Ekta or unity is our strength
October 2022
There are three tribal-dominated villages in Orissa, namely, Muhuliya, Sibida, and Nandoor, in which people of the Kaundh community reside. After independence, the rays of development spread all across India, but these three villages were amongst those deprived of the light because they were forest villages. These three villages did not have basic facilities like hospitals, schools, rural child care, preschool centres, electricity, or even roads. The villagers had to travel 60 km to Banpur for medical treatment and eight km to Barbara to get their rations from the Public Distribution System, i.e., PDS shops.
The tribals of the villages wanted the conversion of their villages from forest to revenue villages because, as forest villages, they did not have access to basic facilities, and development was hampered. These people consistently tried to get this reformation done, but it wasn’t so easy. However, they were determined to get their villages registered in the list of revenue villages. With this objective, in 2002, they joined Ekta Parishad, an NGO based on Gandhian principles.
After joining, the villagers started raising their issues at various levels. Land and education
medical facilities, PDS systems, roads, etc. were some of the major issues. Initially, the government didn’t pay heed to the non-violent action of the organisation.
Ultimately, in 2015, the Odisha Government took the initiative to convert these three villages into revenue villages. On August 3, 2015, the collector of Khordha wrote a letter to the tehsildar (revenue officer) ordering him to take permission from the Gram Sabha to convert the villages to revenue villages. Following the orders, a meeting was held on September 3, 2021. Currently, all the processes like Gram Sabha resolution, making of revenue maps, etc. are being completed by the tehsildar and the district development officer in the presence of the villagers and the Ekta Parishad activists. They asserted that in a few days, these villages were going to be marked on the revenue map of Odisha.
The real credit for this success goes to all the families residing in these three villages who have won this battle together with Ekta Parishad. This shows us that unity can indeed achieve anything.
rights, rural child care centres, drinking water.
By Jamuna Rangchari