Capacity Building of Adivasi Organizations

One of the major strategies of PAJHRA is building the capacity of other organisations focused on Adivasis’ needs and rights. The youth body and the women’s forum are two important pillars of the Adivasi community that take up issues at the grassroots level. It is important that the leaders of these two groups are equipped to deal with the range of challenges facing Adivasis.

Capacity-Building Trainings
PAJHRA organises various leadership development programmes in which members of the youth body and women’s forum participate. Past trainings have addressed leadership, gender equality and women’s advancement, legal rights such as wage and benefits for tea plantation workers, access to government schemes including on maternal health, and use of media and communications tools. Particularly creative trainings have taught organisations how to use street theatre and “theatre of the oppressed” to teach communities about their rights. Since these two groups are critical to solving issues of the community, PAJHRA periodically sits with their leaders for more focused planning and strategizing.

Expansion of Networks
Through its own network, PAJHRA creates space for the youth body and women’s forum to represent Adivasi issues in different forums and platforms at the state and national levels. This has given visibility to grassroots-level issues. Tea plantation worker wages and women’s health are two important issues which have taken precedence beside the longstanding issues of seeking Scheduled Tribe status for the community and promoting educational attainment by Adivasi children.