In continutaion of the new dimension of service that Parivaar has developed in some extremely impoverished tribal areas about which a detailed document was published in April (which can be acessed at http://www.parivaar.org/a_new_dimension.shtml ), we are extremely glad to announce the inauguration of the Food Stock Distribution Scheme in about 15 villages in these areas where starvation conditions prevail, and deaths due to starvation, maltunurition, and consequent diseases are rampant. These are non-cultivational areas, far from any towns or centres of economic activity. There are 2 main tribes living in these areas - Sabar and Birhore, two of the most backward tribes in the country. Under the Scheme every month substantial foodstock (family average about 30 Kg rice, and 2.5 Kg Dal) is being provided on a monthly basis. After survey, in all 252 families have already been enrolled under the Foodstock scheme in Belpahari block in Midnapore (West) district of West Bengal and Ghatsila block in Singhbhum (East) district of Jharkhand. Another 150 families from Belpahari block shall be covered from July, to take the no. to 400. Each of the family has been issued a Parivaar Foodstock Card (one copy of which remains with them and another with Parivaar authorities). During the delivery of the foodstock, the recipient (usually the famly head) shall receive the stock against the signature/thumbprint on the card.

To know about the background and conditions prevaling in these areas one can study a lot of links through the following Google searches on Amlasol (or Amlasole) which is a representative village in Belpahari block and has been much under news both for the tremendous poverty and starvation, as well as the highly sensitive 'law and order' situation in the area.

http://www.google.co.in/search?hl=en&q=amlasol&meta=

In all 252 families have already been enrolled under the Foodstock scheme in Belpahari block in Midnapore (West) district of West Bengal and Ghatsila block in Singhbhum (East) district of Jharkhand. Another 150 families from Belpahari block shall be covered from July, to take the no. to 400. Each of the family has been issued a Parivaar Foodstock Card (one copy of which remains with them and another with Parivaar authoriies). During the delivery of the foodstock, the recipient (usually the family head) shall receive the stock against the signature/thumbprint on the card.

While Parivaar intends to have many institution-building measures in these areas which would lead to a permanent transformtion of this populace (like starting Residential Institution which will gradually accommodate 1000 resident children in Belpahari block from 2009 ), technical education and training for adult population, building cottages at a centralised place for a whole cluster of villages in Belpahai block, and other socio-economic measures that changes the face of the whole populace here. 75 children from these areas (Sabar and Birhore tribe) have already been admitted into Parivaar Ashram Residential Institution for Education and Overall Development which now has 342 resident children.

Foodstock Distribution Exercise for the month of June

For the month of June, we started the distribution exercise covering all these villages on 10th June. Parivaar Seva-vrati Pulakda and a team of 4 other Parivaar Ashram-Sevavratis had left Parivar Ashram on 10th morning. During our previous field-visits, when survey was conducted, e had finalised a Rice and Dal stockist in Belpahari from where the stuff was procured and packaged. Vinayakda and 2 other Seva-vratis joined the team at Jhargram on 12th. The program on 12th and 13th included travelling through jungles on a kacha road, on which presumably no other heavy vehicles had ever passed. Our vehicles, which included the big Van carrying around 7 tonnes of foodstock also went through these kacha road covering all these 20 villages. From Kakrajhor in Belpahari block we crossed over through a narrow jungle path to villages in Jharkhand to our next destination which was Bhadua in Ghatsila block in Jharkhand. As during all our earlier field-trips, in this trip too the daily routine was extremely demanding with our team starting the program at 4 AM to cover the villages where people have to be attended in the morning hours or else they proceed to the jungles for shrub collection and other forest-based activity. The day ends only at evening hours just when there is no day-light, as there is no electricity (even potable drinking water) in these areas. At that time our team retires for the night stay which quite often is in some place or the other in village (like a small Government primay school at Rimradanga village).On some other occasions, our team returns to Jhargram, the town nearest to this belt (about 65 Km from these areas).

On 13th morning when we again started the program for the day at 4 AM in villages of Jharkhand which were quite far-flung, on a couple of occasions the tyres of loading van carrying 90 quintals of foodgrains sunk into the kacha road through the jungles. We had first unload all the foodstock to lighten the weight and then push the van out by lot of efforts. A number of our local Sabar brethren helped us in this and collectively we could get the Van back on track. Right from 4 Am till 6 PM in the evening we distributed the stuff in many villages in Jharkhand. From 6 PM we decided to proceed straight to Parivaar Ashram rather than staying at a lodge in Ghatsila town. We reached at Parivaar Ashram at 12 PM.

After the starting of Parivaar Ashram 5 years back, which starting from 3 resident children has grown to 342 now, and has continuously been developing as an institution transforming lives of all the Ashramites (children as well as resident Seva-vratis), the service in tribal aeras is the next big commitment of Parivaar for the decades and decades to come.

Thought and Spirit behind this new dimension of Parivaar

Many of Paivaar's friends and well-wishers have been enquiring about how we came to start and focus on this project too which is in a different geogaphical location from Parivaar Ashram and has a work-domain quite different from that in which Parivaar had been working till now.

Parivaar's theme is service (i.e. labour of love), it may have started in the way it did, but it has all the possibilities to undertake a range of services. For children our efforts are for of a long-term nature spanning over many years. Its a transformative process where we are arming them with tools by which they can take care of their own future. But for many sections of people those benefitted through the present Foodstock Distribution Scheme, it is a case of instant suffering amelioration. We are trying to do something for them 'here and now' as many of them cannot go through a transformative process like children and youth so that they can take care of their own future. They do not have any such future. We should not see things only from development economics point of view (many put forth this viewpoint - that these old decrepit people do not have any productive future so why to invest efforts / resources on them. We do not think human beings should be reduced (and interpreted and valued) only in terms of what productive possibilities they offer, i.e. merely as 'economic animals'. This in our opinion is a sad devaluation of the glory and dignity of human beings. That way each constructive work, even work on children has only one goal to reduce sufferings for them in future (may be through education, may be through employment or other means). Each sphere of human activity - economics, politics, science has the central aim of reducing the sufferings of human beings.

The message of service to such in tremendous suffering runs much deeper. Parivaar's core is Seva-vratis who need to always be charged with the ideal of service, 'labour of love'. The service rendered to such people will have a great cleansing on our all our Seva-vratis. We shall be infused with renewed charge that shall hold us good in all our other endeavours too. Just like a moment's blessing from our parents arms us with infinite strength (which surely all of us experienced at different times in our lives), similar would be the effect of this service. Its not a small token service, merely underatken as a ritual. It is being undertaken with tremdendous love as any form of service should be undertaken with. The blessings from these very people will charge us thousandfold, the great strength that it shall put in our hearts shall help us achieve manifold success in all our other endeavours - be it children's or service in tribal areas. We planned this project because the time seemed just right for such a service, when we can conduct it without any incovenience to our other projects in hand and without affecting their respective growth trajectories.

We have no doubt that there would be many more people who shall be sensitive to this kind of work. People have different sensitivities and their hearts respond to different kind of themes. Without doubt, this would enrich the service portfolio of Parivaar, strengthen the fundamentals of Parivaar further, and act as another well-spring of inspiration for service for our Seva-vratis, which is, to use that term, the most important 'driver of growth' for an ideologically-driven humaniatarian service organisation (ideology in our case being service as an outpouring and expression of love). And many more people shall be tied closely with Parivaar's mission after this. We firmly believe that even our existing support-base shall also be more deeply connected with us. Afterall, there is a human heart in each one of us, and to varying extents we are all sensitive and responsive to the call of human heart, be it of children, or be it of old or diseased or any other suffering human beings.

Assuredly, Parivaar shall go on expanding manifold as far as growth, development and education of highly impoverished destitute children (urban, rural, or from tribal areas, and boys as well girls) is concerned. That definitely shall keep on happening. Our Residential Educational Institutions, which shall also be started in these interior areas shall address the issue of permanent transformation through education. And in course of our journey we shall also try our best to ameliorate the sufferings of others too (from any category they may be) as being undertaken in the Foodstock Distribution Scheme. All these things can be done together. There are no problems in it. We are fully confident that while this is an extra dimension to Parivaar, it does not mean that our earlier important dimensions shall not continue to flourish.

List of families (name of Family Head is given) enrolled in the Foodstock Scheme as on 10th June '08.

West Bengal (Belpahai Block, District - Midnapore (West)