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Final Report of AI NFI 2010-11

Project Aman

Muslim and tribal women have been marginalized and relegated to the status of subjugated class in male dominated society in the rural areas. Lack of education and awareness very often give rise to minor arguments and misunderstandings leading to legal cases and police intervention.

This tends to financially drain the limited resources of the community members besides time lost in pursuing such cases. Very often complex and false cases are booked leading to judicial custody and imprisonment. This usually leads to strained relationship between different strata of society as well as between different communities.

Project Brief

This innovative and pilot initiative supported by National Foundation for India involves opening dialogue between different groups within the community and to minimize distrust and conflict. Our Field staff including Islamic religious leader (Maulavi) is working closely within the community.

They work for five days a week conducting meetings and orientations with different groups. They gather information on those persons who are wrongly implicated in false cases. The emphasis is on marginalized groups and women who do not have any access to legal rights and judiciary. The legal help is provided by the lawyer who works as legal aid to the identified party.The main focus is on building Gramin Nagrik Manch as platform to solve intra-community problems.

Objectives

• To aware the community on legal rights, procedures and implications.

• To facilitate compromise on minor legal issues.

• To raise social justice issues at various levels through community leaders at village, block and district levels.

• To provide legal support to the local cases of violence against marginalized groups and gender rights.

Intervention Area

AIF has selected 4 panchayats in Pothia block including 40 villages where AIF is already working on Health and Education issues.

Target

The target group is community members including minority groups, women, tribal and other marginalized sections of the society. The duration of the project is one year.

Goal

To lessen the incidences of social conflict and peace within the community.

Objectives

• To aware the community on legal rights, procedures and implications.

• To facilitate compromise on minor legal issues.

• To maintain harmonious relations within the villages

• To raise social justice issues at various levels through community leaders at village, block and district levels.

• To provide legal support to the local cases of violence against marginalized groups and gender rights

Program Progress

Capacity Building

• Legal Rights of an individual in case of arrest, illegal detention, warrant etc

• Dowry

• Domestic Violence

• Rape

• Different sections of Indian Penal Code

• Human rights

• FIR

• Different governmental schemes and benefits entitled to people

Village Nagrik Manch

AIF facilitated formation of village nagrik manch comprising of 10-15 members belonging and representing different communities within the village.

Most people welcomed the initiative and stressed the need to resolve matters at the village level itself. The main work of these manchs is to initiate dialogues on various issues within the village and to advise the community members towards harmonious and tension-free co-existence.

Whenever there is an issue or conflict within the community, VNM intervene and try to bring both the parties together through dialogue and meeting. Small cases are resolved then and there. Written application is taken from the parties and they are called on a fixed date through mutual agreement where Members of VMN are present along with other community members.84 such manch are formed within the intervention area.

Meeting with the different stakeholders

AIF carried out regular meetings with the community members including religious leaders in the intervention area. The main purpose of the meetings was to build rapport with the community and seek their support. The meetings were held to generate awareness regarding rights of the individual, equal treatment of boys and girls, BPL /APL cards, rights with in NREGA and NRHM ,harmonious relations with in the family ( between husband and wife, parents and children and siblings).

Meetings with women groups

Meetings are organized with women groups including SHGs and mahila mandals in the intervention area. They were given information on their legal rights including dowry harassment, cruelty to women by in-laws, sexual harassment and molestation.

Meeting with PRI members

AIF is organizing regular interaction and meeting with PRI members of the intervention area to seek their support and cooperation for the project.

Monthly meetings with Project team

Since our intervention area and project team was new, regular orientations and meetings were organized to explain goals and objectives of the program and identify and work with marginalized community. Monthly reviews of cases taken up by AIF were also carried out to see the progress of the project.

Some Breakthroughs

Azad India is able to initiative dialogue within the community between different groups. People agreeing to the formation of Nagrik Manch is the first positive step in resolving the conflicts.

In case of quarrels and fights within the village, community members call the field workers to resolve the cases.

The impact and appreciation is much higher among the marginalized and poor sections of the community who are usually forced to sell their land and belongings to fight the cases in the court. Some innocent persons who were languishing in the jails due to lack of money are being helped in getting bail through a lawyer. One person was released on bail as he was falsely accused of involved in bank robbery. He was in jail for last 6 months. Azad India has resolved 5 cases which were in litigation for last 3-5 years through compromise.They are now in court on trial settlement.

Main Challenges

Touts, middlemen and village level panchayati /ward leaders are proving to be hindrance as their source of income and influence is challenged and compromised due to direct public/ community participation. They create trouble and discourage the initiative. The project team members are ridiculed by the upper sections of the community for the initiative. Due to illiteracy and ignorance, people find it difficult to understand the legal issues.

Marginalized people are voiceless and they tend to believe and do what influential people tell them to do. The small level government and police officials do also not like the initiative as their source of income has come down. Some members of the community are unable to comprehend the benefits of the initiative. Some of them even make fun of it and raise questions about the whole process. Privileged people were not ready to accept the poor people as part of the Nagrik Manch. After initial successes, the community feels that anything is possible for the fieldworkers and expectations are very high irrespective of the concerned legal aspects.

Some of the cases which came up in Village Nagrik Manch and resolved

Fazlur Rahman s/o Md Zamruddin vs Khush Mohd s/o Md Shehrayar Both are residents of village paharkatta ,Ruhitola,PS Paharkatta.The main conflict was for the road ( way near the house) which was closed by the second party and in view of conflict within the village as the people were taking sides ,project team members called meeting with VMN. The case was resolved on the basis of compromise by opening the road again.

Md Tamizuddin s/o Md Akbar Ali vs Md Salimuddin s/o Md Jabbar Both are residents of village Nayabasti,Panchayat: Paharkatta.This was the case of Defamation pending in the police station. The second party alleged that he lost his pair of ox due to first party. Both the parties had given written complaints at the police station after the fight. Project team members along with VNM counseled both the sides and resolved the case and persuaded them to take back their complaints.

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