“During this pandemic time, it became very difficult for us to do saving in the group since our husbands lost their jobs and there is no source of earning. The support of fish seedling to our SHG through the Gram Nirman program has motivated us to come together and work towards self-reliance through collective fish farming,” shares Lalita Bai, an SHG member from Rajanandgaon in Chhattisgarh.

Tribal communities in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are highly dependent on their natural resources for their survival. Their livelihood revolves around forests, agriculture, livestock, and wage labour.

The contribution of these activities to the overall food basket varies depending upon the location of the tribal settlement. Most of the agricultural production, however, is rain-fed, rudimentary, and predominantly centered around rice cultivation. 

As the second wave of COVID-19 sweeps the country, the tribal-dominated rural villages of both Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh reported fewer cases than urbanized places during the first wave have suddenly witnessed a sharp increase in cases. The State of Chhattisgarh faced the most number of Covid deaths during April – May, whereas In Jharkhand, the cases increased rapidly with a death tool of 2,476 within 20 days, which averages to over 100 fatalities a day despite lockdown measures being in place.

Ever since the lockdown was imposed, a gathering of 5 or more people was ban and inter-district movement beyond a certain time was also restricted. As a result, many tribal communities could not work and sell their agricultural produce and Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) during the restriction period. The lockdown thus snatched away the rice bowl of the tribals and left them unprepared to deal with the situation.

Caritas India is working in 137 such villages through the Gram Nirman program funded by Caritas Australia to enhance the livelihood of the tribal community towards making them self-reliant. The program supported the most affected households with livestock support to get dairy and create opportunities for cash and in-kind income. Co-funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP), the program is helping the tribal communities to achieve socio-economic wellbeing in society. 

During this grim COVID situation, the Gram Nirman team with support from locally placed community educators has identified 370 most vulnerable households (People living with disabilities, widows, old aged, women, migrants, and orphans) and provided them livestock and mushroom seeds. 188 households were given Goat, 116 households have received Poultry (local breed), another 66 households received piglet, and 9 women SHG groups covering 90 members have received Mushroom seeds and 10 SHG groups covering 100 members have received fish fingerlings.

These initiatives are means to minimize the level of alienation and marginalization of the communities and enhance their collective actions towards enabling them for better bargaining power with the local governance system.