Excerpted with permission from The First Responders, by the Reliance Foundation and the Observer Research Foundation, this article shares the story of Sharada Majhi. Born in Jurakhaman, Kalahandi district, Odisha, Majhi—who belongs to the Kondh tribe—has worked incessantly for tribal women and children’s rights. This excerpt focuses on Majhi’s work, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Having been denied access to familial property, Sharada was well aware of the importance of female ownership of resources, especially of land. In 2015-16, according to NFHS-4, women owned 28.3 percent of land in India, either on their own or in joint ownership. But land ownership numbers in India remain inconclusive due to a lack of uniformity in data collection across different surveys.
Another issue in which Sharada and her network involved themselves, was the women's lack of access to proper and hygienic latrines—an experience that is shared by many women across India. In a study conducted in the rural households of Puri, Odisha, decisions on the construction of latrines were made exclusively by men in 80 percent of 69 the households. Once again, Seba Jagat provided their group with trainings, after which they took up the task of sensitising women on the importance of proper healthcare, sanitation, and hygiene.
In 2019, UNICEF's Sampurna Barta (a programme established in 2018 to help reduce the infant mortality and maternal mortality rates in Odisha) chose Urladani as a project location. (Urladani is the larger village where Sharada's Jurakhaman village is located.) Sharada volunteered her services as she already had experience in community development work. This kind of work was essential. Odisha has a high rate of neonatal deaths: around 5,000 babies died in 117 tribal blocks of the state in 2017-18 alone, with over 270 mothers dying each year in tribal areas.
Sharada started the arduous task of teaching people about institutional births and child immunisation, and imparting lessons on proper nutritional habits in order to ensure the good health of mothers and children. She also worked for people to get access to different pension schemes, if they were eligible. “I see the people of the community as members of my family.”
In early 2020, during the initial outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Sharada's village became particularly vulnerable for various reasons: high migration rates, the lack of access to health services, and inadequate health infrastructure. Odisha is one of the biggest contributors to India's migrant labour force: many are forced by poverty to 71 migrate for work—what analysts call “distress migration”. The Covid crisis, however, triggered a wave of reverse migration, which inevitably worsened the situation in the 72 state, especially the rural areas.
The health threat was massive, as their community has had a history of high rates of diarrhoea, malaria, typhoid fever, and other ailments. The lockdown brought challenges to the lives and livelihoods of many in the village. With most farmers operating on a small scale with less than two hectares of land, the Covid crisis brought all their work to a standstill. Harvest of the rabi crops had to be delayed since neither labour nor machinery was available. Restrictions on transport facilities and movement limited the opportunities, and farmers of perishable commodities incurred significant losses. There were cases where farmers reportedly had to throw away large amounts of produce, unable to find a way to sell them during the lockdown.
Tribal communities are especially vulnerable in terms of food and nutrition security. The halt in farm-based activities, and the collection and sale of non-timber forest produce like mahua flowers and kendu leaves, left tribal communities without an income, as no collection agents came and markets closed down.
People in her village were also apprehensive about approaching health centres for help. Yet despite being afraid herself, Sharada, with the help of Seba Jagat, set down to work in reviving the community and informing those unaware of – or unwilling to follow – Covid protocols. Support from UNICEF and Seba Jagat opened up new avenues of assistance. With their help, Sharada encouraged migrant workers to stay in quarantine, and was involved in spreading awareness across the community about Covid-19 and what measures they could take to protect themselves. People were educated about social distancing norms, and Sharada and her group distributed information materials in order to normalise Covid-appropriate behaviour.
Sharada worked closely with the Panchayat to provide supplementary health and nutrition services to vulnerable sections of the community, offering her support in the preparation and distribution of cooked food. She also visited isolation centres and provided counselling, and was a strong proponent of the vaccination drive. Tackling false news was a formidable task. Misinformation, which has plagued India's Covid-19 experience, was rampant, with unscientific suggestions on prevention and cure, the spread of data without the necessary context, and both hysteria and dismissiveness in equal measure. But Sharada soldiered on, addressing any and all fears with facts with extensive support from UNICEF. With the help of government guidelines forwarded by Seba Jagat and Sampurna Barta – which Sharada then shared with the community through interpersonal engagement and
Whatsapp – she ensured that the people in her village were fully aware of what was taking place.
Sharada's efforts greatly benefited communities of returning migrants. Not only did she encourage their immunisation, vaccination, and proper nutrition, she also helped them acquire job cards and apply for work through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
Indeed, the efforts of Sharada and other leaders have helped bring about change in their community that has been historically plagued by hunger, droughts, and malnutrition. Circumstances could change at any moment, so we must grab opportunities to improve our community.”
(Written by Noyontara Gupta. For more on Majhi and the other women heroes from around the country, read: Jayashree B, Sunaina Kumar, Anirban Sarma, Vanita Sharma, and Shoba Suri, Eds., The First Responders: Women Who Led India Through the Pandemic.)