Meeting with the Settlement officer Mr. Palden and project officer Chonyi Dolma- SWM in Mundgod

 The Solid waste management comes under the DoHome(Central Tibetan Administration). 

Solid waste management in Mundgod Tibetan Settlement

Solid Waste Management

-        We had a discussion with the settlement officer on solid waste management, their future plans and sustainability of the project as this project funded by IM will phase out from 2012.  Mr Palden shared with us the situation in the settlement regarding community’s attitude, positive attitude of the govt.’s employee toward the SWM intervention, support from the local people etc.

-        The District commissioner of Karwar is very supportive of the SWM intervention in the settlement and has encouraged others to follow suit. Especially the sign board by the road side in the settlement such as “save tress”, “No to Plastic” and many more on the SWM theme caught his attention the most.
     He is an environmentalist and has asked them to root out the shrub- Parthenium plant- which is in abundance in the settlement- as it causes great harm not only to the human being but also to the environment. It causes asthma and cancer. It has now been almost wiped out completely in the settlement. 

Parthenium 

 -        (The pollen grains of Parthenium Hysterophorus, or congress grass or carrot grass in common parlance, cause several diseases like eczema, asthma and dermatitis, a senior scientist of the Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT), Bhubaneswar, Sudhansu Sekhar Mishra, said. "It is a poisonous, allergic and aggressive weed whose pollens float in air and cause eczema,asthma, dermatitis, hay fever (kalazar) etc in human beings," Mishra said.)

-        The District Commissioner also gave 30,000 plant i.e Pongamia Pinnata for making boi-diesel. If you sell the seed, it costs about Rs. 8/kg. I looked for more information on the net and it amazed me. More information on this below:-

Pongamia Pinnata

-  (What is Pongamia Pinnata? 

    It is a deciduous tree that grows to about 15-25 meters in height with a large canopy that spreads equally wide. The leaves are a soft, shiny burgundy in early summer and mature to a glossy, deep green as the season progresses. Small clusters of white, purple, and pink flowers blossom on their branches throughout the year, maturing into brown seed pods. The tree is well suited to intense heat and sunlight and its dense network of lateral roots and its thick, long taproot make it drought tolerant. The dense shade it provides slows the evaporation of surface water and its root structures promote nitrogen fixation, which moves nutrients from the air into the soil. Withstanding temperatures slightly below 0°C to 50°C and a minimum annual rainfall of 500 mm, the tree grows wild on sandy and rocky soils, including oolitic limestone, but will grow in most soil types, even with its roots in salt water. 

-         Pongamia Pinnata trees are normally planted along the highways, roads and canals to stop    soil erosion. Billions of trees exist all over India. If the seeds fallen along road side are collected, and oil is extracted at village level expellers, tousands of tons of oil will be available for Lighting the Lamps in rural area. It is the best oil for lighting. Since these are spread over a large area, collection of seeds for BioDiesel manufacture is not viable. (A compact plantation can support a BioDiesel plant). Seeds are 10-20 cm long, oblong, and light brown in color.)

-    The Mundgod Tibetan settlement is now switching over to organic farming as a result of intervention by DoHome under organic farming. Besides, the Karnataka Govt. has decided to move towards expanding organic farming in the state on a large scale.

-         When asked about the sustainability of the SWM project in the settlement without IM support, Mr. Palden said the community may not be ready to pay Rs.10 against Rs. 5 which is collected from each household at present. Mr. Kalsang thupten came out with a suggestion that it may be a good idea to collect the fees separately and not together with other expenses incurred by the community people such as water bill and other expenses.

-         Mr. Palden told us that there will be a meeting in October-November with all the camp leader and monastery to discuss on this issues. Besides, there is a new intervention called Revitalization of Tibetan settlement by the US Govt..one of its objective being employment generation in the community. They are hopeful that they will be able to use this fund in the SWM project and to make it more sustainable.

Tsering Youdon

Fair Trade Coordinator

IM project Counseling under DoEducation

The counselling office is based in Mundgod which is few km from Yellapur. The counselling cell is reaching out to all the schools in the 5 Tibetan Settlements in Karnataka state.

Mr. Jamyang Wangyal, the Counsellor

-  Our first visit was to the counseling cell to meet with Mr. Jamyang Wangyal, the counsellor and his assistant Miss Tsundue. They came back after conducting a counselling program in Bangalore. It was interesting to know and see how the counseling works and read the feedback of the students at the school and college level.

-        A decade back, when we were in school, there were no counselling or a guidance cell where we could go and share our concerns about courses  and the scope. We went along with our guts, many following their friend’s  and not many in the professional arena except for the Nursing course. 
 


                                                                                                                         It became a trend few years back with flock of students opting for  Nursing especially  general nursing and is still a trend amongst Tibetan girls who either wishes to settle abroad or thinking it has a better job prospect. Now it’s a totally different scenario in the school surrounding where you will find different scholarships available for students on the notice board and information on professional course and having a permanent teacher counsellor in the school. These information were inaccessible during our school days. I have never ever seen such information displayed on the notice board nor heard it during Assembly. 

-        From 2012, the counselling project under the DoEducation, CTA which is funded IM will focus in the central part of India where there are 3 Tibetan settlements- Bandra, Mainpat and Odisha. When asked about the counselor’s views on the new project application, he told us that the counseling in the present schools should not be phased out or discontinued as these are the biggest Tibetan settlements comprising of majority of children in the higher secondary classes. He said he has no idea of any new plans of DoEducation from 2012 and expressed his wish to have more staff deployed in the south zone as the office remains closed during his visit to different schools and colleges leaving school children inaccessible to the counseling cell.

-        We were surprised to know that not all the information is shared with the counselor as to the future plans of DoEducation which we all felt necessary because he is one of the main person in the southern region where Tibetans are in majority, students pursuing in the higher secondary classes are many. Not enough communication or exchange of ideas or suggestion seems to be taking place between the PO (DoEducation) and the field office. The word I stressed would be - not enough “Transparency” and “Participation”. The field office chalks out the activity plan and acts accordingly. 

Tsering Youdon

Fair Trade Coordinator

Visit to two SHGs (Male and Women) in Birgadde village- TEED Trust

-   The meeting was held at the youth building in the village. The balwadi classes are also conducted in the same building as their new building is in construction with support from the Govt. We saw few children waiting outside for their parents who have come for the meeting. Of the 28 people who participated, there are 3 members who have both the families in the SHG.

1. -        -Means of transportation and access to other facilities: Their village is 7 km from the main road and there is only one bus in a week..i.e. Sunday. The Govt. mobile clinic is available only on Friday from 2-5pm. During emergency, they call private vehicle to reach the hospital. All the minor ailment are cured by using herbal medicine such as sandalwood paste and other medicinal plant grown in the forest. 
2. -        After the SHG formation, 75% of them can read and sign. They are involved in inter-loaning but have no bank linkages. They do not get any govt. subsidized loan. But they are not taking loans from the landlords as they live far from them. They take part in the orientation programme by TEED Trust on taking loan and payment of interest on time so that their SHG will grow. Trainings on leadership, President’s and Secy’s role, vocational training, carpenter training, revolving fund, education support and balwadi etc are provided by TEED Trust.
3.  TEED Trust is the first NGO to enter this village and spread awareness on the SHG concept and in tapping govt’s schemes and services. It was when the couple – Poojary had the toughest time and the biggest challenge in bringing together the people who are scattered having no concrete support in the field of education, IGA or more importantly availing govt’s services to form a group and work together for the same cause. They have succeeded in gaining their trust. There are SHG that are doing very well and there are ones that dissolves after few years as a result of migration for employment purpose.
4.  We met two girls who have passed out the vocational training under TEED Trust and now a part of the SHG. They are continuing their tailoring work and earning Rs. 500 per month during festivals and Rs. 300 per month during off season.

Tsering Youdon

Fair Trade coordinator

Visit to Shri Varalaxmi SHG at Karaknabail village - TEED Trust

-        This SHG was formed in the year 2003 and has 20 members collecting a membership fees of Rs. 20/month from each members. This SHG was formed by Mr. Chennapa, one of the staff at TEED Trust and husband of one of the members. 11 of them participated in this monthly meeting as the rest were working in the agriculture field as it was the cultivation period. Those who do not participate have to pay a penalty of Rs. 5 and if any member is found absent in three consecutive meetings, they will be asked to leave the SHG with their principle amount refunded. However, this is a rare case – clarified one of the members when we put the question. The SHG maintains record of their meetings, resolution, bank loan and others. Everyone can become the president of the SHG as it is on a rotation basis.

-        We interviewed Mrs. Nagaveni age 42 and a member of this SHG. Nagaveni is a widow but she has two children- both in their early twenties. Her daughter is married and son is helping her in the agriculture field. She studied till primary and can write in their local language i.e. kanada. Her average monthly income is 1000 only from July-December (seasonal work) where she earns Rs. 60/day when there is demand for labour. There is no work from Jan-June. She lives on the encroached land where she grows coconut. She pays Rs. 35-40 for her thatched house and electricity Rs. 50 on a monthly basis. There is a pump set in the village for drinking and cooking purpose. When asked if she is taking any loans from the landlords: “No, she said (then went on), my son is helping me”. When there is no work, she sits at home and works as a daily labourer. To our question on their experiences and changes they have gone through- they replied- the SHG in these areas has helped these women develop a strong sense of individuality, understanding for their community and improve their socio-economic status in the community. As a group, they have come stronger and feel easy to tackle problems faced by any members.

Tsering Youdon

Fair Trade Coordinator

N

Visit to other SOIR-IM's projects - TEED Trust in Yellapur, Karnataka State

TEED Trust has a total of 121 SHGs with a total of 2160 members. During our meeting with SHG federaton, a total of 57 women participated along with 7 male staff of TEED Trust.  

The formation of SHG has helped in building a strong network in the family, community and resulted in increased income in the family. Following are the experiences and knowledge gained by the members of SHG:-

 1) They are aware of the importance of saving money, cooperating with other members and are able to send their children to school, learned how to sign their names, can provide education support to their children pursuing higher education and improved social and economic status.

-        2) Members  not only work as a daily labourer but has a small agriculture field growing paddy and a dairy farm.

-            3)  As a result of SHG formation and group support, they can now tackle domestic voilence faced by any members.

-           4) There are also many cases where husbands are cooperative and help in repaying the loan.

-         5) With the support from TEED Trust and as a group, they tap govt. services easily such as subsidized loans schemes that is presently successful with some groups. There are groups not availing any Govt. scheme.or having any bank linkages.

-        6) A proactive in the community development such as closing down liquor shops in the area, distributing books and sweets to schools, education support to poor families and support in building temple in the area.

-        7) They are not scared to approach govt. officials and have achieved in getting Schedule caste and tribe identification registered. TEED Trust has played a significant role in lobbying and tapping of govt’s resources…in the case of Forest rights for the tribals.

-      8)  They have availed the govt. employment scheme, MNREGA (The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act aims at enhancing the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing hundred days of wage). They are paid Rs. 125 a day and there are instances where payment is not done on time or not transferred to the workers…..the bureaucracy exists even in the remotest rural areas. But in one case, the people went on a strike and solved the matter – shared one of them. The SHG has made these people quite powerful and aware of their rights.

-        9) Women share important information on health, tapping govt. schemes,savings etc collected during capacity building provided by TEED Trust with their husbands.

-        10) They visit either religious places nearby or a picnic spot for exposure from their collected savings. And the decision is made by all as there are families in the group under BPL who can not afford to go on a long tour.

-        Earlier they did not know how to approach a bank manager – said one woman- but now they can write application and introduce themselve to the bank manager and  social welfare department.

-        11) With the help of TEED Trust, they can send their children to pursue higher level of education such as  LLB, M.Com to name a few.

-        Mrs. Mohini translated to us that these women feel that they were living a cage before the SHG formation---- involved in cooking only…but now they are earning and saving too. They are able to repay the loans within the stipulated period (six months).

-        12) Communication with the outside people has increased and are able to do community service such as..providing assistance as cooking or serving food during marriage function or performing yakshagana  during festival in the village. “Yakshagana” is a theatre performance usually depicting a story from Indian epic poems or Kuranas.

Note: Internet is very slow, so could not upload the picture. Will do it soon.

Tsering Youdon

Fair Trade Coordinator

An interview with Kottaikarupaye....at the packaging department

Kottaikarupaye is another lady working in the quality checking departent. She is 25 years old married with a 7 year old sdaughter who is studying in 3^rd standard in a Govt. School. When I was interviewing Sudha, she volunteered to give interview- which made me happy. She is young and very expressive. I was happy to be able to communicate with her in broken english, hindi and tamil. We learned some of the greetings in tamil during our trip to RTU few years back.

Her village is Kallupatti – and her house is not very far from work station. She has studied till 8^th standard and can write in english. Besides, she and her husband is helping her daughter in her studies. Her husband is doing correspondence course in B.Com but working as a daily wage labour. They have been married for 8 years and he is 27 years.

She worked in the quality checking department for a year before RTU closed down the industry unit. For a year, She did not work and stayed at home. It has been 8 months since she joined Aaharam in the quality checking department. Before that she was in the banana rope production for CCD which is weaved to make window and door curtains. At Aaharam, her earning is Rs. 2000 per month same as that of her husband. She does not have to pay fees for her children as it is a Govt. school. She wants her daughter to pursue higher education.

From the Govt., they got free TV during the previous Govt. rule. The present Govt. is providing rice for free under the Public distribution system, fan and mixer for free to all the people in September- said Mrs. Gomathy.

The public distribution system is applicable to people holding ration card. The rates for these distribution in Chennai are as follow:-

Particulars	Rupees per kg	Allotted kg for each family
Rice	Free	20 kg
Wheat	Rs. 14 per kg	3 kg
Sugar	Rs. 25 per kg	2 kg
Edible oil	Rs. 45 per kg	3 ltr
Dal	Rs. 25 per kg	1 kg

Tsering Youdon

Fair Trade Coordinator

An interview with Sudha in the quality checking department at Aaharam weavers

 Sudha is 27 years old married with two kids age 5 and 2 respectively. Her husband is a soldier and based in Kargil like many other soldiears guarding the Line of Border between India and Pakistan. A very vulnerable place. I asked if she is not scared of him living so far……..and she smiles and says “No”.  She loves taking pictures of herself and smiles a lot! I felt so welcome during the interview as she did not seem to mind any of my questions.

She has completed her high school and doing correspondence course in Bachelor of Arts. But she does not speak hindi or english, so Mrs. Gomathy who is the production in-charge translated for us. Hers is a joint family and so her children are taken care of by her mother-in-law. They are going to a private schools. They have a Television and a mobile; daily speak to her husband for more than 3 times in a day. I was curious to know if they know of any knowledge of the Govt. scheme and said she did not get Govt’s support during her labour (maternity) as her husband is working in the Govt. sector and has more earnings. Govt. provides a financial support of Rs. 10,000 for the first two deliveries.

Before she joined Aaharam weavers in the quality checking department two months back, she was a housewife. Mrs. Gomathy said – “She was given only a week’s training on quality checking because she picked up easily”. Her monthly salary is INR 2000 but she is happy and her heart is at rest- translated Mrs. Gomathy. Sudha has knowledge of the organizations buying Aaharam produce but nothing about fair trade principles. The working hours at Aaharam unit is from 9am-5pm with two tea breaks in a day and lunch break for an hour. She is from Genguvarpatti village which is 1km from her work place and comes to work by walk. Even though there is no benefits from the unit, they can avail medical benefits for minor ailments from the RTU hospital by paying Rs. 2 for medicine plus check up.

Tsering Youdon

Fair Trade coordinator

Production process at Aaharam Spinning Mill

Raw organic cotton 

Waste cotton

Carding machine

1) The raw cotton are collected in loads of 150 kg each from the village to the spinning mill. After the raw cottons are cleaned and de-seeded, they are put into a stretcher machine for carding. The yarns are made into a bundle/bale wrapped by a cotton thread because it is easy to handle the yarn and for economical storage. There is always a 10 kg of waste after cleaning the raw cotton. The wastes are used as wick for oil lamp and pillows.

Made into bale/bundle

Yarn carded and smoothen

Drawing machine

2)After carding, it is put into the drawing machine where the yarns are made smoother and kept in a big tin. The second process into the drawing machine makes the yarn smoother and remove the particles and dry out the moisture.

Spinning machine

Ring Frame machine

Spinning Machine hall

3) The yarns are then forwarded to an another area/room where the spinning machines are kept. There are 25 women working in the spinning unit. But they were not working on that day. These machines convert the yarns into bobbin on a large scale and then it is put into an
other machine that is known as Ring frame to make these bobbin into thin strand. Mr. Parthasarathy, who is the incharge, explained to us all the steps involved.

Final product of 20 counts

4) The final produce of 20 counts of yarn. These machines operates for only 8 hours in a day.

Aaharam-One of IM suppliers in Theni district, Tamil Nadu

 Aaharam weavers are producer owned company under CCD (Covenant Centre for Development). Of the different divisions under CCD, Aaharam is a supply chain network management; where suppliers of raw cotton to the finished product is involved.

CCD is an NGO working in many areas of development activities in the rural sector. It has primarily worked with the following sections of rural society for the livelihood intervention initiatives:

1.    Rural women

2.    Traditional Health Practitioners

3.    Medicinal Plants Based Communities (collectors and cultivators)

4.    Agricultural communities

5.    Coastal Communities

CCD is also providing support in marketing of their goods and capacity building of the rural communities in converting the resources – human and natural- for a sustainable livelihood and that does not compromise with the environmental aspect of its functioning.


The inception of Aaharam weaving:-

-        In the year 2009, as a result of policy change in the NGO sector, RTU had to close down its business unit. They took some time in making the artisans understand the situation whilst keeping them employed for another few months and giving them ample time to find another job in the city.
y. There are many who left to find jobs in mills in the city…and few are employed by RTU in the tailoring section for stitching school uniforms and other necessities for the children studying and living in RTU villages. The school uniforms and other necessities are provided for free by RTU.

It was the same year when we – Father Paul Swamy of RTU, Jacky from MESH, Mr. Wangchuk Gyalpo and myself (SOIR-IM) had a meeting with batik artisans and the Mohan raj who is the manager of the RTU Industry with the main aim to find solutions to the issues at hand. Jacky was interested in the batik section as the artisans are suffering from polio and physically challenged. We asked them about their wish to start a SHG and seek help from RTU’s office in receiving and completion of the orders. But the artisans, who have been working permanently for the past many years under RTU, did not want to take risk by starting on their own and taking all the responsibility. Going on their own would mean, perhaps, no continuous work, more responsibility and no provident fund and no other benefits.

-        “About 60% weavers left to work in mills, hotels, agriculture and the remaining are still working in the weaving section. The artisans in the batik section has left to work in the mill too. One artisan from the batik section is still working in the Aaharam’s packaging department. There is a huge work demand in Madurai- which is around 50km from RTU”-said Mohanraj.

-        That is how Aaharam came into existent. However, we were not called during their meeting regarding the takeover.

    About the organization:-

-        Aaharam is a registered company but its present office is situated in RTU’s campus on a rent basis. Mohan raj is the manager and Murshida is also working as an assistant manager. There are about 40 artisans including weavers and bobbin winder. Only 3 artisans are working in the tailoring section and 5 people in the packaging department.

-        The artisans are paid on piece rate and it is from 122-180 per day. They are provided tea two times a day but with no other benefits. Mohan raj mentioned that the orders have gone down by 50% in case of IM orders. If the sales increases, they will think about all the other benefits for the artisans from next year. At present, the buyers are from Japan fair trade company, IM Sweden, SIPA in Chennai, Upasna  in Pondicherry and Sunbird in Delhi. They make table cloth, kitchen towel, Baby towel in both organic and non-organic cotton.

-        As they are dealing with cotton, there is no tax liablity; however they do file monthly return. The cottons are dyed in Karur and they do cabinet dyeing.

-        They do not have a website but Mohanraj said it will be created in few months. The communication with buyer is through e-mail and phone. With IM orders, swedish designer Karin Kock visits them to develop new designs and finalize the samples.

-        Training is provided to artisans for artisans in the quality checking.