NUAPADA TRIBALS NOW EYE GOOD YIELD

The pioneer

NUAPADA TRIBALS NOW EYE GOOD YIELD

Saturday, 26 October 2013 | AJIT PANDA | NUAPADA | in Bhubaneswar

    

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Kamal Paharia will get a bumper paddy crop this year from his half acre land in Dhekunpani village of Sunabeda plateau. “I will get at least 15 packets (50 kg each) of paddy from my land,” says Kamal with a gleaming face. This is for the first time he is going to harvest so much paddy from his land which he hopes will bring a food security for at least four months. When asked, why he was expecting more this year, he answered, “It is only because the land retained rain water for a longer period due to land development work.”

Kamal had been given financial assistance by Action Aid for development of his land through earth work. The land is now levelled and there is a strong bund to retain water. “All my family members were engaged in the work and we could remove 40 khunti (4,000 cft) of earth to make the bund,” avers Kamal.

Kamal is one of the 16 migrant labourers of Dhekunpali village who had been forcibly detained by a contractor in Karim Nagar of Andhra Pradesh to work in a brick kiln two years ago. Kamal had somehow fled from the kiln but his wife, children and other 15 villagers were detained in the kiln. After 15 days of walk, Kamal reached Nuapada. He got help from the Nuapada Superintendent of Police, who with the support of NGO Action Aid rescued Kamal’s family and other labourers from the kiln.

Returning home, the rescued labourers engaged themselves in their traditional activities of basket weaving. “Basket weaving is no more remunerative due to non-availability of bamboo these days. We have agricultural lands but most of them are up lands with low agricultural input,” they say. Kamal had approached the panchayat functionaries to get some financial support under MGNREGS to develop his land. But he was denied because the land he cultivated belonged to the Forest department. There are about 500 paharia households in Sunabeda plateau, who are cultivating forest lands but have not been allotted the entitlements under the Forest Rights Act (FRA).

“We are being deprived of all benefits of the Government, because we don’t have entitlements. We do not even have roads to our para (hamlets) as we settled in Government lands,” says Sapurabai Paharia, one of the rescued labourers. Sapurabai also expects to harvest a good crop of paddy this time and it was possible only due to support by Action Aid for land development.

“Thanks to the ‘Sansthan’ which provided us financial support that we development the land and are expecting a good crop yield this year,” she says. Action Aid provided Rs 4,500 each to 18 rescued labourers through an NGO called Samuha Marudi Pratikar Udyam (SMPU) and each of these beneficiaries cultivated medium land paddy in their respective lands this year.

“The people have dug more earth on their own although our support of Rs 4,500 was limited for digging 18 khunti (1800 cft) of earth by each beneficiary,” says Khirasindhu Sagaria, who is working at Sunabeda on behalf of SMPU. “However, it was an effort to create livelihood opportunity for 18 Paharia households, but it can be replicated for other households too by providing further support under the MGNREGS,” says Lopamudra Behera of Action Aid. It is frustrating that not a single claim of the paharias in the district has been processed till now.

The Forest Right Committees of different villages of Sunabeda plateau have not even collected the claim application of the paharias. “Our kith and kin staying in Chhatishgarh state are tribals but in Odisha we are in OBC list. Our population growth trend is negative, which indicates a dangerous situation,” says Sukalsai Paharia of Bhainsadani, who is the only post graduate of paharia community in Odisha.