Including the Excluded Dalits: Through Gender, Development and Participatory Interventions

A retail shop, established by a member of savings and credit group by taking loan from the group

1. Objectives
2. Reduction in the practice of untouchability within dalits and between dalits and non-dalits.
3. Enhanced awareness and assertiveness of the dalits for their rights and participation in local governance.
4. Enhanced capacity of dalit and poor women through life skills, livelihood opportunities and reproductive health services.
5. Issue based campaigns and increased capacity of dalits and women raise their voices for their rights and justice

2. Duration : 15^th January-2006- to 14^th January-2007
3. Coverage: 2 VDC’s of Mahottari
4. Donor/Partner: British Embassy
5. Current Status: Completed
6. Major Outcomes

• Dalit SAMAJ SUDHAR SAMITIs (Dalit Social Reform Committees) are formed in each VDCs.  In total, 22 dalits are organized in the committees. The committees have initiated sensitization activities against untauchability in the villages. Such as, non-discrimination policy is implemented for the use of hand pumps, the leaders and members of the committees started to eat together with the persons from other castes in BHOJ (parties).  The leaders of DSSS have been sensitized in the concept of human rights, dalit rights, importance of local resource mobilization and self-governance.

• In total, 20 groups of savings and credit cooperatives (S/C groups) are formed having 434 members. The S/C groups have developed and implemented savings and loan mobilization policies. RCDSC has distributed Rs 300,000.00 (Three hundred thousand) to the S/C group as seed money.  A total of 53 members have taken loan (Rs. 3000- 8000 in size) from the groups and initiated income generation activities. Likewise, 113 members have taken loan (Rs. 300-1000 in size) for medicine and other domestic purposes.  Under the activity Sub objective II “Reduction in the practice of untouchability within dalits and between dalit and non-dalits.”, 15 water users groups are formed with the representation of different dalits and non-dalit families. The users groups are led by dalit. The groups have initiated sensitization activities against untauchability. Such as, non-discrimination policy is implemented for the use of hand pump, the group leaders and members started to eat together in BHOJ (parties).  The hand pumps have made easy access to safe drinking water of the villagers. It helped to build their (Dalit and women) confidence to manage such activities.  Similarly, it helped to change social status of dalit.

• The community actions (campaign) have been established as sanitation campaigns in all clusters of the project VDCs. Such actions are being implemented by the initiation of DSSS and hand pump users groups.  Likewise, 38 male and 43 female have got citizenship certificates, 79 children  (41 male 38 female) got birth certificates, and 58 couples have got marriage registration certificates

• In total 12 persons (poor, dalit and VOC) got free legal aid service by the lawyers from RCDSC. Such services were collection of necessary evidences, preparing and registration of the writ at the court and pleading at court on behalf of the victims.

• The Executive members of RCDSC have performed regular monitoring and interaction visit with the community groups. It is identified and realized that RDSC must provide continue technical support to the S/C groups after completion of the grant period. RCDSC has decided to provide continue technical support to the groups. Similarly, the poor, dalit and the victims of violent conflict of neighboring village of the program VDCs are also interested to initiate such activity and to involve in income generation activities. There is high demand of such activity in the villages. RCDSC has planned to expand the program in neighboring villages.

• RCDSC have faced some problems and constraints in implementing the project. Massive mobility and various programs of Maoist rebels in the project VDCs, made difficult to provide frequent monitoring and facilitation to the groups in the field from the organizational level. Because of the heavy rain and flood (In July-August) transportation was cut off form the field for a couple of weeks. Due to the democratic movement-2, any program at district level could not be organized for two months April and May.