Shramik Elgar Kolam Adivasi Women’s Delegation Meets Chandrapur Collector
On 24 January a delegation of Kolam women led by Adv. Paromita Goswami, Founder-President of Shramik Elgar and Vimalbai Kodape met the District Collector Chandrapur Shri. Vinay Gauda to discuss the various problems being faced by Adiviasi women in Jivti block.
Problems in Foodgrain distribution: The main issue is that foodgrains under PDS are not being distributed every month. The grains for August were distributed in September, the grains of September were distributed in November. The quota of October is being distributed in January. No foodgrains were distributed in October and December. This is a grave situation because the women are forced to buy rice from the market at Rs.40 to Rs. 50 a kilo. The women demanded that ration should be distributed every month as per TPDS (Control) Order, 2015 and strict action should be taken against the District Supply Officer.
Problems in Widow and Old Age Pensions: The widows, aged persons and others who receive pensions under various social security schemes like Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme and Indira Gandhi Widow Pension Scheme have not received the full amounts since March 2022. The beneficiaries are supposed to receive Rs.1000 of which they receive only Rs.800. This is because the Central Government has not transferred its share of Rs.200 per beneficiary. There are thousands of beneficiaries in Chandrapur district and lakhs across the State who have not received the total amount.
Subsidy on Gas Cylinder: The entire Jivti block falls in PESA area and has inaccessible terrain. The Adivasis who live here do not have much source of livelihood except farming small plots of land and most wage labour. Therefore they are unable to pay Rs.1100-1200 for refilling the cylinders. Across the block a vast majority of Adivasi households have stopped using gas and have gone back to using fuelwood. The objective of Ujjwala Yojana is not being met in these cases. The women asked the Collector to forward their demand for 100% subsidy on gas cylinder for Adivasi households in PESA areas.
The district collector gave a patient hearing and discussed the matter. He assured that foodgrains will be distributed every month and the matter of pensions will be sorted out soon.
Pics: Paromita Goswami