“We were farmers and never learnt to do anything else in life because I did not realise I would ever need it,” Mondol says.

“I took refuge in a village called Kajla, which falls in the Contai Deshapran block under Contai sub-division in East Medinipur district of West Bengal. After a few days of wandering, my husband and myself saw light,” says Mondol.

The Kajla Janakalyan Samiti works in 12 out of 25 blocks of the district.

Kajla is a village in East Medinipur district of West Bengal and lies about 160 km from Kolkata. About 15 per cent of the people who live here are landless. The men from the village migrate seasonally for work in other areas, leaving their families without support for long periods.

East Medinipur district has a population of around 5 million, of which at least 15 per cent are victims of displacement and eviction. Since these are poor people and are doing just what their forefathers’ did, they usually don't get to learn anything else.

According to Swapan Panda, secretary, Kajla Janakalyan Samiti: “We train these people in becoming self-reliant and find an alternative livelihood.”

The Samiti, which works with close to 8,500 members, trains families in alternate livelihood like making handicraft items, especially from coconut and bamboo like wall-decorations, book shelf, lanterns, etc.

The NGO also trains people in making herbal medicines.

According to Mondol: “From being farmers, my husband and myself have become fisherfolks as we are fishing and selling them in the market. The Samiti also trained us on preparing various food items from fish. I got a loan of Rs 3,000 from my self-help-group when I wanted to start making food items from fish. I had to pay an interest of Rs 10 per month, which I managed to repay in a year,” Mondol says.

Today, Mondol and her husband earn Rs 10,000 per month.

Janabi, a resident of Kolaghat has a similar story to narrate:

“The thermal power project in Kolaghat, 85 km from Kajla, had a lot of families lose fishing as a livelihood since the project caused a lot of water pollution, killing fishes in the river. Fishes started dying and I did not have a livelihood any more. Moreover, I was asked to leave my house in Kolaghat and migrate to a different place. The compensation was negligible,” Janabi says.

“I found Kajla Janakalyan Samiti which trained me in making handicraft items. I learnt to make calendars, letterpads, notebooks and other stationery items. I sell them at the local fairs organised throughout the year, ” she added.

According to Swapan Panda: “We organise close to 20 fairs per year where these displaced families can sell their products. The stalls are booked by us and the rent is also paid by us.”

Janabi said: “I sell my products at the fairs and earn close to Rs 4,000 per month. I am happy to have found an alternate livelihood and someone to train me for it; otherwise I would have died of hunger.”

The Samiti has also set up a school of its own for poor people in the village. The school currently has 295 students. It is a primary school up to class IV, which builds on the concept of joyful-teaching-learning, life-based, group and activity-based learning. Medium of instruction here is Bengali.

Student fee varies between Rs 5 and Rs 20, depending on the daily income of the parents. If parents are below-poverty-level, a fee of Rs 50 per year is charged for every child in the school.

The school has a total of eight teachers and a student-teacher ratio of 30:1 is maintained. Teachers are paid between Rs 1,200 and Rs 2,000 per month.

Kajla Janakalyan Samiti gets funds from several other NGOs and individuals to sustain its activities.

“We get close to Rs 30 lakh per year from Child Rights and You, Rs 10 lakh from Save The Children, some Rs 8 lakh per year from Development Research Communication and Services Centre. We work with banks and financial institutions to organise funds for these poor people who wish to start businesses. Some of these women form self-help-groups (SHGs) who also organise loans among themselves, ” Panda says.

The NGO takes loans from banks and gives it to SHGs free of interest. The Samiti also took a cash credit loan of Rs 50 lakh in 2006 from United Bank of India. Today, they have trained 600 group leaders who in turn have trained other members for better and alternate sources of livelihood.

(The author surveyed the area around the Kajla village , East Medinipur district and came up this report)