Let everyone's leadership shine

Nari sangh, that’s what they call their CBO or sangathan. Each nari Sangh has a separate name and the fascination is evident from the names they selected “chingari” (spark), “bijli” (thunder), “sankalp” (mission) along with names of myriad locally known female deities. Nari Sanghs started forming in villages of eastern UP early 2008. It was a time when the local organizations felt the need of going beyond working with elected women representatives and readying a ground for women’s leadership to emerge in a region now largely bereft of men. Men from this region migrate leaving behind their women to “man” the house and do more. But the social norms expected these women to remain hidden while shouldering these responsibilities. In their families they were to provide food to the hungry mouths and fetch water for the thirsty souls. But they were not to talk about the irregularities in the Public Distribution System (PDS) or for that matter had any say in deciding where the tube-well should be placed.

Getting together was their way to get back at this unreasonable demand laced with duality. Once they got the idea it spread like wild fire. Within two years more than 28,000 women have got together in 200 Gram Panchayats. They demanded and made sure they got NREGA cards. Opened bank accounts in their name and demanded work with the panchayats. Their persistence has started bearing fruits. More than 22,000 women have got jobs for the first time in these areas. The Nari Sangh and their unity is taking a legendary character. The PDS shop dealers never opened their shops except for the days that they thought fit. Now one has to just proclaim in front of a closed door “I am also a member of nari Sangh” for it to open any day! Women want this facility for everyone. They want each family to get ration on any day of the month and are working towards it. They have regularized more than 84 PDS shops and working towards more. The larger battle is to participate in planned development. This year women have decided to take on that battle too by participating in micro-planning exercises for NREGA along with the Gram Sabha. In many places the Nari Sangh meetings have assumed such proportions that the influential village leaders feel that these would soon become Gram Sabha open meetings in themselves.

I have worked with sangathans for a long time and sat with men speaking of village affairs and taking decisions for the sangathans where women formed the “numbers”, the quantity. It is a wonderful break from that monotony! It is great to hear women saying in meetings “We don’t need support of these men to get our due but they also come along. It is in their favor too.” And to witness men agreeing. After seeing one or two leaders leading a regional initiatives and taking unfair credit of the groups' achievements, it is great to hear women singing, “Chamkala ba...dekho sab ki pardhaniya”…Everyone’s leadership shone! And I can not have enough of the song “khub jobcard sabki banavela…nari sangh ki chamkal pardhaniya” (Oh we have made job cards for every one...the leadership of nari sangh has shone!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVLfgyPySf4