and there is a mobile kitchen where workers can cook food for themselves by paying a nominal ₹5. That’s just one of the four ways the NGO assists vulnerable migrants: it also provides legal aid in matters such as non-payment of dues, injuries and exploitation at Udaipur, a facility called STEP trains workers in skills such as mobile repair, tailoring, plumbing, beauty services, etc. “It helps them get SIM cards, bank accounts and government services,” says Rajiv Khandelwal, executive director, Aajeevika Bureau. “This helps me prove my identity and avoid harassment from police forces.”Īajeevika has issued 100,000 such cards to migrating workers from four districts of southern Rajasthan (Udaipur, Dungarpur, Rajsamand and Banswara). At TPM naka, 31-year-old Vinesh Kumar from Kherwada, Udaipur, shows an identity card with his personal and employment details, attested by his village sarpanch, certified by the Rajasthan government, and issued by the Aajiveeka Bureau. The nakas are where migrant labourers congregate everyday, hoping to be picked for the day’s job - there can be hundreds gathered at a time. Travelling through southern Rajasthan, you will hear a common refrain, “ Pass hua toh zindabad, nahin toh Ahmedabad (If you pass that’s great if not, there’s Ahmedabad).” Reach any street corner in the Gujarat state capital between 7 am and 9 am, and you will get first-hand evidence that school results in Rajasthan aren’t all that great. “Our relationship with the Tata trusts is not transactional, it’s more collaborative,” points out Khare. It’s here that Gramonnati found a helping hand in the trust, which has so far disbursed over ₹30 lakh for building 60 ponds. “When it comes to ideas, the district authorities have a very quick buy-in but when it comes to releasing money, the wait can be painful,” says Khare. Apart from farm ponds, the trust’s rice intensification programme has also given villagers an alternative to the otherwise overwhelming reliance on wheat and Bengal gram. “Unlike the cities, where urban development is driving the price, here it’s all about agriculture,” says 42-year-old Rajendra Nigam, a field officer for Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, which has been engaged with Gramonnati for some time now. Land prices have also appreciated from around ₹10,000-₹15,000 an acre just five years back, the going rate now is around ₹1 lakh. “Earlier, more than 200,000 people used to migrate seasonally but that has now come down by 30%,” says Khare. Since 2010, Gramonnati has been helping villagers in six villages build ponds to store rainwater that made a difference. A terrible series of droughts in the past decade led to large-scale migration of farmers from the region, seeking menial jobs in the cities and leaving their families behind to fend as best as they could. The scorching heat saps the energy of any outsider but sitting in his spartan office, 58-year-old Khare is completely at ease and bubbling with enthusiasm as he speaks of the slow transformation underway in the region. The founder of Gramonnati Sansthan, an NGO that works for the upliftment of the rural poor, has been working in the district since 1986. Infamous for its droughts, Mahoba is home to 800,000 families spread across 450 villages and it is here that Arvind Khare found his calling. It’s hot, blazing hot at 48 degrees in Mahoba, one of the seven districts in south-central Uttar Pradesh that, along with six others in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, make up the Bundelkhand region. “I am proud of my country, India, for having produced the splendid Zoroastrian stock, in numbers beneath contempt, but in charity and philanthropy perhaps unequalled and certainly unsurpassed.” -Mahatma Gandhi, in a speech in the UK, 1940s
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