Swachha Bharat Abhiyan in Odisha
India Evangelistic Association is a proud Program Facilitating Agency of the Prime Minister’s Swachha Bharat Abhiyan in Odisha. Taking into account the impoverished and tribal background of the state, IEA decided to join hands with the central government in making the state a better place to live in.
As such IEA started working along the guidelines of Swachha Bharat Abhiyan from April 2015 to cleanse the communities of evils like unhygienic conditions and lack of health education.
The various issues covered under the project are:
1. Familiarizing
The first step that IEA took was to familiarize with the people. It helped them to overcome the reluctance of the community that the organization had to face sometimes regarding several issues including health and hygiene. It also helped IEA to understand deeply the issues plaguing the remotest parts of the state.
2. Primary Education
IEA has used the partnership with SBA as an opportunity to inform and sensitize School Managing Committee and Parents Teachers Association about the importance of education and motivate schools to be a part of the SBA.
3. Hygienic Nutrition
Although the food in villages and tribal areas is organic in nature, the storage and consumption is not always scientific. IEA, under the SBA, educate communities in this regard.
4. Kitchen Gardening
Communities are made aware of the importance of high nutrition food and taught about vitamin and protein containing edibles. They are encouraged to practice kitchen Gardening or Backyard farming of cereals, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables, fruits, etc. so that they get their required nutrition in an inexpensive manner.
5. Liaison and Facilitating Services
With the partnering with SBA, IEA has found it easier to act as a bridge between communities and government agencies. IEA can now easily educate and facilitate the various government services made available to the communities.
6. Service to the Landless
IEA on a path to address the issues faced by the impoverished landless families and generate a decent income in them through respectable means. The Block Development Authority has already been intimated of the situation.
7. Mushroom Cultivation, Bee Farming, Goat Rearing
To generate more income in families, communities are taught Mushroom Cultivation, Bee Farming and Goat Rearing. These jobs are skill and time oriented and the returns are quite healthy.
8. Bio-degradable Utensil Making
With plenty of Sialu leaves available at their disposal, the tribes can safely practice Bio-degradable Utensil Making like leaf plates and cups. This has proved to be a steady source of income.
9. India Awas Yojana
Since the underprivileged seldom take part in grass-root governance, they are mostly unaware of government welfare schemes meant for them. IEA has taken this opportunity to make them aware of schemes like the Indira Awas Yojana and helped them reap its direct benefits.
10. Promotion of Community Health
IEA has actively participated in the awareness and sanitation drive of SBA, disease prevention steps, cleaning neighborhoods of dirt, disinfecting households and other areas to get rid of mosquitoes, maintaining personal hygiene, properly disposing of non-biodegradable waste and making people aware of the importance of such activities. The most important part of this leg of the SBA is to motivate people to do such works themselves by working alongside them.
11. Volunteer Training and Education
This leg of the SBA partnership involved making village level volunteers understand the importance of working selflessly for the betterment of the community without any pride, prejudice or biasedness.
12. Service Delivery
IEA used the session on service delivery to inform people about the kind of services delivered by IEA to the community for its well being like rehabilitation of displaced families, free health and eye check-up camps, providing free vocational training, handing out free agricultural materials and education, etc.
13. Promoting Locality Hygiene
36 volunteers have been specially trained to engage in cleanliness activities and related awareness drives in 14 Gram Panchayats of Balliguda Block.
14. Drinking Water Facility
The availability of potable water in various parts of rural districts was assessed and it was stressed upon to facilitate the installation of tubewells to provide drinking water to all segments of the communities and schools. The importance of maintaining proper standards for storage of clean drinking water was also discussed.
15. Income Generation Activities
The importance of Income Generation Activities (IGA) has always been stressed upon by IEA. Farming and other IGA like tailoring, driving, etc are promoted by IEA.
16. Schooling and Scholarships
Importance of and ways to ensure 100% attendances at school were discussed. Scholarship Schemes for SC, ST and other minority students were discussed.
17. Sensitization Initiatives
People are being sensitized about the ill-effects of baseless superstitious beliefs and practices. The sensitization was also carried out advising people against social evils like child marriage, open defecations, use of intoxicating products, disregard for education, traditional taboos, etc. Awareness and training was also conducted concerning Food Insecurity, Mother and Child Care issues, Need of conducting Blood Donation Camps, Life style diseases, Mass awareness on health care through video filming and street play, Protecting community sanitation, etc.
The Swachha Bharat Abhiyan has been a great initiative by the Government of India and IEA is a proud partner of this great endeavor.
