Nari Gunjan
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Mission Statement
Nari Gunjan is a women’s organization that operates in the districts of Patna, Vaishali and Saran in Bihar. Nari Gunjan represents women who are Dalits,landless and agricultural labourers. The organization came into being with grass root women of rural areas coming together to share and to exchange their experiences and to support one another in their struggles. Nari Gunjan’s main focus is Dalit women. Among Dalits, we have our special focus on women of Mushar community. ‘Mushar’ means ‘Rat eaters’ It is a community that eat rats for their survival. They are lowest in caste system, constantly discriminated and are still in food hunting stage. Women & children most vulnerable in the community.Accessing the rights of women, particularly of the deprived and marginalized, is one of the main objectives of Nari Gunjan. In a society where women are not considered equal, violence is bound to be part of their lives. Another of the objectives of Nari Gunjan is to help women become aware of the discrimination.
About This Cause
Padma Shree Ms Sudha Varghese worked tirelessly for more than five decades in the field of women empowerment, Dalit emancipation from exclusion and discrimination, and Child Rights with special focus on Musahar community in Bihar. Mus literally means rat and Musahars are the people traditionally known as rat eaters. They are landless, homeless, having lowest literacy rate, and socially excluded to the extent that they are considered to be untouchables even among untouchables. Ms Varghese was born and brought up in well to do Malayali family in Kerala. In 1960s, when she was just a teen ager, she came across a Magazine report showing plight of poor people in Bihar. Yet, she took a leap of faith and took a call- of coming to Bihar, which changed her life and incidentally the life of lakhs of Musahars forever. If Bihar today is backward, one can only imagine how it would have been six decades back. She landed in Munger district and spent next two decades in several parts of then undivided Bihar, doing all kinds of humanitarian work- teaching underprivileged dalit children, working in Naxal affected villages, providing basic health care facilities to the remote villagers, etc. By 1980s, Ms Varghese had spent almost two decades serving poor in Bihar and yet deep inside she still felt the restlessness which had called her to Bihar from her luxurious home in Kerala. It was 1986, 21 years after she first put feet on her Karmbhoomi, that she realised her true calling- upliftment of Musahar community, the poorest, the most backward, and the most exploited community of the most backward state of the country. Same year, Ms Varghese started living in a hut in Musahar Tola (slums) in Jamsaut village of Patna district. Since then, she has been on a mission to empower Musahars, especially their women- socially, politically and most important economically. Ms Varghese introduced education to them in an innovative way with special focus on adolescent girls. She believes that these girls would be the prospective agents of change in their own family and community. Her educational program includes two Prerna schools and 97 alternative education centres. The former are residential schools for girls run with an aid from Bihar state government and the latter, bridge courses to lift educationally backward out of school Musahar children and make them ready to join regular schooling system. Till date, more than forty thousand children have been directly educated under these programs. Literacy was not the only thing that Musahars needed to learn. In 1980s, Musahar women did not know that rape and sexual oppression is a crime and it is not inevitable. It was so prevalent for centuries that they have accepted it as a part of life. Ms Varghese made them aware and encouraged them to seek justice. When state machinery and Police refused to take their cases, Ms Varghese introduced them to Gandhian ways of protest- Gherao and road blockade. When rarely any one turned up to represent these women, Ms Varghese took up law studies and as a lawyer represented hundreds of victims of caste atrocities in general and those of rape and sexual harassment in particular. Apart from this, she also runs homes for destitute women, rescue homes for trafficked girls and women and child protection helpline to rescue girl children from child marriages, human trafficking, child labour, etc. Through her initiatives like skill training programs with special emphasis on agricultural and allied activities and with help of state’s Jivika (SHG) program, she convinced more than five thousand women to leave traditional jobs of pig rearing and liquor making and to take up farming. Many of these women who started with leased land, have eventually earned enough to buy their own land and became among the first ever to own the land in the history of their community. This is not less than a mini revolution. Encouraged by her, many women took up non-conventional jobs like first women auto driver of Bihar, first all women music band of the state and first all women agri producer and marketing association, etc. Ms Varghese decided not to get married and to make her work her lifelong mission. Besides being a full-time social worker, she is a member of various committees of government at National, State and District level. She is also a part of many NGO networks for addressing issues related to Dalit, Women and Children. She is a member of National Commission for protection for Child Rights (NCPCR), National Dalit Human Rights campaign, National Dalit Women’s Forum, National alliance of Women, Executive committee member of Jeevika, and ex Vice -Chairperson of State Minority Commission of Bihar. Recognising her efforts and commitment, she was bestowed with prestigious Padma Shree award in 2006. From the press reports and media clippings it is apparent that she challenges the system and the society that perpetuate violence on women and girls, and the Dalits who are made victims of Caste and Gender Violence: Musahari, has been facing many problems like basic amenities, social security and to someextent oppression and exploitation by upper caste men. She brought this situation to the administration notice,which made them intervene to bring about positive change in their lives by providing them with basic amenities and land allotment etc to help them live their life with dignity and without fear. Her extraordinary efforts have garnered national and international recognition. In 2023, she was honored with the prestigious Jamnalal Bajaj Award, presented by the Honorable Chief Justice of India, D.Y. Chandrachud, for her outstanding work in rural development and social justice. This award highlights her relentless drive for development and welfare of women and children. In addition to the Jamnalal Bajaj Award, she has received numerous accolades, including the Padma Shri in 2006, the Godfrey Phillips Social Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Bihar Kesari Award in 2023. Her life’s work continues to inspire many across the country. In view of her sincere and strident efforts to bring about a change in the lives of the vulnerable and needy, Significant contribution of the person being nominated * 1. Educated more than forty thousand children through bridge courses and thousands of Musahargirls through Prerna Schools run by her NGO Nari Gunjan. 2. Organised Musahar women to raise voice against rape and sexual harassment, through hundreds of Gandhian protests. Took up law degree and pro bono represented hundreds of victims of caste atrocities in general and those of rape and sexual violence, in particular. 3. Organised skill training over the years and helped at least five thousand women start self-employment activities in agriculture and allied activities. 4. Housed hundreds of destitute women, and rescued trafficked women in her residential facilities. 5. Rescued thousands of children from child marriages, human trafficking, child labour, illegal detention and violence, through child helpline run by her NGO Nari Gunjan. 6. Promoted Sa Re Ga Ma- first and only all women music band in Bihar, first women driven auto rickshaw driver in Bihar. 7. Social empowerment through sports- Provided five hundred Musahar youth with sports equipment and training facility with an aim at channelising their energy away from antisocial and illegal activities like gambling, liquor making, brawls, etc. and to bring them into social mainstream. Around three hundred of these youth are being trained with the help of Indian Army for recruitment for Agniveer, Police and other jobs. The youth of the community which has been branded as anti-social and chased for centuries by state wanting to join it is nothing less than a revolution in itself. 8. Raised voice against injustice and atrocities committed against women, children, and socially weaker castes and tribes at various platforms- in individual capacity, through her NGO Nari Gunjan, as part of several district, state and national level government and non-government committees.