“Why is that we do not get any benefits of Government schemes. These schemes are for us only and whenever we go to enquire, the officers do not respond well and asks for documents. What shall I do?” asked Rukmani Devi (name changed), a member from the mothers’ group at Gwalpara Block of Madepura district. “Many members of our community still do not have access to ration cards despite having the dire need and many do not receive widow pension,” said Babu Kumar ( name changed ), a member of Samuday Samiti ( Community Collective) from Saharsa District.

Such was the empowering dialogues of Musahars ( Mahadalits)  from districts of Saharsa and Madhepura, Bihar with District Officials at Stakeholder Consultation organised by Caritas India through its partners Prayas Gramin Vikas Samiti and Muzaffarpur Diocesan Social Service Society(MDSSS) respectively. These Stakeholders Consultation were organised under Caritas India’s Roshni-Suposhan Programme, which focusses on educational empowerment and nutritional improvements of the Mahadalit children and women.

The consultations were marked by the presence of key District Officials such as the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU), Education department, Block Development officers, etc. Ms.Bharti Kumari, Block Development Officer (BDO) of Saharsa interacted with the members of Mothers Collective and emphasized the need for education and nutrition to empower girls. Mr.Raj Kumar, District Program Manager (DPM), Panchayat Raj, Saharsa district gave a motivating talk on why child marriage should be avoided and how kitchen gardening can be helpful to tackle malnutrition easily.  Both BDO and DPM assured the community members that they will help facilitate access to several government schemes such as ration cards, widow pension schemes, etc.

In Madhepura , Fr. Peter, Director MDSSS spoke on the plights of the Musahar Community and urged for cooperation from govt. officials to help in their  effort to improve the condition of the community in terms of Education and Nutrition.  Mr. Ranjeet Kumar from DCPU, Madhepara gave an insight of the Village level Child Protection committee. He discussed the challenges of making it functional and lack of awareness on the same. Hence, he urged Caritas India to provide trainings and orientation on the same.

Subsequently, Mr. Mithlesh Kumar from ST/SC welfare department, Madhepara addressed the house on the Atrocities Act. He talked on the inclusion of the Mahadalit community in mainstream education and health. He said, “Ensuring the participation of this community into the village administrations is very difficult. The reason being is that they have been culturally oppressed for so long and the discrimination persists at each level of administration. They are abused and exploited in several ways by the higher section of society. They need to be aware of their rights ” He gave the guidelines to the participants regarding filing the complaint/case if any exploitation or abuse happens.

The Roshni Ki Toli members ( an adolescent girls group) submitted an application to DCPU requesting for the formation and function of VLCPC in their villages. VLCPC will ensure the protection of children of their villages and preventing them from all sorts of exploitation and abuses. Mr. Ranjeet Kumar accepted the application and assured them that soon the Child  Protection Committees will get activated and start functioning well.

Ms. Priyanka from Caritas India requested government officials to support the intervention (Roshni Suposhan) and collaborate for the welfare of Mushahar community. She requested Mr.  Ranjeet Kumar to share the list of VLCPC members of all the target villages and MDSSS can collaborate in training the members on their role and responsibility.

Mr. Ranjit Assured that the department is looking forward to such collaboration and will definitely support the program. She also thanked Mr. Mithlesh Kumar for sharing the information on filing cases and motivating the participants to take a step ahead to represent themselves at village and panchayat level platforms such as Ward Sabha and Gram Sabha.

The Stakeholder Consultations concluded on a positive note wherein the members from the Mahadalit community engaged in empowering discussions enhancing awareness on ways to access the government schemes for their own development and inclusion