The number of poor people in India, according to the country’s Eleventh National Development Plan, amounts to more than 300 million. And for a developing nation like India, such a huge mass of people plays a very important role. Upliftment of rural and tribal people and making them more aware about how they can play a role in shaping India's future by teaching them upcoming basic technologies, observing challenges faced by them and trying to figure out solutions by applying ICT was the main reason behind this one-month internship.
Under the guidance of Prof. B.N. Hiremath, I volunteered at NGO People's Training And Research Center , Khambhat . This is a voluntary organization working on issues related to Occupational Safety and Health and other aspects of labor life. Even before PTRC was registered in 1992, it was involved in activities like Vyavsaik Syasthya Suraksha Mandal (Occupational Health and Security Group) since 1986.
We were posted in one of its projects at Shakkarpura, Khambhat, a small town near Anand district with a population of about 11500 people and the population mainly comprises of Muslims, Kshatriyas and Scheduled Caste(SC). The major occupations in the village was cottage-units based Agate Industry substituted with farming, kite making, salt-making and cattle rearing as the Agate industry is very hazadous to the health of workers because of silica dust that becomes air borne during the processing of agate stones. This particles, when inhaled continuously for a long time, settle in the lungs of workers permanently, resulting in disease silicosis. There is no none cure or treatment for it and about 70% of village population is involved in it.
In
Khambhat, PTRC works for the prevention of Silicosis among the workers of agate
industry. They run a day care center for the children of women working in the
agate industry to prevent silica exposure among them, run weekly clinic for
silicosis victims in collaboration with Sri Krishna Hospital, Karamsad And Cardiac
care Center in Khambhat, provide free medication to the victims, help the Silicosis
Victims Association in advocacy for their rights, support widows and school
going children as well as bed-ridden agate workers. I was a part of this
program at Shakarpur Village in Khambhat.
The work assigned mainly included IMPARTING TECHNICAL EDUCATION to the staff of NGO. They required help in learning the basics of computers as they were trying to computerize the existing records of patients and other details. The main office work was maintaining records of the agate
workers and silicosis patients, and thus, teaching them
Microsoft Excel was most important. We started with basics and moved on to
features like sorting and filtering which are especially useful for them as
they require to organize the workers’ data. The staff was also taught other Microsoft
office features which included PowerPoint and Word. Keeping in mind the necessity of Internet in this century, we created a mail-account on Gmail This was helpful to them as they frequently require corresponding
with the CEO, and often need to send him details of workers. Giving them a glimpse of what actually Google is and how
the relevant information on any topic can be acquired from its database, further they were explored to g-translator & Google-Gujarati, which was quite useful for their lack of English skills. In the end, a small practical exam of the office staff was taken wherein they gave an exam individually and scored 70% on an average. After all had completed
their exams, we gave them a quick-revision on the topics which were difficult
to grasp for everyone.
The second most important task was ORGANIZING DATA. Updating the records of the silicosis patients with about 686 records with 18 long columns each with each small in a different file and plenty of mismatch datas and contradicting datas with 5 people having same name along with same last name!
Mr. Jagdish Patel,
our CEO, publishes a Gujarati newsletter called Salamati in which the data of
accidental deaths in all fields collected from various newspapers are recorded. We compiled lists of the occupational deaths for the years 2008 to 2011.
Interaction with Silicosis-Affected Workers: We visited some silicosis patients. They have
stopped working on the agate stones and now sit at home, with one person
constantly engaged in taking care of them. We enquired about their medication
and whether there is any improvement in their condition. We also asked about
the means of their livelihood now that they are unable to work. Families of
patients have taken up farming or kite-making to earn their bread. In some
cases, the wife continues with the same grinding work despite seeing her
husband's condition. Although the NGO provides them free medication, the cost
of coming up to the dispensary is also high for them.
Observing the processing of agate stones: From what we observed, I strongly feel there is a need for an improvement in the
existing technology of agate grinding. As instructed by Mr. Patel, we observed
the various procedures involved in the processing of agate stones and made a
small note which explained each stage in great detail. This note is to be
presented in organisations like Techpedia and Sristi which encourage innovation
at the grass root level. Here is a summary of the observations:
1.
The
stones are first heated in a furnace to make them easier to cut.
2.
Then,
they are chipped with a hammer (made of cow or buffalo horn) into small pieces.
This work is done by ‘fodiyas’ or breakers.
3.
The
stone pieces are fed to a wooden drum where they are rotated for several hours.
This is done to give rough rounding to the stones. This is a highly dusty
process.
4.
The
broken pieces are ground into finer shapes. This work is done by ‘ghasiyas’.
The grinding wheels are motorised but the machine itself is not automated.
There are two machines available for this work, depending on the shape of the
stones required.
a)
Vertical
shaft grinding machine (bakdo): Any type of shape can be produced by this
machine. There are two subdivisions:
1)
Bakdo
emery. This consists of a vertical shaft where the emery wheel runs
horizontally. It is a dry process and a lot of dust is generated.
2)
Bakdo
diamond. Here, the cutting wheel is cobalt coated. This machine involves a
weight process method, in which water is dropped on the wheel so that the dust
doesn’t become air borne. The dust generated is less than that in the case of
the emery wheel.
b)
Horizontal
shaft grinding machine (Patiyu): It is
used for making equal-sized spherical beads which can be used in making
necklaces. The emery wheel is rotated with an electric motor. The beads are
held in the grooved notches of a wooden plank against the movement of the
wheel.
5.
To
drill a bead, the worker places the bead in a wooden stand. Drilling is done by
a long spindle studded with diamond on its top.
6.
The
processed stones are placed in an electrically rotated drum for around 15 hours
to give the stones lustre.
Of all the
processes, the work of the ghasiyas (grinders) is the most dangerous. A lot of
dust is generated in the work environment and the workers hardly employ any
methods to protect themselves. As such wearing masks (cloth) is not effective
since the particles of silica dust are smaller than the pores in the mask. The
weight processing is the only method that has been accepted and implemented to
reduce the dust levels. But in this method too, the workers are required to put
more efforts and consequently complain of backaches. The production of spherical
beads on the horizontal shaft (Patiyu) does not have any mechanism to control
the dust levels. Also, most of these units are home-based, and even the
non-workers including children are exposed to considerably high levels of dust,
putting them at a risk from a young age. The so-called “maaliks” are not
concerned about the exposure to which the workers are subjected during the
different stages of processing, but just interested in the final product. This
was highlighted when we went to meet a businessman of agate stones. The entire
cost of the process has to be borne by the workers. The workers are sadly
under-represented and underpaid. For the spherical beads, the workers are paid
only ₹25 for every 1000 pieces. The price increases as the complexity of the
shape increases, but even the highest price is about ₹5 for a piece which is
still only about one-fourth of the price at which they are sold in shops and
showrooms.
Helping the Doctor
Every Wednesday, a doctor from Karamsad Medical Hospital
comes for weekly check-up of silicosis affected workers. We helped the doctor in
finding the appropriate case papers for the patients and packing the prescribed
medicines for them. The patients included people affected by silicosis as well
as tuberculosis.
The most memorable and fun part, to which would never be exposed except for this internship was staying for a month in village. For two people
who have lived in a city for their entire lives, living in a village was an
entirely new experience. Of course, we had our share of doubts and
apprehensions about the village life. Also, as our internship required us to
work with the NGO employees as well as teach them, we were unsure of how the
staff and the people of the village would react to us. However, these doubts
were futile, as the staff gave us a warm welcome.
We were provided
a room of our own in a small Dharmashala, while the caretakers, an old couple,
lived in their house which was just in front of our room. They provided us
breakfast and tea every morning.
We had the
opportunity to interact with Kanti bhai and wife (the caretakers), our
neighbour, Mitali ben, a jovial lady, and an old, retired man who also stayed
nearby, apart from the staff of the NGO and the agate workers. Each of them
told us their life stories which were very interesting, and also, we got to
learn about the various customs, hardships and restrictions of the village
life. What we were observing was a closely knit society where everyone
practically knew every other person, and what one person did was everybody’s
business. This was a stark contrast from the city life that we are used to
because in a city, everyone is involved in their own lives.
The experience of
familiarising the staff with computer basics was also not exactly what we
anticipated. Since we, as engineering students, have become so used to being
around the computer, it was a bit strange when we had to begin by teaching the
difference between and a file and a folder. Nevertheless, the staff worked hard
with us on this, and we are proud to say that by the time we left, they were
able to manage and manipulate the data records on the computer on their own.
The plight of
agate workers struck us the most. Apart from the obvious health related hazards
of their occupation and the extreme poverty that they are living in, the workers
also face social ostracism. Most of the workers are vary of strangers and live
in the constant fear that somebody will stop all their business. We ourselves
observed this when we went to see the different stages of agate processing. The
people were suspicious about us, and they let us watch them work only because
they knew Ramesh bhai (NGO’s staff member who had taken us to the field)
personally. Even then, many of them refused to be photographed.
Rural life has
its own charm, and the trials and tribulations that the people face are also
different from the city life. It was illuminating to observe the village life
and the different perspectives of the rural people.
