Learning about people’s atrocities and the insufficient mechanisms to resolve them was nothing new for Sonal Rochani, a former crime reporter. The Surat-based journalist always wanted to go beyond reporting and help the needy and underprivileged.
But like most of us, Sonal couldn’t do much other than extend her empathy. However, in 2005, one incident disturbed her deeply enough to change that.
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Narrating the incident to The Better India, she says:
Intending to help women and children avail various schemes of the government, Sonal started ‘Shakti Foundation,’ a non-profit organisation in August 2011.
Explaining their plight, Sonal says, “There are several issues affecting these communities, but two stand out. The first is alcohol addiction, due to which the average lifespan of men in the Halpati community, has reduced to merely 40 years. This has resulted in an increase in the number of widows, and their children are often forced to drop out of school to earn a living. As for Kotdwara, the primary occupation of making handicrafts from bamboo has been greatly affected due to a massive decrease in the green cover. Today, most of the people there have turned into wage labourers. Consequently, Both communities live in deplorable conditions.”
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Eight years later, Shakti foundation has been instrumental in training and helping more than 5,000 tribal women start their businesses across 55 villages. Sonal and her team of volunteers are also addressing issues related to health, hygiene and education.
Here’s how.
The NGO’s first project was to ensure that the members of these communities had their legal documents like Voter IDs, Aadhar and Ration card in place. The NGO conducted numerous awareness camps that encouraged the tribals to open bank accounts and use government schemes to make their lives easy.
“A majority of the people are clueless, and the ones who are aware do not use it due to lack of knowledge about the procedure. The communities anyway have preconceived notions about the way work is carried out in government offices. Leaving work even one day to visit the government office is not feasible as they earn on a daily basis,” she says.
The NGO collaborated with village heads, Anganwadi workers and SHGs to spread awareness about several schemes like the widow pension scheme, retirement pension scheme and health-related schemes offered by the Gujarat government. These efforts have benefitted more than 5,000 families have so far.
This is reflected in both the tribal communities.
To fight this, Sonal contacted her friends and relatives who are doctors to conduct health checkups in all the 55 villages. This practice has continued till date, and essential examinations and checkups like gynaecological, dental, weight are carried out every few months.
With the NGO’s help, members of these communities have also applied for the Ayushman Bharat Yojana health insurance scheme card, and around 500 of them have already received it.
Inspired by Arunachalam Muruganantham, the man who stirred a revolution by making low-cost sanitary napkins in rural areas, Sonal procured a pad-making machine for an SHG in Ichaapore village, Surat. The SHG employs eight women, who earn Rs 5,000 per month.
