Shelampada, with its population of 538, is a tribal hamlet within the Gomghar Gram Panchayat. The 135 ration card holders in this hamlet must travel to Gomghar and Dudhgaon to redeem their ration. The distance between the 2 villages is 3km and there are sparse means of transport to travel between them. Hence, getting one\’s ration is a tedious exercise. To bring the ration one has to pay rupees 50 per family in transportation fees. Since these people are already quite poor, paying an additional 50 rupees each day made the prospect of getting ration extremely difficult for them. In addition, during rainy days, the grain would get soaked by the rain and spoil. Arohan had started working in this village 2 years ago. Due to this, awareness was being created among the people about their fundamental rights. People’s participation in the village development process was increasing. All the villagers gathered in a meeting and listed all the problems – great and small- that they were struggling to solve. It was in a meeting like this that the ration problem came out. There is a public society temple in the village and a class of the Zilla Parishad school is held there. If the ration grains were unloaded next to it, everyone could receive them; It would save people a lot of money and time, hence they decided to follow up on it.
At Shelampada, a Pada Samiti meeting was held on 2/3/2021. In this, it was unanimously agreed that rations must be distributed in the village. On 2/3/2021, the people sent a letter to the Tehsildar of Mokhada detailing how they will take responsibility for finding land to store the rations and protect them. Accordingly, he promised to send the taluka supply officer to Talathi village to investigate the incident and conduct a panchnama. Also, he asked to attach the Gram Sabha resolution, land owner refusal certificate and consent letter of the village for this purpose. This task was fulfilled by the Pada Committee, but even after 2 months, no one came to the village. On 13/8/2021, a general Gram Sabha of the Gram Panchayat was held at Shelampada. In this meeting, the Pada Samiti raised the issue of ration distribution within the village and the resolution was passed. The Committee again issued a reminder letter to the Tehsil Office on 30/8/2021 along with all the paper documents. Also, as this was already discussed in the Pada Samiti’s Taluka visit, the Taluka Supply Officer, Mr Thombre, visited Shelampada on 2/9/2021 and inspected the area. A Panchanama was done by directly measuring the distance from Shelampada to the ration shops of Gomghar and Dudhgaon. Mr Thomre promised to follow up by submitting this Panchanama to his seniors. While this process was going on, the Pada Samiti faced opposition from political leaders and ration shopkeepers. Since there had been no updates on the matter for over 2 months, the Pada Samiti and AROEHAN workers discussed it with the Tehsildar. He said that the papers had been forwarded to the District Supply Officer of Palghar and a copy of the same was given to the Pada Samiti. AROEHAN’s project manager, Kaustubh Gharat, met the District Supply Officer of Palghar and requested him to resolve the issue immediately. Given that school classes take place on land meant for grain storage, there was a concern about safety in the matter. Taking note of the issue, the District Supply Officer asked the Tehsildar of Mokhada through a letter to order separate arrangements for grain storage and send a report on the same. It was during this period that the village of Shelampada was declared an independent PESA. This boosted the Pada Samiti’s confidence as they were already putting in efforts to make it an independent PESA village. The Pada Samiti immediately held a Pesa Gram Sabha in the village on 1/12/2022 and formed a PESA Samiti. Furthermore, they sent a correspondence to the Tehsildar regarding the installation of a plywood wall inside the Samaj Mandir using the PESA fund within the timeframe of 27/1/2023 to 2/2/2023. The tehsildar said that the ration for the month of April 2023 will be distributed in the village itself at Shelampada and as a result, the villagers were happy. However, the grains weren’t delivered to the village in the month of April due to political pressure. Due to this, the villagers became agitated and decided to boycott the rations by not accepting them. They then wrote a letter to the Tehsildar stating that if there is a famine in the village due to a lack of rations, his office will be responsible for it. In light of this development, government employees, with help from the Gram panchayat, requested the villagers to collect April’s ration after assuring them that they will stand with the villagers if rations are not distributed in their village come May. Out of respect for the government employees, the villagers collected their rations. Finally, on 14/5/2023, rations were distributed in the village of Shelampada, thus ending the consistent follow-ups carried out over 1 and a half years by the Pada Samiti, villagers and the Police Patil successfully.
What Changed:
Regular follow-ups over 1.5 years were successful.
The satisfaction of saving time, money and grains was visible on the people’s faces.
Everyone thanked AROEHAN and the Pada Samiti for bringing about this change.
The people were convinced that continuity and organization in follow-ups can successfully solve a problem.
A sentiment was created among the people that if they all worked together, it will not take much time for the village to develop.
Problems Encountered:
- Political pressure, and governmental apathy.
- Opposition by ration shopkeepers
- Disappointment amongst the people due to prolonged follow-ups.
