Anubhooti

Anubhooti is a non-governmental organization (NGO) which was started in 1991 by Mr. Prakash Jha, Mr. Ashok Aditya and several other cultural and social activists. The NGO aims at reviving Bihar’s lost cultural and historic glory by harnessing its current social, cultural, and physiological resources for a holistic development of the cottage industry. Anubhooti supports the belief that encouraging infrastructure and the arts will result in the economic upliftment of Bihar and better opportunities for all its residents.

Registration

Anubhooti was registered as a society under the Society Registration Act of 1860 in 1991. Anubhooti is also registered under the Income Tax Act of 1961, Exemption Under Income Tax Act of 1961, and Registration under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 1976

Anubhooti’s mission is to create sustainable livelihood opportunities for each family ensuring quality education, better healthcare facilities and disaster mitigation. To do this, Anubhooti provides Bihari residents with rehabilitation, vocational training, and promotes art, culture, fine arts, literature, music, and drama.

Executional Team

Anubhooti's executional team comprises 112 people who work on its many different projects in various capacities. The governing body consists of:

Chairman- Prakash Jha Secretary- Ashok Aditya Chartered Accountant- Rajeev Jha

All of Anubhooti's projects are personally guided and overlooked by Chairman and award-winning director Prakash Jha.

Objectives

To create livelihood opportunities through (in farm, off-farm and non-farm sector):

    Agriculture: Create a platform for interaction between farmers and experts, awareness about the recent technological developments in the agricultural industry especially agricultural chemicals, fertilizers, farm, implements and agro food products.
   
    Vocational Training: To provide skill based training to youth for gaining adequate employment. 

To improve existing healthcare infrastructure and create new facilities such as hospitals and a medical college.

To establish education institutions for providing quality and cost effective education to all sections of society.

To create awareness among people on disaster preparedness, provide relief and rehabilitation during disasters such as flood, famine, earthquake, fire, pestilence etc.

To promote art and culture, literature, music, drama and fine arts and to use these for creating social justice awareness in society.

To promote, establish, support, for the promotion of science and to encourage research.

Programs

Health Care Improvement

Adoption of a Government Hospital: It is a well known fact that most government hospitals are usually understaffed, ill-equipped with technology and medicine, and have inadequate facilities. Furthermore, the increasing privatisation of the health care sector has forced the poor to either approach expensive private hospitals which they cannot afford or to suffer the ailment. It is with this in mind that Anubhooti has been able to successfully manage three government hospitals in Champaran, Bihar to provide better health care services to people who cannot afford healthcare.

Details of Government Hospitals Sr. No. Hospitals Address 1 Sadar Hospital (District Hospital) Bettiah, West Champaran 2 Sadar Hospital (District Hospital) Motihari, East Champaran 3 PHC Chanpatia West Champaran

Anubhooti has provided 24 hours non-stop electric supply (through six generators), round the clock safe drinking water, hygiene and cleanness with access to doctors and staffs non-stop. Since 2004, Anubhooti has managed the hospital through 30 dedicated full time staff as a complementary support to the government health care system.

The medical staff (doctors and nurses) is based in the on-campus quarters maintained by Anubhooti. Also, Anubhooti undertakes repair and maintenance of the hospital infrastructure to avoid any mishaps or asset loss.

The result of initiative's work:

- Increase of daily patients from 50 to 500.

- Bed occupancy rates increased from 20% to almost 100% & sometimes additional beds are put in each department for excess patients.

- Availability of Medical Staff: Doctors, even specialists, are accessible within an hour. Now all medical staff, including 22 doctors, offer their services in a professional manner within a smooth running facility.

Health Camp: Anubhooti has organised several health check-up and treatment camps, as well as eye check up camps for the benefit of the local community. A successful mega health camp was organized by 24 doctors from Patna which included general physicians, ENT specialists, Orthopaedics and other experts. More than 2000 people got free treatment and medicine. The organisation has been organising eye camps every year since then.

Livelihood Promotion

One of the major problems in Bihar is the absence of sustainable livelihood opportunities, which leads for migration of 1.5 crore people across the state so far. Most of the migrants are youth, who travel to Punjab, Haryana, Assam, Delhi, Mumbai (Maharashtra), Kolkata (West Bengal), etc. and in-turn contribute to the development of sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure, etc. outside their home state.

The struggle for livelihood opportunities between the migrated labour force from Bihar and local labour force has led to increase of violence, humiliation and discrimination against the migrant Bihari community. Anubhooti is involved in several initiatives such as:

Agriculture Development: 76 percent of the population in Bihar is engaged in the agriculture sector, with the largest number in cultivation of paddy and sugarcane. The productivity is going down and has marketing problems, which discourages farmers. On the other hand, many children suffer from malnutrition as they do not get adequate or nutritious food. One of the best solutions to reducing malnutrition is to stem the tide of migration and simultaneous improvement and promotion of the agro-industry.

Therefore, Anubhooti has introduced intercropping using modern technologies in a scientific manner. It has started soil tests, introduced better seeds and farming equipment. Anubhooti has organised an average of five workshops monthly on modern agriculture practices for 100 farmers in each camp from different villages of the West Champaran district. Many farmers are coming forward to learn about modern technology and are experimenting in their land to improve their farm production practising modern scientific agriculture.

- A dedicated volunteer team (including an agricultural scientist) is working to mobilise more farmers to benefit from this knowledge. Anubhooti is planning to start agro-based industries at the Panchayat level to produce hi-yield seeds, fertilisers, cheap and cost effective essential equipment, and to bring the laboratory to the field itself so that farmers can get immediate results and help.

- Enterprises: After the agriculture season, a majority of farmers migrate to other states in search of livelihood opportunities. However, the women in the villages have no opportunities to utilise their time and knowledge in a monetary capacity at any point of time. Anubhooti has therefore started providing vocational training to these women on tailoring, handicrafts, and making essential domestic items such as papad, and agarbatti (incense sticks) so as to enhance their possibility of entrepreneurship.

Disaster Management

Anubhooti works extensively in the area of natural disaster preparedness, flood relief and rehabilitation, and fire fighting.

- Flood Relief in Champaran: The Champaran district has 29 rivers, which flood regularly and cause large scale destruction and rehabilitation every year. Anubhooti provides relief (health services, food and clothes) in these situations. It also mobilises the local community for reconstruction of the dam, canal and water infrastructure. It believes the best solution for floods would be a participatory water management involving local community, organisations and government.

- Fire Fighting: The houses of most people in Bihar are made of straw and clay. During the summer, at least 10-15 fire incidents occur in West Champaran, which destroy the houses completely. The fire fighting vehicles are almost defunct; nd these big vehicles can’t reach many areas. Sometimes by the time they reach the houses are completely damaged. So, Anubhooti has planned to provide five water-tankers to five Gram Panchayats in the district. These water-tank carriers will be planned in such a manner that they can be moved by just a tractor to any corner of the village to control fire accidents. If successful, such a program can be extended to other Panchayats across Bihar.

Punarwaas Initiative

On 18 August, 2008 the Kosi River near Khusaha in Nepal’s Sunsari district changed its track causing a colossal loss of life and property in the south east Tarai region of Nepal and in eighteen districts of Bihar.

In September 2008, The Prime Minister of India, Shri Manmohan Singh formed a Special Task Force, which assessed the destruction caused by flood in Bihar as nearly Rs. 25,000 – Rs. 30,000 crores. The Bihar Floods were declared a national calamity and affected 46.42 lakh people in 2528 villages of 18 districts in Bihar, in addition to a loss of 235 human beings, 787 cattle and washed out 3.38 Lakh hectare of agricultural land.

Supaul district was one of the most affected districts in Bihar because the Kosi river enters Bihar and India through this district. About 9 lakh people were rendered homeless, 1.14 lakh hectors of land (0.741 lakh hectares agriculture land) was washed out affecting 241 villages (68 Gram Panchayats in five blocks) in Supaul District.

Assessment of Loss Particulars Bihar State Supaul District District 18 1 Villages 2528 241 People affected (In Lakhs) 46.42 9 Land affected (In ha) 338,000 74,000

Anubhooti promised for the relief of flood survivors through its Punarwaas, Flood Relief Mission, Bihar, which continued from 4 September 2008 until 15 March 2009. The objective of Punarwaas, Flood Relief Mission was to provide relief and rehabilitation in two phases.

Phase I: Relief for at least 5000 people • To distribute Food (cooked food and dry ration) • To provide regular clothes, winter clothes and sleeping materials • To build shelters for each family • To ensure quality education for all eligible children till class X • To make sure of better health care and to prevent any kind of infectious outbreak • To maintain harmony among all communities and castes

Phase II: Rehabilitation for 125 Families creating a Model Village • To build 125 pucca and disaster proof houses, • To construct a school, • To construct a hospital, • To construct a vocational training centre - community hall, • To provide safe drinking water, • To arrange all basic community infrastructure such as road, drainage etc., • To provide Skill Development training for 200 youths

Sources

Anubhooti Annual Report 2008-2009 Bihar Government [gov.bih.nic.in]