Opinion article – Priya Nadkarni
I and my team have seen the landscape of Mandla change slowly over the past 5 years when we set-up Mrida Education and Welfare Society. Before that, we have been working in this region for almost 10 years as grass-root development program executives soaking up as much knowledge as we could. Still, we were not prepared to absorb the news of what happened over the past few weeks here.
For the past two weeks, there has been a lot of police activity in this region and the reason revealed itself only after news of Naxal shooting came up from one of the areas where we work. 2 Naxalites were shot dead in a thickly forested area of Mandla district that has seen increased Naxalite activity over the last 2 years. Mawai Bichiya, where the incident took place, has been in the news for this. The Quint covered the news in their article. Read Here..
A brief context about the region
The Mahakaushal region in eastern Madhya Pradesh comprises three of the most backward and tribal populated districts in India. Mandla district is located in the catchment of the river Narmada and its tributaries. The region is situated 500-800 meters above mean sea level with an average annual rainfall of 1100-1500 mm. Summer temperature goes up to 45 degrees celsius but moderates due to a higher altitude. In winter, ambient temperature is 20 degrees celsius but can go up to 2 degrees celsius, even touching sub-zero on some nights in the higher regions.
According to District Statistics Handbook 2017, Mandla district had a total of 19,726 hectares of uplands. The district only had 32% of the land with more than one crop despite the presence of water bodies with an annual average rainfall of 1100-1200 mm and a well-preserved but fast-depleting soil system due to erosion leading to high run-off speeds. The major reason for this is the undulating nature of the terrain that does not hold any water. The slopes are not dominated by the gradient in a single direction even in short stretches. Gully erosion leading to the formation of ravine-like deep gullies is particularly visible closer to Narmada. The erosion appears to happen due to highly loamy soil.
Understanding the region’s natural conditions will help put a context as to how all of these conditions make it difficult to cultivate more than one crop per year for the farmers. This leads youths and adults to migrate to cities for labour work every year.
Sustenance and Livelihood opportunities:
Let me give you a bit of idea of the sustenance and livelihood opportunities available to people in this region. Most families practise subsistence-based farming to meet their need for food. The average annual income of the people here (belonging largely to Gond or Baiga tribes) is Rs. 30,000.
The dominant crop here is paddy and other important crops are maize, kodo and kutki. Relatively minor Kharif crops are urad and niger seed. On homestead land, maize and assorted vegetables are grown. Rabi crops include wheat, peas, lentils, chickpea and linseed. 10% of the total acreage in Mohgaon block is also under potato, onion, ginger, radish and carrot cultivation.
The vegetation on forest lands includes trees such as mahua, amla, palash, guava, custard apple, mango, jackfruit and jamun. The forests are also rich in herbs though this has declined over the years. The commonly found ones are safed and kali musli, chironji, chirata, aswagandha and bel guda.
The MGNREGA programme guarantees 100 days of work in rural India – however, on average, people have got 40-45 days of work with erratic payment practices. The average landholding size here is 2.7 acres and families typically cultivate food grain for their own consumption in the Kharif season. The rabi season crop is taken only in fields where there is the availability of water or irrigation. This leaves little by way of cash in the hands of the family.
Socio-economic factors at play:
Mandla faces multiple developmental issues like lack of alternative livelihood opportunities, small landholdings, low farm production due to the lack of adequate irrigation facilities, one crop farming, which leads to high rate of migration, children dropping out of school and migrating with their parents, and high rate of malnutrition. As per the Annual Health Survey (2010-11), in Mandla, 56.5 per cent of children are underweight, while 47.3 per cent and 29.6 per cent are suffering from stunting and wasting, respectively.
During the pandemic, approximately 45,000 migrant labourers returned from various parts of the country to Mandla. The influx of these migrants put households here under pressure with a shortage of food grain and a large number of unemployed people. More than 100 people working outside have walked back from different parts of the country in the searing summer heat. Many others who took public transport died along the way because of the inhuman conditions and absence of food and water, exposing the utter heartlessness of their employers who treat human beings as nothing more than hands to work. This has also emphasized the importance of generating avenues for livelihood within the village itself.
Mandla is a region where children as young as 16 years old will not bat an eyelid before disappearing to Kerala for the harvesting season. There is not much for them to do here. They will come back and splurge the money on a mobile phone.
AIFF- approved Narmada Valley Football Academy
To bring joy back into the life of children here, we started an AIFF-approved Baby League, the Raja Hriday Shah Golden Baby league, dedicated to the 49th Gond King who holds a dear place in the heart of the locals. Over 14 girls’ and boys’ teams in under-10 and under 13- age categories are participating in the league. This league is the biggest junior league in Madhya Pradesh (71 matches, 233 goals scored). The children from the participating teams including the one from Mawai have formed clubs and practice every day to participate in this League. The Mawai team have won 2 of the 6 matches that they have played so far.
Children need opportunities to learn, to hope and to aspire. Consistent and productive engagement can transform children into contributing members of society.
Over the last 5 years, we have seen a transformation in the children’s behaviour – children who used to hide in the forest or even jump in the river to avoid attending school are now wearing their biggest smiles when asked to attend school. They were happy when they realized that the lockdown was lifted, and they could now return to their shelter home and to their much-loved football training again. For us, their smiles are the biggest rewards to continue to do what we do.
Sometimes though, such lingering thoughts keep me worried – will these impoverished regions get affected by the Maoist activities? What will be the story of such children in the coming years and what will be the story of the Mawai children in the next few weeks? Will it largely depend on the kind of involvement we show as fellow citizens?
For now, the Mawai children are looking forward to the next season of the Golden Baby League to participate and play football, something that gives them hope and a childhood.
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About the Author – Priya Nadkarni, a post-graduates in management studies, founded Mrida Education and Welfare Society in 2016 to work on real problems in real India. Swami Vivekananda is a big inspiration for both of them and they try to follow his words in the spirit of service and sacrifice. The core team of Mrida has given up a comfortable life and lucrative careers to drive excellence in education and sports through their residential school and football academy in Mandla, Madhya Pradesh. Mrida came into existence in April 2016 and in the same year, Riverside Natural School (RNS) was started in a rented building with 90 children attending school in the first year. RNS was a day school in the first two years but there was a need to start the residential program since most of the children who came to RNS were malnourished and lived in vulnerable environments. Moved by such situations and with a deep desire to respond to the needs of children, Mrida started the residential program in 2018-19 with 30 children, growing the number to 110 children in 2019-20, occupying 3 rented buildings in all. Mrida now plans to build a school with a total capacity for 800 children (600 residential and 200-day scholars) since there is a dire need due to the growing number of children waiting to enrol in the school as well as build on a solid football program for the region. If you are keen to extend your support or be a part of Mrida’s innovative social impact initiatives, email us at in**@mr***.org
