Bhavika Majumdar

Titagarh, a suburb located in north of Kolkata is a living example of the victimized section in the dual society where Have-nots remain deprived of the fruits of development. On one hand this metropolitan city is growing in terms of infrastructure, foreign investment and is on the way of becoming India’s most happening hub of the IT Sector and on the other hand is the place like Titagarh, just 20 kilometers from the main city but lagging behind in all aspects of development. Once thriving with industries like Jute & Paper Mills and other factories, Titagarh has become a ghost of its former self – an industrially sick and backward region due to strikes, lockouts and retrenchments in most of the industries. Employment opportunities in the past attracted a large population from neighbouring States namely; Utter Pradesh (UP), Bihar, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh (AP), some of whom settled here and the rest are still a floating population migrating between here and their hometowns to make the ends meet. Closure of mills has rendered many unemployed and underemployed forcing them into unorganized sector.

More than 90 percent of population living in densely populated slum communities struggle for even basic necessities like proper housing, health and sanitation, adequate nourishment and pure drinking water. Malnourishment hampers proper growth and development of their children affecting them both physically and mentally. Loss of job, alcoholism and related problems in men pressurise women to play dual roles of earning as well as looking after the house and children. Amidst the problems of unemployment and poverty, education assumes low priority. Lack of education and social awakening is a major factor behind suppression of these people for a long time. People have been exploited for years not only by the mill owners and contactors but also the politicians and Trade Union Leaders. Though the so called pro-poor Communist Government continues to rule the State of West Bengal for over 30 years, questions of survival and dignified life of the poor still remain unanswered.

A large majority of parents engaged in rag picking for livelihood are unable to provide good education to their children due to poverty. Many of them uneducated and illiterate themselves, do not realize importance of education for their children. In the crucial developmental phase, rather than going to school, children engage in laborious work as child labourer to support the family. Those not engaged in work simply wonder due to lack of opportunities and direction in life.

This was the scenario when PARIVARTAN, meaning TRANSFORMATION entered with a mission of transforming the lives of people through Education in the Year 2000. The journey towards achieving this Societal Mission was initiated by a group of educationists, qualified social workers and business & service men and a society called ‘Parivartan Social Welfare Society’ was formed. It started its activities with a specific objective of Universal Primary Education to ensure that each child of the community goes to School and learns well. Although the task of education in this poverty stricken, multi-lingual and multi-religious group was tough, the determination of the Organisation was strong.

With a firm conviction in ‘Integrated Participatory Approach’ the Organisation started Community-based Education Centres. Work began with the survey in the community to get an accurate idea about number of children out of the reach of education. Through survey children, who had never been to school and who dropped out, were identified. It was found that thousands of children in the school age were out of school. Young women from the same communities’ were motivated and trained to teach children as well as do other work like home visits and parent meetings. The Organisation also appealed the youth and other community members to contribute towards the education of children. In response the community members showed their willingness to co-operate by allotting space in the community clubs free of cost to run the education centres. The little seed of transformation in Titagarh, which was sown in the year 2000 with 150 children in seven centres, has grown in multifold by serving thousands of deprived children in 4 urban setup such as Titagarh, Barrackpore, Khardah & Siliguri. The organization enrolls about a thousand dropout children back to school every year. PARIVARTAN targets at enrolling all the dropout children back into the schools. For this the Organisation works closely with parents to motivate them for retention of children in schools. Even after enrollment, the detailed case study of each child is maintained by the Organisation and regular follow up is done to keep the track of child’s progress and ensure sustainability of the positive change.

Building further on the relations with the mothers of the children and considering their problems, the Organisation started interventions for Empowerment of Women through forming Self Help Groups of Women. This not only helps women financially through Small Savings and Micro Credit but also provides a platform to organize women for their development. Literacy Classes, Health Education & Camps and Training for Self Employment are some examples.

The major activities of PARIVARTAN are:

· Free of Cost Education Centres in Three Languages:

i) Shishualay - Pre-school Education for children (age: 3 to 5 yrs)

ii) Bridge Course - Education for children never-enrolled in school

or dropped out (age: 6 to 14 yrs).

iii) Remedial Classes – for Children of Government Schools as

quality of education is completely inferior

Enrollment of children :

Enrollment in Government Schools after preparing

Children in community based education centres.

· Co-curricular Activities

Painting, Singing, and Dance for all round development of

children

· Community Outreach Programmmes

To motivate Parents, Community youth and other

members to build their own communities and unity

· Networking

Networking with Schools, Municipal Authorities and other NGOs to strengthen its services and build healthy linkages for effective work.

In March 2006 PARIVARTAN completes its 5 years of service as a registered Society. In these five years through its services for children and women, rapport with community and collaborative efforts with other agencies including Government, Organisation has laid a strong foundation. PARIVARTAN’s untiring efforts have met with success in bringing smiles on the faces of the less fortunate children. This is the biggest achievement of the Organisation as it is said “God dances in the smiles of the poor!!” The future goals of PARIVARTAN are to strengthen the ongoing activities, ensure retention of children in schools, improvement of the quality of education in Government Schools and holistic development of children as well as communities.

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