By – Vish Viswanathan
Jharkhand is the 28th state in eastern India. It was carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. Jharkhand shares its border with the states of Bihar to the north, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the west, Odisha to the south, and West Bengal to the east. The city of Ranchi is its capital while Jamshedpur is the largest and the biggest industrial city of the state. Jharkhand is famous for its rich mineral resources like Uranium, Mica, Coal, Iron, Copper etc. Forests and woodlands occupy more than 29% of the state which is amongst the highest in India. The tribes of this state are living here from thousands of years and not much changed in their life and culture over the ages barring last few decades.
With over 30,000 villages the relatively young State of Jharkhand faces the uphill of lifting the rural communities. No Government can do this alone. This is where the community organisations like Nav Bharat Jagriti Kendra and selfless community volunteers like Shri Girija Satish stepped in to improve the quality of living for the common people in Jharkhand. Shri Girija Satish born at village – Bataspur near Bodhgaya in Gaya and a graduate in electrical engineering from BIT, Sindri studied Gandhian literature, came into contact of Sarvodaya leaders and applied those high ideals of renunciation in his personal life as a young man. He is one among the founder members of Nav Bharat Jagriti Kendra (NBJK); a voluntary organization established in 1971 along with three close friends and led the organization since its inception under guidance of late Jai Prakash Narayan aka JP, a great Indian freedom fighter and mass leader of independent India.
NBJK on Work
NBJK’s mission is to educate, organize and empower the rural poor to promote development as a liberating force for achieving social justice, economic growth and self-reliance. NBJK runs wide ranged programs upon Education & Children, Health, Hygiene, Disability, Socio-economic & Livelihood Development, and Support for Small Voluntary Organizations, Networking, Advocacy, and Governance; in rural areas of Jharkhand-Bihar and slum pockets of Ranchi/Patna to realize the very idea of an integrated development. This has benefitted a large number of people and communities.
Under Education segment, it focused over Schools and runs 2 Primary and 5 High Schools for around 4000 village students in Hazaribag district, Jharkhand. These students obtain good result. Girls’ Education Sponsorship is another program that supports 450 girls with school fee, books, dress etc. The parents guarantee against child marriage and these girls get uninterrupted schooling. Early Education for Slum Children caters 8 Non-formal education centers for 240 children/adolescents whose mothers are members of SHGs promoted by NBJK. There are many such examples.
Under Health, Hygiene and Disability section, NBJK facilitates Eye Care in rural areas by Loknayak Jaiprakash Eye Hospital at Chouparan (Hazaribag) and Dumka. This ensures treatment of 46000 eye patients at OPD and 9000 cataract surgery every year. For People with Disabilities, the program of Integrated Community Based Rehabilitation and Eye Care Services with support of CBM & AusAid in Dumka (Jharkhand) has facilitated caring and services for them. Rights and services for such people always matter for NBJK. Currently 90 deafblind and sensory impaired children get specialized services and an extensive survey followed by rights advocacy for 35000 people with disabilities in 5 districts of Jharkhand and Bihar has mobilized them to get medical assessment and disability certificates to avail further facilities. NBJK is a pioneer in Solid Waste Management with Clean Jharkhand Project (2007-09) by assisting in policy and demonstration for civic bodies. Its waste recycling demonstration units to make millboard and organic compost place an example.
Under programs of Socio-economic & Livelihood Development, an inclusive program on livelihood enhancement in Khunti district has benefitted 2050 households with increased food security, cash crop farming and livestock rearing. This aims for their increased income and demonstrated Diversion Based Irrigation Management (DBIM) for people of a village to get river water flowing across hillocks. This uses gravity force for the purpose through 2 km long downward pipeline to get 24 hour water supply for domestic use and enables villagers to irrigate 200 acres of land round the year.
The program of Tailoring training and Sewing machines to rural women have engaged 2000 rural women with livelihood and ensured tailoring skill for 10 thousand rural girls. Likewise, Skill development training for around 6000 youths and placement or self-employment for more than 50% of them has strengthened the initiative. NBJK also supports a number of other voluntary organizations to benefit 2000 women and 2500 farmers of 500 villages to access government schemes and agriculture facilities.
Under the program of Advocacy, Networking and Governance, Family Counselling Center has supported 2500 families for women/child protection, reconciliation of family disputes and to get legal aid smoothly.
The Indian Telegraph salutes the tireless efforts Nav Bharat Jagriti Kendra (NBJK) for the pioneering social contribution and the force behind the organization Shri Girija Satish, who is a role model for the younger generation.
