JAN JAGRAN KENDRA

A group of youth and students who were a part of the Bihar movement formed an organization in 1978 with the goal of promoting a socially just, culturally and environmentally sensitive equitable & sustainable developmental process in the backward regions of the then South Bihar, now Jharkhand. The main activities were to form vibrant community organisations/mass fronts amongst different sections of marginalised & vulnerable communities. This platform for this social awareness movement was given the name – Jan Jagran Kendra (JJK).

Jan Jagran Kendra was formally registered under the Bihar Societies Registration Act & later under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.

The main issues that were given priority were:

1. Distribution rights & operational control of land, specially land under “Bhoodan”, land alienated due to debt to money lenders & rich farmers, land illegally taken over by the rich & the powerful: Through continuous community mobilisation & social pressure JJK was able to distribute & give land rights & operational control of over 5,000 hectares of land to the marginalised. It was also able to restore more than 1,500 hectares of land owned by the tribal communities which were alienated to non-tribal powerful people.
2. In the entire area overall wages were extremely poor, much below the minimum wages. The average difference between men’s & women’s wage rates was over 50%. With continuous mass mobilisation, awareness & social action wages were brought up to the minimum wage level & the differential between men’s & women’s wages became less than 10%. All the above activities amongst farmers, labourers and tribal communities were undertaken through the mass organisation named Mazdoor Kisan Morcha (Labours Farmers Front).
3. The other focus area was on mobilising & raising social awareness on equal rights for women & children and equal access to education, healthcare, land, other assets and other socio-economic benefits. By now, many women have got access to such equal rights and there is a definite progress in the continuing education for women & children from poor marginalised families. These activities were implemented through a women’s organisation named Pragatishil Mahila Samity (Progressive Women’s Organisation)
4. In the area of education JJK implemented non-formal and adult education centres especially for women, girl children and child labour. JJK also runs one orphanage where the destitute children are given education, health care, shelter and a caring environment. With quality education and vocational training programmes and with counselling support JJK helps these children to be inducted into the mainstream.
5. In the area of community health, special training is given to traditional birth attendants, health awareness camps are organised, immunization programmes are conducted and medical emergencies are handled.
6. Another area of importance for JJK was natural resource management, especially, protection & conservation of forests. JJK formed Forest Protection Committees in most of the forest based districts, mobilised communities for forest protection & conservation of natural resources, planted trees on a large scale of local species through the support of various Government & International Donors including National Wasteland Development Board. Processing and marketing of non-timber forest produces were organised. JJK also promoted soil & water conservation & introduction of organic farming as well as promotion & multiplication of drought resistant crops & species.
7. To combat the deep rooted superstition & wrong beliefs JJK organised various awareness programmes using different cultural forms including street plays. It promoted pro-conservation, pro-tribal community, traditional cultural forms & use of traditional science and knowledge especially in the fields of education, natural resource management, women & children’s rights, tribal community’s rights, tribal system of medicine & traditional occupational & other livelihood practices which are pro-conservation. The cultural front was named the Sanskrit Manch (‘Cultural Forum’).
8. From the late 1990s JJK started focusing on taking up long term developmental programmes, initially with help of international donors and later on increasingly with the support of Central, State & District authorities of the newly formed state of Jharkhand. It also receives & continues to get the support of banking & non- banking financial institutions like NABARD & SIDBI. JJK’s main income generation work is carried out mainly through the Women SHGs. There are more than 1,400 active Women’s SHGs at the moment as well as micro-enterprises. JJK is the nodal agency of ‘Rashtriya Mahila Kosh’, Government of India for the states of Bihar & Jharkhand.
9. JJK is also the technical support agency of Jharkhand Tribal Development Society for the Santhal Pargana region in Jharkhand, in charge of capacity building for the integrated watershed programme of the Government of Jharkhand, one of the agencies responsible for the training of staffs & functionaries of the Panchayati Raj Institutions & also for village level community health workers.

At present, JJK realises the main challenge to be the increasing incidents of natural disasters especially droughts, heat waves and flash floods. There are also severe environmental problems and visible impact of climate change due to unscientific mining, quarrying and unplanned urbanization with poor infrastructure. The natural disasters have resulted in increased migration of rural communities to the urban areas. This has resulted in breakdown of the rural socio-economic order, increasing indebtedness, women and child trafficking as well as the growing incidents of HIV. Climate change has also resulted in an increasing incident of malaria and vector induced diseases.

JJK’s main priority now is to establish an alternative model of sustainable development that integrates disaster risk management, climate change adaptation and conservation as an integral part of a sustainable developmental model, which will be community based and equitable while focusing on the vulnerable and the marginalized sections of the community. It also believes that sustainable development will be possible if a participatory planning process is adopted along with applications of innovative technologies and supportive changes in public policies & planned priorities.

JJK’s operational area includes 15 districts in Jharkhand and 4 districts in Bihar.

Contact:

Near P.T.C. Road, Hazaribag,
Jharkhand, INDIA

Landline: +91 6546 263015
Mobile: +91 94311 41334
Email: info@janjagrankendra.org

Geographical Presence: Hazaribagh, Ranchi, Khunti, Ramgarh, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Pakur

Areas Of Operations: Livelihood- Formation of SHG, Health, Education, Handicraft, Land and Water Management

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