Partnership with Peasant Women (and Men) in West Bengal - Bankura
Consultant:  Narayan Banerjee, assisted by Shri Pulak Gupta, Meghnad Deshmukh, Swapan Chowdhury, Bimal Pakhira, Representatives of Nari Bikash Sangha and others

The CWDS’ engagement and partnership with peasant women (and men)/women’s groups and their network in Bankura entered the 26^th year during 2006-07 and it is heartening to note that the collaboration is going from strength to strength with the support of local community, local government and various other agencies.  This engagement is primarily focused on employment and income generating activities but in the process it involved components like solidarity building, planning of activities and sharing of responsibilities, supervision, liaisoning, marketing, management of enterprises, dealing with the community, socio-political institutions and issues which affect women and children.  All these are operationalised horizontally at three levels – viz. CWDS, Nari Bikash Sangha (NBS), the Peasant Women’s Network, and 35 village level women’s groups and 50 Self-Help Groups – adhering to the principles of democracy, collective empowerment and women’s equality.

With regard to employment and income generating activities, the women’s groups owning Arjun plantations spent six to seven months on their fields producing 12 lakh Tasar silk cocoons and in their several grainages producing 58,600 disease free layings together worth nearly Rs. 14 lakhs.  Similarly, women’s groups owning Babui grass plantations produced 350 quintals of babui grass worth over 1 lakh – part of which was converted into ropes and sold and the rest sold raw.  Thirteen self-help groups with the support of local government and a lead Hatchery,

set up seven broiler farms producing 35,000 broiler chickens in a 45-day cycle.  Other sideline activities undertaken collectively both by Self-help Groups and Mahila Samitis were sal-leaf plate manufacture, babui rope making, tasar silk reeling and spinning, biri rolling, paper bag making, nursery raising, mango grafting etc.  At the individual level, besides household agriculture, members of village level Samitis and Self-help Groups were supplementing the household income through rice processing, goatery and piggery, backyard poultry, small trade, collection of non-timber forest produce, local wage labour etc. throughout the year.  The popular agricultural loan programme introduced by NBS some years back as a felt need, and consumption and business loan of Samitis and SHGs were availed to the tune of Rs.18 lakhs during 2006-07.  Similarly, the supply of seed and fertilizer – both for main agricultural crops and seasonal vegetables has a remained a regular programme of NBS and CWDS.

As support services, the NBS and CWDS together run 13 creches for children of working mothers and ten village libraries.  A group of twenty women drawn from crèches and libraries form a team of trained health workers to provide immediate and simple medical support to women and children in their own villages.

The year was also marked by the formation of two new Samitis, the election process of the village level samitis followed by the election of the Parichalan Mandali of Nari Bikash Sangha – an event spreading over two days – full of political activity, dancing, singing and feasting.

The year will also be remembered by the CWDS and NBS combine for initiating a completely new marginal land based programme of setting up 1000 fruit orchards in batches of 200, 400 and 400 in three consecutive years and supporting each batch for a period of five years.  Each fruit orchard is being set up on one acre of marginal land owned by a tribal household containing 40 mango and 30 cashew plants surrounded by on an average 200 fuel and timber plants. 

Each orchard is being set up in the joint ownership of husband and wife, and during 2006-07, 201 such orchards were created successfully setting an example of the solid partnership of CWDS and NBS on the one hand and tribal women’s mobilizing ability on the other.  This programme named ‘Bagicha’ (a fruit garden) is being financially supported by NABARD and Backward Classes Welfare Department of the Govt. of West Bengal.  This is not the only support that the CWDS-NBS combine has been able to garner locally, there are collaborations and forms of support received from other agencies through Rashtriya Samavikash Yojana for raising Tasar plantation, Food for Work programme for raising Babui Plantation, District Rural Development Council supporting SHGs for worksheds and equipment, for broiler farms, Central Silk Board for seed cocoon production and grainage equipment, State Sericulture Department for tasar silk processing units, Arambagh Hatcheries for supplying feed, medicines and birds, Central Social Welfare Board for crèches etc., to name a few. 

The CWDS for the first 15 years worked in partnership with tribal women exclusively in Bankura and Purulia districts for collective empowerment of women.  From 1996, in collaboration with NBS, CWDS mobilized more than 70 Forest Protection Committees (FPC) formed under JFM Programme of the Department of Forests.  The FPC membership consisted of both men and women and the focus of mobilization was on the equality of sexes in collective institutions.  The ‘Bagicha’ programme initiated ten years later focuses on individual tribal households emphasizing on ownership, management and control of household assets jointly by men and women.  While working closely with both men and women during the last 25 years among politically conscious tribal peoples of West Bengal, we have come to realize that:

          It is easier to build a lasting partnership and collaboration with tribal women than with tribal men, who in general are too divided, opinionated, and relatively less concerned about household survival.  Tribal women show an immediate empathy towards other women in similar situations, while men have not demonstrated this quality.

         Women are able to see into the future and are more ready to wait for economic gains to accrue.  Men are too concerned for immediate gains and are less prepared to wait.

         Women, given ownership and control, whether collective or individual, are better managers and more protective of assets.

         Collectives of women usually have greater longevity than men’s collectives.

         Tribal men, being used to living in forest areas, freely drawing resources from the   same, do not demonstrate the habit of planting trees. This is coming out quite sharply in the recently launched ‘Bagicha’ programme.

         Given the challenge, tribal women of Bankura have demonstrated an excellent mobilizing capacity because of their relatively deeper involvements and networks in society.  This has been particularly evident in the process of identifying farmers for the orchard project.