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Satya jyoti is located in Rajasthani Mewat and although adjacent to
Gurgaon, this area has remained poor and undeveloped for many
reasons.
The Mewat villagers have very small land holdings and only one third
of them actually are involved in agriculture. Desertification and
increased salinity are two major challenges to agriculture in the area.
Milk production from buffaloes and goats is their only other source of
income apart from mining in the Aravalli hills which is extremely
hazardous.
Meo society is deeply patriarchal and the demographic indicators point
to this fact. According to the 2001 census the sex ratio for Alwar
district was 887 women to 1000 men and in Bharatpur the figure was
857 women to 1000 men. The literacy indicators are not encouraging
either. Barely 5% women are literate which is lower than the all-India
figure. Domestic violence is commonplace. Girls are generally married
off at a very early age. Another social custom is that of buying brides
from Jamuna Paar (from across the Yamuna river) i.e. from areas
outside Mewat. These women are called Paaro and now make up a
sizeable part of the female population of the villages of Mewat. Health
awareness is low and the community depends largely on illegal private
clinics and Maulvis/ Hakims/ Vaids for health care. There exists a
network between these private clinics and midwives for cases of
pregnancy. Government healthcare centres are few and far from the
villages and in a deplorable conditions. The government schools do
not have teachers or even if they are there, there is no monitoring as
these villages are tucked away in remote corners. On an average,
there are about 7 children born to one set of parents and religious
beliefs and superstitions keep away all methods of contraception. Most
of the children do not go to school. Those boys who go to the private
local schools, are also barely able to read and write.
Our pilot project- village Gandwa, has about 140 families consisting of
Meos and Harijans and has all the problems mentioned above.
Our current efforts are focussed towards:
-raising the awareness of this community viv-a-vis their rights and
duties
-creating a Mahila Vikas Samiti and the Kendra where they can receive
training, form self-help groups, start earning an income, have their
own savings.
-create a creche (baalwadi) for very small children and provide at least
one healthy meal a day.
-supporting the government to run the primary school efficiently and
well, by providing additional staff, resources and monitoring.
-Build and run a primary health centre in collaboration with the
government.
Gurgaon, this area has remained poor and undeveloped for many
reasons.
The Mewat villagers have very small land holdings and only one third
of them actually are involved in agriculture. Desertification and
increased salinity are two major challenges to agriculture in the area.
Milk production from buffaloes and goats is their only other source of
income apart from mining in the Aravalli hills which is extremely
hazardous.
Meo society is deeply patriarchal and the demographic indicators point
to this fact. According to the 2001 census the sex ratio for Alwar
district was 887 women to 1000 men and in Bharatpur the figure was
857 women to 1000 men. The literacy indicators are not encouraging
either. Barely 5% women are literate which is lower than the all-India
figure. Domestic violence is commonplace. Girls are generally married
off at a very early age. Another social custom is that of buying brides
from Jamuna Paar (from across the Yamuna river) i.e. from areas
outside Mewat. These women are called Paaro and now make up a
sizeable part of the female population of the villages of Mewat. Health
awareness is low and the community depends largely on illegal private
clinics and Maulvis/ Hakims/ Vaids for health care. There exists a
network between these private clinics and midwives for cases of
pregnancy. Government healthcare centres are few and far from the
villages and in a deplorable conditions. The government schools do
not have teachers or even if they are there, there is no monitoring as
these villages are tucked away in remote corners. On an average,
there are about 7 children born to one set of parents and religious
beliefs and superstitions keep away all methods of contraception. Most
of the children do not go to school. Those boys who go to the private
local schools, are also barely able to read and write.
Our pilot project- village Gandwa, has about 140 families consisting of
Meos and Harijans and has all the problems mentioned above.
Our current efforts are focussed towards:
-raising the awareness of this community viv-a-vis their rights and
duties
-creating a Mahila Vikas Samiti and the Kendra where they can receive
training, form self-help groups, start earning an income, have their
own savings.
-create a creche (baalwadi) for very small children and provide at least
one healthy meal a day.
-supporting the government to run the primary school efficiently and
well, by providing additional staff, resources and monitoring.
-Build and run a primary health centre in collaboration with the
government.
Cleaning up mosquito larvae infested water logged area
around the central village well.
around the central village well.
| A meeting of local NGO's, government officials, political representatives, and villagers was organised at Satya-jyoti on 5th December 2009 to discuss the problems being faced in this area and to find solutions. There was great eagerness to co-operate and collaborate with each other which was very heart-warming and full of hope. |
Preliminary meetings to set up the Women's
development Committee.
development Committee.