#TailoringTraining and #SewingMachines to #RuralWomen @UshaIntl

10-16 October, Mahuda (Dhanbad): 7 days tailoring training and new sewing machines have been provided to 10 rural women beneficiaries selected by Jharkhand Gramin Vikas Trust, village-Kacharra, Mahuda (Dhanbad), a partner organization under Usha Silai School Program by NBJK with support of Usha International Limited, Delhi.

The training was conducted by Mrs. Sangita Jaiswal (Master Trainer) and Mr. Ritesh Lohani (Program Manager) from Usha International Ltd. The trainees have learnt new skills and sewing machine maintainance during the training held at Panchayat Sachivalay, Kandra (Mahuda More). The women who got such support were Mrs. Ranju Devi (Bhurangiya), Lakshmi Devi (Patthargadhiya), Champa Devi (Kanchanpur), Bhuvaneshwari Devi (Lututaand), Sushma Devi (Paarjoriya), Priyanka Devi (Kandra), Chameli devi (Kalyanpur), Shamima Parveen (Kacharra), Sitara Khatun (Kumardih), Laljan Khatoon (Naagda). All these belong to week socio-economic background and determined to raise income by opening of Usha Silai Schools in their respective localities.

In the concluding ceremony, Mr. Shankar Rana (Representative, NBJK) has applauded Usha International for such initiative to women empowerment and extended his best wishes to all. The program was graced by Mr. Chakradhari Mahto (Mukhiya), Mr. Parmeshwar Rawani and other dignitaries also.

NBJK Supports #SafeChildhoodSafeIndia March

27 September 2017, Hazaribag: Hazaribag town became a stay point for Bharat Yatra, a nationwide march led by Nobel Peace Laureate Mr. Kailash Satyarthi against child sexual abuse and trafficking, though Mr. Satyarthi couldn’t be present here due to some unavoidable reasons. Bharat Yatra team reached here with Mr. Arjun Kumar (Coordinator, Bharat Yatra Team), Mrs. Arti Kujur (Chairperson, Jharkhand State Commission for Protection of Child Rights), Mrs. Shanti Kindo (Ex-Chairperson, Jharkhand State Child Labour Commission) and other team members. The yatra was received by Mrs. Veena Kumari (District Child Welfare Officer), Mr. S. P. Singh (Chairman, District Child Welfare Committee) and Mr. Girija Satish (President, NBJK) with staffs & children from NBJK run programs/schools. All these have participated in the rally chanting pro-children slogans and marched upto Hazaribag Town Hall where a thematic convention held under joint auspices of District Administration and NBJK.

On this occasion, Mr. Girija Satish has welcomed the move upon issues related child rights by Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation and said to consider not only children but their families, surroundings and society also. He suggested for measures like liquor pohibition and gender equality for a safe childhood as well as shared about child centered programs by NBJK. Mr. Arjun Kumar has thanked the Government of Jharkhand with NBJK for cooperation and informed that Bharat Yatra (11 September-16 October 2017) was started from Kanyakumari in Kerala to cover 22 states in India. During 1993 in Jharkhand, we have initiated Bachpan Bachao (Save Childhood) movement against Child Labour and standing with children much firmly now, he pointed out. Mrs. Shanti Kindo was in favour of a collective say with general awareness in interest of children and explained about different dimensions of child exploitation. Mrs. Arti Kujur has called for honour to women’s power and safety for girl children in the wake of Navaratri. Rational use of internet and dialogue between parent-child are the things we must take care now, she insisted.

Mr. Praveen Kumar (Labour Superintendent) has mentioned about Government initiatives to eradicate practice of  child labour in the district and rehabilitation of such children. Mr. S. P. Singh and Mrs. Priti Sinha (Member, CWC) have discussed about child rights and activities of Child Welfare Committee while Md. Moazzam (Advocate, DLSA) has informed about legal provisions to prevent child labour. The convention was presided by Mrs. Veena Kumari and  enriched with monologue of Mr. Vipul Singh (Bharat Yatra Team) and cultural programmes by the students of NBJK run Surekha Prakash Bhai Public School, Chouparan as well as Roshni Dhruv High School, Churchu. Mr. Shankar Rana (Asst. Prog. Coordinator, NBJK) has anchored the dais and Mr. Satish Girija (Secretary, NBJK) has delivered vote of thanks to all involved with the programme.

#OverseasVisitors at Program Sites @cinicell @tatatrusts @Plan_India

26 September / 6 October 2017, Khunti – Churchu: A group of Master course students from Tel Aviv University, Israel has reached at Khunti (Jharkhand) district to visit NBJK run program of Mission 2020: Lakhpati Kisan-Smart Village with support of CInI-Tata Trusts, Jamshedpur/Mumbai. These students will study the program in Pandu village of Murhu block. Their purpose is to survey the bottlenecks and to suggest for achieving the goal towards creation of Lakhpati Kisan-Smart Village. This study program will continue for 4 months with field study and inputs making to elevate the model.

On 6th October, Ms. Susan Seibert (a sponsor from Germany) has visited Angoo village of Churchu block of Hazaribag district to see her sponsored girl child Purnima and Purnima’s family members under the program of Child Centered Community Development with support of Plan India. Ms. Seibert has visited the village High School, interacted with teachers-students and presented some sports items to children. After that she met Purnima and her family members separately at home. All of them became emotional. Ms. Seibert has talked to her sponsored girl child and family members in detail. Also she presented some gift items to them and accepted a Saree from the mother of Purnima. She went to village Anganwadi Center and talked to Sevika, young mothers as well as community members. Ms. Susan Seibert herself works as a teacher in Germany and was willing to see her sponsored child since a long time. She seemed overwhelmed by traditional reception and suggested people for hygiene, marriage at proper age and family planning to lead a happy family life.

#SkillforLife Trainees Observes Alumni Meet @WeareSwades @HSBC

23 September 2017, Hazaribag: HSBC Bank – Swades Foundation, Mumbai supported vocational training program Skill for Life trainees had an opportunity to meet each other during the Alumni Meet held at NBJK Coordination Office. This was attended by the current batch trainees also to get an idea of their post training employability prospect.

On this occasion, Mr. Satish Girija (Secretary, NBJK) has welcomed all such youths and said about their training as a seed of curiosity to be developed as the tree of knowledge by trainees themselves. He stressed upon rational use of internet for capacity building and assured them for organizational support in case of any adverse situation at workplace. Mr. Prabhu Nath Sharma (Treasurer-NBJK & Program In-charge) has advocated for quality improvement and intense marketing of the skills they learn here.

It’s significant that Skill for Life program was initiated in the month of October last year and 324 youths in 6 batches have been trained under the trades of Basic Computer Application, Mobile Servicing and General Duty Assistant. Out of these trainees, 247 are already placed or self-employed. Mr. Sharma has informed that most youths from the course of Mobile Phone Servicing have preferred self-employment.

During the Alumni Meet, many ex-trainees of the program have shared their work experience and motivated their juniors to do better. There were 62 youths from current and previous batches who participated in the Alumni Meeting. Also Mr. Kirti Rawat (Placement Officer), Mrs. Sandhya Kumari, Mr. Rohit Kumar, Mr. Amar Raj and Mr. Subodh Kumar (all faculties) have encouraged the youngsters to apply their learnt skills at workplace. On 26th September, 52 trainees from 6th batch (August-September 2017) have received Course Completion Certificate from Mr. P. N. Sharma (Program In-charge) during a simple certification ceremony.

State Level Seminar on #RightToInformationAct @vishwayuvak

19-21 September 2017, Shantman Nagar (Ranchi): State level seminar on Right to Information Act 2005 was organized under joint auspices of Vishwa Yuvak Kendra-New Delhi, Abhiyan-Patna and NBJK-Ranchi. The program took place at Jay Prakash auditorium of NBJK-Ranchi.

Mr. Girija Satish (President, National Lok Samiti) has inaugurated the seminar and cited about importance of RTI Act towards sincerity in welfare programs by the government. Tax payers deserve all information regarding use or misuse of their contribution to nation building, he opined and asked for clarity about status of NGOs under the law as this aims for transparent and accountable governance basically. Mr. Girija Satish was concerned about coming out of some fake RTI activists also and appealed to value the spirit of this law.

Before this, Mr. Chandrabhushan (Secretary, Abhiyan) welcomed all dignitaries-participants and called the seminar as a step to proper monitoring of governance by informed citizenry. Mr. Rupesh (Right to Food campaign-Bihar & Advisor-Supreme Court) has said that No Information leads us to be without any opinion that damages our democracy ultimately. RTI Act is important as it opens way to get benefits of other laws too, he pointed out. Mr. Ajit Kumar Roy (Program Officer, VYK) has expected for a full length discussion and people’s education over one of their important rights in the seminar. Mr. Vinod Ranjan (Mantri, Gandhi Smarak Nidhi-Patna) has termed RTI as a revolutionary step and suggested for its proper use. Mr. Prakash Pran (Mantri, Bihar Sarvoday Mandal) has requested social workers to reveal irregularities of flood relief and social security schemes by the government.

Mr. Ramnath Thakur (Bhojpur, Bihar) has put the question of under-trial prisoners and found RTI Act useful to raise other burning issues under public domain. Mr. L. B. Shastri (Shramik Shiksha Board, Ranchi) was for adequate space for Right to Information within our system and Md. Abdus Subhan (Sahibganj, Jharkhand) has invited RTI volunteers to work at panchayat level. Mr. Krishna Kant (Manav Jodo Abhiyan) and Mr. Shankar Rana (Jharkhand Pradesh Lok Samiti) have appreciated the move to popularize RTI activities.

The seminar was chaired by Mr. Sachchidanand (General Secretary, National Lok Samiti) and participated by more than 100 delegates from various social organizations across Jharkhand and Bihar.

#Deafblind Children Enjoy Picnic @senseindia

16 September 2017, Hazaribag: A picnic for deafblind & multi-sensory impaired children was organized at Swarn Jayanti Park under the program of SPARSH Services for Persons/Children with Deafblindness (DB) & Multi-Sensory Impairment (MSI) with support of Sense India, Ahmedabad. There were 50 children, parents & program staffs present in the excursion and they have enjoyed the event with a number of activities like painting, blind-hidden/needle-thread/ slide-swing games, sign language competition etc.

There was an informal meeting with the parents and Md. Nayeem (Asst. Program Coordinator) has briefed them about objective of the outing as an exposure to DB/MSI children. He insisted for their involvement in the home/center based services their wards avail as parents can motivate such children more easily. Also he suggested for orientation & mobility, activities of daily life, physiotherapy, Braille, sign language, school enrollment etc. to such children and assured for program support. He appealed the parents to find out other DB/MSI children in their localities so that they too can get specialized services under the program. Currently there are 111 beneficiaries under the program reached to 78 villages/mohallas in 9 blocks of Hazaribag, Ramgarh and Ranchi districts.

During the picnic, also Mr. Paras Nath Mahto (Special Educator), Mrs. Indu Gupta and Ms Rashmi Parveen (both CBR workers) have provided proper guidance to parents & children. There was a feast attended by all and children-parents were dropped to their places at last.

#TailoringTraining & #SewingMachines to #NeedyWomen @UshaIntl

11-17 September 2017, Hazaribag: Four deprived women Mrs. Meena Devi, Mrs. Vidya Devi, Mrs. Tilkeshwri Devi and Mrs. Manju Devi from villages Lupung, Pelawal, Gadokhar and Katkamsaandi repectively in Katkamsaandi block have got brand-new sewing machines and a weeklong residential training with support of Usha International Ltd., Delhi. There was online donation to NBJK for such purpose. Also a unit of 10 needy women from Giridih district has got tailoring training and new machines under Usha Silai School Program (Phase-VI).

All these 14 women have got service kits with their sewing machines. Mrs. Savita Thakur (Master Trainer) and Mr. Ritesh Lohani (Program Coordinator) from Usha International Limited have guided the trainees upon sewing skill, machine & maintenance. They encouraged the women to run Usha Silai School and provided tips for time management and business insight also.

Mr. Prabhu Nath Sharma (Treasurer-NBJK & Program Coordinator) has informed that beneficiary women for another unit from Dhanbad have been selected already and soon we will organize training for them. It is worth mentioning that 512 needy women earn Rs. 3000-7000 per month by running Usha Silai Schools and Satellite Sewing Centers in 39 districts of Jharkhand & Bihar with support of Usha International Ltd.

Restructuring of District Level #DisablePeople’sOrganization at Hazaribag @ActionVillageIn @BigLotteryFund

09 September 2017, Hazaribag: District level Disable’s People’s Organization (DPO) promoted under Disability Rights program with support of AVI-BLF, UK was restructured during a meeting held at Curzon Ground stadium, Hazaribag. The meeting was presided over by Mr. Pappu Lal Vishwakarma and members have changed the DPO’s name unanimously as Zila Viklaang Sansthaan. Also they have elected new office bearers among them and Mr. Raj Kumar Rana, Mr. Raj Kumar, Mr. Santosh Kumar, Mrs. Hashibunnisha were declared as President, Secretary, Treasurer and Deputy Treasurer respectively.

The newly elected office bearers have assured for registration of this restructured DPO with this new name soon. Many program staffs and key members like Messrs Deepak Kumar Sharma, Nagesh Kumar, Vinod Yadav, Saroj, Anima Khatoon, Poorn Prakash Rana, Neelam Sharma, Shahjehan Khatoon, Sujit Mishra, Annu Kumar, Shankar Prasad, Manoj Sagar Rana have participated in the meeting enthusiastically.

We want to work as an active organization for the cause of PwDs (People with Disabilities) as most of us are suffering and waiting for entitlements due to systemic lacuna, Mr. Raj Kumar Rana (President) said after the meeting. More than 80 PwDs from Hazaribag Sadar, Badkagaon, Bishnugarh, Padma, Ichak, Katkamsaandi, Katkamdaag, Churchu, Daroo blocks have attended the meeting and all they vowed to work jointly in a planned way to address the issues block wise.

Koderma #Farmers’Exposure at NBJK Khunti @HDFC_Bank

5-6 September, Koderma/Khunti: During working with farmers under Holistic Rural Development Program (HRDP) operational in Koderma district with support of HDFC Bank, it was found that people are not so much familiar with SRI (System of Rice Intensification) method and the program team has decided for an exposure visit for farmers to Khunti, where NBJK (with support of SRTT-Mumbai & CInI-Jharkhand) has promoted tribal people towards food security and enhanced income.

There were 2 farmers (one female-one male) selected from each project village and total 30 farmers from 15 villages of Koderma district had an opportunity to see the agricultural advancement in villages of Khunti district. Koderma team was led by Mr. Rahul Saw (Asst. Program Manager, NBJK) and received by Mr. Anil Kumar Hassa (Area Coordinator, NBJK) at Khunti. These farmers have visited two villages namely Pando and Chatta under Bichna panchayat in Murhu block of Khunti. They have seen six different plots in two groups and observed solar energy based irrigation setup. They visited a community nursery of vegetables like chilly, brinjal, cabbage, tomato etc. It was noticed by Koderma people that their Khunti counterparts are growing two types of paddy like SRI line sowing and KPS (Kharif Paddy Stabilization) without line sowing. Also they use nominal fertilizers and doing all these activities in group.

Mr. Anil Kumar Hassa (NBJK-Khunti) was the guide for this exposure. This was really a different and live experience for our farmers and such practices can be replicated at Koderma also, Mr. Rahul Saw (NBJK-Koderma) said expectantly.