Rajasthan Drought Relief

1
Rajasthan Drought Relief

• Project Completion Report

2
Goals of the project

• Started intensive work in Sept 2002
• Survey in 71 hamlets of 45 villages to assess
• Availability of food water
• Goals
• Relief for most vulnerable
• Food for work programmes
• Monitor public distribution system
• Leverage Govt. schemes
• Organize health camps
• Help transport emergency cases to the dist.
  hospitals
• Nutrition in Aanganwadi centers

3
Activities

• Started 8 nutrition centers
• with help of Action AID
• Supported by TNSF, AID-India, individual donation
  (Oct 2002, April 2003)
• very rigorous systematic weekly monitoring (AID
  Vihaan) in 55 villages
• food for work programmes
• Public Distribution System
• mid day meals
• drinking water
• focus was on peoples health, identification of
  health workers, training of health workers and
  health camps, Nutrition Centers

4
Malnutrition Assessment Survey (Jan 2003)

• Conducted by Community Health Center, Bangalore
  and Medico Health Circle with support from BGVS,
  PUCL.
• 4 villages (under five above 18)
• Indices
• Mid arm circumference (lt5)
• Body Mass Index (gt18)
• Results
• 108 children surveyed (16-severe, 29-mild)
• 242 adults surveyed (125 chronic, 116 normal, 1
  overweight)

5
Monitoring Structure (May 2003)
Bal Manch
Yuva Manch
Mahila Manch
Village Committee
Cluster Coordinator
District Committee, BGVS
State Committee, BGVS
Support Orgs
PUCL, Akal Sangharsh Samiti, Action AID
6
Akal Sangharsh Samiti

• Formed in 2001
• Network of NGOs and civil society groups
• Acted as a pressure group on the Govt
• Organized state level dharnas
• major success
• increased the food for work programmes across the
  state
• highlighted the issue of Right to work
  employment guarantee.

7
Public Distribution System

• Ration was made available in July after much
  pressure
• Mahila Manch Yuva Manch staged a Dharna at the
  shop and compelled the dealer to get standard
  Iron weights and also got him to compensate for
  the earlier loss Bharoli

8
Food For Work, Water

• 166 works were monitored in which 6024 labour
  days were generated.
• Made sure payment (10kg rice Rs14) was made in
  time through dharnas
• In 2 villages people organised to refuse payment
  routed through Rajputs.
• Started a nutrition center in a remote area where
  no Govt help reached and pressurized the Govt. to
  start Food for work programme
• Monitored water availability till July

9
Health Programme

• BGVS activists transported 460 serious patients
  to district hospital
• organized 20 health camps in villages (Sept, Nov
  2003)
• Doctors mobilized from Govt. hospitals and big
  cities
• patients were treated for Upper Respiratory
  Tract, Asthma, UTI, TB, PID, Allergy, Malaria,
  Eye Ear , Arthritis , Diarrhea, Skin diseases
  etc.

10
Health Workers training

• Aug Dec 2003 for 6 days
• Perception of health health care
• Child Health , Malnutrition, Diarrhoea, Coughs
  cold, Immunization
• Womens health Rights- relationship between
  patriarchy ill-health.
• Information on food Security schemes and govt
  health programmes.
• How to communicate with community.

11
Community Health Centres

• 8 centres from Jan to Sept 2003
• Food, raw material provided by Action AID
• Maintained by the women in the villages

12
Future Plans

• Long term programme focussing on child and women
  health
• Making the aanganwadis functional
• Monitoring of TB cases
• Maintenance of Health Registers