Flight of the sparrow : “beti bachao beti padhao” initiatives in nicobar

“he for God,

she for god in him”

-         John Milton in “paradise lost”

well!! Not quite!!! Nicobar presents itself as a perfect exception to a generally discriminatory World. It is a society where no gender discrimination takes place. There  is no fasting or praying for the birth of a male child. The birth of a girl child is as much a celebration as a boy child’s birth. Daughters are educated at par with their brothers.  There is no dowry and certainly no concept of the woman at the mercy of in-laws.  Yes!! this utopian arcadia does exist in the southern most district of India. It is a society where this half of the population is given the full sky to spread their wings and fly high. The apotheosis of this limitless flight can be seen in the case of Ms. Deborah Harold, the world No. 4 cyclist from our very own kakana village in Carnicobar, whose parents, tuhet and village didn’t see her being a girl as a hindrance but encouraged her at every step to reach the position she is in and are continuing to do so.

When district Nicobar was included in our National Government’s flagship programme “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” , we were surprised as Nicobar enjoys fairly good sex ratio and doesn’t practice discrimination. But then we saw it as a great opportunity to even further broaden the horizons for our girls and women.

We identified the areas where we thought more could be done:

Health, Hygiene and Nutrition : awareness camps with the help of  medical doctors were organized in which discussions were held about adolescent girls and women’s health, the problem of malnutrition, prevalence of anemia and the ways to control it, the menstrual and gynaecological health, upkeep of hygienic practices etc. Demonstrations were given to properly wash hands,  to clean teeth and tongue after each meal, to dispose of sanitary tissues etc. . Kits containing  hand towel, liquid hand wash, toothpaste, tooth brush, sanitary napkin, date and almonds were distributed.

Figure 1 distribution of health, hygiene and nutrition kits by Hon'ble LG Prof. Jagdish Mukhi ji on 27th Oct 2016

Child protection, awareness about “good touch, bad touch”, POCSO and prevention of teenage pregnancy: an extensive campaign was done to reach to every girl child and teach her the meaning of good touch and bad touch through a short film called “komal”. Nicobar Police joined hands with the district team in explaining POCSO and protection of children from physical or mental abuse. One matter of great concern in the district was and still remains, is the prevalence of teenage pregnancy which requires both tact and strategy. This year our target is to develop a full-fledged strategy to combat this problem that kills the adolescence of girls and pushes them in to an early womanhood. This year Police department also plans to impart a ten-days basic self-defense training to Nicobarese  girls.

Organizing competitions to enhance the academic excellence : various competitions like essay writing, quizzing, speech competitions along with poster making, slogan writing, craft making competitions are organized all over the district to bring out a competitive edge amongst the girls of Nicobar. Attractive prizes including bicycles were given to them which were appreciated in far flung islands of Chowra as well.

Zonal sports competitions: Nicobarese people do extremely well in sports. Various competitions including cycle race, 100m, 200m and 400m , sack race, needle race, 3 legged race, shot put, long jump, high jump etc are organized from time to time to further hone the inherent sports potential among girl children. The winners of the sports competition held in feburary 2016 were given very attractive cash prizes.

      Figure 2: picture of cycle race, held in feburary 2016.

Beti janmohatsav and post-natal maternal health: It was realized that apart from felicitating mothers and newly born girl children with baby bedding and bath kits, it was important to ensure that proper nutrition was being provided to mothers. For this post natal checkup, emphasis on mother’s milk and mother’s daily nutritional

requirements was made. New mothers were also given nutrition kits that included horlicks, dates, almonds and other dry fruits.

Figure 3: distribution of baby bedding and mothers' nutrition kit by perka village captain, Sh. Moses Reuben

Skill development by provision of training through other departments: other departments like agriculture, animal husbandry and industries are poised to organize a fortnight long training for 50 girls in each of the three sub-divisonal blocks, to enhance their capability and impart skills to make them employable or help them form self help groups to start small enterprises.

Awareness programmes: a plethora of programmes were done all over the district to bring out the best in girl children. A team called “dhoomketu group” sent by Ministry of broadcasting, Song and Drama Division was sent to organize puppet shows, magic shows and nukkad nataks all over the district. The team was accompanied by our CDPO, Smt Indira devi and performed at Chowra, Teressa, Katchal, Nancowry, Kamorta, Campbell bay and delighted. The district was dotted with Cycle rally, candle marches and media rallies which were great festivals witnessed by the islanders.

Figure 4:  magic show by dhoomketu group in kinyuka village

 Apart from these a series of events like great women themed fancy dress competition, baby girl shows, distribution of sanitary napkins, cultural evenings, showcasing of women oriented movies like “chak de” etc took place, which were well appreciated by the people of Nicobar and especially among women of Nicobar. The greatest achievement this year had been an increase of 35% in this year’s class 12^th result while the class 10^th result increased by 1% to 97.9%. We also saw a decrease in cases of anaemia, skin diseases and viral hepatitis which has encouraged us.  This year too we intend to carry the previous year’s legacy even further link the programme with the improvement of  our district’s  IMR and MMR, prevention of teenage pregnancy, felicitation of academic excellence, skill development, capacity building and a overall holistic development of the girl children to help them become better humans, better citizens and the pride and glory of our great nation

BBBP poster designed by Dhruw Nath Singh, PGT

Töölöök Tövai Panam : a small step towards a more beautiful world

“Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds”

                                                             G B Hinckley

The sea flanking the Carnic island is in turn teal, aquamarine, azure, sapphire, lapis lazuli and grey and the sands silvery white . Beholding one such view, two eco friendly huts and  seven benches, made up of locally available material, completely in-sync with the island’s beauty have been constructed and dedicated to the people of Sansad Adarsh Gram Kinyuka, under the aegis of MGNREGA scheme of Government of India

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The site known as “Töölöök Tövai Panam” (our beautiful world) is a charming little spot for recreation and picnic dedicated to the people of Carnic. The two eco-friendly huts are made up of locally available bamboo, cane and jungle post so magnanimously provided by the captains of Kimious and Aarong and are covered with thatched roofs. The craftsmanship displayed in the construction of these huts with delicate molding of cane is par excellence. The huts are painted in earthy browns and forest greens and are in complete harmony with the surroundings.

This project incurred an expenditure of a little above four lakh rupess, out of which more than 3.7 lakhs were given as wages to create 1554 mandays  and in this case “women-days” as more than 80% MGNREGA workers in this project were women, scripting a small but successful story of asset creation , with a very small carbon footprint (if at all), along with providing meaningful and satisfying employment to these very proficient craftsmen and women of Carnicobar.

The construction of these huts and benches along with cane garbage bins and planting of flowering plants like periwinkle and tecoma was completed in a record time by the MGNREGA team comprising of Block Development Officer, Programme Officer, Assistant Engineer and four extremely dedicated Gram Rozgar Sevaks . Three solar street lamps erected by the electricity department adds to the attraction and safety of this spot.

entry to the picnic spot

blessed by a priest before inauguration

The site was decorated with tender leaves of coconut and was inaugurated by S.P. Nicobar after a prayer was read out by the Kinyuka church priest on 15^th August 2016, to the loud cheer and exultation of everyone present. The inauguration function also saw the distribution of complete Soccer Kit and Yoga mats worth fifty thousand rupees by sports department to the sports loving people of Kinyuka under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY)..

The eco-huts constructed at Kinyuka have been widely appreciated for their recreational utility and environmental friendly construction. The district administration plans to construct  similar huts under MGNREGA not just in Carnicobar but also in other islands of the district as well. We firmly believe that it takes a small step to make a giant leap. Jai Hind

Seventy years of Independence and Nicobar

India, with her kaleidoscopic diversity is a country whose charming variety emanates from its history, shaped by its geography and adorned by myriad cultures. A few days from now, we shall be celebrating our 70^th Independence Day. Years ago, India made a “tryst with her destiny” and the hopes and dreams of a great nation were envisioned and dreamt.

Today, we are a proud nation with the third largest economy (in PPP) and possess the second largest human resources. We have sent mangalyana and are envied by the world for our indigenous technology. We are also poised to fight the demons of unequal development and socio-economic infrastructure bottlenecks.

Here, in the southernmost district of the country, we are proud of being a part of India’s progress. The district has seen the worst of natural disaster and yet its people are so resilient that they have bounced back to normalcy in record time. This quality of people of Nicobar is our greatest asset.

Usually, we associate growth and development only with the economy and completely ignore the social aspect of it. From Nicobar, the materialistic world can learn a lesson or two. Whereas, in the rest of the country, the position of women even after 70 years of independence is still questionable, the Nicobari women are independent, free from the fear of foeticide, gender discrimination, eve-teasing, dowry deaths, domestic violence, acid attacks and even the social ostracism which only a woman faces in case of child out of wedlock. It is indeed a great achievement that the people of Nicobar treat their women so well and help in materializing the true spirit of freedom envisaged by thinkers like Tagore and Rousseau – the freedom from the fear and a dignified life.

Figure 1: A group of nicobari women in their traditional dress.

Photo: Greatheart Nicobari

The tuhet system that takes care of the orphans, the old, the sick, the disabled is yet another strength of the people of Nicobar. It’s indeed a great freedom from insecurities that the people of the district ensure for one and all. Our friendly neighboring country, Bhutan is well known for its high happiness index and the people of Nicobar too can boast of the same as they are so socially advanced, resilient in the face of adversities, so happy, simple and content.

Yet, we are certainly not a Utopian district. We have more than our fair share of problems which have made administration in this district an arduous task. The biggest challenge for the administration is the long gestational period of developmental projects due to the very geography of this district. The district comprises of 22 islands and eight of them are inhabited. These islands are not only far from the nearest economic hub i.e. Port Blair but also separated from each other by a very tempestuous sea, making transportation of people, goods and everything that is important for the development of infrastructure a slow and cumbersome process. The lack of mobile and internet connectivity along with this geographical isolation also inhibits the islands from taking giant leaps towards progress. The smaller islands like Chaura and hamlets in Nancowry and little Nicobar also lack some very basic facilities like water and 24x7 electricity. Though the administration has been taking steps like floating a tender for de-salination plant in Chaura Island, installation of solar street lights, commissioning an exclusive boat for the southern sector etc, the common islander still has a lot to wish for. Therefore, a lot has to be done by the administration, by in fact everyone, from the lowest MGNREGA functionary to the district administration to the highest policy makers for the betterment of this beautiful district. With the 70^th anniversary of India’s independence not far off, we must understand that the only way forward is as enshrined by our national government’s motto .i.e. “together with all, development for all” and to achieve this, we all must join hands and play our small role in this glorious march to a better India. Jai Hind.