Country Call

It’s around 5 in the morning. However,at Bagmundi in Purulia district the sun doesn’t allow you the luxury of basking in it. Somnath Singha Roy is already on his feet and when we catch up with him,is pacing up and down overseeing work going on at a makeshift brick kiln a few yards from his house. As a thin young boy comes along with two bricks in his hand,his stops him,hauls up his mother and starts a round of loud chastising. “Doesn’t he have to go in school? And why is he working here,” he asks. The woman reminds him apologetically that it’s a Sunday and tells him they need the extra money. Singha Roy orders boy to run to his house and help his associates arrange his office. He looks at my Levis and tee cynically and says,“You cannot imagine the lives they lead. However much you force the parents to send their children to school,they end up dropping out. And the parents are working throughout the day,they can’t even keep watch on them,” he says. These are just a few realities that Bagmundi and several other blocks are grappling with in Purulia. Thanks to the likes of Singha Roy,there’s some light at the end of the tunnel. Ever since he took over the Mandra Lions Club,a local club that worked for rural development,Singha Roy has been on a mission to spread education,make locals aware of their rights in remote Purulia villages.

The nearly inaccessible Ayodha Hills in Purulia,inhabited by santhals is one of his areas of importance. “You cannot reach the villages in the hills in any sort of vehicle. It’s so thickly forested that only bicycles can access the villages,” says Singha Roy. He,with help and funds from students in various US universities,have helped set up small day schools across the hills to ensure that santhal chiildren get proper primary education. “After they get used to studying in schools,they find it easier to adjust to government-run primary school routines. Anyway the government schools mostly can’t keep a tab on children discontinuing school. We have got villages themselves as teachers so that they can personally go and get the children to attend school daily,” he adds.

Also,Singha Roy is trying to raise awareness about the provisions of the NREGA scheme among the villagers. “The government has made schemes for the benefit of villagers but they are not literate and easily swindled by the people at the village level who are responsible for implementing them. Sometimes they are also scared to question these people,” says Singha Roy. For the same reason,Singha Roy is trying to make them aware of RTI and its benefits. “People who are not educated,can ask the literate villagers or even come to us with their queries and file RTIs. That way they can question officials with proof in hand,” he says. Several villagers,claimed that their BPL cards were kept with the local PDS dealers on the latter’s order. “They give us very little ration. We got someone to file an RTI and now after showing them the response,they give us more. Though they still have not returned our cards,” says a villager working at the kiln. “The bricks made at this kiln is used for construction of school rooms in the Ayodhya Hills villages. Costs half the price of those sold in the Purulia market. Also generates employment in the process,” smiles Singha Roy. Great changes start with small efforts he would say.