Activities of SCINDeA

Movement Building through People’s Participation

The marginalised and excluded people need to be organised into cohesive and proactive groups in order for them to act on issues that affect their lives and keep them in subjugated conditions. It is only but natural that the oppressed people are getting sectorally organised as people’s movements not only to rise against oppression but sustain their action by becoming a movement.

Under the banner of SCINDeA the following movements have been initiated by member organisations who are exclusively working to organise the Dalit women, quarry workers and fisherfolk.

	Membership
1. TKTS Movement of Quarry Workers	10,000
2. Dalit Women’s Movement	4,500
3. Fisherfolk Movement	5,000

The above mentioned movements are being strengthened by continuous training and organisation. They are also being integrated into mainstream national movements.

Women’s Empowerment through Self Help Groups

Objectives

To build-up self confidence and improved awareness of women

To enable women to have control over their lives through decision-making and thus change their position from worker status to worker-manager status.

To facilitate the capacity building of the poorest and most disadvantaged women.

To inculcate habit of savings and principles of financial management.

To increase the asset-base and income of women through access to inexpensive and timely credit.

To enable women to get out of the money lender’s clutches by helping to build a financially sound and sustainable SHG.

Programmes :

7680 women in 512 self help groups were given intensive training and awareness generation on issues pertaining to their rights, education, caste, social evils like dowry, violence against women and gender justice. As a result of the training women have now become articulate and taken up social and community issues like marital discord, issue of liquor, wife beating, desertion, inter-caste marriage etc. At the community level issues pertaining to the village like supply of clean drinking water, street lights, village roads, appointment of teachers and renovation of school buildings have been taken up by them.

Currently the 512 self help groups have a total savings of Rs. 49,46,739.00 which enables them to rotate the money for internal lending and consumer purposes. In many instances they have also been linked to national banks for credit facilities.

Community Health

Objectives

to promote a self-supporting health system among rural and tribal people through education and training of village level workers

To develop a community-based health system which is simple, inexpensive and appropriate to the needs of the communities

Programmes	1996-99	1999-02
Training of Health Cadres	110	50
Health camps	300	800
Health education programmes	3000	3500
Special health programmes	120	150
Children immunised	3500	3750
School health programmes	300	325
Patients treated by health workers and village level workers	59,163	65153

Eco- Development

Objectives

To promote environmental consciousness and conservation of natural resources

To work towards an eco-friendly society

Programmes	1996 - 99	2000 - 02
Kitchen gardens	1500	2005
Tree planing and distribution of saplings	5000	7525
Construction of vermi compost pits	75	150
Promotion of smokeless chulas	100	75
Construction of low cost toilets and soakage pits	355	230
Wasteland development	10 acres	--

Education

Objective

To improve the functional literacy of rural and tribal women and children

Programmes	1996 – 99 Coverage	1999-2002 Coverage
Mobile library	600	745
Evening tuition centres for school going children	2000	2460
Education for school dropouts in 25 centres	1500	1738
NFE / adult education in 50 centres	5000	6270

Skill Training

Objective

To provide skills for youth and women of the Self Help Groups in order to enable them to improve the quality of life.

Programmes	1996 – 99 women covered	1999-2002 women covered
Out board engine repair, carpentry, electric motor repair and rewinding, radio & T.V mechanism, secretarial skills, book binding, computer training, typewriting, incense stick making, screen printing, envelop making, leather goods making, mushroom cultivation etc.	789	681

Income Generation Programme

Objectives

To promote economic development of women and their families

To enable women to have control over income and better income management through opening up of various options

Programmes	1996 – 99 women covered	1999-2002 women covered
Pickle making, masala powder making, lemon grass oil production, ready made garments, coir rope making, palm fibre processing, goat rearing, timber trade, grocery shop, petty shops, diary farm, brick making, sericulture, poultry, coconut leaf thatch weaving, basket making, mat making, soap, phenyl, shampoo, washing power making, tamarind processing etc.	1,274	1,578

Human Resources Development

Objective

To develop leadership both at the community and staff levels through organisation of exposure visits and training programmes.

Programmes	1996 – 99 No. of training programmes	1999-2002 No. of training programmes
Community level	380	450
Staff level	150	165