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Contribution to Study
For Dr. Shanker Adawal, the secret to living is giving. He says, “When you serve something greater than yourself, whether it be your family, your community, or this world at large, you discover a deeper purpose and create more meaning in your life.” Dr.Shanker is making a positive impact on society by supporting causes that matter to him personally. For years, he has given to others in many ways and has learned that the key to fulfillment lies in giving. Some of the major contributions of Dr. Shanker are:
Under the able leadership of Dr. Adawal, Manav Adhikar Samajik Manch ran a Samajik Suvidha Kendra (SSK) / Gender Resource Centre (GRC) in the Jwalapuri, West Delhi District under the aegis of Delhi Government’s Mission Convergence program during the period 2010 to 2015. The major aim of the project was to reduce poverty by promoting access of women to their economic, social, and cultural rights and making them agents of change. This project was supported by strategic funding from the Dutch Government. It catered to women and children from approximately 20,000 urban poor households in Delhi.
The identified areas were around Udyog Nagar, Mangolpuri Industrial Phase-1, J.J. Colony 3,4,5 (Nangloi), Miyanwali Nagar, Bheem Nagar Camp 1,2,3 (Nangloi), all blocks of Jwalapuri, JwalaPuri Camps, Guru Hari Kishan Nagar (Paschim Vihar), Bhera Enclave, Peeragarhi, Nangloi Saiyed, AmbikaVihar, PaschimVihar GH-13 and J.J. Cluster Near Surajmal Stadium. These congested clusters are of poor and predominantly Muslim households. The extensive slum areas comprise temporary shacks housing hundreds of households. Many poor families also live in one-room tenements in unauthorized constructions. When MASM started operations, there was minimal empowerment of women happening in this area. In order to develop an in-depth understanding of the problems in this area, MASM completed an exhaustive survey of over 20,000 households. This survey helped to identify the gaps in the developmental work that had taken place in this area over the years. While a few organizations were imparting skills in tailoring, toy making, etc., these activities were not strategic and did not appear to have any spin-off effects in terms of empowerment.
Dr. Adawal believes that empowerment can be achieved by making efforts to transcend the welfare mode of charity and doles, and embracing the mode of social enterprise and entitlements; the GRC has undertaken nine key activities namely: Vocational Training, Non-Formal Education, Health, Legal, Self-Help Group, Aawaz Uthao (Gender Equality), Samajik Suvidha Kendra, Health and Nutrition.
Dr. Shanker Adawal is dedicated his free time to work to sensitize women towards their health needs and promote health-seeking behavior in them. “Dr. Adawal perceives women in the target areas neglect their health and therefore there is an urgent need to create awareness of primary health care and link them with government services. In this endeavour, the organisation providessupport to the community through weekly health clinics, monthly health camps, counseling for adolescents, IEC Campaigns including Nukkad Natak and distribution of medicines.
Then, Manav Adhikar Samajik Manch also arranges the visit of a gynaecologist every week to the resource center. The doctor addresses the issue of reproductive and maternal health, adolescents concern of women of different ages. Medicines are distributed free of cost and proper records of the same are maintained.
The organization also conducts monthly camps. The camps are organized at different locations in the selected catchment areas. The camps conducted by MASM generally have three consultants, i.e., a gynaecologist, a paediatrician and a general physician. The health camps provide free general check-ups to the community with a special focus on the girl child and reproductive health to promote maternal health. These camps have helped address several neglected diseases like tuberculosis and cataract by taking the help of various organizations like DHS, AIIMS, IDA, Rotary International and DOTs etc. Serious cases identified in such camps are helped to get specialized medical care through referrals given by these doctors. These camps have helped create awareness about Dr. Shanker and MASM’s commitment to serving the community at large.
Under the guidance of Dr. Shanker, Manav Adhikar Samajik Manch periodically organizes awareness programs on various issues of health and hygiene across the country. Information about the conduct of health awareness sessions and camps is widely canvassed in advance. These sessions and camps were organized in coordination with the community keeping their time and other constraints in mind. Through these activities, it is ensured that such programs reach a maximum number of people,especially the project-affected persons. The main focus of these camps are Covid-19, TB, dengue, drinking water, sanitation, hygiene, nutrition, child immunisation and first aid etc. There has been regular involvement of District Health and Education Departments in these programs. MASM also collaborates with local NGOs to conduct the health awareness program in the project-affected areas.
Different types of banners, posters, and leaflets are used to create awareness besides distributing condoms and raising awareness about HIV/AIDS. There are also interactive talks followed by question-and-answer sessions including face-to-face consultation for assessment and Counselling. Group sessions for health awareness are also conducted. The health awareness camps served the purpose of empowering people, especially women and children with regard to their health and the problems confronted by them. Moreover, talks on maintaining a healthy lifestyle and eating the right kind of locally available food were organized successfully.
Dr. Shanker Adawal has been leading MASM’s Blood Donation Camps since 2005. These campaigns are done as part of its drive towards AIDS-free society and donating blood to Rotary International. Teams of medical and paramedical experts are associated with Manav Adhikar Samajik Manch from the Indian Red Cross Society for turn those drives into great success stories.
In India, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS varies between and within states, ranging from areas with high prevalence to areas that are experiencing low prevalence but high vulnerability. As in other parts of the world, HIV tends to move along the highways. Men and women working along the roadsides, with trucking companies, road construction companies and a variety of service industries, tend to be at higher and increased risk for HIV infection.
In the fight against HIV AIDS, these groups are important to focus on and work on them because they are likely to experience higher rates of HIV infection and further risk of passing it on. For example, transport sector workers might bring HIV infection home to their wives and other sexual partners. In Bihar, a large number of new infections are now occurring among women in remote villages whose spouses proceed to urban centers to earn wages mostly construction workers.
The awareness camps are aimed at making everyone aware of HIV/AIDS, its causes, and ways of prevention as in how to prevent it. Several HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns in high-risk areas and programmes were conducted at all locations. Different methods are employed to create awareness on the subject such as holding small group meetings, community meeting and different government departments and stakeholders also support these initiatives. These initiatives have motivated community members and other adults and women from the villages to contact the concerned persons in hospitals for HIV testing.
Manav Adhikar Samajik Manch also conducts HIV/AIDs awareness camps for the Delhi State AIDS Control Society (DSACS). The main objective of the DSACS society is to make efforts to create awareness about HIV/AIDS and prevent/control HIV transmission by strengthening state’s capacity to respond to the long-term challenge posed by the epidemic. In order to create state-wide awareness about HIV/AIDS in Delhi, the Delhi State AIDS Control Society organizes awareness campaigns in
J.J. Clusters and Manav Adhikar Samajik Manch is an implementing partners of DSACS. In order to create an impact among the vulnerable sections of society, vigorous and effective counseling through pictorial/display material, printed leaflets, and audio/visual aids was conducted.
Dr. Shanker Adawal believes that good quality education in High Schools can be a firm foundation for the bright future of children. With this in mind, his organisation aimed at taking computer literacy to the students studying in high schools of the remotest villages in the country. The programme was planned to reach out to about 10,000 children on an annual basis. The objective of non-formal education is to increase the level of literacy in the community, prevent dropouts and attract mainstream children to government schools.
The organization targeted people (both male and female) over 15 years who have never attended schools or are dropouts of schools. Remedial education is also provided to school going children to prevent further dropouts. Classroom teaching is being provided at the centre run by MASM. Relevant linkages are worked out with local government schools in the area where children will be encouraged to take board examination either through schools or NIOS.
MASM under the guidance of Dr. Shanker Adawal organises camps to promote awareness on nutritional requirements. The doctors of the health center are providing feedback on the health status of the community and the key nutrient deficiencies. Keeping in mind the immediate needs of the community and with a primary focus on the health of girl children special cooking classes with low-cost nutritious recipes are engaged by a professionally qualified nutritionist/ dietician.
Initially, it was a challenge to convince people to attend these workshops as people saw this as just a cooking class. However, with consistent efforts to create awareness about the value of nutritious food through the other operations of the MASM, participation in these camps has increased significantly.
Manav Adhikar Samajik Manch is engaged in imparting vocational training programs to underprivileged women. Dr Adawal’s vision and approach is to go beyond skill building and vocational training must translate into economic empowerment. The strategy being employed is to train and empower women with business management skills and make them employable. Over 12,800 women and girls have benefited from these training programs.
The organisation also helps women in developing market linkages and placements. The guiding approach is to be innovative, catalytic and sustainable. The long-term vision of this project is to make a conscious effort to break the siege of gender-biased activities. However, all efforts are
Gradually, with constant community feedback, the initiatives became sustainable. The choice of vocational training was completely based on the demand from the community. The maximum duration of each course is six months where both classroom and exposure classes are arranged.
A considerable population of our country lives in areas where the crime rate is high and these poor residents do not have access to any kind of legal aid. The women especially continue to suffer domestic violence in silence due to their highly conservative communities.
Under the leadership of Dr. Shanker Adawal, Manav Adhikar Samajik Manch periodically organises legal clinics in such areas to create general awareness on legal as well as human rights. The organisation continuously works to enhance the understanding of the general public on legal issues. The issues covered in these sessions are the Domestic Violence Act 2005, the Right to Information Act, Women Helpline, Human Rights, Juvenile Justice, Divorce under Muslim Law and the Police Control Room. The prime objectives of the camps are to provide diagnostic support, counseling and dispute redressal services.
Under the stewardship of Dr. Shanker Adawal, the organisation undertakes a campaign for the enhancement of the safety of women and to provide support to women in distress including situations of sexual harassment, assault or rape. The campaign not only stresses providing assistance to the victims but also works on the preventive measures for the crime of such nature.
For implementing the project in the NCT of Delhi, the organisation worked in coordination with DTC, MCD, NDMC and Delhi Police. Awaz Uthao Campaign was sanctioned by the Department of Women & Child Development, Government of NCT of Delhi in December, 2011. Under the program, the organisation conducted community meetings and awareness campaigns in addition to facilitating the process of safety audit and forming Stakeholder Committees.
Human rights are essential for everyone’s physical and emotional well-being. Manav Adhikar Samajik Manch, realising the importance of these rights, has been running a statewide Human Rights Awareness Campaign since 2004.
Manav Adhikar Samajik Manch, as a resource agency has been participating in a number of camps related to the issues of Child Labour. These camps are organised by Delhi Competitive and Vocational Society (DCVS). General discussions take place in such camps on the awareness on child labour. Manav Adhikar Samajik Manch was invited by Delhi State Legal Services Authority as a resource agency.
Manav Adhikar Samajik Manch organises public debates on burning social issues such as ‘Social Harmony and Exploitation of Women’, ‘Exploitation of Women and Human Rights’, ‘Is Punishing Children in School a Violation of Human Rights?’ etc. Students, women and other concerned individuals of the area participate in such competitions. Prizes are also distributed among deserving debaters.
Trafficking in persons (TIP) or Human Trafficking for labour and/or sexual exploitation is a widespread and a serious problem in India. Trafficking is prevalent in destination states because of high inflows of migrants, high demand for sex workers, generic gender/caste issues, lack of community responsibilities for social security and welfare and the absence of a strong legal frame work. For transit areas, the main reasons cited are infrastructure and natural location between sources and destination states. The groups worst plagued by trafficking in persons in India are commercial sex workers, bonded labour in different industrial and agricultural pockets, domestic workers, entertainers and beggars etc.
In view of these problems, Dr Shanker spearheaded human trafficking awareness campaigns in many construction camps and market places across the country. Few of the states where such campaigns are conducted include are West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Under the mentorship of Dr. Shanker Adawal, Manav Adhikar Samajik Manch conducts solid waste management campaigns since 2005 in Delhi. The organisation initiated the implementation work in a resettlement colony because it was found that since beginning these colonies suffer from various infrastructure inadequacies like water supply, sewerage, drainage, garbage disposal, electricity, schools, hospitals and roads etc. A survey conducted by the Council for Social Development indicated that the system of solid waste disposal is extremely unsatisfactory and hardly 30% of the waste is collected for disposal.
The location of MASM’s project is Madanpur Khadar village, located in Southeast Delhi, near the border of Haryana. The residents of the village are mainly the migrant population.
Dr. Shanker Adawal believes that everyone needs to be aware of the road traffic rules, especially children and young people who are at significant road accident risk. According to the statistics (World Health Organization, 2008), it is found that most of the hospitalisation cases and leading causes of death are because of road trauma. He perceives that everyone should learn road traffic and safety rules at a very early age to perform safer behavior in later life.
The road safety programs conducted by Manav Adhikar Samajik Manchfocus on general road safety issues for the general public. The issues, which were taken up for spreading awareness, were:
- The need for wearing helmet for both the driver and the pillion rider
- Not using mobile phones while driving
- Not jumping Zebra Lines at signals or stopping vehicles on Zebra lines
- Signal jumping or avoiding signal jumping
- Overloading of school auto rickshaws or avoiding sitting in an overloaded auto rickshaw
- Not mixing drinking and driving; andof seat belts
Dr. Shanker Adawal ensures that MASM conducts regular Road Safety Awareness Programme through IEC materials, signboards, interactive discussions and rallies across the country.
Keen interest was taken by the general public. In fact, many volunteered to speak to road users about their experiences, good or bad implying on the need to improve safety on roads. There was also overwhelming support from the transport authorities for organizing the camps.
Dr. Shanker Adawal plays a pivotal role in the execution of resettlement and rehabilitation projects taken up by Manav Adhikar Samajik Manch. The basic objective of the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) implementation has been to address the issues of the entire affected population. Special importance has been given to socially and economically vulnerable groups of projects affected persons such as Women Headed Households, the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the economically vulnerable group of people living below the poverty line. All out efforts have been made to ensure the payment of compensation and assistance to the PAP (Project Affected Persons) for their acquired /affected land & assets so that the amount can replace their earlier assets based on market rate with a prime motive to restore & improve their livelihood. During the execution of the projects, the PAPs are consistently consulted for their resettlement & rehabilitation. PAPs participation in rehabilitation & socio-economic development is ensured at each & every stage of RAP implementation.