The Repercussion in SCDP


Sandipan Sinha :- A journey with the endless boundaries leads to the dense forest of Bankura district at a diminutive tribal village Samadi. The majority of the population falls below poverty line. In January 2007, the Diocesan Development Wing (DDW) of the Diocese of Durgapur, C.N.I launched the Samadi community Development Programme (SCDP) in partnership with the Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), USA to capacitate the tribals with appropriate information, skills and knowledge for their livelihood needs.
Mr. Sagar Mandi, a young male of 18yrs, is one of the grooming outcomes of such programme. Sagar lives in a small village calledHaramgarah, 2 km from Samadi (project office) along with his family. His family consists of his father Mr. Jaleswar Mandi who is a farmer by profession, mother Mrs. Dharmi Mandi who is a house wife and his only sister Ms. Saraswati Mandi a dropout from school. Their family monthly income is approx Rs. 1000/- per month (irregular). Sagar left his studies at class-XI from Kumari High School due to financial problem and lead a life just like the other adolescence of the village - grazing domestic animals, assisting in farming. Eventually in October 2010 he came face to face with one of the Self Help Group (SHG) worker Ms. Mridulla Mandi who insisted him to join the training course of the Tube well Maintenance and Repair programme under the Micro Enterprise unit of SCDP. This programme gave Sagar a new zeal to force his desire for self sufficiency. From then Sagar started working to build himself for a new horizon;  thus, supporting his family and creating an exclusive example to communities around. His income ranges from Rs. 120/- to Rs. 200/- per tube well repair.   
After coming a long way from the midst of the darkness on March 2011 he enrolled himself to another development programme organized by SCDP under the able guidance of Diocese of Durgapur in collaboration with Bankura Christian College for training on mushroom cultivation as an alternative source to Livelihood. A ten days long training in Dept. of Botany at Bankura Christian College gave them the necessary practical exposure for starting a small scale business at the micro level. After receiving the training he energetically emphasized to practice it at home which in due course gave him the result. Sagar and his co-partner Ms. Nomita Murmu indulged themselves in establishing this micro business at their home based ranch. The first seed of Mycelium gave them flourishing result with abundant mushroom which they sold to different houses within the village at Rs. 100/- per kg. Now they are planning to upgrade their business to macro level where then they can pack and sell it to the proper market.  
Few moments in life can amend the overall dimension of ambition and desire. Such verification touched the life of Sagar Mandi while he stayed at the Bankura Christian College in March 2011 for the Mushroom Training Programme. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) of Criminal Branch, Bankura took him to custody for 12 hrs on the charge for the interrogation of Maoist activity in Samadi area. “I was dazed to what was happening” said Sagar. Being a 22yrs guy he found it extremely embarrassing to be harassed by the police department. His motive was to be a self sufficient youth of this society but was forced by the government agencies to convert his path of life. He paused to say “I just went to college for training and in return faced torture from Police”.  But the positive psychological impact which hooked Sagar is that now he has put himself to be in the highest. In a recent interview with Sagar Mandi, he stressed the fact that the shock did not ruin his life but enlightened his intellectual development which eventually gave him the urge to love his community and his people  much more. The memory of that day is still giving him sufficient energy to carry out his business of mushroom cultivation. The workers at Samadi Development Centre are glad to proclaim that their firm work has not gone in vain. No matter what force tries to disturb the motto of the work, no matter what cause comes into effect to build a hindrance in the progress of the tribal people but the Blessing of Christ will be with his people. The tribals are the people of God; they are the blessed generation in His Mighty Kingdom. No evil forces can surveillance the growing platform of the homogenized community at Samadi and its nearby areas. It is we the Diocese of Durgapur who has opened God’s Ministry to this downthrown people not for the proclamation of our frame but to signify the coming of His kingdom.

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