DISHA

	Over the last 17 years, DISHA grew organically. Her perspective on organizations developed as and when challenges emerged. Disha first raised the issue of enforcement of minimum wages for the forest laborers, and raising the rate of Tendu leaves for the pluckers. The organizing activity went very well, through which DISHA realized that in order to enforce its achievements; it had to form village level groups. The groups would work to enforce the minimum wage, to get increased rate of Tendu leaf plucking, to resolve the complaints relating to the non-payment of minimum wage, or forward them to the main office of DISHA in Himmatnagar. These groups can also take up a number of other developmental activities besides monitoring the payment to the Tendu leaf Plucker women. The activity made DISHA’s leadership aware about the need to conduct training programmes for the labourers, besides DISHA’s workers.

	During the course of its work DISHA was approached to take up the issues of agricultural labourers and forestland cultivators. Hence it formed the Agricultural Labourers’ Union and Land Rights Protection Committee. The programmes under the Land Rights Protection Committee grew year by year. It’s membership spread from Ambaji in north of Gujarat to Dharampur in south of Gujarat. At the end of 10 years’ struggle, the government passed a resolution to regularize 124,000 acres of land to 67,000 families of tribals and other backward communities who were cultivating this land for years. This is the biggest land transfer in the history of the country. The process of conferring the land rights titles on the joint names of men and women is going on.

	The activity of the Agricultural Labourers Union grew slowly, and is active in Himmatnagar taluka of Sabarkantha district. It got a boost with the government’s decision to provide identity cards to 36 lakh agricultural labourers of the state.

	The village level groups and the unions also take up individual cases of wage-rise, mortgage and recovery of land and ornaments of tribals and other backward communities, land alienation, etc. Instead of a planned approach, DISHA grew organically as it went on realising the need to do something during the course of work.

	From an issue-based organization, focusing on enforcement of wages and working conditions, Disha realised the need to add a new dimension of regional development to its mission. Hence, it began focusing on the entire tribal area as a region. It is in this connection that DISHA was forced to study the budget of the state.

	The budget work was started under the programme of Pathey. Pathey is a programme within DISHA and its main aim is to provide the basic information pertaining to State Budget and Expenditure on relevant issues. In order to make the case of development of tribal region, it studies the financial allocation to the tribal and non-tribal regions vis-à-vis irrigation, agriculture, industry, energy and the social sectors like health, education, nutrition, etc. The facts obtained from the budget study revealed that the government was making gross injustices in allocation of financial resources to the tribal areas. DISHA produced a detailed report on these gross injustices to the tribal areas. The entire exercise provided a vision of development of the state and of the tribal region besides monitoring the expenditure of the state, and study of the taxes paid by the poors. This provided an enormous data to interprete the actions of the government in favour or against the poor, and sharpens our arguments.

	Pathey also conducts training programme for other NGOs of different states in classification and analyzing the budget information, which helps them understand their own issues. Hence all the activities under DISHA are inter-woven.

	After starting the budget work the organization also felt the need to introduce new people to take up development work in tribal and non-tribal areas of Gujarat. We felt that there are very few young people joining to take up rural development work as a challenge, partly because there was no agency who can provide the support needed both financially and work-wise. This led us to start a Fellowship Programme. Under this programme 41 fellows are working in different areas of Gujarat on different issues.

Milestones

		Enforcement of minimum wages for labourers working in forest, agriculture, mines and construction....

		Increase in collection rate of Tendu leaf plucking for over 100,000 women who live in remote, hilly regions of Gujarat

		Regularized forest land, cultivated by tribal farmers for years, thereby legally entitling them as cultivators and reduced their harassment, abuse and imposition of fines forced by forest officials......
		Enforcement of various pro-poor laws, government schemes and programmes meant for them.
		Analysis of the state budgets thereby strengthened the representations before the Planners and Government, eventually influencing the allocation of financial resources.

Best viewed in 800 x 600.
Copyrights © 2005 Disha - Gujarat, India.