DISHA

Disha has a history of responding to natural calamities and human-made events that impact Gujarat. Earthquake Relief.

In January of 2001, a devastating earthquake killed more than 20,086 people and 7633 villages were affected in Gujarat. Disha provided immediate relief to more than 2000 families in Surendernagar and Bhaskantha districts. Survivors of the earthquake were provided with temporary shelters, blankets, foodgrains, and other necessary items. DISHA also helped earthquake affected families get compensation as provided by the state.

Whereas the devastating Gujarat earthquake of 2001 inspired thousands of individuals to donate their time and money, the same response was not garnered by the riots of 2002. Very few individuals and organizations were willing to intervene after the riots for fear of social ostracization. Consequently, the relief camps were understaffed and under funded.

Rehabilitation efforts also extended into the re-building of damaged homes ñ DISHA was able to help more than 100 families in the village of Madka. A Balwadi for children was constructed in Banakantha district. People from a wide array of professions were aided in rebuilding their livelihood cycles after the earthquake. Economic rehabilitation efforts encompassed innovative natural resource development and management activities. This included water conservation projects, contour bunding, building farm ponds, deepening village ponds, deep ploughing, and distribution of organic manure and seeds. This was intended to improve the agricultural productivity under the food for work and wages for work in fifteen villages in three pockets. More than 400 families of saltpan workers (Agariyas) were provided with salt crushing engines and diesel engines for increasing the salt productivity. Khadi workers, women artisans, and cobblers were supplied resources to restart production while training to enhance their marketing skills was also provided.

DISHA felt that it was necessary to address the needs of those affected by the 2002 Gujarat Hindu-Muslim riots, and thus ventured out of the arena of tribal rights and became involved with the broader issue of basic human rights. In the aftermath of the riots, DISHA intervened at three levels: 1. directly providing for the physical needs of riot-affected Muslims and Hindus; 2. providing legal support and counseling for individuals who lost assets; 3. efforts to rebuild modes of livelihood.

Short-term relief efforts were many. DISHA raised funds for and provided hygiene/bathing kits to some 1700 families in camps around Sabarkantha ñ families that had been on the run for days in some cases. Children were among the most traumatized of the victims and recreational kits (including games, balls, cricket bats, story books, etc) were provided in order to diminish the mental burden of what had happened to them. Text books were distributed in order to help them reinitiate the learning process; teachers in the camps were able to use these books to prepare students for their exams. Kitchen kits were provided to help families restart their homes; these kits included food stuffs as well as utensils.

Legal guidance was provided to camp in order to explain processes that would be useful in recovering compensation for lost or damaged property. This was achieved through sending out a team of lawyers to assist people in the procedures necessary to claim for compensation, while simultaneously holding workshops to train youth volunteers in the camps to do the same. An instructive pamphlet explaining the rights of the people was distributed.

DISHA has planned a multi-village package of long-term rehabilitation efforts, the initial stages of which have been executed. The main thrust of DISHAís ongoing activities in riot-affected villages is thus far economic rehabilitation of the most damaged areas ñ which according to government reports was the district of Sabarkhanta. DISHA decided to begin by helping the most needy families rebuild their homes. DISHA insisted that the community members approve the list of those to be helped before DISHA intervened. Families were given materials for building homes in installments (i.e. once the bricks were used, tin sheets were delivered, etc.), and a total of 233 houses were built through the aid that DISHA supplied.

DISHA and a partner organization, have raised capital to initiate self-sustaining small-loans schemes in rural Gujarat. This work has the potential to serve as a model for other groups interested in post-disaster intervention or for villages interested in taking precautionary measures to safeguard the community from economic disruption of this kind. The general principle of the loan program was to provide start-up capital for riotaffected families to invest in rebuilding their prior livelihood means. Though this process was initiated from outside the target community (DISHA and partner funding agencies), the maintenance and evolution of the program is in the hands of the community itself.

Many riot-survivors initially expressed concern when faced with the possibility of working with an NGO. So many NGOs had come with promises only to disappear when the time for action came. DISHA gained the trust of the people only by persistent and regular communication, and it was a critical component of moving the loan process forward.

Standing by the people in times of emergencies (Above) constructing shelter for the earthquake victims (Below) providing necessary materials and rebuilding the destroyed shelter

The Muslim minority continues to suffer from widespread economic and social alienation since the riots. Muslims have been transformed into a new breed of untouchables within Hindu society. Displaced Muslim families have relocated to religiously homogeneous settlements; the resulting physical ghettoization parallels the cultural marginalization the minority faces.

	Economic Rehabilitation of Riot affected Families 2005.pdf
	DISHA felt that it was necessary to address the needs of those affected by the 2002 Gujarat Hindu-Muslim riots, and thus ventured out of the arena of tribal rights and became involved with the broader issue of basic human rights. In the aftermath of the riots, DISHA intervened at three levels: 1. directly providing for the physical needs of riot-affected Muslims and Hindus; 2. providing legal support and counseling for individuals who lost assets; 3. efforts to rebuild modes of livelihood. Short-term relief efforts were many. DISHA raised funds for and provided hygiene/bathing kits to some 1700 families in camps around Sabarkantha ñ families that had been on the run for days in some cases. Children were among the most traumatized of the victims and recreational kits (including games, balls, cricket bats, story books, etc) were provided in order to diminish the mental burden of what had happened to them. Text books were distributed in order to help them reinitiate the learning process; teachers in the camps were able to use these books to prepare students for their exams. Kitchen kits were provided to help families restart their homes; these kits included food stuffs as well as utensils. Legal guidance was provided to camp in order to explain processes that would be useful in recovering compensation for lost or damaged property. This was achieved through sending out a team of lawyers to assist people in the procedures necessary to claim for compensation, while simultaneously holding workshops to train youth volunteers in the camps to do the same. An instructive pamphlet explaining the rights of the people was distributed. DISHA has planned a multi-village package of long-term rehabilitation efforts, the initial stages of which have been executed. The main thrust of DISHAís ongoing activities in riot-affected villages is thus far economic rehabilitation of the most damaged areas ñ which according to government reports was the district of Sabarkhanta. DISHA decided to begin by helping the most needy families rebuild their homes. DISHA insisted that the community members approve the list of those to be helped before DISHA intervened. Families were given materials for building homes in installments (i.e. once the bricks were used, tin sheets were delivered, etc.), and a total of 233 houses were built through the aid that DISHA supplied. DISHA and a partner organization, have raised capital to initiate self-sustaining small-loans schemes in rural Gujarat. This work has the potential to serve as a model for other groups interested in post-disaster intervention or for villages interested in taking precautionary measures to safeguard the community from economic disruption of this kind. The general principle of the loan program was to provide start-up capital for riotaffected families to invest in rebuilding their prior livelihood means. Though this process was initiated from outside the target community (DISHA and partner funding agencies), the maintenance and evolution of the program is in the hands of the community itself.