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About PAJHRA:
PAJHRA (Promotion and Advancement of Justice, Harmony and Rights of Adivasis) formalized in 2002 is a NGO based in Sonitpur District, Assam. The organisation works with
tea garden workers living in the tea plantations and in adjoining villages of Sonitpur and other districts of Assam. They work in 241 villages & tea gardens in 50 blocks of 14 districts of Assam. The organisation runs awareness programs on how to:
1. Access government entitlements and development schemes.
2. Strive for fair wages, humane working and living conditions
3. Gain access to quality education for their children.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic has hit the country PAJHRA has been working incessantly with the community. Their work has expanded to providing Covid Medic Kits, Dry Rations and spreading awareness about COVID-19 precautions and management steps that need to be taken.
Understanding the Cause:
Tea gardens across the country and globe have been severely impacted by COVID-19. There have been national lockdowns in 2020 in India, the world’s second tea producer and partial lockdowns in 2021. The International Labour Organization forecasted that “…about 400 million workers employed in the informal sectors are at a risk of falling deeper into poverty during the crisis.” COVID-19 has thrown the tea garden workers into an unprecedented
humanitarian crisis. Approximately 7-lakh workers are employed with the tea industry in Assam. Over 60% of this workforce are women who are involved in the essential work of leaf plucking. A tea garden worker earns an average daily wage between INR 183 (2.51 USD) to 205 (2.81USD).
Due to the abysmal wages, the community lacks access to clean water and sanitation facilities, ration, healthcare facilities within and outside the plantations. Research conducted in the tea gardens shows a high percentage of workers suffer from anemia & malnutrition. Other diseases are also prevalent among the women and men of this community. The COVID-19 pandemic has made these communities more vulnerable & their existing challenges have now been compounded.
Rationale for Fundraising
The 2 nd wave of Covid has hit the Tea Garden Workers harder than the average Indian. More than 7,000 cases are being reported in 400+ tea gardens of Assam as per Assam’s Labour and Welfare Department report. There are also reports of a large number of deaths on these tea estates. As the community lives in close proximity clusters, the rate of infection spread is high. There is a general lack of awareness about the COVID-19 infection and precautionary measures that the community needs to take to minimize the risk. Access to masks, sanitizers, thermometers and oximeters etc. is limited which further aggravates the situation. Despite Assam being in a partial lockdown the 8:00 am to 5:00 pm working hours for this community have remained unchanged and access to meals & ration is hard to come by.
Efforts of the NGOs for Covid-19:
Awareness and Sensitization about Covid - 19 pandemic
Covid-19 Dry Ration distribution 2021 and 2020
PAJHRA (Promotion and Advancement of Justice, Harmony and Rights of Adivasis) formalized in 2002 is a NGO based in Sonitpur District, Assam. The organisation works with
tea garden workers living in the tea plantations and in adjoining villages of Sonitpur and other districts of Assam. They work in 241 villages & tea gardens in 50 blocks of 14 districts of Assam. The organisation runs awareness programs on how to:
1. Access government entitlements and development schemes.
2. Strive for fair wages, humane working and living conditions
3. Gain access to quality education for their children.
Since the Covid-19 pandemic has hit the country PAJHRA has been working incessantly with the community. Their work has expanded to providing Covid Medic Kits, Dry Rations and spreading awareness about COVID-19 precautions and management steps that need to be taken.
Understanding the Cause:
Tea gardens across the country and globe have been severely impacted by COVID-19. There have been national lockdowns in 2020 in India, the world’s second tea producer and partial lockdowns in 2021. The International Labour Organization forecasted that “…about 400 million workers employed in the informal sectors are at a risk of falling deeper into poverty during the crisis.” COVID-19 has thrown the tea garden workers into an unprecedented
humanitarian crisis. Approximately 7-lakh workers are employed with the tea industry in Assam. Over 60% of this workforce are women who are involved in the essential work of leaf plucking. A tea garden worker earns an average daily wage between INR 183 (2.51 USD) to 205 (2.81USD).
Due to the abysmal wages, the community lacks access to clean water and sanitation facilities, ration, healthcare facilities within and outside the plantations. Research conducted in the tea gardens shows a high percentage of workers suffer from anemia & malnutrition. Other diseases are also prevalent among the women and men of this community. The COVID-19 pandemic has made these communities more vulnerable & their existing challenges have now been compounded.
Rationale for Fundraising
The 2 nd wave of Covid has hit the Tea Garden Workers harder than the average Indian. More than 7,000 cases are being reported in 400+ tea gardens of Assam as per Assam’s Labour and Welfare Department report. There are also reports of a large number of deaths on these tea estates. As the community lives in close proximity clusters, the rate of infection spread is high. There is a general lack of awareness about the COVID-19 infection and precautionary measures that the community needs to take to minimize the risk. Access to masks, sanitizers, thermometers and oximeters etc. is limited which further aggravates the situation. Despite Assam being in a partial lockdown the 8:00 am to 5:00 pm working hours for this community have remained unchanged and access to meals & ration is hard to come by.
Efforts of the NGOs for Covid-19:
Awareness and Sensitization about Covid - 19 pandemic
Covid-19 Dry Ration distribution 2021 and 2020
Covid19 pandemic affected everyone in 2020. More importantly the lockdown imposed by the government had a debilitating effect particularly on the lives of most vulnerable sections of the society. The Adivasis too were in a distressed situation. PAJHRA with the support of its network partners, individuals and organizations discussed the issues that people were facing on the ground, formed a steering committee consisting of 17 organizations and channelized humanitarian assistance to most vulnerable families in the tea gardens and villages. PAJHRA directly reached out to 5439 families with food support in 14 districts covering 28 blocks, 79 GP/VCDCs in which the total number of tea garden covered was 59 and the number of villages covered was 79. These districts include Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa, Udalguri, Sonitpur, Biswanath, Lakhimpur, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sivasagar, Charaideo, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong and Nagaon.
The frontline organisations and PAJHRA’s network partners helped PAJHRA to identify the families who needed the food support the most. The food distribution was done from April to August 2020 and then in 2021 as well.
The money raised from this fundraiser PAJHRA will support 600 families and provide them Covid Medic Kits (Prima Mask, Handwash, Sanitizers, Oximeters etc.) and Dry Rations (which would include Rice, Dal, Oils, Vegetables, Soaps, Potatoes, Soyaben etc.) in Tea gardens located in 50 blocks of 8 districts of Assam. Also, through this fund raiser we will buy Oximeters and PPE for the for our relief distributors as well to keep them safe from Covid transmission.
To support 500 families working in different tea garden we would require Rs. 3,00,000. The cost of Dry ration kits and Covid medic kits for each family would cost approximately Rs. 600 (Rs600 x 500 families) = Rs. 3,00,000
For more information or query about the initative kindly contact us at
Website: https://pajhra.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pajhra2018
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pajhra_ngo/
Twitter: @Pajhra
The money raised from this fundraiser PAJHRA will support 600 families and provide them Covid Medic Kits (Prima Mask, Handwash, Sanitizers, Oximeters etc.) and Dry Rations (which would include Rice, Dal, Oils, Vegetables, Soaps, Potatoes, Soyaben etc.) in Tea gardens located in 50 blocks of 8 districts of Assam. Also, through this fund raiser we will buy Oximeters and PPE for the for our relief distributors as well to keep them safe from Covid transmission.
To support 500 families working in different tea garden we would require Rs. 3,00,000. The cost of Dry ration kits and Covid medic kits for each family would cost approximately Rs. 600 (Rs600 x 500 families) = Rs. 3,00,000
For more information or query about the initative kindly contact us at
Website: https://pajhra.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pajhra2018
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pajhra_ngo/
Twitter: @Pajhra
