The government has created numerous welfare and developmental schemes for the poor and needy. However, the people who can avail these schemes are not aware of them. If aware, they need to run pillar to post to get actual benefits. We facilitate with information dissemination and facilitation under our Citizen Care programme. Since the inception of this programme a year back, we have supported more than 6,000 individuals obtain various benefits (like the ‘Indira Gandhi Vridhawstha Pension Yojana’, ‘Indira Gandhi Vidhwa Pension Yojana’, ‘Kanya Vivah Yojana’, ‘Vikalang Pension Yojana’ and many more). In line with our philosophy of being a bridge (Setu), we have connected the deserving citizens to the right sources. While there is more that we need to do in terms of creating systems, structures to scale up and streamline operations, what really gives us hope is that many of the people who got support from us, have become local agents of change. They now are disseminating information and supporting facilitation to their friends in the villages. It is just a little step towards, we being redundant in the long run. But a step worth mentioning and sharing!

It is not just about earning a livelihood. It is much more than that. It is about the confidence, the sense of fulfillment, the happy face at the end of the day and the feeling of doing it all on your own. That and much more, is what the 11 willing women from ‪#‎Rajapakar‬ and ‪#‎Jandaha‬ blocks of ‪#‎Vaishali‬ district of ‪#‎Bihar‬, seem to be experiencing as they roast gram, get it ground to produce “Sattu”, and sell it. Each of them spares not more than 12 hours every week after her regular work and pockets Rs. 1,000 per month as profit.

Seva Setu played a humble and an extremely fulfilling role in initiating this SHG (Self-Help Group). We consistently support them by providing finances (to procure raw material) as and when required, by finding buyers and by just being with them. While the usuals of scaling up rapidly, bringing in more resources and reaching out to many more of them remains our top priority, we do find a little time to share our small successes with you.
We present to you some photos of these really brave women at work.

As our work on TB identification, prevention, and correction in partnership with ‪#‎WHP‬ (World Health Partners) gains some momentum, in‪ the #‎Phulwarisharif‬ and ‪#‎Danapur‬ blocks of ‪#‎Patna‬ distict, ‪#‎Bihar‬, we share with you some numbers (though numbers never tell the full reality of getting things done on the ground):

We have covered 252 households so far in Phulwari where the first visit has been completed. The second visit is ongoing (more than 100 households have been visited). In Danapur, out of 562 patients, we have visited more than 200 households.

We have also managed to click some pictures 🙂

The long list, the young lady volunteer and the old man suffering from TB.. We surely have a long long way to go.

The old man.. and TB. We are going to fight it out!

It is so difficult to convince for the right stuff…Our sincere volunteer gives it a good try!

We hope and resolve to bring about a difference in this area as well.