GAJIPUR, DUMKA DISTRICT, JHARKHAND:

Gajipur is a small, predominantly dalit-tribal village in Jharkhands Dumka district. Poverty reigned supreme, not so long ago, because of scarce agriculture. The village attracted the illegal trade in country liquor. The women had very little money and lots of drunken men to contend with.

Today, milk production has replaced liquor in every household. This metamorphosis did not take place overnight. The Mahila Sabha with the Badlav Foundation had to wage a prolonged struggle.

Social activist, Namia Kadaar says that when she visited Gajipur initially, the women of the village wouldnt come out of their houses to talk to her. Few times she succeeded in bringing some women together, the men hurled abuses at them, even beat them. But she persisted in her efforts and gradually the women responded.

The process culminated in forming a Mahila Sabha. The women pooled their small savings and gave loans to other women for fertilizers, seeds, treatments, marriages and other small domestic requirements. The needy, instead of going to moneylenders, came to the Mahila Sabha. Seeing the benefits the Sabha provided, men also became more helpful.

The Gajipur Mahila Sabha also found affiliation with a nearby bank. As an acknowledgement of its good work, the Sabha was granted Rs. 20,000 in 2001 and Rs. 2,08,000 in 2002 under the Golden Jubilee Self Employment Scheme. The women used these funds for meeting local requirements and generating balanced employment among men and women. Bullocks, carts, fertilizers and seeds, pump and sprinkler sets were provided. Artisans relying on their ancestral skills were given aid.

Buffalos and cows were mainly given to the households that were engaged in liquor making with dire warnings that any further participation in the illegal trade would deprive them of their animals and cause them to be expelled from the Mahila Sabha.

Within months, the change was aparent. Fields that had been fallow grew vegetable harvests. Milk from the households was pooled together and sent for sale to the neighboring town. People started using scientific methods of farming and this increased harvests. Next, the women fought for getting the health centre reopened. Some women got trained as midwives. Hand pumps lying defunct for months were got repaired with money collected from the village community. Children started being sent to school regularly.

The women also began intervening in Government development and welfare programs. They took an interest in the construction of roads, wells and ponds and effectively intervened in Annapurna, Antyodaya, Old Age Pension and Maternity Benefits schemes. Gajipur has amply proved that womens empowerment is not the monopoly of urban centers.