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TEHRI, INDIA, May 25, 2003: In the remote hilly regions of Uttaranchal, where the constant struggle for life is an everyday affair for most women, a social forum has succeeded in changing their lives by connecting its activities with their daily routine. “We have connected our activities with ‘Jal, Jameen, Jungle aur Zindagi’ (literally, “water, earth, forest and life”),” says Kusum Rawat, state coordinator of Mahila Samakhya, a five-year project of the central government and a powerful pressure group that protects women’s rights. The impact that Sahara Sangh has had on the daily lives of women in these hilly districts, can be felt everywhere — ranging from stopping of child marriage to rallying around a fellow comrade when her family subjected her to harassment. The Sangh has monthly meetings on the 8th of every month which are attended by representatives from every village. These meetings are crowded with everyone wanting to get a word in on how they had contributed to the cause in the past one month since the last meeting. Rajashree narrates how the Sangh in her village helped to stop her daughter being abused by her husband by sending him a letter and issuing an ultimatum that if he did not stop his behavior, he and his family would have to face social ostracism. In fact, social boycott is a very effective tool that has helped in keeping the antisocial elements in villages at bay, says Rawat. The Kishori Sangh, which is a group for teenage girls too is growing in the rural areas and as Unita Damwal, a 15-year old says, it has stopped many an injustice by the simple technique of dialogue. Talking about the problems which the Sangh has effectively tackled, Rawat says passing on water harvesting techniques to village women, as also the practice of clearing mountains of twigs to prevent forest fires and protecting the ecology around the village have helped women identify with the Sangh. “The women are now slowly gaining confidence that their destiny is in their own hands. In fact, a few days ago when they suspected that a sarpanch of a neighboring village had embezzled US$570 from the panchayat (village council) funds, the women sat on a dharna (protest) in front of his house and demanded that he give back the money. The pressure was so intense that he had to relent,” says Parvati and the entire amount was returned to the panchayat.

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