68th #RepublicDay Celebration

26 January 2017, Hazaribag: NBJK has celebrated 68th Republic Day of the nation with enthusiasm and Mr. Girija Satish (President, NBJK) has hoisted national flag at the coordination office. Mr. Ivan Nutbrown (AVI, UK) was the guest of honor on this occasion who knows India since the year 1969 and visits here frequently to support people in villages through different developmental projects. Mr. Ivan has praised India as a nation emerged from Gandhian values and congratulated all. He narrated about AVI’s support to farmers in Tamilnadu and Kerala where they have started organic farming. Also Ms. Esther (AVI) has participated in the function and greeted NBJK staffs on this special day. It’s noteworthy that Action Village India (AVI) supports NBJK to execute Disability Rights Program in 5 districts of Jharkhand and Bihar.

Mr. Satish Girija (Secretary, NBJK) has recalled the year 1971 when NBJK was started with a vision for progressive, peaceful and just society on the values of equality, fraternity and mutual help. He shared about new programs and achievements in the field of education, livelihood and eye care for slum dwellers and tribal people of Patna, Khunti and Dumka. Mr. Prabhunath Sharma (Treasurer, NBJK) has appealed all staffs to work with mind and body together to optimize their contribution for the change. Mr. Pravesh Singh (Asst. Finance Manager, NBJK) has anchored the event and led slogans to remember great leaders of freedom movement.

DDM-NABARD Visits RTC Trainees @AxisBank

23 January 2017, Hazaribag: Mr. Vibhuti Bhushan Nayak (DDM-NABARD) has visited at Rozgar Training Centre run by NBJK with support of Axis Bank Foundation, Mumbai. He has addressed trainees from the courses of Computer Software-Hardware, Mobile Repair, Bed Side Patient Attendant, Tailoring and Beautician to share upon government policies like Make in India, Standup India and Startup India for promotion of self-employment as well as entrepreneurship.

Mr. Nayak has explained about Mudra Loan Scheme under Startup India that lends amount up to Rs. 50 thousand, Rs. 5 lacs and 10 lacs within three slabs called Shishu, Kishor and Tarun. These loans are with low interest rate and can be provided to RTC youths also if they want to transform their skill into entrepreneurship, he assured. The DDM has stressed upon the characteristics like discipline, self-respect, time management, humbleness, honesty etc. and warned the youths against the mentality to get anything free, wastage of things, following someone blindly and to show off unnecessarily.

He has placed example of some trader communities like Panjabi, Jain, Madwaree and Jewish those deserve close observation to learn many more regarding business. He appealed the youths to be self-employed and to offer employment for others. There were 166 RTC trainees and 7 faculty members as audience of this motivational talk organized by RTC. Mr. Rupesh Mallik (Centre Coordinator) has anchored the program and expressed sincere gratitude to Mr. V. B. Nayak, the guest visitor.

In Villages to Assess #DisabilityRights Intervention @ActionVillageIn @BigLotteryFund

19 January 2017, Chandwara (Koderma): Mr. Ivan Nutbrown (Action Village India, UK) has visited villages in Chandwara block of Koderma district and met beneficiaries to get first hand information regarding the program on Rights to PwDs. He was accompanied by Mrs. Sujata Prasad (Program Manager), Mr. Parwez Alam (District Coordinator), Mr. Ajit Rana (Block Coordinator) and Mrs. Neelam Devi (Field Supervisor) during the visit.

At Chandwara, they met receivers of cataract surgery and found them in good condition to lead normal life. The team went to Pipradih Middle School and met Kurban Ansari, a born blind child enrolled here under the program initiative. Also his mother has shared about earlier reluctance towards schooling of the boy and some changes she observed now. After this, they moved to Majhgawan, the village where a DSHG has been formed and promoted Pankaj Kumar, a youth with disability. He is running a grocery shop successfully. Next stoppage was village – Kanko, where a physically challenged girl Jayanti Kumari was picked for skill development training. She has completed the short course of BSPA (Bed Side Patient Attendant) with support of NBJK and empowered herself economically after joining a private nursing home. The program team has found Jayanti and her parents much happy with this development.

Also they met another beneficiary Basanti Devi at Herno village who learnt tailoring despite incurable problem in her spinal cord and she provides the skill to village girls now. At last the team went to Mrs. Manju Devi, a deaf lady in Titirchanch village who supports Anganwadi Centre and was provided a hearing aid to work smoothly. The day was quite hectic but depicted an idea about the program.

Symposium on Right Approach by #JharkhandGovt. on Rural Development

12 January, Ranchi: A symposium around the Right Approach of Jharkhand Govt. on Rural Development in context of state budget was organized under auspices of Jharkhand Pradesh Lok Samiti. The program was held at NBJK and chaired by Mr. Chandan Mishra (Bureau Chief, Dainik Hindustan) who called the budget as a continuous process and suggested to draw it from Panchayat, block and district levels for a final comprehensive view.

Mr. Girija Satish, a Gandhian signature and National President of Lok Samiti, has delivered keynote address. He analyzed governmental efforts on agriculture, education and health for villages. Most of the dobhas (small water harvesting structures), ponds and check dams constructed by the government are useless due to their faulty design and wrong location while personal well, pond or checkdam works well, he said and stressed for minimum depth of 15 feet for such structures so that farmers can get Rabi crop also. Girija Satish advocated for change in MNREGA rules, use of JCB & other machines for construction work and easy support to personal irrigation schemes. On education, he expressed deep concern over poor quality of government schools and said about tough conditions for govt. affiliation of private schools despite their growing numbers and good performance in rural areas. The criteria like 2 acres land at a place, B.Ed teachers and building for classroom, lab, library, teachers’ room etc. should be relaxed with ½ acre land, experienced teachers and a time limit of 10 years for buildings, he suggested. Girija Satish has opposed compulsory membership of local MLA & govt. officials in the managing committee of private schools and called for govt. sponsored fees, scholarship and other benefits for poor children of such schools. Also he urged to outsource some govt. schools as an experiment and to convert privileged schools like Central/Navodaya/Kasturba/Indira Gandhi/Netarhaat into normal schools. Lok Samiti president has pointed about deterioration in govt. health service from state to block level gradually and 75-80% of service from private sector. He advised for training and regulation of Rural Medical Practitioners or RMPs serving to 90% rural population. Girija Satish advocated to outsource block level health centers and to promote private health centers as the place to get govt. benefits like motherhood allowance, health insurance & other schemes. Also he proposed to expand govt. insurance coverage for APL people and about creating a fund at block level for referral support to critical patients.

Mr. Shriniwas (Senior Journalist, Prabhat Khabar) has suggested the government to bear responsibility of a system to support food security, health and education for common people while Mr. Madhukar (Senior Journalist, Prabhat  Khabar) was to revive Govt. system that surrenders a large amount from Plan Expenditure every year. The symposium was addressed by activists and villagers like Mr. Ganesh Sahu, Munshi Sahu, Mr. Badri Prasad Verma, Mr. Santosh Jayaswal and others. Initially Mr. Shivji Singh (General Secretary, Bihar LS) has introduced the theme before audience and Mr. Kaushal Ganesh Azad (National Coordinator, LS) has anchored rest of the program. There were 60 participants from Ranchi, Hazaribag, Koderma, Giridih, Chatra, Lohardaga, Ramgarh, Gumla districts.

#SchoolSensitization & #VisionTest @ActionVillageIn @BigLotteryFund

09 January 2017, Charhi (Hazaribag): The district program team has organized a School Sensitization-cum-Vision Test activity at DAV Adarsh Middle-High School under the program of Rights to PwDs with support of AVI-BLF, UK.

There were 75 students of class 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and some teachers those contributed to the agenda. The students were sensitized towards the problem of people suffering from disability, its causes, myths and realities. Also they have been informed about the entitlements of PwDs and related process. During interaction with the students, some of them like Priyanka Priya & Santosh Kumar (class X), Mahazabeen Parveen & Md. Taufiq Ansari (class IX) and Afreen Parveen (class VII) have performed better and rewarded with prizes.

Also a vision checkup camp was organized for the youngsters, 11 among them have been detected with low vision and referred to Loknayak Jayprakash Eye Hospital for power glasses.

Mr. Ramesh Chandra Singh (Principal), Mrs. Reena Singh, Mr. Maqbul Ansari and Mr. B. Prasad (All Teachers) have cooperated to the event. Mr. Annu Kumar (District Coordinator) has led the organizing team comprised by Mr. Narsingh Ram, Mr. Om Prakash Gupta, Mr. Pradeep Kumar and Mr. Shailesh Kumar from NBJK.

#RemedialCoachingCentres Participated in Quiz @JNJNews

07 January 2017, Hazaribag: The students of NBJK run RCCs (Remedial Coaching Centres) with support of Johnson & Johnson Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai  have come together in a quiz program organized for class 8th, 9th and 10th. There were more than 60 students and some guardians participated in the event on behalf of the RCCs scattered in 10 villages like Birbir, Sakhiya, Baiheri, Demotaand, Babhanwai, Mandaikala, Mandaikhurd, Amrit Nagar, Sarauni and Ramdev Khairka of Sadar block in Hazaribag district.

The quiz was held at NBJK coordination office and the students were asked objective type questions from Maths, Science, English, Social Science and General Knowledge. This was different, interactive, confidence building and provided us a lot of feedback through children’s performance, Mrs. Sujata Prasad (Program Manager, NBJK) said after the quiz. For class 8th, three girls namely Jyoti (Babhanwai), Khushi (Amrit Nagar) and Shalu (Babhanwai) have been declared winners. Ishika Rani (Sakhiya), Shikha (Babhanwai) and Shanti (Demotaand) were top three performers in class 9th while Nisha Kumari, Kusum Kumari (both from Amrit Nagar) and Priyanka (Sarauni) have earned pride for class 10th during the quiz.

Mr. Prabhu Nath Sharma (Treasurer, NBJK) has distributed prizes among total 15 students and motivated all the participants to be vocal, to the point and with presence of mind. He was hopeful to enhance academic interest of the students through such activities.

Advocacy Program for PwDs @ActionVillageIn @BigLotteryFund

29 December, Sadar block (Hazaribag):  An advocacy event for PwDs was organized at Hazaribag Sadar block premises under NBJK run Disability Rights program with support of AVI-BLF, UK. This was inaugurated by Mr. Vijay Kumar (MLA Representative) and Mr. Ranjan Choudhary (Media In-Charge of MLA) in absence of Mr. Manish Jaiswal, local MLA.  The MLA Representative has appreciated the advocacy for rights to PwDs and insisted for such events in far-flung villages to sensitize people. He assured that the MLA will support PwDs to address their problems at different forums. Mr. Ranjan Choudhary has termed politics as a means of social service and promised that PwDs issues will be raised by the MLA in Jharkhand assembly.

Before this, Mrs, Sujata Prasad (Program Manager, NBJK) has welcomed the guests with all participants and introduced the program as a platform to work around entitlements, education, skill development, rehabilitation, self-reliance of PwDs and social sensitization to them. Md. Nayeem (APM, NBJK) has considered systemic support necessary to reduce problems with PwDs. On this occasion, Mr. Rajkumar (President, Viklang Vikas Jan Kalyan Sangh) has referred different laws passed in favour of PwDs time to time but couldn’t deliver much substantial. He was for more participation by the beneficiaries. VVJKS, the DPO has submitted a 10 points memorandum to the MLA representatives. Sister Veronica (St. Michael Dumb-Deaf School) has demanded to appoint Audiologist Doctor at Hazaribag and got full support from the audience.

There were 60 PwDs from villages like Jagdishpur, Hutpa, Silwar, Pauta, Turanw, Mandai, Babhanwai, Harhad, demotand, Mukndganj and town area were present in the advocacy event. The district program team under coordination of Mr. Annu Kumar has organized the event.

Science Exhibition at SPP School

28 December, Bahera: The students of NBJK managed Surekha Prakashbhai Public School have organized a Science Exhibition and shown their talent through more than 45 models upon themes of sanitation, water transport, remote controlled car, biogas plant, rain water harvesting etc. Also they have erected stalls on cookery where tasty dishes were available for visitors.

The function was inaugurated by Mr. Shabbir Ahmad (SDO, Barhi) who praised the school and village students for such an impressive event. Mr. Satish Girija (Secretary, NBJK) has emphasized over quality education to cater children’s imagination and quest by the school. Ms. Rina Pandey (Principal, SPPS) has welcomed all guests and justified the connotation of science with homely food for better living. Mr. Gandharv Gaurav (Program Director) has referred about academic achievements by the students.

The program was graced by Mrs. Sheela, Mrs. Damini, Mr. Brijnandan Singh, Mr. Veerendra Sinha, Mr. Indrajit Sharma, Ms. Neha Kachhap, Mr. Santosh Chaurasiya, Mrs. Abhilasha Singh, Mr. Anand Mohan, Mr. Tanweer Ahmad, Ms. Farhat Jahaan, Mr. Tinku Kumar, Mr. Viranchi Singh including other teachers and parents.

Course Completion Certificates to #Rozgar Trainees @AxisBank

28 December, Piska More (Ranchi): The trainees completed their 3 months courses of Skill Development Training at Rozgar Training Center, Piska More (Ranchi), were delighted to receive course completion certificates from the guests like Mrs. Rashmi Rani (Manager, State Bank of India, Piska More branch) and Mr. Shyamal Datta (Manager, Oriental Isurance, Piska More branch). There were 150 trainees of 5^th and 6^th batches in the function held at RTC premises at Piska More, Ranchi.

Mrs. Rashmi Rani (BM, SBI) has congratulated the youths having skills to provide services now and assured them for support as per the rules of State Bank of India. Likewise Mr. Shyamal Datta (BM, Oriental Insurance) too was very supportive to the youths and wished them all success for future. These trainees have completed short term courses in Computer Saoftware, Mobile Reapir, Computer Hardware & Networking and Tailoring.

Initially Mr. Randhir Kumar (Centre In-Charge) has welcomed all the guests, pass out trainees and called the day memorable as opening new avenues in many lives empowered with skills. Mr. Anand Prakash (SPM, Program for Sustainable Livelihood) and faculties like Mr. Abhishek Kumar, Mr. Kunwar Uraon, Mr. Jyotish Ram Mahto have graced the event and contributed to make it a success.