Dr Pragnya Ram
Group Executive President
Corporate Communications
21 January 2006

In the 29 villages of Palamau and Garhwa districts, the back of the beyond areas of Jharkhand, Mr. P. K. Ojha, Mr. Ramesh Ojha, Mr. Shatrughan Singh and the Bihar Caustic team, have brought about a silent revolution in a people's psyche.

The villages in which they work represent extremes. On the one hand, the impoverished majority are simple folks who want to live peacefully and are content if they have a meal and a half every day. On the other hand, there is an embittered lot who would go to any lengths because they feel they can no longer endure the conditions in which they exist. And you have to see this conflict almost in biblical terms. They nurse a sense of let-down, as they believe that they are looked upon as a stained people. They hazard themselves and others too. Shatrughan and his team's story is an example of courage in the face of fear. So dramatic is the change, that in an expression of gratitude the villagers say "The Birlas have the heart of a lion and the generosity of Karna, an iconic figure in Mahabharat, the Indian epic". Read on.

A people's nightmare
"Working in this sort of an uncertain terrain initially was a nightmare", says Shatrughan, the leader of BCCL Janseva Trust. "But we viewed this very factor as a challenge. While agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, the area is drought-prone. Irrigation facilities earlier were virtually non-existent and the vagaries of nature impeded people's livelihood more often than not. Their literacy rate was low, with nearly 67 per cent of the people living below the poverty line. The birth rate of 3.12 per cent was on the higher side. Panchayat Raj existed on paper. People had floated 'Jan Adalats', dispensing justice according to their norms.

Five years ago when we ventured into the area, it was very tough. Their disbelief in systems extended to us too. They viewed us with a lurking suspicion and wondered if we had a hidden agenda. Industrial unrest rather than harmony was the norm. Our first priority was to build bridges of understanding with them and get them to trust us. We had to inch our way in their midst slowly and sensitively. To make a transformation, we had to get the buy-in of these underprivileged, unhappy people. We mooted a plan based on linkages with the government agencies and tried to rope in the local people.

At the heart of our strategy lay five steps, basically resting on the premise that through social mobilization, we could bring these villagers to a reasonable standard of life, by delivering the necessary development on various fronts.

The five fold path
Looking into the felt needs of the community, such as health and sanitation, we struck upon a novel idea to garner local support including the disgruntled. From among the latter, we chose a couple of people who were willing to give up their militant stand and work with us as catalysts after enormous persuasion. That we would face a lot of hurdles was unsurprising. We would go and sit amidst the villagers and try to cajole them, to win them over as sensitively as possible, resolute in our determination to make a difference.

To usher in the change, our five fold path banked on, firstly, creating avenues for education. Secondly, endeavouring to change mindsets through social reform. Thirdly, providing and campaigning for better healthcare. Fourthly, working towards economic self-reliance through income generating activities; and fifthly, infrastructural development. The significance of these critical developmental factors could hardly be underscored. We kept on singing this song. Eventually, they could see the genuineness of our intent. Slowly but steadily, more and more villagers began to pour in for our programmes. We were able to make them internalise our message.

Gaining their trust
Leveraging their trust, we established village development committees in all the 29 villages. We helped them name leaders for the various projects. Through this route, we were able to effect a tremendous turnaround, both psychologically and in their quality of life. Literally making them feel that we are a part of them.

Perhaps one of the reasons for our success was that in these village development committees, 40 per cent of the members were women. They brought in more transparency and veered people away from their vengeful spirit. Our rapport with the local government and linkages with NGOs also went a very long way in getting the people on our side.

Astounding progress
In these four years, we have managed to make a tremendous headway. Our record:

To cater to the healthcare needs of the villagers, we initiated specific camps. Our homoeopathic camps benefited 5001 patients. At the weekly rural medical camps, the total number of beneficiaries exceeded 19,340. At dental camps — 846 people have been treated, while at the eye care camps, we looked after 445 patients.

In the area of family welfare, the team's work has been exemplary. We devised effective strategies and have managed to motivate people to adopt practices, to have small families. In doing so, we have been instrumental in facilitating a reduced birth rate and increasing the coverage of prenatal and antenatal care. Our project set a benchmark in industry. Recognition of our work came in our getting "the FICCI Annual Award 2003-04 in family welfare" at the hands of the Prime Minister.

Through our mother and child care programmes, 3,935 children have been immunised, 597 persons have been treated for reproductive tract infection and 29 persons for sexually transmitted diseases. Antenatal and prenatal care has been extended to 5,350 mothers. We convinced 5,100 people to opt for planned families. Of these, 941 women opted for sterilisation.

For the first time, women have come out of the confines of their homes. Nearly 400 women were given training in tailoring, while through self help groups, we rendered 511 women economically independent.

Under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, we enrolled 732 students, while getting additional 242 children into regular schools. To encourage the girl child, we offer annual scholarships, which have so far been given to 40 girl students, appearing for the board exam.

One of the most unusual features of our work with farmers has been establishing the "Paani Panchayat". It is essentially a novel mechanism for equitable distribution of water. Additionally, through putting up hydel towers and repairing hand pumps, we capacitated the flow of water. The benefits were for all to see. More than 110 acres of parched land belonging to 605 farmers, came under cultivation".

Simply overwhelmed
Mr. Naresh Ram, who leads one of the Paani Panchayats, standing before a gurgling stream of water, gushes shyly. "If you had met our people, our farmers and our villagers, five years ago, you would have seen our misery - faces of the young, lined with unfilled folds of skin. Today these have filled up. There is peace and subsistence. We look upon the Bihar Caustic team as God's response to our plea to end our misery. These people have made us reshape our lives and our destiny. We are now eager to move forward. There is also the pride that comes from being on your own feet. A lot of the discontent and confusion that warped our people's intellect and burned our hearts with vindictiveness is gone in several pockets. In very few parts, it is still there. Once in a blue moon the blasts thudding make the dogs on the road run helter-skelter".

Undeterred our team continues to work in the line of fire.