeping in view the accessibility issue, Bhubaneswar-based organizations were also taken as part of the Working Committee. In future there could be a larger committee involving all the grass root player and activists to steer the activity of the forum. It was decided that the larger body could convene in each quarter to appraise the development on RTE and recommend necessary actions.
Working Committee of ORTEF

Odisha RTE Forum shall have a Working Committee consisting of membership of organisations and individuals working at grassroots, state level organisations, Conveners of networks and supporting agencies working in the field of education. The following are first Working Committee members of ORTEF:

1. Anil Pradhan, Convenor ORTEF and Member-Secretary, Sikshasandhan
2. Naba Kishore Pujari, Advocacy Officer, NCE-Odisha
3. Diganta Mohanty, Programme Manager, Girls Education, CARE India
4. Bharati Chakra, Advocacy Officer, Save the Children
5. Shirin Naseem, Programme Officer, OXFAM India
6. Blorin Mohanty, BGVS, Odisha
7. Janmejaya Patel, SES and Convenr, ORien
8. Ranjan Mohanty, Secretary, PECUC
9. Umi Daniel, MIRC-South Asia
10. Ashis Sarkar, Programme Manager, CRY-Kolkata
11. Lalita Patnaik, UNICEF, Odisha
12. Ananta Swain , CYSD, Bhubaneswar
13. Prasanna Mishra, RRO, Keonjhar
14. Sudatta Khuntia, Programme Manager, Action aid
15. Pradipta Nayak, IHRE- Odisha
16. Padma Das, Secretary, STAR, Mayurbhanj
17. Smruti Ranjan Jena, IGNUS-ERG,Bhubaneswar
18. Sangita Puhan, Plan India
19. Umasankar Sahu, Convener, VCRO
20. Sudhir Sabat, Convener, CACL, Odisha
21. Khuturam Sunani, Activists, Nuapada
22. Sneha Mishra, Secretary, AAINA
23. Amarjit Jena, Infinite vision-Bhubaneswar
24. Umesh Purohit, YSC-Bolangir
25. Member, YCDA

Odisha: Fifth Anniversary of DURADARSHI observed

Report by India Education bureau, Bhubaneswar: The DURADARSHI, an Odia news and features monthly magazine observed its fifth anniversary here in the city. This apart, the anniversary edition of DURADARSHI, the editorial collection ANTARKATHA by Mr.Durga Samantaray and an odia poetry collection JA NAURI JA by Mr. Naba Kishor Pujari were unveiled.

Attending as the Chief Guest, Mr. Pravat Ku. Tripathy, Chief Whip, ruling party, Govt. of Odisha said that there is a need of placing issues of common man in the newspapers and magazines as a part of media accountability being the fourth pillar of the democratic set up. Therefore, the role of DURADARSHI in highlighting such issues cannot be ignored.

Mr.Badri Narayan Patra, Hon’ble Minister, Higher Education, Govt. of Odisha put light on the importance of media in a growing society. He also appreciated the efforts of DURADARSHI for working as a frontrunner in state building activities.

Among others, Padmabibhusan Mr.Raghunath Mohapatra, Vice-Chancellor of Fakir Mohan University Prof. Dr. Kumarabar Das, Chief of Corporate Affairs, RSB Group, Odisha Jagadish Mardaraj, and Cine Artist Sabyasachi Mishra attended the function and appreciated the pioneering role of the magazine.

Mr.Durga Samantaray, Editor of Duradarshi  presided in the function.

In this occasion, DURADARSHI SAMMAN 2013  was awarded to eminent singer Pranab Pattnaik, All India Joint Secretary of CREDAI  Engineer Deo Shankar Tripathy, Chief of Team Admark  Mr.Nishikant Mishra, Kansa of Baragarh Dhanu Yatra Mahostav Mr. Hrushikesh Bhoi, Comedian Papu Pampam, Youth organizer Mr.Tejeswar Parida, Columnist Mr.Naba Kishor Pujari, Youth entrepreneur Mr. Nirmal Behera, Sports critic Mr. Ashis Kumar Ray, Social Activist Mr. Ashok Kumar Mohanty, Singer Biswaswarup Mohapatra, RJ Subrat and litterateur Mr. Muralidhar Mishra for their far reaching contribution in the field of different vicinity.

Source: http://indiaeducationdiary.in/Shownews.asp?newsid=22584

Childhood Care:An article published in Orissapost

Do you hear, they cry-An article published in Orissapost

Long way to Go-An article published in Orissapost

Managing schools-An article published in Orissapost

Youth in Politics-An article published in The Orissapost

Literacy is Empowerment: An article published in Orissapost

Achievable Agenda-An article published in The Orissapost

Spearheading the change they wanted-A feature story in Orissapost

http://www.merinews.com/mobile/article/India/2014/03/17/chhenua-people-reducing-the-menace-of-water-scarcity-through-cash-for-work/15895857

Phailin after 5 Months-Stories of ActionAid's Intervention (An IAG Publication)

Naba Kishor's poetry

Naba Kishor is being felicitated with
 Duradarshi Samman

Fight for Women's empowerment

Education in the early childhood years is much broader than pre-schooling

Right to Education India
News and views about the implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 and other legislation, schemes and policies impacting the Right to Education of India's Children.

Odisha: Education in the early childhood years is much broader than pre-schooling
Friday, June 29, 2012
Report by India Education Bureau; Bhubaneswar: Around 80% of the total brain development of a child occurs in the age of 3 to 6 years. “Education” in the early childhood years is much broader than pre-schooling, incarcerating learning through early motivation, guidance and a range of developmental activities and opportunities. Young children’s experiences in the first years produce the groundwork for successive learning in their later phases. Therefore, no society should leave any child behind. ECCE is potency for human poise that transports advantage for the entire life. Therefore, ECCE must be made a fundamental right of every child of our country. This demand earned massive support in the launching of nationwide ECCE Campaign organized by National Coalition for Education, a voluntary Organization held at the Redcross Bhawan today. The workshop marked the participation of legislator, ECCE Activists, line departments of state government, working group on ECCE, 30 NGOs and INGOs and media persons to build consensus on the core areas of ECCE Intervention.
Participating in the campaign inauguration, Mr. Prasad Harichandan, Chief Whip, Opposition party, Odisha Legislative Assembly appreciated the effort of NCE and said that pre-school educations are like laying foundation in the life of a child. This serves as a school readiness programme. There is a need of continuous debate and putting pressure on the system so as to make it a political agenda, he added.
Mr. Ranjan Mohanty , State Representative, NCPCR raised various ground realities and challenges of RTE Implementation and said that ECCE can be very effective in case of drop-out and out of school children. There should more advocacy initiatives for its inclusion in the Act so that it can be realized like RTE Act 2009.
Ms. NamrataChaddha, Pravas Mishra, Ms.DharitriPattnaik, Mr.Kamalakanta Tripathy and other dignitaries also laid emphasis on the importance of its inclusion in RTE Act. While Naba Kishor Pujari delineated objectives of the campaign, Ms.Subhashree Das Gave formal vote of thanks for participating in this campaign drive initiative.
Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is the foundation for the childhood and prepare the child psychologically, socially and physically for the basic school education. Pedagogically, there is an organic linkage from Early Childhood Care and Education to post graduation studies in terms of different stages of childhood to adulthood. In terms of Right to Early Childhood Care and Education in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 there is an urgent need to recognise the whole process of childcare, childhood and education as one organic stage within which mutually complimenting and supplementing stages like pre-natal, post-natal crèches, pre-school, primary, elementary, secondary, higher secondary etc has been visualised in order secondary etc has been visualised in order to make the process more dynamic and continuous. Child development and education are inseparable organic process in education. It is important to mainstream Early Childhood Care and Education in the Right to Education Act till 18 years that includes all early childhood care and education .International covenants like United Nations Convention of Child Rights (UNCRC), Dakar Framework for Education for All (EFA) 2000 and many other commitments where India is a signatory are obligations to rethink the early childhood care and education in more holistic manner.

India has 158.7 million children in the 0-6 age group as per the 2011 Census. The approximate coverage is about 34 million children by the pre-schooling initiatives under ICDS. Despite the regular expansion of the ICDS, the coverage of children for ECCE is still as low as 40%. Though some states like Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh have improved their Child Development Index, still, there is a visible gap between the policy and its practices. Around 5 lakhs children under the age group of 3 -6 years are still not under the umbrella of ECCE. 70% of the AWCs run in the school compound. There has to be addressed different aspects of a child like cognitive development, physical and motor development, creativity and aesthetic appreciation, scientific ways of thinking and inculcation of healthy habits. The infrastructural facilities available are also discouraging. According to Annual Survey of Education Report (ASER) 2011, Around 25,453 million children enrolled in 456994 ICDS Centresof India but only 31 percent of them attend and participate there in a regular basis.
Important issues and the way we want ECCE
• Inculcate the Early Childhood Care and Education in the "Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 as an integral part.
• Facilitate dialogue between the Centre and States for accelerated implementation of the Right to Education Act, to compensate for the missed deadlines
• Apply appropriate push on respective ministries under your control to strengthen synergy between multiple departments and ministries to ensure smoother implementation of key provisions
Our specific Demands
• Universalize and mainstream Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) as a fundamental right.
• Making necessary amendment to include 0 to 6 and 14 to 18 years aged children in the "right of children to free and compulsory education Act 2009 which will take care of our own commitment as well as 6 Education for all goals.
• Ensure mother-tongue based pre-school education for 3-6 years children and allow scope to make Anganwadi centres vibrant through qualified and trained Anganwadi workers who can deal with psycho-social cases of the children.
• Ensure a child-friendly atmosphere in Anganwardi Centres and assure an enhanced budget under ICDS in the state.
Posted by Anjela Taneja at 8:23 AM

State Advisory Council on education yet to come up in State

BHUBANESWAR: Members of the National Coalition for Education (NCE) on Thursday alleged that the State Advisory Council on Education, the body which would help in effective implementation of Right to Education (RTE) provisions in the State, has not formed yet.

NCE State Advocacy Coordinator Naba Kishor Pujari at a Press meet here said that almost three years have passed from the enforcement of RTE Act in the State, but there are bottlenecks in its implementation which is yet to be strengthened immediately to progress in the field of RTE. “Though Odisha is the second State to enact the State RTE rules, still, many of the RTE-progressive parameters are not yet sorted out,” Pujari added.

Pujari said the deadline for fulfilling all norms and requirements under RTE Act is March 31, 2013, but it is seen as hardly achievable for the State according to the existing growth record. The State Government has agreed to install 105 schools under PPP mode in the State run by the corporate houses would not be accepted at any cost in a case where RTE Act is implemented, he rued.

Another problem is, according to the NEC member, recruitment of contractual teachers instead of regular which affects the RTE Act 2009. Around 10 per cent schools of the State have a single school teacher which is also affecting the proper implementation of the Act, he added.

Source:www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar

KANDHAMAL'S CHILDREN: VICTIMS OF COMMUNALISM

Naba Kishor Pujari
18 September, 2009

 The children here, have not only been deprived from basic amenities like food, shelter and clothing, they are also threatened in regard of their health, nutrition, education and most importantly their self-esteem.
IN INDIA, violence is often perpetrated across ethnic lines and victims are chosen based upon ethnic group membership. It has become the nuisance for the Indian society and has grown as the most superficial sign of the prevalence of communalism on a vast scale in India.
Communal violence in our country typically takes the form of mutual aggression, in which members of involved ethnic groups both perpetrate violence and serve as its victims. Children, however, become usually end up as victims as they become exposed to the vulnerabilities in our civil society. The fact that are not active participants in our democratic process, ensures that concern towards their best interests is sidelined in the state and national priorities.

Forty two per cent of our total population covers children (below 18 years). Still, in our country there is precious little talk of legislation drawn up with the child perspectives in mind. And, in areas affected by communal violence, they face not only displacement but also the demolition of the social development structures, which develop them into potential nation builders of our country.

For instance, Kandhamal, where a recent study was undertake to determine the aftermath of the violence on the children who lived through it, saw how they became victims of the communal fires in more than one way.

Kandhamal is a melting point of a Hindu community and those who converted to Christianity. These people, who are entrapped by their ethnic diversities, came into conflict on the issue of who would get the benefits of minority and caste reservations.

Now, a child is born as a child and their problems as well as developmental needs ought to be addressed imperatively and uniformly. However, the children here, have not only been deprived from basic amenities like food, shelter and clothing, they are also threatened in regard of their health, nutrition, education and most importantly their self-esteem. They lost parenting, lacked coping skill and went with a lot of undermined social behaviour in their family and locality that may hamper their well civilised citizenry in the future.

The findings of the survey show that the communal tensions led to burnt homes, while the government closed down schools, in the name of curfews and similar actions. These led to children who were now without shelter and education, fleeing to the forests to save themselves. They beared the brunt of changing weather conditions and suffered from severe health degradation, malnutrition and various infectious diseases as even those whop stayed in the villages had no access to medical facilities.

Even though the government and some voluntary organisations began relief camps in the area, they could not even meet the basic needs of the people. Clothing, food and medicines were scarce. The children staying at these camps had also lost their books and study materials. Many students could not go for their matriculation examinations and the threat of rape and killings prevailed.

Now that the fires have ebbed down and people have started going back to their usual lives, it is the children who still suffer from the emotions scars that they had received.

- See more at: http://www.merinews.com/article/kandhamals-children-victims-of-communalism/15784421.shtml#sthash.LBDCQGxR.dpuf

Read more at: http://www.merinews.com/article/kandhamals-children-victims-of-communalism/15784421.shtml&cp

RTE: Odisha scores low on most fronts

Author: Express News Service

• Published Date: Sep 28, 2012 3:50 PM
• Last Updated: Sep 28, 2012 3:50 PM

Three years after it came into force, Right to Education Act has not borne fruit in Odisha as the State continued to lag in important indicators.
 Policy limitations and constraints apart, the State seems to have performed badly when it comes to important platforms. There are 35,928 primary and 20,427 upper primary schools at elementary level. The Government opened 491 new primary and 490 upper primary schools under SSA to provide schooling in unserved areas. However, more than 50 per cent of the teachers are contractual. Around 10 per cent schools of the State operates with a single teacher, the National Coalition for Education (NCE) said here on Thursday.
 Data from the Annual Survey on Education Report 2011 and DISE 2010-11 revealed that Odisha is behind many states when it comes to out-of-school children and dropout rates and compliance to RTE norms like playground in schools, girls toilet, kitchen-shed for midday meal. Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala and Chhattisgarh and small states like Manipur and Mizoram also score better than Odisha.
 Percentage of out-of-school children in Odisha was 3.7 whereas in Himachal Pradesh and Mizoram it was 0.6 and 1.1 in Manipur and Haryana. Dropout rate in the State was 10 per cent while Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Manipur and Himachal Pradesh fared better. Over 67 per cent students in Standard I and II can read, write and do more in Odisha whereas their percentage was higher in Haryana, HP, Kerala, Manipur and Mizoram.  Though Odisha is the second state to enact the state RTE rules, many of the RTE progressive parameters are yet to be achieved, State advocacy coordinator of NCE Naba Kishore Pujari said.
 The NCE demanded that the State Government must immediately form the inter-departmental coordination committee as the RTE Act implementation depends on the coordination of various departments.  Besides, the State Advisory Council on education is yet to be constituted.
The coalition alleged that the Government has agreed to establish 105 schools under PPP mode which would be run by corporate houses but it is not acceptable as RTE guarantees free and compulsory education up to Class VIII in all public schools of the country. The decision must be immediately rolled back. It also called for guidelines for out-of-school children in the State and information on number of economically weaker section children admitted to private schools under 25 per cent reservation.
“The Government must refrain from recruiting contractual teachers as it is paradoxical to RTE,” Pujari said.

Copyright © 2012 The New Indian Express. All rights reserved.

Orissa Budget ignores kids 'welfare'

Orissa Budget ignores kids 'welfare' 
 Naba Kishor Pujari
17 May, 2009

 Through this article, the writer throws light on the different budgetary allocations to the children by the Orissa government. It also analyzes how a gap developed between the need of the children and the allocation made for their overall development.
THE PATHWAY for development taken by India over the last one and half decades has resulted in an exciting economic growth, but this growth process has failed to improve the status of some of the disadvantaged sections of the population. The persistence of significant deficits in development of children in India is one of several such failures of the growth process witnessed during this period.
In this context, it has been observed that conscious analytical methodologies and tools needed to be developed and used in the process of planning and budgeting by the government in order to address the disadvantages confronted by the weaker sections of the population, such as children.
The Orissa Scenario:
Orissa continues to perform defectively in many of the socio-economic indicators. The poor socio-economic development also has been reflective of low Human Development Index. As per the Human Development Index (Planning Commission, Government of India, 2001), Orissa ranks 11, which is below the human development index of states like Rajasthan and West Bengal. Decades of planning have hardly made any discernible impact on the lives of the poor and marginalised.
Budget for Children in the Orissa Budget-An Overview
Of every Rs. 100 allocated in the State Budget over the five-year period Orissa’s Children have received an amount of Rs.13.70. However Rs.100 spent by the State Government from 2004-05 to 2006-07, Children have accounted for an amount of merely Rs.13.93.
Sectoral Allocation
The largest chunk of resources is allocated for children’s education with an average of 11.69 percent of the state budget. The Development Sector comes next, with a far lower average allocation of 1.41 percent. In Orissa, Children’s health and protection are the most neglected sectors; the health sector receives an average of an inadequate 0.55 percent and the protection sector an average of an alarmingly low of 0.06 percent from the total State Budget of Orissa.
Development Sector
Regarding the allocation in the Development sector there has been a frequent fluctuation in the percentage of budgeted expenditure and has remained an average of 10.34 percent in 2004-05 to 2008-09.
Health Sector
Though the state budget has consistently increased from 2004-05 up to 2008-09,the budgeted allocation for health sector percentage has been reduced from 4.69 to 3.57.It shows the children of Orissa are harassed and mostly deprived of getting primary health care facilities. The greatest lacuna in the budget is that despite the fact that the health service and systems varying health indicators are even much better the national standard, the budget in health sector for children has never crossed one percent of the state budget.
Education Sector
Rendering compulsory and universal education to the children up to the age of 14 has been a poster of the government and policy makers to take care of the educational aspect of the children in our country and state as it could in the long run facilitate augmenting development in other sectors. To view the budget, children have been allocated an average of 85 percent of the Child Budget.
Protection Sector
The Protection sector of BfC in Orissa has received an average of 0.06 paise out of every Rs.100 in the state budget during the five year study period and within BfC an average of 0.40 paise out of every Rs.100 has been allocated to protection. Children feel extreme need of care and protection in a state like Orissa. The domain in the field of child trafficking, neglect and various means of abuse knock the door of the government to spend.
In the child budget analysis which took into consideration only the budget of the state and analyzed how the budget allocations are reaching out to the children, the percentage of children’s share in the total state budget has not been satisfactory to make sure their protective and rightful life. May be with the finance ministry being convinced, a child budget cell could be created to spotlight on all these programmes.
- See more at: http://www.merinews.com/article/orissa-budget-ignores-kids-welfare/15769647.shtml#sthash.qZycFPAp.dpuf

Focus on Children: Need to move from shelving to primacy

By Naba Kishor Pujari 

 The Nobel Peace Prize to India’s leading social activist Mr.Kailas Satyarthi and crusader of Girls education, Pakistani GirlMalala Yousafzai has brought a dawn in the millions of children in the world, especially in the south Asia whose lives have seen the dark of bondage and cruelty. The two personalities have proved that the issue of children are important in both social and political point of view. We have to confess that these two have demonstrated such leadership in the field of their vicinity where many of our progressive laws have not been able to do so. To all who love and work for the cause of the children, the Nobel Prize is a kind of social certification for child labour free carpets in South Asia. Mr.Satyarthi, despite saving almost 80,000 children from child labour, and now adding the world’s most famous award to his name, Kailash Satyarthi has always restlessly sought to do more. While we celebrate the Nobel Prize that came due to a noble cause, we need to sharpen our thinking that why Nobel Prize committee selected a person who fight for the cause of children? Is the issue of children in South Asia is debilitating?  Does the state of children is really an area to look into? Do we need to focus on our policy and implementation modalities towards children? Has the issue of child education, child health, child servitude an important issue and affecting the growth of our Country and the South Asia in specific? These questions flash back to us if we take a turn to its implacability. India is home to about 19 per cent of the world’s total child population and the country has the uncertain distinction of being home to the largest child labour force in the world, with an estimated 30 percent of the world's working kids living here.  According to the report of the Education International, of the estimated 21 million slaves in the world today, an astonishing 26%, or more than one in every four, is a child under the age of 18, with some being as young as five. Forced to work for up to 18 hours a day, these children are sold for less than the price of cattle. They are deprived of their right to education and other human rights. This must stop. Despite several laws, Acts, guidelines and directives for children in India, we as a country have not been able so far to protect the childhood of the children of our country. The state of Indian children draws a very sorry figure in terms of their development, education, health, participation and protection. Indian laws only say that those below 14 years of age cannot be employed in “hazardous” industries. A bill, the Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Bill, prohibiting the employment of children below 14 altogether, was introduced in Parliament in 2012, but has not yet been passed. Studies show that 60 million children work for approximately 200 days a year at an average cost of Rs 15 per child per day. This amounts to Rs 18,000 crore in one year. Now, these 60 million child labourers, when substituted with 60 million adult labourers, would earn Rs 1.38 trillion at a minimal rate of an average floor wage of Rs 115 per day per labourer for 200 days. This difference in the total earnings works out to Rs 1.2 trillion. This straight profit of Rs 1.2 trillion is a significant loss to the economy.  The major occupations involving child labour are pan, bidi and cigarettes (21%), construction (17%), and spinning & weaving (11%), which qualify as hazardous processes/occupations. Domestic workers constitute 15% of the total child workers. In the context of Odisha, The Government of Odisha has its commitment in the State Plan of Action for Children 2009-2012 that the government would reduce and eventually eliminate entirely the practice of child labour in the state. But this has not been ensured.  For years now, the State government has not carried out any comprehensive survey to find out the population of child labourers in the State. Data (from the National Sample Survey Organisation, January 2014) now puts that the number of Child labour under the age five to fourteen in Rural Odisha is  24 and 41 in Urban areas in the state on every 1000 population. The total number of child labour in the state as per the report is 222953. The state government has enacted Orissa Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Rules, 1994, the bonded labour system (abolition) act, 1976, The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986, The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act of 2000 and The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009. This apart, the state government of Odisha is also implementing 24 National Child Labour Project (NCLP) under National policy on Child labour. According to a study report on child labour, 31 percent of the working children are dropped out from the school. Moreover, about 29 percent of the working children have never attended school; only 40 percent are those who currently attending school. Out of the total children currently studying 3 percent is in primary.  The Economic Survey report 2013-14 of the state government also reveals that during 2012-13, 39,409 child labours were admitted into 812 special schools opened under NCLP but these initiatives would not suffice the cause against the magnitude of the problems prevailing in the state. The relentless effort of Mr. Kailash Satyarthi and Malala and the recognition for their fight against child servitude and education must add enthusiasm, spirit and commitment in us to continue our fight against the slavery. After all, we need a country where there are no practices of child servitude and children enjoy their fullest form of rights. The focus on children of our country from shelving to primacy must make a mark. - See more at: http://www.orissadiary.com/ShowOriyaColumn.asp?id=55688#sthash.pLpGd7Lq.dpuf

Whither RTE?

By Naba Kishor Pujari

Partnership in value-free understanding is a very much progressive and associative term. However, the present discourse on partnership in an economic term denotes to a linking with public institutions which is also profit-making in nature. PPP is already being adopted in several infrastructure development sectors, such as the development of airports, railways, roads, health, agriculture, retail sector and so on. But, the responses of the media to these stabs have been very mixed. The acceptance of PPP in education in our country has given birth to one responsive gloom. The paradigm shift of development in India that is being experienced is somewhere missing the universalized approach. The issue of ‘equity’ has been comprehensively neglected in almost all developmental intervention.
Provision of Elementary education by the state to every child is the foremost responsibility of public sector. Whereas RTE Act is already in place, how can the government think of PPP in education and thus transferring risks and responsibility to the private players? The sharing of involvement of private players in the public education system is really a complex issue. Accessibility, efficiency and value for money are the issues which entices the government to go for a PPP mode. But these buzzwords are relative terms which have manifold implications, not preserved only in private sectors.The PPP model proposed in the Eleventh Plan provides for no government or social control over education. Basically the flow of privatization in the name of PPP is a mere institutional arrangement than any kind of partnership in principle.
The Eleventh Plan has proposed the setting up of 6,000 new model schools in secondary education, affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education. Of these, 2,500 are to be under the PPP model. The intention is to set up these schools in the backward regions and remote areas where good schooling facilities do not exist, so that quality education is accessible in the backward regions as well. The intention is being paradoxical to a call of National System of Public Education and very much rhetoric to the demand for Common School System.
According to the model finalized by the Planning Commission in consultation with the private sector, these schools will be set up by 2014 and will have the capacity to educate 65 lakh students, of whom 25 lakh will be from the deprived sections. Each school will have about 2,500 students, 1,000 of whom will be from deprived sections and charged a token fee. Fifty per cent of the 1,000 students will be from the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes. They will be required to pay a monthly fee of Rs.25 each. The rest of the children, who will be from other deprived sections — non-income tax paying families — will be required to pay a fee of Rs.50 a month. The remaining costs of these students, estimated to be Rs.1, 000 to Rs.1, 200 a head per month, will be reimbursed by the Union government to the schools. It is estimated that the government will have to pay Rs.10,500 crore until 2017. The amount is likely to go up with escalating prices, in general, and increasing costs of education, in particular.
Over and above this, the schools may get access to relevant funds from the Centre and the State governments under different schemes. The schools will be free to admit anyone to the remaining 1,500 seats and charge any amount of fee.
There was also a hope that the government will allot adequate resources so that demand for effective implementation of RTE Act can be met. The coming plan period will be the deadlines to ensure that basic infrastructure is available in schools (2013) and that all teachers are trained (2015). The next plan is critical since several of the deadlines have so far been missed. The 12th Five Year Plan has not addressed the issues of teachers, revival of Teachers Training Institutes (TTIs) and other components which are linked to bring quality education at public schools.
In order to ensure that right to education of every child is protected and delivered, the Kothari Commission, 1966 had recommended to spend atleast 6 percent of GDP in education. From 1966 to 2012, the Government of India has not been able to allocate and spend the required target. The present Congress led UPA Government had also promised to spend 6 percent of GDP in education but it is still under 5 percent.
On 3 April, 2012 a draft report regarding the status of the implementation of RTE Act was released by the RTE Forum. The report reveals that 95.2 percent of schools are not
compliant with complete set of RTE infrastructure indicators. In 2009-10, only 4.8 percent of government schools had all nine facilities stipulated under the RTE Act. Eight of the nine facilities are present in 11.41 percent schools. Approximately one third of the schools have up to seven facilities and about 30 percent schools do not have even five. One in ten schools lack drinking water facilities. Forty percent schools lack a functional common toilet. Forty percent schools lack a separate toilet for girls.
In conclusion, the approach paper fails to address the ground issues may be due to the influence of a neo-liberal economy. The Ministry of HRD is justifying PPP by citing the sensitive issues like lacunae in performance and productivity i.e. outcome. Evaluation of these two indicators are really apprehensive and orthodoxy without strengthening institutional mechanism. The Government cannot escape with the fact that Government run Navodaya Vidyalayas and Central Schools are running well. So, there is no reason for the government to recite the couplet of PPP. After all, education is less of an issue, more of a need today in our country.

Source: http://indiaeducationdiary.in/Orissa/shownews.asp?newsid=19775

RURAL HEALTH IN ODISHA-AN APPRAISAL

By Naba Kishor Pujari

This Article summarises how rural health needs a correctional intervention to see a better prospect in rural health in Orissa. It is based on the examination of NFHS-3 data and has compared the level of response in the health sector in Orissa
‘GOOD HEALTH for All’ has been targeted as the mantra by the World Health Organisation (WHO). In this context, the Finance Minister of India, P Chidambaram has clearly stated in his fiscal budget presentation that “Health, in our government, has never been a soft sector; as it gives birth to a sound and progressive society at large.” Here, the discussion allows much significance because four out of the eight UN Millennium Development Goals are health related and particularly from the perspective of developing countries. They aim at targeting the most marginal healthcare recipients. These are:

• Reduction of child mortality.
• Improvement of maternal health.
• Combating HIV / AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
• Ensuring environmental sustainability.

WHO, in its current report, indicates that Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) has become a global headache as it remains unacceptably high across much of the developing world. Now it has bid a challenge for us to embark on the pledge of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG). India, as a member country in this global declaration, has started its fight against the global disaster but to mount it, the contribution of its states is crucial. Orissa, as one of the backward states in the socio-economic and healthcare profile, must strive to help the country to reach the objective of the declaration.

The trend data of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) report declares that MMR in our country remains 301 (per lakh population), whereas it is 358 in Orissa. The National Infant Mortality rate has been 57 (per 1000 births), whereas the rate in Orissa is 65. It is therefore pertinent to say that infant and MMR reduction has been given utmost priority in MDGs. For the same, the stand of Orissa is significant. So its persistence can be a blockade towards the global undertakings.

Institutional delivery ie birth of a child in a recognised healthcare institution, primarily in a hospital, has been a serious concern everywhere in the country as it is a major health indicator for women. In India, approximately 41 per cent women give birth to their child in a recognised healthcare institution. In the state of Orissa, the number of women with access to healthcare institutions is only 39 per cent. Institutional delivery rate in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, is 61, 48 and 90 per cent respectively, whereas in Kerala, it is the highest – 100 per cent.

Basically, the inaccessible or socio-economically disadvantaged communities have not been included in the major welfare schemes of the government yet. However, in this context, initiatives of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) to provide effective and immediate primary healthcare services in rural area are a welcome step.

As per the available statistics, the situation regarding water supply and sanitation in Orissa is also not good. Out of the 1,36,339 identified habitations (as per the 1994 survey), 12,272 habitations have not been covered so far as the provision of drinking water is concerned. However, in the covered area also, the water is not hygienic enough. The NSSO data shows that 89 per cent of the households in rural Orissa do not have access to toilets despite the fact that the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) has begun.

At present, in Orissa, rural healthcare services are provided through the network of 1,42,655 sub-centres, 23,109 PHCs and 3,222 CHCs. Around 24,000 medical students pass out from the medical colleges but it is untoward that there are vacancies of 700 doctors in primary health centres. In most of the community healthcare centres, there is a shortage of surgeons, gynaecologists, physicians and paediatricians, which is against the policy and implementation of the state government.

However, the initiatives of NRHM, for providing doorstep healthcare facilities to the rural households by bringing an architectural correction in the current healthcare delivery practices, are plausible. In this context, we need a grass root level reinforcement of public health infrastructure or increased number of employees by providing strategic capacity enhancement of public health programmes to capacitate the existing healthcare systems and delivery practices.

Grossly speaking, healthcare delivery mechanism and the system as a whole have been sluggish in Orissa in comparison to the national standard. Its efficacy and transparency in supplying improved healthcare delivery has gone down. However, there should be a careful attempt towards attainment of the demand of the people and towards reaching of the global promise. Significantly, ground level health professionals and practitioners are to be trained accurately, and health delivery should arrive at tribal areas and non-communicable places, so as to poise the increased rate of various health indicators.

Source: http://www.merinews.com/article/rural-health-in-orissa---an-appraisal/15766688.shtml

Rhetoric Versus Reality

By Naba Kishor Pujari

 1st April, 2013 marked the 3 years of RTE Act implementation in our country as our Prime Minister handed over Right to Education Act 2009 on 1st April 2010. It is mentioned in the Act that all the norms and standards of RTE Act will be fulfilled within 3 years of the commencement of the Act. March 31, 2013 is the deadline of fulfilling all the norms. But, free, compulsory and quality elementary educations for every child in public schools have not been fulfilled. Fortunately, Odisha was the second state after Sikkim to form rules on RTE Act but flaws and lopsided implementation has stood far from the desired targets.  As per the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 2012, 96 percent of all children in the 6 to 14 years age group in rural Odisha were enrolled in schools out of which 89.6 percent enrolled in public schools. As per the Section 12 of RTE Act, the school and Mass Education Department has ordered an issue to all private unaided schools to admit at least 25 percent of its entry level class from children belonging to economically weaker section but this has gone wallow as there is no system to reimburse the school fees charged by the schools yet. Issues of teachers The issues of teachers in our state are very grim. The state has over 35928 primary schools and 20427 upper primary schools.  Out of the total teacher strength of 167948, 79715 no. of teachers are either Sikshya sahayaka or Ganasikshaka. The recent phenomenon of recruiting contractual teachers instead of regular teachers has badly affected classroom teaching. The salaries of the contractual teachers are generally a fraction of the salary of regular teachers. Around 7000 elementary schools of our state is run by a single teacher. As a fall out, teachers are demonstrating protests throughout the year. Teachers’ absenteeism is also a major cause which affects teaching in classrooms. Again, the school is a dream for 4560 villages in our state.   Odisha is a tribal dominated state. There are 11 primitive tribal groups who have no access to other language except their local dialects. A high level committee of the state Government had decided to make available text books and create teachers post in tribal languages in order to mainstream them into schools, but this has not been given due weight age for the reason best known to them. Status of the state as per the RTE Compliance According to the data revealed by the Orissa Primary Education Programme Authority (OPEPA), Odisha has been lagging behind from being an RTE Compliant state.  13 percent of school classrooms, 66 percent in girl’s toilet in schools, 46 percent in building ramp, 74 percent in opening a library in schools and 66 percent in building boundary wall have not been complied with RTE Norms in elementary level. In order to fulfill the needs of teacher as per the norms, the state has to fill up the vacancy of around 13000 teachers in schools. Budgetary allocation and spending In 2012-13, there was an allocation of 6525.40 crore rupees for Education in the state which has been increased to 71442.83 crore in 2013-14 fiscal budget. But if we compare the increase with the inflation and increased share of child populations in a year, the increase is not hopeful. There is under utilization of SSA funds. While 2680 crore was allocated for SSA, only 50 percent has been spent till December 2012. Last year, an allocation of Rs. 94.43 lakh was made for school libraries; only 28.70 percent of their funds have been spent. While 80.61 crore was allocated under Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya(KGBV), our state has been able to spend only23.72 crore. The percentage of fund utilization till December 2012 is 83.7percent with respect to fund available and 49.99 percent with respected to Annual Work plan and Budget. In the field of Infrastructure, 51.80 percent of fund has been utilized and 67.95 percent of fund utilization has been witnessed in text book supply. Similarly, the government’s target was to provide drinking water facilities to 5972 schools last year but not even a single school had been provided drinking water facilities till January 2013. Therefore, under utilization and lack of monitoring mechanism has given birth to a huge gap between budgeted expenditure and actual spending in education. Challenges and loopholes Despite some little initiatives taken in our state to perk up the standard of elementary education, there are bags of challenges ahead to tackle with if education is really to see its step up. Quality learning at classrooms in public schools is in awful. Knowledge on basic arithmetic, numeric counting, class wise learning capacity of school children in our state is very scary. The institutional support mechanism and policy reform has not been addressed properly, because there should be a State level advisory committee on education which is not yet formed. In order to tackle the problems of child labor, juvenile in conflict with laws, street children, there must be a convergence to monitor these issues and mainstream the deprived children into schools. The state government has not yet defined out of school children in the RTE Rules which means the government does not want to stress out of school and never enrolled children.  School Management Committee and local authority had been seen as tools for school governance in RTE Act but their performance is not yet agreeable for effective school management and bringing children into schools respectively. Therefore, the state government must make necessary arrangement to ensure their actual participation in school management. The State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) has been formed to protect the children against violation of their rights but the performance of the SCPCR is very off-putting. The state government has no solid data on the number of child labourers as there is no survey undertaken on child labor after 1997. Odisha has ranked one in missing children cases in India which is a major issue of concern. Looking at these inefficiencies, can we say that RTE Act has really been turned out to be a justiciable right for the children? - See more at: http://www.orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=40495#sthash.9raaqavo.dpuf

Pre-school education is a must to ensure quality in elementary education

By Naba Kishor Pujari

The Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is the foundation for the childhood and prepare the child psychologically, socially and physically for the basic school education. Pedagogically, there is an organic linkage from Early Childhood Care and Education to post graduation studies in terms of different stages of childhood to adulthood. The importance of the early childhood years has made policy and programming for early childhood development an imperative for every nation. It is a country where 40 percent people are living in extreme poverty. There is hardly any way to alleviate poverty overnight. It needs significant and appropriate intervention. One of these interventions is education. It is the only way to fight with poverty. Because, studies reveal that around 80 percent development of brain occurs in a child between the ages of 3 to 6 years and in these times, they capture everything with extraordinary pace. Further, millions children from these poverty stricken families become victim of child labour. The approximate coverage is about 34 million children by the pre-schooling initiatives under ICDS. Though some states like Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh have improved their Child Development Index, still, there is a visible gap between the policy and its practices. Around 5 lakh children under the age group of 3 -6 years are still not under the umbrella of ECCE. 70% of the AWCs run in the school compound. There has to be addressed different aspects of a child like cognitive development, physical and motor development, creativity and aesthetic appreciation, scientific ways of thinking and inculcation of healthy habits. The infrastructural facilities available are also discouraging. According to Annual Survey of Education Report (ASER) 2011, Around 25,453 million children enrolled in 456994 ICDS Centres of India but only 31 percent of them attend and participate there in a regular basis. Five of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the UN Millennium Declaration relate to the health, nutrition, and education of the young child.  In 1990, the Jomtien Declaration for Education for All (EFA) stated that learning starts at birth and early childhood care and education was indeed made Goal number one. A decade later the Dakar Framework for Action reaffirmed its importance and in 2010, UNESCO held the first global conference on this goal in Moscow, producing a final statement that recognized that children’s right to early childhood care and education begins at birth.The Constitution of India and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) have been the guideposts for planning but achieving synergy across varied sectors catering to different facets of the child’s development has remained elusive. This is reflected in the poor health and education indicators at young children.  The Government of India recognizes the significance of ECCE, which has been included as a constitutional provision through the amended Article45 (The Constitution Act, 2002) which directs that “The State shall endeavour to provide ECCE for all children until they complete the age of six years”. The National Policy on Education (1986), recognizing the crucial importance of early childhood education, recommended strengthening ECCE programmes not only as an essential component of human development but also as a support to universalization of elementary education and a programme of women's development.  Despite existence of multiple service provisions, there is no reliable data available about the actual number of children attending ECCE provisions and their breakup as per delivery of services/ type of services. According to the information shared by Ministry of Women and Child Development, Govt. of India, out of the 158.7 million children in the below six years category (Census 2011), about 75.7 million children i.e. 48 percent are reported to be covered under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and only 32 percent of the pre-primary age children are enrolled in education structures at this level. In eleventh Five years Plan had committed to pre-schooling with various options and development of children will be at the centre of this plan. Recently the draft of National Policy on ECCE was made to cover the issues like universal access and inclusion, ensuring Quality with Equity in ECCE and strengthening Capacity. The quality standards adhere to the philosophy of integrated approach for holistic child development, of which education/ early stimulation is an integral part. The present framework is set in the context of the National  Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy and National Curriculum Framework for Early Childhood Education. It is informed by the National Curriculum Framework Position Paper on ECCE, 2005 and other national and international work on developing minimum specifications and quality standards for ECCE. But despite its conceptual strength, the services under ECCE are still missing its set ideologies and objectives. Early childhood education our country runs by Anganwadi Workers. According to the survey report of SCAN India,there were 10.13 lakh AWCs/mini-AWCs as on 31.3.2008 which have increased to 12.42 lakh as on 31.12.2010. There are 498 Anganwadi Workers Training Centres (AWTCs) operational as on 31.12.2010.80.24 percent AWCs/ mini-AWC are in pucca buildings which includes 22 percent rented pucca buildings. 51.67 percent AWCs have drinking water facilities within the premises. 41.38 percent AWCs have toilet facilities and 25.61 percent AWCs have separate kitchen. One can know that anganwadi worker is basically a health worker their services are limited to provide immunization to new born babies, antenatal care to pregnant women and providing supplementary nutrition to children. It is obvious that, they cannot deal with the cognitive skill, instructional strategies, behavioral changes and stimulations. Clause 11 of RTE Act, 2009 makes a provision that “ with a view to prepare children above the age of 3 tears of elementary education and to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of 6 years, the appropriate government may make necessary arrangement for providing free pre-school education for such children”. ECCE has been being looked at as a major tool to reduce out of school and drop out children cases as it fosters preparedness among young minds to go to school and formal learning. So, in order to improve the quality education at elementary level, pre-school education should be made universal. - See more at: http://www.orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=39256#sthash.oIWAgQMy.dpuf

Phailin Response programme- A ray of hope

Naba Kishor Pujari

The landfall of Phailin and five days of incessant rains had left Odisha in a very desolate situation. The double blow made a trail of damage and destruction to lives and properties of lakhs of population. Women and children became the worst victims in these disasters. Though the role of media was laudable for disseminating information on the cyclone and floods to the people, but it did not serve the purpose in many villages like Brahmanidei as they had no information about the havoc.
Government officials acted fast by evacuating 8,73,643 people in Odisha and 65,700 in Andhra Pradesh before the cyclone hit the coast, thus reducing drastically the human casualty. The official figures peg human casualty at 27 as of date.
While, the threat of an imminent flood is looming large, in two districts of Odisha, our emergency response teams are on the ground assessing the extent of damage to land, livelihoods and shelter.
The Government and the responsible Authorities had done a tremendous job in averting large scale casualty and now are engaged in relief and rehabilitation work. Our staff on the ground, while rapidly assessing the situation, is also helping the local vulnerable communities access the relief measures of the government.
We must also tell you that the tale of destruction being reported back to us, by our people on ground zero, is devastating to say the least. In the state of Odisha, 14514 villages in and  over 80 lakh people in 12 districts of Odisha are affected and 2,34,000 kutcha houses are partially or totally damaged. 500,000 Hectares of Agricultural land are destroyed and the losses are estimated to the tune of 2400 crores. From the initial reports, some of our project areas in both Andhra Pradesh and Odisha are severely affected and 350 of the children linked to sponsorship programme are also affected. In coastal Vishakapattanam 600 families from the traditional community are severly affected – they lost their boats, fishing nets and dry stocks to the massive cyclone.
ActionAid with its long term partner organizations did a Rapid assessments of the damages in the worst affected districts of AP & Odisha are going on, including the project areas, despite the flood warnings being issued.The focus was to assess the extent to which source of livelihood have been affected – for both fishing and farming communities. Immediate intervention component
Intervention Components -
Food support – immediately after the very severe cyclonic storm Phailin, the village was completely cut off from communication and thus was provided with food provisions mentioned below:
Beaten rice 5 kgs
Jaggery 1 and 1/2 kgs
Candles 1 packet containing 10 candles
Match box 1 pack containing 10 packets
Biscuit Tiger Milk Biscuit 2 packets
Apart from that, a Non-Food Item(NFI) kits were distributed by ActionAid with the support from Department for International Development (DFID) to address the immediate and basic need of the affected populace for their survival and sustainance. Below is the list of items what contained in NFI Kit:
Sl no items Nos.
1 Tarpaulin for roof 1
2 Tarpaulin Ground sheet 1
3 Rope for tarpaulin 1
4 Blankets 2
5 Solar Lantern 1
6 Sanitary Napkin cloth 1 bag
7 Savlon disinfectant 1
8 Nail cutter 1
9 Comb 1
10 Bathing Soap 8 pieces
11 Washing soap 8 pieces
12 Water purifying tablets strips
13 Plastic Bucket with lid 2
14. Plastic mug 1
15. Sterilised Cotton 1 packet
16. ORS 4 packets
Process of Intervention
To identify and monitor NFI distribution in the selected villages, we formed a Phailin response committee. The members of the committee (7 members) 4 women and 3 men helped identify the families which required support most urgently and helped the village volunteers in the distribution of food and emergency relief. The beneficiaries list in the village was put up for display after the selection by the committee and the names of the members of the committee was also put on display. After the relief was distributed, a social audit was conducted in the village. The objective behind putting women in the front was to give them a platform where they can participate in the decision making process of the village as well as flourish their leadership. Though the facilitation was provided by implementing agencies, but it was them who have to decide upon the functional modalities. In order to increase ownership among women, the relief was given in the names of women.
The village committee decided who are the worst affected and accordingly they decided the beneficiaries. The village committee maintains all formalities like sitting in a frequent interval, maintaining a register where every decision taken is lawfully passed in the resolution. The social mobilisers, appointed by the implementing partners are instrumental in the facilitation of Social audit whereas the committee members take the lead.  The names and number of beneficiaries are hanged in the meeting place for universal use.
Some Impact stories from ground
Brahmanidei is one such village of Ganjam district where Phailin and heavy rain had its worst affect. It is a small tribal village of 19 houses and a total of 101 populations. Brahmanidei is located alongside the forest and it is completely dominated by Saura tribes. The village is a small one in terms of population but not so were their agonies during the disasters. All the houses of village were wrecked and became unlivable. Five houses got totally damaged and other fourteen houses were ravaged severely due to the Cyclone Phailin and flood.The only road to the village was cut off due to flood.
The local administration provided five hundred rupees cash and fifty kilogram rice to all the affected populace but it was much later and also it could hardly contribute to compensate their loss. Altogether, they were in the losing front to deal with the disaster.


  Her smile counts
 Mrs. Laxmi Sabar (40) has been living in Brahmanidei village since 20 years since she got married to Budhia. She has not attended school ever in her life. Like other villagers, the episode of Phailin and inundation was left many untold scars in her memory.
Four months have passed but still Laxmi gets shocked if somebody asks her about the disaster. During the landfall of Phailin, her husband (Budhia) was not with them in the village as he had migrated to Hyderabad.  Laxmi was all alone with her kids when Phailin started its devastation.
Laxmi recollects “as the blow of the cyclone gradually grew furious, I got nervous. I was totally out of my mind. My children were asleep at that moment. The situation was totally insufferable; not only for me but for all the villagers. Due to the incessant rain, cold wave started. As we had already lost our clothes, so it was difficult for us to deal with the cold wave. We had no foods to eat. Even, we had no utensils to store water. For three to four days, we were in starvation. Thank God, we managed to save our lives” Laxmi said.
Despite the flood warnings being issued, a team of ActionAid arrived at the ground zero . They discussed with the villagers and did a rapid assessment of the damage of shelter, livestock, trees and farmlands. Subsequently, a seven membered village disaster response committee was formed in Brahmanidei. It was also highlighted that at least five members will be reserved for females in this committee. The background behind the process was also to increase the participation of women in the decision making platforms as well as to initiate the process to ensure their ownership in community resources. Laxmi was chosen as the President of the committee.
The members of the committee decided that all the households have been affected severely and thus it was finalized that NFI Kits will be distributed to all. This apart, all the kits were provided in the names of the women of the each household. This was to ensure the ownership of women in productive resources.
Laxmi recalls “The blanket is a great relief for us as it is helping us to protect from severe cold. The Tarpaulin is being used like an alternative roof as it helps us to protect from sunlight and rain-water.
The solar light has also helped us to a great extent. Our village is not connected with electricity. Now, the solar light is being used as the alternative source of light in night time while cooking or performing other household works. We are also taking it to outside when we move out to anywhere at night.
This apart, we are using halogen tablets in drinking water, using bucket to store water. It would have been hard for us to restore our immediate basic needs if we had not been given any assistance,” Laxmi concluded.
Solar light brought smile in the village
 Punjiama is a far-flung tribal village in Pandiripada Grampanchyat of Polasara Block in Ganjam district having 24 households. Everyone in the village has experienced their lives and properties being messed up due to the Phailin and its subsequent flood. Thatched houses were blown away, walls of the houses got collapsed, and household articles as well as food grains were destroyed and so on.
The only road that connects to the village was cut off due to the inundation and it was challenging to make contacts with the people as no cellular network was working. The worsening affects of cyclone and flood made the community more vulnerable. To respond immediately, a team from Dalit Adhikar Sangathan (DAS) immediately visited to the village and arranged some foods. (Dalit Adhikar Sangathan (DAS), a network of NGOs and people’s organisation has been working in this village for ensuring rights of the dalits and tribals with the support of ActionAid)  Later, the villagers were provided with a Non Food Items (NFI) kit as emergency humanitarian support.

The support in terms of NFI distribution was mainly intended to address their immediate and basic need to cope up with the disaster. But the kit helped them in multiple ways and remained causative to bring smiles among the beneficiaries of the village. Though poles and wires have been installed in the village but still electricity has not yet connected.  Mostly they use kerosene lamp for lightening purpose in the evening. They usually take dinner early in the evening and go to bed just to meet the scarcity of kerosene. DAS with the support of ActionAid and UKAid provided a solar light to each household as a part of the NFI kit. Now this has brought change in the village in terms of access to light for cooking, consuming food, organizing village level meetings and studying of school going children in their houses.

Malli  Sabar,  a woman of around 35 year of the village says recalls her past“ we were facing difficulties especially in the evening time while cooking and doing other household works. Our day ends when the sun sets. Now, we can do work in the evening, gossip with the neighbor outside our house and bringing water from the tube well using the solar light provided by you. Now-a-days, my children are studying in the evening rather than going to bed the most early. The solar light has helped me in reducing my distress.”

Source:http://www.hastakshep.com/english/release/2014/03/03/phailin-response-programme-a-ray-of-hope