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BiswanathKhara, a skilled mason, aged about 35 years belongs to Karadabadi village under Khairput Block of Malkangiri, returned from Andhra Pradesh two months back owing to the outspread of COVID-19 pandemic all over the country. Following the lockdown situation everywhere, declared by the government, he left the masonry job and made up his mid to return homeland to see his family members first and find out a job somewhere nearby his community. Biswanath’s family comprises of wife Sumi, two daughters Lata&Bati and two sons Bali & Kuna. Unfortunately, while entering his village he was caught by the police and had to spend 14 days in Panchayat TMC. While under quarantine at TMC, Khairput Block being the partnering area of CYSD, he was sensitised by its volunteers on how to keep away from the deadly coronavirus following social/physical distancing, practicing hand wash and sanitization, etc. He also gathered information on how to get instant employment under MGNREGS for the survival of his family.

Being inspired by the GP functionaries and the volunteers of CYSD, Biswanath put job demand in his Panchayat office and was called to join the earthwork for construction of village road under MGNERGS. Getting engagement as daily labourer @207 per day, Biswanath was bit ashamed while comparing his past income against the existing job available nearer by his community.

Suppressing the inner feelings and blaming his destiny, Biswanath continued to engage himself in road construction work along with his fellow beings under MGNREGS and could earn around Rs. 7245/- in first 35 days. Out of the earned money he repaid Rs.2000/- as hand loan taken from Sahukar and purchased new clothes for his wife and children along with rations to survive for a month or so.

Receiving further support and guidance from CYSD volunteers, Biswanth has recently planned to rebuild his goat-shed to revive goat rearing and accordingly has submitted an application to Panchayat functionaries which is likely to be approved soon. Besides, as a potential beneficiary his family has been included under ‘MO BAGICHA’ program. Sumi, his wife inherits the skill of promoting backyard vegetable garden which she had learnt from her in-laws. Sumi will undertake this work which can further ensure 33 man-days to substantiate the family’s income.

The story not only speaks about Biswanath  but also about more than hundreds of families who have resettled their life and livelihoods cooping the current pandemic changing scenario. Many migrant returnees like Biswanath have started negotiating to resettle their lives under the new curve of MGNREGS.

Odisha is one among the poorest States in the country.Lately, this state has emerged as a cheaplabour stop for all parts of India, owing to which the state faces emigration issues. Migration in Odisha is mostly influenced by the developmental structure of the nation. It involves closely knit aspects of social, cultural and political factors of migration. In economic sense migration is perceived as, when a person is engaged or likely to engage in a remunerative activity in a place where he is not a native or national. Migration reflects the human endeavour to survive in most challenging condition both in natural and manmade. In the context of globalization, we find serious income inequality or disparity, distress agrarian structure, inadequate employment generation and vast informal sector growth leads to the migration from rural to urban areas. Even the magnitude of distress migration is high in socially vulnerable section of society i.e. SCs and STs as the rate of exploitation and inequality is high among them.

In Odisha, we would commonly notice seasonally distressed emigration   in the rural and tribal districts. The reason being that a large portion of population of the State are from rural areas and their main occupation is agricultural activities which is highly monsoon dependant (single crop) with poor agricultural infrastructure. The emigration session in Odisha can be commonly observed during October-June. During the rest of the months fromJune to October, these farmers remain at home to cultivate their land. They take loans from the village head or middleman (from informal source) for doing agricultural activities like terracing of land, purchasing of fertilizer and pesticides etc. or  perform  social activities like marriage of son or daughter etc. which then gives rise to debts, damage of shelter, loss of standards of living and food insecurity.

Seasonal distress migration also promotes child labour rapidly. Poor families with no additional support in their villages tag along their children with them when they migrate for work. The wage being the bread winner, draws those minor children into work. The mistreatment of migrant children are aggravated because they do not have access to the kinds of support which non-migrant children automatically have. They do not have chance to go to school or develop themselves being out of their homeland. Even where migrant children have access to school,  the status of government schools in the migration prone regions is dismal. Poor education possibilities push children further into migration. As a result of large-scale enrolment drives the names of most migrant children are now on school rolls, but in reality they are often out of school, and again being drawn into labour at work sites, and falling irreversibly into the annual cycle of migration; they find themselves in a vicious cycle.

In early January 2020, a community monitoring process conducted in G. Maliguda village under Boipariguda block of Koraput district reveals that a majority of pregnant women of this village are not able to avail the advantage of cash benefit provided by maternity benefit schemes i.e. MAMATA and Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY). Surprisingly, it is being noticed that more than 50 percent of ante-natal women and even those who delivered babies within two years are not getting the conditional cash transfer provided by the Government of Odisha under the MAMATA scheme. As per the guideline of the MAMATA scheme, one woman beneficiary can avail Rs. 5000/- for each birth twice in her lifetime during ante-natal and post-natal phase. In addition, the JSY scheme provides Rs. 1400 to each and every woman beneficiary provided they adopted an institutional delivery system. The very moto of Government in introducing these schemes is to ensure proper nutrition and care during childbearing and post-partum phase and safe delivery in the presence of health care practitioners.

1. Maliguda Anganwadi Center is coming under Kollar Panchayat of Boipariguda block of Koraput district which serves 73 beneficiaries. Of the 73 beneficiaries, there are 20 children ageing 6 months to 3 years, 20 children between the age group of 3 to 6 years, 25 adolescent girls, 4 pregnant women and 4 lactating mothers.

During a community monitoring on RMNCH+A, facilitated by CYSD, both the service providers i.e. ASHA, AWW, ward member and service users, like pregnant women and lactating mothers were interacted separately. A detailed discussion was held with all the groups and astoundingly it came out that the practice and prevalence of early marriage and early pregnancy is very rampant among the villagers of G. Maliguda. While the girls are getting married before the prescribed age of 18, the conditional cash transfer schemes designed for every mother is flattering to be insignificant. It was commonly agreed by the service users and service providers to take the issue to the upcoming Gram Sabha as they are utterly impoverished to regulate it. As per the mutual action plan, this issue was raised by some volunteers at the Gram Sabha held on January 26, 2020 at Kollar panchayat.

This news became viral and reached before the CDPO of Boipariguda block within fraction of minutes. As a result, the CDPO with help of In-charge of Ramgiri Police Station, ChildLine, ICDS supervisors, Anganwadi workers and some volunteers did a surprise visit to the villages of Kollar, Dandabadi and Chipakur panchayats of Boipariguda block and at one go they could identify the occurrence of five early marriages on the same day. After prolonged discussion with the parents of those children, their marriages were on hold. Subsequently, the parents were agreed to conduct the marriages after the girls attend the prescribed marriageable age i.e. 18 years. On the other hand, the ASHA and Anganwadi Worker assured the pregnant women and lactating mothers to facilitate them for availing the benefits from MAMATA and JSY schemes.

During Corona pandemic in April, an antenatal mother named Gita Naik, 23 year (first time pregnant) from Goras Gram Panchayat of Saharapada Block was admitted in Sub-divisional Hospital, Karanjia for pre-partum antenatal hemorrhage in her last trimester periods. After that she needed AB Positive blood transfusion for her survival. Due to second phase lockdown period the availability of blood of her group was not available in the blood bank of Sub-divisional Hospital. The concerned ASHA telephonically informed the health team members of CYSD. Following which the Health Officer, CYSD discussed the issue with Dr. Gouranga Charana Nayak, Blood bank officer of Sub-divisional Hospital, Karanjia. Then quickly he could arrange the blood and immediately blood transfusion was made. Due to complication of Antepartum Hemorrhage she was again referred to District Hospital, Keonjhar in consultation with the Superintendent of Sub-divisional Hospital.    After 3 days Gita delivered a male baby of 2.9 kg. Now the mother and the new born baby are staying in normal health at village Goras. This was only possible with the active support and constant supervision of concerned ASHA and ANM as well as the timely intervention of CYSD health team.         

Professional health workers at the forefront are engaged in fighting COVID-19. Their efforts are being widely acclaimed at all levels. The skill and spirit of service amongst these professionals places them in a unique position to save people from this deadly disease. It is of utmost importance that adequate measures are taken for ensuring their safety.

Under humanitarian response to COVID-19, CYSD and Plan India jointly supported 257 PPE kits (Mask, Sanitizer, Gloves, soap) to professional health workers, like ASHA (100), AWWs (120), ANMs (26) and Doctors along with Pharmacists (11) in Thakumunda Block of Mayurbhanj disrict towards preventing the outbreak of Coronavirus.

“We are at high risk than most people. Under these circumstances, masks become very important to us to be wary of the Covid-19 infection. The support CYSD-Plan makes us feel more confident”, says Ms. Binika Bakira, ASHA, Saleibeda, Thakurmunda Block.

“We want to do our job and we can only do it if we are healthy and protected. Masks, gloves, shields are the accessories we absolutely need. We are thankful to CYSD-Plan for supporting PPE kit”, acknowledged Ms. Arati Behera, PHEO, Community Health Centre (CHC), Thakurmunda

Supriya Mohapatra of Sabalkana Village in Mahanga Block of Cuttack used to do household chores from dawn till dusk at her in-laws house, in fact, until every member had gone to bed at the end of the day. Her in-laws always had some chore or the other to burden her with, and she would oblige. Meanwhile, she became a victim of domestic violence. Finally, she was divorced and came back to her parent’s place. The financial crisis of the family and the burden of a divorced daughter made her parents vulnerable. Being a Brahmin caste married lady, Supriya’s staying at parent’s house was not accepted by the community. She arrested herself in cornor of a room and stopped speaking to anyone. Gradually, she became mentally weak. Days became hard and her life became hail until she learnt about the Internet Saathi programme and decided to join it.

As part of the Internet Saathi programme, Surpirya was among a group of Saathi’s who were trained for using Android Phones for imparting digital literacy programme to rural women and efficiently collecting data as well as livelihoods information. During this time she has developed literacy and numeracy skills and gained confidence in using the mobile phone. After she became Internet Saathi, she got a chance to know about YouTube and other e-platforms for acquiring new skills on handlooms and handicrafts. Now, she is revamping her skills using the internet platform and has opened a learning centre. With the additional income, she is now heading the family burden and helping her family in household chores.

Supriya is now wellknown as Internet Didi in her cluster.  The programme gave her a scope to meet people and develop a rapport building with the community. She became the point of discussion in the community. She regained the dignity and respect which she had lost after her divorce. Supriya being a multi-talented and skilled worker earlier had no chance of transferring her skills for income. It was a great accomplishment for her when the community people changed their mindset and called her ‘Internet Didi’. A happy Supriya has come-up from her mental illness and leading her life independently.

During this Corona Pandemic lockdown, Supriya could reach hundreds of women of her community easily and help circulate the advisories through WhatsApp group. She played a critical role in organising  awareness campains on hand wash practices, social distancing and health and hygiene. She proved herself no less than a frontline worrier of Corona.

People across of the globe are passing through an unprecedented challenging time because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Social isolation has become paramount  to arrest the outbreak. Current lock down has unsettled the tribal life and livelihoods significantly. Owing to restrictions imposed by both the State and district administration, the NTFP collection and harvesting of crops seems two emerging issues for the poor tribals of Koraput at this juncture. NTFP collectors were futile to sell their products resulting in impact huge household income.

Sabujima Producer Company Ltd (SPCL) is a tribal women producer collectives established during 2017 in Boipariguda block of Koraput district, Odisha. The collectives work on aggregation and value addition of forest and agro produces grown by its members. Produces get value added in different form and size depending upon the market requirements. Produces like, Tamarind, wild Honey, Amla, Turmeric and Millets are taken into second and third level of value addition. The practice of value addition mostly undertaken at household level by the members and the remaining at the central processing unit setup by the company.

Tamarind is a Non-timber forest produce largely collect from forest area by the maximum shareholders of the Collectives. Corona pandemic and followed by the lockdown situation, huge Tamarind produce collected from forest required market linkage. As villages were disconnect from mainstream market, the traders were unwilling to lift product from villages. Even, Tribal Development Cooperative Corporation (TDCC), being a marketing agency promoted by the Government of Odisha to procure minor forest produces with Minimum Support Price (MSP) failed to reinstate their system in this crisis period. SPCL Board of Directors along with Corona warriors & frontline community volunteers of CYSD were in regular touch with each other to find out possible solution for marking of tamarind.

In a monthly Board of Directors meeting, decision was taken to procure seedless tamarind from its members to give the producers additional labour engagement and minimise risk of produce. In between some regular buyers were contacted by the company for sale of seedless tamarind but their response was very frosted taking the plea of lockdown and market slow down. They too started bargaining with the company in terms of price and quality. Finally, two buyers shown interest to procure the produce in good price with agreed term and condition of the Company.

“A challenge cropped up before us when the producers at the ground demanded net cash for selling their products. The company had very limited working capital to procure all products at a time. Besides, storage capacity was another issue where we struggled a lot”, shared Mani Majhi, Chairperson of SPCL.

“Besides, during summer, usually Koraput experiences rain in each alternate day. Hence retaining quality of product intact became a challenge for the company and the buyers too set a condition for taking good products only”, added Mani.

In spite of all hurdles, the company procured seedless tamarind in phased manner from the producers and reworked on quality parameter and standard packaging at the central go-down. Meantime, one of the final buyers denied to procure the produce from Koraput region showing transportation issues. These products were supposed to deliver in Mundra port of Ahmedabad for export. “Tension continued for a few days and finally, we were able to deliver 10 tons of seedless tamarind to the second buyer, ‘Safe Harvest Company Pvt Ltd’ in Hyderabad Go-down in ex-go-down price of Rs.100.60 per kg. We paid Rs. 80 per kg to primary producer, which was 20% above of the price against MSP. The remaining amount will be shared as dividend, keeping some operational cost, at end of this financial year, says Trinath, CEO of SPCL.

This endeavour of SPCL undoubtedly directly benefited 223 producers, besides, the producers restored their faith and trust in the Company for unlocking market linkages to sell their precious products and standing behind them during this great crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown declared by the government made the life and livelihood of Taramara community members miserable. The basic needs of villagers, especially food to overcome hunger became hard-hitting as job opportunity was remained standstill at that time. Taramara comes under Thakurmunda Block of Mayurbhanj district wherein most of the households belong to tribal and marginalized session.

Supplementing to food relief materials support, the Govt. of Odisha also declared to provide work opportunity to job cardholders / returnee migrants ensuring double man-days under MGNREGS.

With the lifting of Lockdown.2, around 130   job cardholders of Taramara village demanded job under MGNREGS. The process was facilitated by CYSD volunteers and GRS of Taramara Panchayat.  Beforehand, the community members were oriented on the various permissible works under MGNREGS, how to obtain new job card, how to   follow job demand process and receive acknowledgement from service provider. The orientation also made them aware regarding the provisions available at work site and the process involved for transaction of wage through bank transfer.

The MGNREGS work started from 4^th of May 2020 for construction of PWD road in Mankadia Basa under Taramara GP. This project work was sanctioned in FY 2018-19 and its revised cost of Rs.700000/- was further approved in current FY with the increase in wage from Rs.188 to Rs.207. All 130 job cardholders got engaged to complete the work within 24 days. So a total of 3120 man-days was generated with expenditure of Rs. 645840.

During the execution of work, CYSD programme team closely monitored the process with help of local CDWs, youth volunteers and project monitoring committee. The team also ensured the facilities like, drinking water, rest-shed, crèche for children and display of transparency board at work site. Emphasis was given on maintenance of physical distancing, use of mask (using towel or saree to cover mouth and nose), no spilt and tobacco use at the workplace.  Besides, hand wash with soap was ensured during break for food and leisure time.

in first phase, just after completion of the project work, all job cardholders availed 12 days wage on time through bank transfer and remaining 12 days wage were being processed in second phase. “We are happy that we got job opportunity at our door step and quite satisfied with the wage deliverable process. The wage through MGNREGS work has brought a ray of hope for the survival of our family during this crisis period, shared Shanti Hansada, one of the job cardholders from Taramara.       

Since the partial lifting of the lockdown in some parts of the country, various state governments have started MGNREGS activities in some measure.

As migrant workers across the country return to their villages, rural India’s dependence on MGNREGS wages for survival is expected to increase manifold. If we expect MGNREGS to effectively reduce rural distress, some changes will have to be made in its design and implementation—for as long as rural communities grapple with the economic aftershocks induced by the pandemic.

The following suggestive measures can effectively strengthen the role that MGNREGS play in responding to the COVID-19-induced crisis.

Prioritising Individual Benefitting Schemes: Work schemes that can be taken up by individuals and small groups of 4-6 workers must be prioritised. Across many parts of the country, preparation for the kharif season is being underway, and individual schemes such as repairing and strengthening bunds on land used for paddy cultivation and fencing of croplands can be introduced. Additionally, schemes for building individual assets such as goat and poultry sheds, dug wells, and farm ponds should also be given priority. For as long as the lockdown continues, work schemes that are relatively less material-intensive should be taken up, as it is difficult to ensure material procurement at worksites.

Increase the number of work schemes: Currently there are limited work schemes running per panchayat, which is leading to huge crowd of workers at worksites. To prevent this and to ensure that all willing households are able to access employment through MGNREGS, the number of schemes needs to be increased and introduced in each village.

Payment to workers instantly: Rural households urgently need cash-in-hand, and so the emerging demand is for immediate payment to workers. MGNREGS payments are frequently delayed by weeks or months. Given the circumstances, such delays will be entirely counterproductive. Instead, in remote areas, wage payments should be made in cash, and paid on the same day. In other areas, they must be ensured within a week of submission of muster rolls. To facilitate this, panchayats—who are the implementing agencies for MGNREGS—can be advanced a revolving fund which can be used to pay workers.

 Modify daily workloads: In compliance with COVID-19 guidelines, workers are wearing masks and other forms of face protection. MGNREGS works typically involve hard physical labour and workers are finding it challenging to breathe comfortably while working. Consequently, for as long as workers are required to wear masks, the daily volume of work assigned to them should be reduced or rests in between can be allowed. All MGNREGS work sites must be adequately stocked with the necessary supplies, including water, soap, and sanitiser, to ensure workers’ safety in compliance with COVID-19 safety and hygiene guidelines.

 Increase wages: If MGNREGS wages are to effectively support rural households as they cope with this crisis, they must, at a minimum, be at par with states’ agricultural wages. For example, the Government of Odisha has increased the daily-wage rate for unskilled manual work under MGNREGS to INR 298 per day in 20 migration-prone blocks of four districts under DMF (Balangir, Bargarh, Nuapada, Kalahandi). This amounts to an additional amount of INR 91 over and above the notified minimum MGNREGS wages in the state, which is INR 207 per day. The Odisha Government should implement the enhanced wage for unskilled across the state and other states should follow Odisha’s lead, especially in vulnerable districts,

Increase guaranteed days of work:  In light of the limited income-generating activities available in rural India, the number of days of work per job card should be increased from 100 person days per year to 200 person days per year. This move will be especially valuable in blocks that have a high percentage of marginal and landless farmers, Adivasi households, and where migration is high—particularly in the tribal belts. Here too, the Government of Odisha has set an example, by announcing that it will provide an additional 100 days of work, over and above the stipulated 100 days work mandated under MGNREGS in 20 vulnerable blocks.

 Issue of Job Cards: Job cards should be issued to all those who demand MGNREGS work, within 24-48 hours of receiving an application for the same. In cases where job cards are in the custody of middlemen, these should be reissued immediately.

Include single women: Often, at MGNREGS worksites two people from a household will work on a scheme together—the men dig the soil and their female counterparts take on the role of head loaders—transporting the excavated soil. In compliance with COVID-19 guidelines, the muster rolls that are currently being issued are limited to 5-6 workers. While this ensures physical distancing at work sites, it is also resulting in a tendency to avoid enrolling single women workers who are seeking employment through MGNREGS. Officers who receive demands for work and issue muster rolls must remain cognisant of this and special care must be taken to enrol single women in MGNREGS works.

Strengthen delivery mechanisms: For MGNREGS to function effectively, government departments must be adequately staffed to support the demand for work, oversee work sites, and make timely payments. This means that people who are staffed to MGNREGS departments—engineers, supervisors, and others—need to be available for MGNREGS-related work. Since the announcement of the lockdown, the focus of the government machinery has shifted to providing relief. While this is critical, it should not be at the cost of implementing MGNREGS.

Engage civil society: Civil society organisations (CSOs) have played a significant role in creating awareness within communities and building the capacity of frontline functionaries on natural resource management (NRM) under MGNREGS. Therefore, experienced and capable CSOs should be engaged to create mass awareness and build the capabilities of frontline functionaries. Beside, MGNREGS is a demand-driven programme and the government must not turn a blind eye to creating awareness about entitlements and participatory NRM planning processes.

Increase budgetary allocations: The central government’s budgetary allocation of INR 61,500 crore to MGNREGS for FY 2020-21 seems inadequate. It is even lower than the previous year’s revised estimates of INR 71,000 crore. The thousands of migrant workers who are returning to their villages will soon begin searching for employment in their local areas. This will undoubtedly result in an increase in the demand for MGNREGS work and the current budget allocations to the scheme will not be sufficient to meet this increased demand. Echoing the recommendation from eminent activists and economists, an additional budgetary provision, say INR 1 lakh crore needs to be allocated so that MGNREGS can act as a safety net and a possible answer to help rural households cope with the devastating impact of the lockdown.

Since 1990, CYSD has got involved with WASH domain starting from low-cost toilet programmes to village cleanliness through work camps and awareness generation campaigns. In subsequent years, the organization has  engaged in community awareness to save water; water security plans at  the village and Panchayat level; school hygiene improvement; drinking water supply in urban slums of Bhubaneswar; testing water quality and portability; capacity building of village-level water and sanitation committees; promotion of use of sanitary napkins at urban & rural areas; and undertaking evaluations, etc.

WASH activities of the organization has included:

a) Identification of the institutional deficits of the existing programme and schemes;

b) Creating interface between diverse stakeholders and bridging the gap between policies disseminated and the need on the ground for efficient implementation of WASH programmes through advocacy and lobbying;

c) Promoting people’s ownership through a community-led monitoring mechanism to make the system accountable;

d) Ensuring WASH secured communities more disaster resilience;

e) Creating replicable models of community intervention and addressing water quality; and

f) Strengthening community-level institutions and accountability among stakeholders for programme multiplication and expanding outreach among people.