Mukti Organized Gram Sabha Meetings

Mukti organized two “Gram Sabha” meetings at Purba SridharpurPaschimpara and Purba SridharpurPurbapara on the 24th and 29th of January, 2023. About 152 villagers attended the meetings. These meetings aimed to:

1. Increase awareness of Mukti’s vision and activities
2. To answer questions and provide clarifications as needed
3. To gather feedback on issues important to the residents, and plan future activities accordingly

Some of the issues that were raised from the villagers’ end were:

1. Employment for every woman in the village
2. Scarcity of drinking water caused by the use of groundwater for agriculture
3. The adverse effect of street lights on the germination of paddy

Mukti’s responses were as follows:

1. Mukti may not be in a position to provide employment for every woman at present. However, the women who have successfully beautified their homes by creating and maintaining a garden (an activity promoted and facilitated by Mukti), will be given priority for work under Mukti’s roadside plantation project, as the same kind of skills and diligence will be required for both activities. Additionally, women interested in getting jobs through Mukti should register themselves in Mukti’s MCDF groups to facilitate the job-finding process.
2. While the villagers wanted Mukti to take initiatives so that farmers do not use shallow water (such as pond water) for farming, Mukti explained that since the government has given such permission, Mukti does not have the right to stop it. However, Mukti can raise awareness of rainwater harvesting for use in farming. Mukti has also encouraged farmers to less water-intensive crops instead of paddy to reduce groundwater usage.
3. Mukti committed to re-orient all Mukti-installed street lights such that they will point away from the direction of the cultivated land. Further, these lights will be turned off for 15-20 days during paddy germination.

Mukti will organize more such meetings in the future to secure the participation of the villagers in community development.