SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING RURAL EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT
Search Our Site
Under our broad programs we manage various projects to support our goals. Currently, these projects include:
Tribal Self Rule (CASA)
PESA (Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas), the 73rd Amendment Act in 1992, marks a new era in India by making it mandatory for the states having scheduled areas to make specific provisions for giving wide-ranging powers to the tribals on matters relating to decision-making and development of their communities. It not only accepts the validity of "customary law, social and religious practices, and traditional management practices of community resources", but directs the state governments not to make any law which is inconsistent with these.
Self governance and networking are central components of this project because illiteracy, lack of awareness of how governance works and fear have made it difficult for the tribal people to access their rights under India's constitution and fight to save their natural resources. Under this component, the project uses a participatory approach to creating community based organizations that act collectively to identify issues, plan for their resolution, and hold government accountable for promises made by tracking and monitoring progress. SPREAD builds capacity by raising awareness of the provisions of PESA in the tribal communities. The project increases sources of livelihood by training the communities on agricultural processes, specifically vegetable cultivation, which can be used to produce a "second crop". Gender equity is a goal of the project because women still suffer gender inequality in terms of family violence, burden of household work, wage discrimination, and lack of involvement in decision making and governance. SPREAD uses women's self help groups and various forums to raise the status of women in the community and improve their welfare.
Activities include:
- Participatory micro level planning for the Palli Sabha & Gram Sabha
- Documentation of tribal culture and values
- Debate and discussion on tribal identity among tribal youth
- Social audits
Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR Forum)
The purpose of this project is to work with people with disabilities (PWDs), their families, communities, organizations and institutions on empowerment and inclusion by facilitating disabled people's organizations to address the gaps that exist at various levels. The project prioritizes the most marginalized of those with disabilities: the poorest of the poor, people with multiple and severe disabilities, women and children.
This project identifies people with disabilities, performs needs assessments, completes resource mapping to locate institutions from which PWD can get services, advocates for PWDs with health providers, supports certification of PWDs to enable them to receive bus passes and other benefits, and matches PWDs with education and livelihood opportunities.
Activities include:
- Raising awareness and sensitivity among PWDs and the general public about issues in disability, prevention and management
- Enabling and enhancing capacities of PWDs, their families and communities
- Influencing policy, action and legislation for inclusion
- Promoting and strengthening PWD movements
- Developing and promoting a body of knowledge and skills in the area of CBR
Rights of Children (CRY)
Children are the precious assets and the architects of the prosperity of a nation. The present trend in our development area has created serious threats for children. This project operates in an area in which hundreds of Paroja and Gadaba villages were displaced by the Machkund hydro electricity power project which has caused extreme impoverishment due to loss of natural resources, means of livelihood, homes, culture and identity. The project's objectives are to protect tribal culture, participate in local governance under India's Constitution, and control natural resources for traditional uses.
One important component of the Child Rights project is Pila Panchayat. Pila means children in local Oriya language, thus the Pila Panchayat is a children's governance body that mirrors the participatory development practices that village, panchayat, block and district level leaders engage in, but engaging the six to fourteen year old age group. Pila Panchayat addresses problems of particular relevance to children while developing the capabilities of the next generation of leaders and providing a platform for tribal children to find expression for their creative abilities. Thus, these children are the rising stars of their generation and their accomplishments are radiating outward to other communities where children can see what it means to be a citizen of India and learn to acquire the means to access their rights to education, health and participation in the governance process.
Activities include:
- Measuring body mass index
- Holding youth camps
- Organizing children's convention
- School attendance tracking and enrollment campaigns
- Advocating for additional Integrated Child Development Scheme centres
Rights to Food, Work and Land (CWI)
In this remote and rural part of India, agriculture and non-timber forest products are the keys to a sustainable livelihood, but because of the alienation of tribal lands and extensive deforestation, the village dwellers of Koraput district face extreme poverty with little hope to improve their circumstances. However, many people within these marginalized communities have rights to food, work and land under Indian law.
The goal of this project is to make tribals and Dalits aware of their rights and enable them to access their entitlements, particularly women, for whom land rights are more than just a means for agriculture, but can also be security against abject poverty, a means to access credit, technology and other services and a bulwark against male oppression and domestic violence. The major component of this project is to build the capacity of local communities to advocate for their rights and develop sustainable livelihoods through the development of community based organizations at village, panchayat and regional levels. The project also supports the communities through sharing information about rights, developing advocacy skills, assisting in the application for land under the Forest Rights Act and other legislation, supporting the communities' supervision of the Public Distribution System (PDS) and working to raise awareness of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and its processes.
Activities include:
- Land mapping
- Supporting land entitlements for women
- Vulnerability analysis
- Submission of applications for pattas (land ownership documents)
- Monitoring and tracking of food entitlement distribution
Food and Livelihood (DCA)
Food insecurity is the underlying crisis for the impoverished living within Koraput district's tribal areas. During the four months of food stress, tribals and other marginalized community members are often pressed into borrowing money from moneylenders at rates they can never hope to repay, or migrating to distant labour camps where they typically can earn only a fraction of what labour laws mandate, working under grim conditions. The combined effects of semi-starvation, malaria and water borne illness cause hundreds of preventable deaths each year. Women and children are the worst sufferers.
This project addresses the immediate and practical needs of the most marginalized groups to enable them to sustain themselves so that they can advocate for their rights and entitlements as citizens of India. The emphasis in the partnership is on food security, credit, education and land. Grain banks, women's self help groups, monitoring of food distribution and building awareness of rights, and migrant labour rights in particular, are the primary tactics employed with a view toward increasing and strengthening the communities' participation in local governance to create lasting change.
Activities include:
- Development of women's self help groups and thrift societies
- Establishment of grain banks and maintenance of grain bank records
- PDS survey and tracking of delivery of other food schemes
- "Dadan Sramika Nka Pain Nihati Janhiba Katha" booklet on migration circulated
Contact Us
SPREAD |
Email: |