A Struggle to reclaim the rightful share of the Dalits and the Adivasis

See the video below.

New Delhi, 9 May: Dalits and Adivasis displayed remarkable strength of unity as they walked to claim what is rightfully theirs. They marched in huge numbers (nearly 5000) from Mandi house to Parliament Street, not willing to be discouraged by the heat and traffic at the National Capital.

A Retreat is planned for Jesuits to experience and relish the presence of the Lord in His creation. It would follow the Ignatian approach to God’s creation and our relationship with Him in Nature. Robert Athickal S.J who has been initiating a “new Cosmology for our Times” for more than two decades has agreed to animate this retreat.

Sawantwadi, the venue of the retreat, nestles on the banks of a beautiful lake near Goa on the Konkan Railway line. The lake and lush green hills close by make it a place to commune with God via nature.

Theme: ECOLOGY from the perspective of Adivasis/Tribals, Dalits and the marginalized.

New Delhi: After discussing with SAPI Central Zone Province Coordinators, Sannybhai, along with Amrit Sangma, SAPI National Coordinator has announced Bagaicha, Ranchi as the venue for the SAPI National workshop to be held from 17-20 August 2012. The participants are expected to arrive by evening on 17 August and departure is scheduled for early morning on 20 August. An email in this regard has already been circulated by SAPI National office, Delhi.

Sri Lanka, 20 April: Amidst singing and dancing of children with support from equally enthusiastic mothers, His Excellency Fabrizio Arpea, the Ambassador of Italy in Sri Lanka gave away merit certificates to the six graduates of the Catalano Computer Centre and two graduates from the Shanti Sewing Centre at Siddhartha.

Provinces under North Zone come together for the first time

Guwahati, 18-19 April: Defying Cultural and Geographical differences, 4 provinces and 1 Region under Northern Zone came together for the first time in a meeting in Guwahati. Except Nepal, delegates from Darjeeling, Delhi, Patna, Calcutta and Kohima shared their strength and struggles with each other in the meeting held at the Provincial house by the bank of river Brahmaputra.

Bagaicha, 29-30 March: Pointing a number of anomalies in relation to MNREGA, Activist Rose Xaxa shared on ‘situations of travel allowances if the work site is beyond 5 km’, ‘rate of work based on category’, ‘muster roll attendance’, ‘job cards’, ‘facilities at the work site’,  and ‘payment irregularities’.

Advocate Fr. Mahendra Tigga and his colleagues Advocate Mihir Samad and Activist Vinod Bhagat spoke elaborately explaining the article 244 (1) of Indian Constitution that talks about the Administration and Control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes.

Jamshedpur, 21-22 March: Speaking at a workshop, organised by Tribal Research and Training Centre (TRTC) at Chaibasa, Social Activists, Ghanshyam Gagrai, Birsingh Sinku and Chandrabhusan Deogam highlighted the impact of displacement on the identity and culture of tribals. They suggested strengthening of Gram Sabha and its role in securing social and cultural identity of the tribals in Jharkhand.

Presenting the data on displacement in Jharkhand, Fr. Clement Kujur, CSA ruled out rehabilitation and resettlement as an option to land acquisition leading to displacement. “Development must be based on agriculture. We can develop agriculture through building check dams, ponds etc. for irrigation and better cultivation.” He said.

Sharing faith and spirituality, concerns and challenges at JESA-Kerala

Ernakulam, 21-22 March: JESA-Kerala will have to wait and see if dreams really come true as they discussed and suggested for a corpus fund, a long standing requisite for social action ministry in the province.

Among the other concerns in the province, the team sensed that there is an unpremeditated apprehension in joining social action ministry among the young scholastics that needs immediate attention.  Provincial and his team need to probe the matter and corrective steps need to be taken. It was suggested that they be given proper socio-cultural analysis, enough exposure programs clubbed with guidance from Province Coordinator for Formation (PCF) right from the early stage. All scholastics could be sent for social action ministry as part of regency at least for a year.

Difference between men and women exists only in our minds

Shahbad, 14 March: Marching in the month of March doubled the cause for the women of Daulatpur, joined by their younger counterparts from Loyola Vocational Institute (LVI) to mark the International Women’s Day soon after the festival of colors (holi) on 8 of the same month. Over 500 women in a procession from the gate of St. Xavier’s School to Shahbad dairy, shouted slogans against several exploitation against women, asserting their identity, dignity and respect in one voice and theme “Mahilawon Ke Badte Kadam”. (the progressive steps of women).

"Food security is life security!! – Anna suraksha ej jivan raksha."

Surat, 11 March: Over 1500 Women from 25 Mahila Mandals (women’s organizations) belonging to 25 slums, dressed in festive attires singing on the top of their voice poured in at Rang Upvan through the streets of Surat, demanding RIGHT TO FOOD on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2012.

Ms Krishnaben Dabhi, the Inspector of Police, who was the Chief Guest on the occasion, hailed the efforts of these women, assuring them her support in fighting against domestic violence. She asked them to remain more alert, united and vocal in order to prevent any form of sexual violence against women and children mostly in slum areas and other vulnerable conflict zones.

A special sharing from Jahangirpur, LVI and allied missions marks the Meeting

Shahbad, 3 March 2012: A 15-member Social Action Team of the Delhi Province—including the Provincial, Fr Varkey Perekkatt and his Councillors, and also the JESA Secretary, Sannybhai—sat through a presentation on the activities of the Loyola Vocational Institute (LVI) and its associates. During the presentation Fr Arockia Swamy, of CSA and a pioneer of the Shahbad Daulatpur Social Centre, highlighted the strengths and limitations of the social work in the Province, and gave suggestions for the future.

Theme: Ecology and Advocacy: Opportunities and Challenges to Heal A Broken World

Mumbai, 24-25 February: The reading of the JESA Activity Report 2011 led to a major revelation compelling the congregation present to think twice in taking new decisions. The report said that several decisions that had been taken during previous meetings had not yet been actually implemented.

A gathering of over 30 Jesuits from the Jesuit provinces of Gujarat, Goa, Pune and Mumbai that comprise the West Zone discussed at length, accepting that  implementation of decisions had not been satisfactory, although there has been some progress compared to earlier meetings.

It is time to make the locals more responsible and independent in life

Hazaribagh, 20 February: Jesuits in Social Action (JESA) team, Hazaribag is looking to explore possibilities to access available Government schemes to benefit more youth in general and other target groups like Women, Dalits and Tribals in particular.

JESA Hazaribag believes that forming of Self-Help Groups (SHGs), and training them with seminars on resource and agricultural management, legal aid, medical care, human rights, etc., could have long-term effects. This would also help them to feel proud of being adivasis and work toward self-respect, dignity and unity of tribals.