Tribal women labourers want employment to develop the protected territory

NEW DELHI: Thousands of women emerge every morning from the muddy lanes of Sanjay Colony , a jhuggi jhopri settlement in the Bhatti Mines area, to work as labourers. Many of them are hired to remove rubble from construction sites, for which they are paid a measly wage of Rs 250 daily.
Others march through the Ridge for an hour towards the stone-crushing sites in neighbouring Haryana.

This all-women labour force comprising nearly 6,000 members is now preparing to launch movement of a sort to protect the forests. They say since they have been living in the forest land for decades, they want to claim their right to livelihood by seeking to be employed to develop the protected territory.

The women, many of whom belong to nomadic tribes, will organize a large public meeting on March 10 under the banner of Bhagirath Nagar (Sanjay Colony) Mahila Sangathan.

This group of daily wage earners also wants chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to empower them. A day before the Women's Day celebrations, they recalled how he had visited their settlement during an election campaign. They had submitted a memorandum to Kejriwal as well as other AAP member Yogendra Yadav and MLA Kartar Singh Tanwar.

On Saturday , president of the Mahila Sangathan, Seeto Bai Majoka, along with other members, was seen distributing handbills for the forthcoming meeting. They have managed to form a core group comprising 10 members, all of whom have experience of working in hostile work conditions at crushers and construction sites.

They have been mobilizing other women to join rallies under aegis of All India Union Forest Working People (AIUFWP), an association of adivasi and dalit communities representing the traditional workforce in India.

Seeto's story reflects the impact of politics of land and forest rights on the communities, which once survived and thrived on the spaces that are now under dispute. She was born in the Bhatti Mines area and grew up watching her parents work in crushers till mining was banned. “I am a 36year-old married woman and I have a son. But once the mines shut down, we were left to fend for ourselves with no alternative work. Why can't the authorities give us work to develop and maintain the protected forest? Seeto asked.

Other core group members too shared their experiences.“We want to claim our rightful space in the forest. Why can't we be the force to plant trees and work for the redevelop ment of the forest? We must be allowed to grow trees, which bear fruits, and medicinal plants. We should also be allowed to collect firewood for our use,“ said Seema Chauhan, another member of the group.

On March 10, a special workshop will be held to train these women on GPS mapping and photography , which could help them demarcate the forest land.