CHENNAI: Mohamed Bhilal, coordinator for the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) at the Village Resource Centre in Pudukkottai, has received at least half-a-dozen calls since Sunday morning. “Where is my wife? Who is sitting next to her? I hear a man’s voice in the background?” — these are only a few of the questions thrown at him. “Despite this kind of mentality in their households, these women have made it this far,” said Bhilal.
From the villages of Pudukottai district, these women, part of a six-member team from the district, were at the 11th convocation of MSSRF’s JRD Tata National Virtual Academy (NVA) Fellowship, which recognises rural change-makers across the country, at MSSRF, Chennai on Monday. These change-makers have taken up an activity of their choice — from sanitation work to catching snakes, to help change their communities for the better. However, the road has not been easy for these women and more so for Asiya Banu R from Mukkanamalaipatti village in Pudukkottai.
“You know how it is for us there; we were not allowed to go out, not allowed to work,” said Asiya. Nevertheless, those ‘rules’ were written to be broken, she said, which she did seven years ago when she joined the Puthu Vazhvu Thittam. Now, Asiya, the ‘pallu’ of her sari promptly covering her hair, sets off on a scooter with two of her friends for support at 5 am every day to ward off those coming out to defecate in the open.
“Some come to hit us, some use words that are just bad. But, we don’t ever stop,” said the mother of three.
Asiya is one of 74 fellows from nine States across India, who were awarded their Fellowship as part of the 11th convocation programme. Each of them had been selected through a screening process to recognise and award them for their contribution to their community. Far from stopping in the face of adversities, these women, in collaboration with the MSSRF and the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), devised an almost fool-proof plan to keep villagers from defecating in the open, deploying an army of children.
In many villages of Pudukkottai, this army sets out on bicycles to the ‘hotspots’ in the villages, shaming villagers, albeit gently, from defecating in the open.“These children set out early in the morning. When we go, people try to hit us but when they are children, there is not much you can do other than to comply,” said R Maheswari from Pudukkottai, who was also awarded the fellowship. It has worked to a large extent and many of these villages are now free from open defecation, claim the women.
The convocation was a myriad of personalities and ideas. Basheer, a ‘snake-charmer’, has worked to create an awareness in his native village in Kerala that only four types of snakes are venomous.
While scientist Bruce Alberts, former president, National Academy of Science in the United States, was the chief guest for the event, MS Swaminathan, founder of MSSRF, SNA Jinnah, chief general manager, NABARD regional office, Chennai, B Shadrach, Asia coordinator, Alliance for Affordable Internet Programme, Delhi and Selvam. executive director, MSSRF also spoke.