Traditional healers of Rajasthan
The traditional healers of Shekhawati region of Rajasthan are having a commendable knowledge of medicinal values of plants those grow around them. This knowledge of Shekhawati rural people is now fast disappearing due to modernization and the tendency among younger generation to discard their traditional lifestyle. There is an urgent need to study and document this precious knowledge for the posterity of human society. It is also loosing its popularity due to the scarcity or non-availability of such plants, which is caused by multifarious human activities coupled with natural calamities like drought and over grazing. Thus, conservation and scientific verification of such rare lesser-known medicinal plants assume greater significance.
Few of them are still existing and selling herbal medicines throughout the country by shifting their base one place to another. We inculcate herbal medicinal knowledge from our ancestors and generation after generation we are into this business, women members of our family helping us preparing medicines and though we are nomadic our children never goes to school, they learned our traditional knowledge with the process with us, said Mukesh Singh (Age-32).
Mining in the Nyamgiri hills
Despite many violations, protests, and committee recommendations against mining in the Niyamgiri hills, the region's fate lies in the corridors of power.
The National Environment Appellate Authority (NEAA) on 16-9-2010 has suspended the environmental clearance granted to the Niyamgiri mining project of M/s Orissa Mining Corporation and Vedanta Ltd. This was granted by the MoEF on 28-4-2009. The contention of the Appellant was that the Public hearing was held in 2003 whereas the project was approved on the basis of an EIA prepared in 2005. The law requires that the EIA document should be prepared before the Public Hearing for public comments but no such opportunity was provided to the affected communities. The NEAA is its judgement held that:
This is an important decision given that Ministry of Environment and Forest had overlooked the crucial issue of public participation. The Appeal is also significant given the fact the MoEF had been found at fault for approving the project without considering the crucial issue of participation of the Dongrai Kondhs who are a vulnerable tribal community.
NEMESIS OF MOTHERHOOD
Problem of high maternal mortality rate in four tribal dominated
districts, Koraput,Rayagada,Nabarangpur and Malkangiri in Orissa due to lack of
communication and transport facilities and also the negative impact of traditional practices
and ritual within the tribal communities.
Motherhood is a cherished dream of every woman. However, this dream is being shattered
too often due to an unholy alliance between poverty, ill health and lack of access to existing
health delivery services. The maternal mortality ratio in India is unexceptionally high with
407 women dying each year per 1 lakh live birth each year. According to WHO estimate
5, 15000 maternal deaths occur due to pregnancy-related causes each year in the World. In
every minute more than one woman dies from pregnancy-related causes worldwide.
Every five minutes a woman dies somewhere in India due to pregnancy associated causes.
The annual toll of over, 100,000 maternal death constitutes over 20 percent of the global
burden which is perhaps the highest for any single country.
Nowhere in India is this unholy alliance between poverty and ill-health more stark than in
Orissa. With per capita income less than Rs. 13000 and vast gap between rich and poor which
is further gnawing, and poor access to health services and the State has the highest maternal
mortality ratio (407 against the national average of 367- SRS, 1998) and highest infant
mortality rate (101/reduced to 85 against the national average of 63).
PADDY ON THE ROOFTOP
BY:S. VISHWANATH
Roofs and terraces in India receive vast amounts of sunlight and rainwater .If made of reinforced cement concrete, they are usually very strong. A thin HDPE sheet which is UV resistant needs to be placed with a small fold to hold about 3 inches of leaf litter and light soil to grow paddy on top.
The leaf litter in the case of growing rice should usually be of the pongaemia tree, locally called ‘honge'. The advice of a structural engineer would be preferable especially if the house is old but in general too. The area of the spread would depend on the roof area and the availability of grey water.
Grey water is water used for washing clothes and from the bath. Water from the kitchen is increasingly being seen as black water because of the huge organic load that comes from Indian cooking and vessels.
Grey water being generated can be easily calculated: 15 to 20 litres per person as bath water and anywhere between 60 to 150 litres as clothes wash water. In our case, we have 45 litres as bath water from three persons and 60 litres per day coming from the washing machine. A total of 105 litres every day is available as grey water for the plants.
Since the grey water is to be used on the terrace it will need pumping. Also, it needs to be cleaned before it can be applied to the crop. What we did was to place our bathroom on the terrace. A small grey water tank was located just below the terrace level. A small half H.P. pump has been installed to pump the grey water into a drum.
Drums of 90 litres in capacity and are filled with the typha plant which is taken from the local lakes or tanks. Nothing else is placed in the drum, no soil too. The plants grow vigorously and show good root growth. They thrive on the soap and detergent water. The water that comes from the final drum is colourless and good for the rice.
Paddy seeds are planted in water and the saplings transplanted after about 14 days into the prepared bed on the plastic sheet. Grey water is the only water supplied and rainwater supplements it.
Appropriate fertilizers can be added if necessary; however, Eco-san is good. Wait for 90 days and you have good old rice on your roof.
No grey water has left your plot, rainwater has been used wisely and you are ready for the next planting. On a 400 sq. ft. roof area you can raise 80 kg of rice in a year.
DHOI HATA KHAIBA BHATA ( Wash hand and then eat rice )
It is more and more effective when you see a global campaign of hand washing reaches in a small village more successfully. Yes, Sandhapur a small village of Khurdha district in the state of Orissa is celebrating global hand washing day by realizing the utility and importance of sanitation.
Dhoi Hata Khaiba Bhata, (wash hand and then eat rice), it was the slogan for school children for awareness campaign to sensitize villagers in Sandhapur on sanitation. Bikas Kumar Das, a nine years boy studding in fourth standard at Sandhapur primary school says, that we should wash our hand before having our food and after coming from the toiled, because our teacher says by doing this hand washing practice we will stay out of various kinds’ diseases, and out environment is getting pouted now so we need to keep our environment clean and take care or our health by doing good practices.
Global Handwashing Day is a campaign to motivate and mobilize millions around the world to wash their hands with soap as a key approach to disease prevention Global Handwashing Day 2010 will revolve around schools and children. Global Handwashing Day will be the centerpiece of a week of activities that will mobilize millions of people in more than 80 countries across all five continents to wash their hands with soap.
Poor hygiene and lack of access to sanitation together contribute to about 88% of deaths from diarrheal diseases, accounting for 1.5 million diarrhea-related under-five deaths each year. Children suffer disproportionately from diarrheal and respiratory diseases and deaths.
Bidutlata Mishar, Associate teacher, Sandhapur primary school, says proudly that children in our school are now realized the importance of sanitation, they all wash their hands with soap regularly before having their midday meal and after coming from the toile at school and at their home as well, not only that we are also taking care of cleanliness during the time of mid-day meal preparation and distribution. Approximately 120 million children born in the developing world each year, half will live in households without access to improved sanitation, about 25% children up to the age group of fourteen are affected with various diseases each year, so this is positive welcome to this global hand washing campaign or the government, now our job is to reach each villager in this village with this awareness campaign. The government has now various programs on sanitation and providing facility to have a toilet in each household in the village as well, so we need to cooperate our government and join hands for this global campaign.
FERTILIZERS ENSURES FOOD SECURITY.
By Dr. K. Kumaraswamy
formerly Professor of soil science & Agrl. Chemistry, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore
[Image]The philosophy of sustainable agriculture is to maximize the crop production through scientific methods of farming, growing crop varieties of high-yielding and high-quality potentials and using optimum inputs of manures, fertilizers, bio-fertilizers and agricultural chemicals, without exploiting and polluting the natural resources of soil, water and environment.
Option for organic farming is always a first choice in recent time, but to take up there is not enough organic manure available in the country to meet the requirements. But in other side organic methods cannot replace conventional farming for improving food security. By seeing food situation and population of India, the country cannot afford to rely only on organic farming. Though for the environmental protection, natural farming always discourage the use of fertilizers and chemical. But what is needed is a judicious combination of organic manures and fertilizers and not exclusive use of either. Because in extensive agricultural farming the requirement of certain nutrients like nitrogen phosphorus and potassium in comparatively higher amounts cannot be met by organic manures alone.
To see the demand and volume of production requirement, it is difficult to rely only on organic farming so we have adopted both organic and fertilizers to ensure food security. And in this process is the first phase we use organic method and then fertilizers like urea and groomer etc. Added Pravakr Paikray of village Govindpur in Orissa.Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) by using manures, fertilizer and bio-fertilizers alone can facilitate restoration, improvement and maintenance of soil fertility guarantees agricultural production at higher levels. And it will also prevent the environment and natural resources from being polluted and exhausted.
A nomadic community form Iran
This nomadic community who speak Pharshi and known as Belchery tribal from village Siraj of Thehran the capital city of Iran in the Middle East. In 16th century BC during the period of Akbar Badshah this community used to travel different king’s forts in India to sell horses and gold coins. This community never had a permanent place to live, they used to travel along with their family and live in different places in tents throughout. Soon after India declared independent form the British rule in the year of 1947, this community wanted to settle down permanently in different places in India. One small community among them has settled down at Jatni in the state of Orissa in the eastern part of India.
Jatni is otherwise known as Khurdaroad because the town has a main road link to Khurda and Nayagarh fort of the king of Puri, so this community had a tent camp at Mangala market of Raja bazaar in Jatni, so that they have a better strategic point for business communication. Soon after India declared independent the country became a democratic state, therefore this Belcery community had no more in to their traditional business of selling horses and gold coins. After settled down in India they started doing business of optical glasses and stones to survive. At Jatni this community has 27 houses and the population approximately 140. After settled down for 100 years in Jatni they have got Indian citizenship soon after the India’s independent but neglected with basic amenities like water, electricity, road, ration card, medical facility and old aged pension etc. Some they have avail few years back after one person stepped forward form the community named Nauser Alli, who fought the election and nominated as a municipality councillor for their locality in the year of 2003. As for as religion and culture is concerned this community has also neglected otherwise. The Indian muslim community always downcast them because they have few similarities of religion practices like hindu community in India. They do not have a mosque to prayer and above all they do not have a graveyard to bury their dead bodies, and for that they have filed a legal case in the state high court for justice. The area in Jatni where the community lived the land belongs to the Lord Jaganath temple of Puri, they do not have permanent land to stay either. The remaining families are the first generation Iranian; the last history keepers, one can say.The remaining families are fast losing their cultural identity and disconnect with the history. Many members say that while they are like any other communities, they face the threat of cultural extinction faster due to various reasons. Except in Ramjan, there is hardly any occasion to meet together and think about it.
Feeding traditional nutrition
Various programmes implemented for socio-economic development of people of Orissa but still the state has reeling under high infant mortality in the country. IMR in Orissa was at 97 per 1,000 births as per the National Family Health Survey 1999 which has come down to 70 per 1000 live births.Infant mortality is a serious problem in the tribal populated districts of Orissa. The other major problem is accessibility to the healthcare facilities extended by the government. Most of the PHCs are located in towns that are 10 - 15 kilometres far from many tribal villages. So visiting for regular check up is the most inconvenient thing for the whole family.About 86,000 infants die in the state every year because of poor healthcare facilities for mother and child in the state. Despite the gradual improvement in health status over many years, preventable mortality and morbidity in Orissa are high. The Government of Orissa has launched RCH-II programme in the State since April 2005 with goals of reducing IMR from 87 per 1,000 live births to 50 per 1000, MMR from 367/100000 to 250/100000, Total Fertility Rate from 2.46 to 2.2 and couple protection rate from 46.8% to 65% by 2010.Gajapati District with its vast stretches of beautiful hill tracks and mountainous regions, mainly tribal people are residing in this area. The District consists of seven Blocks, out of which Rayagada is one of the back ward Tribal Block. The major problem in this area is infant mortality and malnutrition among‘0 to 6 Yrs’ age group. Though this is a tough task to face this problem in this hilly terrain but today women of this area are strongly fought against this.During the year 2006, special nutritious baby powder was introduced and the ingredients are Ragi, Jowar, Foxtail millet, Ganga Rice, Kangurice, Jhudungo, Burubudi, Siri kandulo, Arhar, Cashew nuts, Ground nuts etc. Now each tribal mother knows the importance of this protein powder, and to make successful this program role of Angandwadi worker and SHGs are pivotal.
This initiative of Komolangi brought a revolution among all mothers. Today mothers have gained sufficient experience in the whole process right from selection of the items up to feeding to babies.Not only that, according to the Supreme Court order under the Supplementary Nutrition Program (SNP) in Anganwadis children are eating Chattua within the age group of 3 to 6 years. And under the Take Home Ration (THR) program kids are given Chattua to take their home within the age group of 0 to 3 years.Now women of this district have learned how to build their lives and the society as well and they became examples for others now. Along with taking health care of their children these women are now brought changes in their economical development as well. Now the problem of malnutrition and infant mortality rate gradually reducing, and today each village dreaming of a new life.
NO BREST CANCER.
According to the University of Rochester Medical Center Study of more than 85,000 postmenopausal women published in Bio Med Central’s open access journal Brest Cancer Research observed that regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight and drinking less alcohol lowers breast cancer risk for those with and without family history of the disease.
[Image][Image][Image][Image]
WHATCHING TV, PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEM
According to a recent report, spending more than two hours a day in front of the computer or watching television impacts psychological problems among children.A study among 1,013 children in the Bristol area in South-West England found evident that sitting in front of a screen actually causes mental health problems and psychological difficulties such as extreme shyness being more likely to choose TV or computer games over more sociable activities.The study found that in this case children generally play alone or keep to themselves and often unhappy, downhearted or tearful.
A PLACE FOR INDIA IN THE SECURITY COUNCIL
India voted as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council after a long gap of 19 years. It was in 1996 India contested and lost to Japan. This time there were no other contenders for the Asia seat and the support of 187 out of 192 countries for India’s entry its seventh time since 1946 into UNSC. There is bigger challenge ahead with India within this two years to play a major role on crucial global issue of war and peace.
A road back home
Bargarh district’s Paikmal area is no different from other parts of western Orissa, Chronic droughts chase the region incessantly and the local people chase livelihood hopelessly. An unholy nexus of ecological degradation and collapse of traditional systems of land and water management pushed the region into the vortex poverty. The region is nestled in the foothills of Gandhamardan hill range, arguably the best forested areas of the state. The region has an average annual rainfall of 1400 millimeters. And the region’s web of streams was an impeccable insurance against drought. It is in this context that the Manav Adhikar Seva Samiti or MASS started a community based disaster management project in 2004 in the region. The project is in implementation in 16 villages. Taking a different path from the usual short-term drought relief, it aims at giving villages relief from drought in long term. And the instrument is to do water conservation with the communities at the helms of affairs. The project is community driven both in principle and practice. The local communities identify disasters and evolve ways to fight it using available local wisdom. And in the process have created strong village institutions that have emerged as key natural resource management units.The impacts are showing off. As dried streams are being filled up, the local economy is making a comeback. Agriculture has picked up. Local residents say there is increased availability of water: earlier it used to be just for four months. Now they even take up winter crops.
