Maharashtra’s Adivasis number more than 10 million and sadly, they often feel marginalised by mainstream society and regarded as outcastes, deprived of many of the basics of life such as healthcare, education, access to clean water and sanitation. Seva and Amplifying Voices have a shared desire to see communities freed from bondage and enjoying fullness of life.  The challenges these communities face however are complex, where poverty is not simply a lack of resources, but rather an oppressive web of social, political, economic and religious entanglements, which have been described as a ‘poverty trap’ by Robert ChambersNoted development practitioner Professor Robert Chambers describes the dimensions of poverty as an interactive system that he calls the ‘poverty trap’..  It’s a bit like filling a leaking bucket with water: no matter how much effort is put in, these communities are never able to succeed in achieving a decent level of health and wellbeing or making enough to meet their daily needs.

The beautiful Western Ghats in Maharastra is home to many Adivasi communities                 (Photo credit: Amy Hargreaves)

While the problem is complex, change is possible and over the last two weeks I’ve been hearing many testimonies of how Seva’s innovative community-centred media project has impacted people.  We came across the young woman in the picture during a visit to a remote Adivasi village, when we heard her remarkable story.  She told us about how she and her husband had been bonded labourers, which is a kind of modern-day slavery and is illegal in India but sadly still widely practiced.  However, one day they heard through Seva’s speakerbox programmes about ways in which they could escape that life and that Adivasi people were eligible for government grants to start businesses.  The programmes also spoke about how to do micro-enterprise and gave ideas for creating wealth, so she and her husband were inspired to start a shop in her village.  “This has set us free from bondage,” she told us, adding that she will never be a slave again, ending generations of bonded labour in her family.

During our two weeks in India there were many other stories that we heard, too many for a short blog-post, but I’ve been so impressed by the dedication of this small local team who have so much passion and are working tirelessly to see the lives of the Adivasi people transformed.  I am also convinced, that difficult and complex though it may be, change is possible.

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Organised by our partner Seva, 7 remote villages were brought together for a cricket match to launch “Adivasincha Aavaj“, or “Adivasi Voices”, a mobile phone app that will give bonded labourers vital access to information, which could transform their lives.  Bonded labour was made illegal in India in 1976, however a 2018 report estimated that around 8 million workers in India were unpaid or held in debt bondage, although campaigners believe the true figure is much higher.

Bonded labourers from an Adivasi community demonstrate a mobile phone app that will transform their lives

Around 200 bonded labourers from the seven communities were able to join the cricketing festivities as they were home for the Hindu festival of Holi that celebrates spring, love, hope and new life.   And team leader Shilpa believes that is exactly what the app is all about, bringing hope and new life.  “We’re breaking the cycle,” says Shilpa.  “These young men did what their parents did and what their parents before them did, but now they will be able to learn about living a life that is free from bondage.”

Although Seva had been addressing the issue of bonded labour and workers rights on the village ‘speakerbox’ programmes for more than a year, our evaluation showed that they were not reaching labourers, because they had already left their villages to work.  It was during Covid that the idea of a mobile phone app first occurred to them.  “As our team were delivering food to vulnerable communities, we had conversations with many bonded labourers and heard their stories of how they were tied because of debt, unaware that there were ways to break the bondage and earn a living,” said Shilpa.

The mobile phone app, which delivers audio programmes and can facilitate interaction between subscribers,  is now available on Android devices, but it will be tested first on this limited audience from a few villages, to learn how it is used and what content they find most valuable.  Once the concept has been tested on this small scale, it can be easily scaled up and tailored to reach bonded labourers across the entire sub-continent in multiple languages.

Shilpa and Maneesha from Seva award the Man of the match and cup to the winning team

After the winning team cup and man of the match awards were given, men from the different villages exchanged names and contact numbers and it became apparent that something very special had happened that day.  “Not only did several villages come together for the first time ever to share their love of cricket,” said Shilpa, “but new bonds of friendship were made and eyes were opened.”  As if a metaphor for life, all the teams were given real cricket balls to take away as they had only had access to plastic cricket balls.   “We’re never going back to old cricket,” said Rajesh, one of the players. “Now that we’ve experienced that there is a better way of playing, we want more of it.”

As everyone returned to their respective villages and the men go back to their bonded labour situations, the Seva team is very aware that they could face a backlash from unscrupulous landlords, once they realise that their cheap labour supply could be threatened, as workers become empowered to break free from their bondage.  But as Shilpa says, “Somebody had to step in.”

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Although illegal, the practice of bonded labour is commonplace in the country.  For some time the Seva team has been trying to tackle this issue, however during a recent Covid outreach in a number of Adivasi (indigenous tribal) villages, the team heard stories from many bonded labourers.   After the rice harvest, many leave their villages to give their labour as security against money they have borrowed, or when they inherit a debt from a relative.  Some are lured into buying ‘luxury goods’ like mobile ‘phones in the promise of secure jobs and medical cover, which never materialises. Many don’t realise that there are laws to protect their rights to a minimum wage, basic amenities and fair treatment – but remain in debt bondage to owners who deny them these rights – often with impunity.  For many, Covid has pushed them further into debt and bondage.

“Every year families leave our village to bond themselves to landlords to pay off their debts,” one elderly lady explained.  “It has been like this for as long as I can remember.”

Although Seva has been addressing labour and rights issues on the village ‘speakerbox’ programmes and encouraging other ways for people to earn a living, the team realised that families that had left their villages to work, never had access to the programmes.

Team leader Shilpa told me, “After these labourers shared their stories, and we realised they were missing out on the information that could really help them through the speakerboxes, we came up with the idea of creating an ‘app’, that could deliver content right onto their own mobile ‘phones.  They will soon be able to listen, without fear from their bosses, any topic they want to hear and even what kind of format, whether a song, drama or interview,” she added.

Most importantly though, this app will give bonded labourers vital access to information, which could help them make better choices which could change their lives.  It will also enable them to have conversations with others and will create a safe space to share their experiences.

The app, simply called, “Adivasincha Aavaj“, or “Adivasi Voices”, will go live in March and will be trialled in one village first.  This will enable us to learn lessons and discover how it could become more widely available to many other people facing similar injustices in other parts of India.

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Due to the sensitivity of this issue, faces are blurred to protect identities of local workers

Brickmaker factory owners in South Asia are notorious for their mistreatment of workers. Despite official legal protection, many families are trapped through oppressive bonded labour arrangements. Amplifying Voices Pakistan and their new local partner, Community Media Power, visited brickmaking communities near Nowshera, Pakistan this month. They were speaking to local brick workers when an ’overseer’ from one of the plants came by and tried to intimidate the team to stop them recording interviews. The workers were being very careful about the level of detail they gave, but they were willing to speak and talk about their situations, so the team continued with the interviews.

Interviewing Bacha Khan

However, one of the brickmaking plant owners, known locally as Bacha Khan (or respected elder), has a different approach. He listened as the workers shared their situations. Rather than deny the issues, he acknowledged that brick workers and their families are poor and with poverty combined with the physical isolation of the brick plants, brick workers and their families often can’t access health or education services. He is keen to see this changed. He sees the potential in brickmaker voices being heard over the radio programmes. Potential to highlight the issues brickmakers face, to build local confidence to address some of these issues themselves, and also to encourage more services to come into these isolated communities.

Having grown up as a child in a poor family, Bacha Khan knows the brickmakers’ experience first hand. But now he is a “Jirga” leader and an important figure, he welcomed the media team into his “Hujra” and even offered them his protection has they travel in the area (both important and binding ways of showing hospitality in the Pakhtun culture).

It is currently Dengue season in the Nowshera region, and when brickmakers or their family members get sick, they cannot meet their quotas and lose income. Community Media Power decided to make a programme about preventing Dengue Fever. In preparation, they went to the nearest government hospital (which is still quite a distance for people to reach on foot). They interviewed the medical superintendent who had already heard rumours about the new media project. He said he was delighted to hear that Community Media Power was working in the brickmaking areas and amplifying community voices. He hoped this would also give him support to advocate for better medical and education service provision for the brickmaker communities.

Interviewing a dengue patient, Nowshera

It is really encouraging to hear powerful stakeholders like Bacha Khan and the Medical Superintendent going against the norm raising their own voices in support of these communities and by encouraging community voices to speak out and make a difference.

Amplifying Voices Pakistan is working with Community Media Power in two communities near Nowshera. They have trained teams in each village to make short community-centred radio programmes to be aired on a local FM station. Currently the programmes are distributed as podcasts via WhatsApp to build community interest and involvement, and to help the production teams build their new production skills.

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So it’s always a joy when we see this principle come to life in the communities where our project partners work. Yesterday I heard the story of Malti, a primary school teacher in a remote Adivasi village in Maharashtra, where we have been supporting our partner, Seva, on a community-centred media project, based around a ‘speakerbox‘.

Malti said she was listening to a speakerbox programme with a group of her friends one day, when she heard how bonded labour was so destructive to Adivasi communities like hers. Although illegal, the practice of bonded labour is commonplace in India, where tribal groups are particularly vulnerable. It happens when people give themselves into slavery as security against petty loans that they are unable to repay, or when they inherit a debt from a relative.

During the programme, the friends heard stories of how people had been set free from debt and bondage by starting small businesses to earn income. One of the announcers then challenged listeners to think about what talents and resources they had, which they could use to generate income. Inspired, the group of friends began to talk about what they could do. An older lady in the group, Renuka was talented at sewing and needle work and offered to teach the others. Before long the ladies had come up with the idea of pooling their resources to get material and equipment and begin a small enterprise making and mending clothes.

Excited by the prospect, Malti described how she and her friends scraped together money they had saved and purchased their first pieces of material, cotton and thread. Renuka was a great encourager and she soon had the ladies working together as a formidable team. They started with simple repair jobs in the village, but gradually they started making clothes that they sold in neighbouring villages and eventually in the city. “The best thing of all,” said Malti, “Is that we did it ourselves.”

Malti and her friends are just one small group of many people that are being impacted by the Adivasi Voices Project, which is now active in 16 villages across Maharashtra, and rapidly expanding into new areas.

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