Report on Field Visit to Bhalaswa
blog
Imsutoshi, 20 November 2019
Many visits and reports have been presented on citizens of resettlement colonies. A field trip to Bhalaswa Resettlement Colony on 20th November 2019 reconfirmed the reports of citizens living in deplorable conditions with no access to basic amenities, including clean water. However, this is a report which will delve into the adage “every dark cloud has a silver lining” (No, I am not trying to find joy at the predicaments of life in Bhalaswa, or endorse the existing system. This is rather about the sheer tenacity and grit of the citizens of Bhalaswa which enables them to build a decent environment for them to thrive) though not budging an inch from the crisis that the citizens of Bhalaswa confront every day. The objective of the report is to give a humane account of what I saw during my visit. It is also a narrative of the “silver lining” where, out of physically impoverished citizens living in hazardous environment, a handful of young girls have come forward and taken up leadership roles within their settlements through learning centres.
National Foundation for India’s (NFI) Journey with Sadre Alam
National Foundation for India’s journey started with Sadre Alam in 2009 when we had doled out small grants for his activities around Delhi. In 2012-2013 he was presented NFI’s C. Subramaniam Award for Community Action and Leadership. He submitted a proposal on youth leadership and youth initiatives through the learning centres to NFI around the same time. These learning centres soon became the fulcrum of youth leadership and empowerment in areas like Bhalaswa, Bawana, and Khanpur (Sadre had started learning centres in all the three mentioned re-settlement colonies). In April 2019, we rolled out the last fund of the proposal, but not the last of our partnership. During our years of partnership with Sadre, different programme teams from NFI have visited, interacted, and participated in their activities. Every single visit came back with a consistent- the active participation of youths especially the girls in administering and managing the centres, the activities conducted, and how they addressed imperative issues in their homes and around their settlement. This includes my visit to the centres at Bhalaswa on 20th November 2019; and hence this report. By this time, the centres at Bhalaswa, Bawana, and Khanpur had reached out to almost every citizen at their respective colonies, and also to their neighbouring localities.
In becoming a partner for empowering youth and promoting youth leadership, NFI has gained and learned much. We now have more understanding and realization of the importance of youth citizenship, participation, leadership, and empowerment. Our field visits have given perspectives on getting involved with the grassroots to draw out the essence pertaining to issues faced by the youths and make interventions. NFI has invited the young leaders from the centres to our events and activities giving them more exposures. Participants from the centres had attended NFI’s Sustainable Development Goals national youth Programme “Goal Pe Bol” in February 2019.
The Beginning
Mr. Sadre Alam, a JNU alumnus and a National Foundation for India C.Subramaniam Awardee, began his journey to Bhalaswa immediately after re-settlement began. With limited resources he initially started small community development measures by opening a small library and a theatre workshop (then the settlement did not have a school for the newly relocated children). This further resulted in initiating programmes on painting, tailoring, handicraft, etc. especially for young girls who were school dropouts. In 2014 he established community learning centres for the young people in Bhalaswa - a girls centre where young girls come together and discuss issues they face in their locality, family, and schools; a boys centre; a girls handicraft centre; and a computer centre. These centres give the youths a platform to come together for learning, sharing, and recreation and hence, have created an institution with robust support mechanism. All centres are in separate buildings each occupying a small room for the various activities. They are located at D1, C5, and C6 blocks at Bhalaswa, which consist of approximately 1500 households. In 2018-19 the learning centres in all three resettlement colonies have reached out to more than 5000 youths impacting 1200 directly and to 2000 families impacting 800 indirectly.
Major stories: Girls and youth leadership
One of the most fascinating and elevating scenes was the leadership role taken up by young girls, and how they all come forward to voice out their opinion. I was told that more than 70-80% of the leaders were girls who were above 18 years old. Older girls have voluntarily taken charge of running the centres, helping the younger girls in giving them training in handicrafts, theatre, dance, school lessons, and also listening to their issues and giving them support. This has helped develop their personalities and has given them more confidence.
There were instances where families and the community started to have queries on the role of the centres- why are the girls going there? What do they do there? Apparently, they started to critically question and sometimes voice out their opinion. The girls then took the initiative to address these doubts. They organised a dinner event for all the mothers and took the opportunity to make them understand the importance of what they learn from the centres via various activities. Once they earned their mothers’ trust and support, they began to mobilise more girls to come to the centres, or participate regularly in their initiatives.
The girls at the Handicrafts centre which also houses a part of their library books now.
Here is an example of how they are slowly changing the narratives of their lives. The girls go to a nearby government school for higher education. It is here that they face major discrimination as they are looked down upon because of the kind of place they come from. In the recent past, when the school organized events, the girls would take their handicrafts for display and also perform dances and songs. The other classmates, teachers, and parents took note of their talent and inquired where they had learnt the art? Their reply was the centres at Bhalaswa. Many girls from other localities have started to visit the centres regularly and are part of their daily activities. The girls organize youth events where they invite other folks to participate. They come together, cook for the community, have community feasts, perform songs and dances, and display their crafts. In doing so, a platform is created to know each other and share deeper one-to-one connection.Their collective association has resulted in addressing many social issues. There are about 30-40 young volunteers who have taken up leadership roles. They are the ones who initiate the daily tasks of the centres, and the kind of issues that needs to be addressed for the day.Just before the elections, 4-5 girls were selected to formulate election manifestos based on various themes. One of the girls drafted a manifesto on the importance of installing street lights all over the locality because in the evening and in the dark alleys they get teased and taunted. They went door-to-door distributing the manifesto pamphlets, which was picked up by one of the local candidates. Now, the streets, especially the dark alleys are lit with streetlights and the girls feel much safer. Because of the lighting they can now easily identify the faces of those who tease them.
Interestingly, it all started with the desire to go out of their homes and explore. Through the centre, the girls formed a group and decided to explore the areas outside of their settlement. They went to visit landmark architectures and places in and around Delhi, but with the objective to learn about their visits (like learn about Qutub Minar as they visit etc.). It was not long before their sisters, mothers, and friends got curious and started accompanying regularly in their trips.
This was the beginning of a venture that has transformed their relationship ties. Earlier, girls were not allowed to move out after 4P.M or 5P.M. However, with their various activities parents have started to take note and allow the girls go to the centres even late in the evenings. Examples are also set for the other parents because most of them now attend regular colleges or have done degree/MA courses from IGNOU and other similar institutions.
Boys writing their experiences after visiting Rajghat. However, almost all of them stop coming by the time they reach 9th Standard.
In the early days, young boys were actively involved. However, with the girls’ domination and leadership the boys slowly started to leave the centres. A few of them still come after school to learn computer skills. Another reason that made the boys stopped coming was that most of them dropped out of school after class 9, because the examination by then goes to board level and they are not equipped to clear the exams. Once they leave school they either join small business establishments, start rag-picking, or resort to intoxicants and drugs, and become social burdens. Volunteers at the centres find it challenging to rope in the boys for learning.
The centres as peace building agency
In 2016, communal tension hit Bhalaswa. Uttar Pradesh election was around the corner when communal tension flared up and the men in Bhalaswa started to take up weapons. By then, the girls have started to work closely as a unit in the centres which had helped in building a strong network by breeding familiarity which in turn helped in mobilizing and reaching out to people faster and easier. They came together and discussed the situation with the objective to take the message to their respective homes. They talked to their mothers who would in turn talk to their husbands and sons of their neighbours, friends, and acquaintances. Building strong community relation thus resulted in cooling down the situation.
According to Sadre Alam, both Hindus and Muslims live as a community in Bhalaswa and have become dependent on one another, especially in deliberating their daily laborious tasks. Presently, the girls come together during every event- Id, Iftaar, Holi, Diwali, et al and engage in community work like painting, cooking etc. bringing the entire community to celebrate and experience each other’s festival.
At one time, the girls from the learning centre called all the children and organized an Independence Day parade on 15th August (I was treated to the video of this event which was about 10-15 minutes long. They displayed their handicrafts, performed dances and sang songs, along with other activities. I heard the children shouting “Bharat Mata” among other slogans, yet it did not sound life threatening and imposed). Hundreds of children, not with standing their ‘identities,’ joined the parade waving the Tiranga and immersed themselves in shouting slogans that seemed genuinely 'India' and 'Indian', unlike the present day patriots who attest “nationalism is the last refuge of a scoundrel”
Challenges before them
As we sat and discussed about the future I could comfortably relate to what they were saying- the same desire to enjoy freedom as a responsibly citizen, and to be able to contribute for uplifting the society. Despite the lack of facilities, infrastructure, access to basic amenities, and the horrifying landfill surroundings, the youths, especially the young girls, are full of vim and vigour.
One of their greatest disadvantages in implementing their activities is that they cannot reach out to the fathers. However, it is one of their agenda in the near future to come up with a solution to reach out to their fathers just like they did with their mothers. They have also specifically targeted intervention in 4 areas for the next 5 years: Child Marriage, Environmental Campaign, Primary Education, and Unorganized Labour Campaign. Within these themes, they can start some programmes with specific targets which will also train the youths to be experts and leaders in their respective fields.
The future is the present
On 23rd November 2019, I had gone for a peaceful protest march from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar demanding best and affordable education for every child in India. More than a thousand citizens hit the streets of Delhi for fee roll-back in JNU, and in doing so, addressed the larger issue of privatizing education institutions which will ultimate result in “blacklisting” the marginalized and vulnerable sections of the society- the “blacklisting”will completely decapitate these sections in availing their basic right to education.
Amidst the cacophony of sloganeering to the rhythm of dafli beats, I heard a small voice calling “bhaiya” from behind. Since I am not accustomed to the term, I was not curious and therefore did not bother to turn back. Immediately, I felt a light tap on my right shoulder. As I turned around, I saw the young girls from Bhalaswa. We shook hands with full pride and marched on! Deep in my mind and with a smile I realized that the seed of “leadership” has already been sown. Demands for basic rights as bona fide citizens will stay alive despite “relocation” or “resettlement” in the name of development, religion, region, or any other divisive schemes.
