Relocation of the Families
(providing sustainable livelihood opportunities to the families of the child labourers) In our surveys and counselling sessions with the families of the child labourers, we have noticed that the most of the children coming from SC/ST/BC and minority communities and majority of them are socially dislocated and economically very backward. In order to relocate them into the mainstream of the society we need to first mobilise the women against poverty, slavery, social backwardness and child labour. This has been found to be very successful through the DWACRA Movement sweeping Andhra Pradesh. The DWACRA Movement is playing a significant role in improving the status of women socially and economically.
Similarly, We at CHORD formed Mothers Committees of the child labourers to enlighten them, educate them, train them and mobilise them towards a meaningful livelihood for their families. These Mothers Committees are encouraged to meet at the Project regularly to discuss and deliberate their problems and interact mutually to find solutions to their economic problems. Upon discovering the problems and suitable solutions for each of the participants
CHORD will design special programs to train them and liberate them with the help of the States' Rural Development, Women's Development and Child Welfare Departments. Therefore, briefly
AASHA program envisages the following:
- Forming Mother Committees of the child labour.
- Enlightening, educating and sensitising them against poverty and inequality.
- Conducting regular workshops, discussions and interactions among Mothers Committees to arrive at solutions.
- Finding suitable institutions like NIRD, Foundations, Research Institutions and Women and Child Welfare Departments to train and empower the women.
- Playing the role of a bridge between women and institutions to ascertains solid linkage.
- Training, empowering the women for the benefit of their family.
The formation of Self Help Groups (SHGs) by the focus-members of the identified families would be an important measure in ensuring the success of the activities being undertaken for sustainable livelihoods, and particularly for micro-enterprises. The formation of SHGs would therefore be a key step in the Action Programme. The focus-member of the each of the 100 target families would be thus formed into SHGS.
The formation of SHGs would also assist in obtaining credit for the micro-enterprises from credit and lending institutions and help in community self monitoring for the repayment of the loans taken and in mutual assistance amongst member.
SHGs will also enable the women to avail various government
welfare schemes as a group.
In the course of time if these groups can also be federated, the credit available would be sufficiently large to meet larger
requirements.
A healthy contribution from the members would be encouraged. In addition a sum of Rs.1000/- per member would be credited to the group
corpus account from the Action Programme funds.
Activities envisaged
- Divide the 100 trained focus-member of each of the identified families into 10 Self Help Groups of 20 members each.
- Conduct regular meetings of the self-help groups and motivate the SHGs to become cohesive.
- Encourage the SHGs to raise contributions from amongst themselves.
- Provide an amount of Rs.1000 as grant per family from the funds of the Action Programme.
- Choose articulate persons within the group as leaders to manage the activities of their group, encouraging the group to keep records of meetings, decisions taken etc.
- Conduct meeting at regular intervals (once in a month) through out the project period.
- Help the new groups to open accounts with the local post office/bank and encourage the savings for future investment.
Already four AASHA self-help groups have been formed initially
and are in operation. Efforts are on in full swing to
expand this number and to execute the womens' empowerment
plan in letter and in spirit.
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Womens Empowerment
