In this Issue... Editorial Workshop on Right of Girl

Child Other news of BISWA

ADVISORSPitabasa Sethi

Ajoy Ku. ShroffPramod K Patnaik

Bibhu Prasad MohantyPrasant Kumar SahuDr. Jharana Mishra

Ninu Nair

Central Office“BISWA”

At- Danipali, PO- BudharajaDist. Sambalpur, PIN-768004

Tele fax- +91-663-2533597Email:biswamalick@rediffmail.com,

kcmalick@biswa.org,www.biswa.org

State OfficesODISHA

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Chowk, Raipur (C.G.)MADHYA PRADESH

Gandhi Chowk, Near Samay Press,1st Floor, RCM Bazar, Sabji Mandi,

Shadol, Madhya Pradesh-484001

The LinkChief Editor

Debabrata MalickEditor

Pramod K PatnaikDTP

Govinda Ch. Tripathy

Our Source of InspirationSri K. C. Malick

Chairman, BISWA

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FORTNIGHTLYVolume-135 1st October 2010

Published by Debabrata Malick,Chief Editor. T he L i nk , at BISWA,Danipali, Budharaja, Sambalpur.PIN-768004 Ph.No. 0663-6451237,

Fax: 0663-2533597,Email: thelink@biswa.org

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Workshop on Right of Girl ChildOn 4th and 5th

September, a workshop wasorganized in BTI by StateSocial Welfare Board onRights of Girl Child where allthe Aided and UnaidedNGOs of Sambalpur districttook part. HonourableCollector of Sambalpur MrHemant Kumar Dash inaugurated theworkshop as the chief guest. Manyeminent speakers were invited asresource persons to deliver their talksin this workshop that dealt a vital issueof the present day scenario andparticularly as regards to the girls-themost neglected section in the maledominated society.

On the first day of the workshop,Dr Sadhu Charan Panda AssociateProfessor Community Medicine ofV.S.S. Medical College and HospitalBurla, Mrs. Geetanjali MahapatraCDPO Urban Sambalpur, Mrs JhanuSwain Programme Officer and seniorstaffs of district social welfare (DSW)section were present to address thegathering.

Inaugurating the workshop theDistrict Magistrate & Collector ofSambalpur Mr Hemanta Kumar Dashsaid that girls have equal role in thesociety like that of the boys. Theirnecessity for the family, for the societyand the country as a whole is more thanthat of the other sex. Hence, they mustbe given due care and importance

without waiting for the law. But whentheir rights would be violated, law willbe in place and there would be verystringent action from theadministration since they must enjoyequal privilege like that of the boys,the Collector said.

On the second day Prof. DeepakKumar Behera Head of the Department(HoD) of Anthropology and MSW ofSambalpur University, Prof (Dr)Rashmi Pramanik of Department ofAnthropology and Prof SamarendraMohanty Dept. of Sociology werepresent.

Another orientation programmealso was organized in BTI on 6thSeptember for Aided NGOs. Theworkshop was inaugurated by memberof State Social Welfare Board Mrs AratiPanda. The resource persons were Mrs.Tanmaya Pradhan C. A., Mr PrasantSahu DGM BISWA, Mr RaghunathMohapatra and Mr M Swamy. Theorientation programme was formallyclosed by the Collector of SambalpurMr Hemant Kumar Dash. Mr MSwamy proposed the vote of thanks toall participants.

Rural Marketing AwarenessTraining at Charmal

Laxmipriya Micro EnterprisesPvt. Ltd (LMPL) successfullyconducted a one day awarenessprogramme on Rural Marketing atCharmal Branch in Sambalpur districtrecent ly with sole object ive ofcreating awareness among theWomen self help groups (SHGs) forlivelihoods promotion through smallbusiness development.

25 SHG members participated inthe event including Branch Manager,Area Coordinator, CommunityOrganizers and prospective SHGVendors from Charmal branch areaunder ‘BISWA’ operation. MrSashwata Prusty Branch Manager of‘BISWA’ Charmal branch welcomedthe participants and introduced theprogramme objectives among them.Mr Ramesh Chandra Das, Manager-Faculty from Laxmipriya MicroEnterprises Pvt Ltd impartedprogramme deliveries on the thematicinputs on Laxmipriya's retail

marketing strategy through SHG Saleoutlets for livelihoods promotion ofthe rural weaker sections, role &responsibilities of the staff personnelinvolved in the marketing process,facilities from ITC/Laxmipriya MicroEnterprises Pvt Ltd for implementingsuch retail outlets in remote villagesand profit sharing methodology,discussion on circulated terms &conditions with agreement formalitiesto undertake the project, method ofhouseholds consumer survey andtheir commodity need analysis inprior to submitting indent and actionplan to start the business at the earliestetc. All the participants were made tolearn about the income generation andrural employment creation process aswell. They were provided all logisticsupports for participating in the event.The programme was concluded withvote of thanks proposed by Mr AshokKumar Dehury, Area Coordinator ofCharmal.

BISWA's Relief Operation at Koraputflood affected families of Gualivillage in Koraput district got thedirect benefit from BISWA's reliefoperation. ‘BISWA’, besides otherdaily needs, supplied Sarees, Lungiand Blankets to the villagers as theylost everything during the rain andflood.

It is obvious for the locals as wellas the villagers to appreciate the noblegesture of the organization. TheDistrict Administration also highlyacclaimed the charity of BISWA to the

Everyone is aware of the flashflood at Koraput last month due tothe depression in the Bay of Bengalcausing heavy rainfall. The resultbeing thousands of people of Koraputand also from most parts of SouthernOdisha had to suffer the pinch of thetorrent ial rain and many wererendered homeless.

To stand by the people during theircrisis, ‘BISWA’ at the request of thelocal administration came forwardand supplied things mostly in shapeof kind that they urgently needed. 75 Continued ... Pg.3

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EditorialMicro Finance delusion

There has been lot of hue and cry in the recent days

on Micro Finance and the organizations involved in this

social activity with the sole aim of poverty alleviation

from the country. Debates are on in various platforms if

Micro Finance is really doing any good for the society

and the beneficiaries under the scheme. The honourable

High Court of Andhra Pradesh also came hard on the

functioning of some organizations in this sector.

Government is also thinking of new regulations to put

in place for overcoming the hurdles and curb the

unwanted incidents happening that defeats the very aim

behind Micro Finance totally designed for financial

upliftment of the poor, neglected, marginalized and down

trodden mass.

But it is a matter of great concern that few

organizations are not sticking to the norms as fixed by

government or that of the Reserve Bank of India in this

regards. They even charge interest more than that of the

local money lenders or Mahajans. More interest apart,

the mode of loan collection is totally uncalled for. They

use every method to get back the loan that resulted in

many unpleasant situations in the recent days. Even a

lady in our state committed suicide for this reason only.

However, it is matter of pride for ‘BISWA’ that we

have always made a difference in this matter. Our

operation is totally different and we never come across

such happenings faced by or due to other.

When Government is going to regulate Micro Finance

with more stringent laws, we welcome it since we are

on the right track and will continue to be on it for all

time to come. With pride, we can say that we are

charging the lowest rate of interest all over the country.

Hence, time has come to segregate those who are playing

detrimental role in this novel scheme of poverty

eradication.

BISWA Extends Helping Handsto Heart Patient of Niali, Cuttack

One Mr Baman Das, S/o Bira Das of Dampadavillage in Niali Tehsil under Cuttck district appliedfor a financial help to the ‘BISWA’ head office. Heis unknown to us. In his application he wrote thathe was suffering from Cardiac ailments and thetreatment is totally expensive that he is unable tobear. He also enclosed all the medical prescriptionswith the application to justify his prayer.

Without hesitation and wastage of time, theChairman of ‘BISWA’ Mr. K. C. Malick sanctionedRs.5,000 in his favour and instructed the ADC atNiali to hand over the cheque to Mr Baman Das. Itwas found by our ADC that really he is a needyperson and suffering from the cardiac disease.

In a simple function at Niali, the ADCaccompanied by the other staffs handed over thecheque to Mr Das which he received gratefully.

In tearful eyes, Mr Das expressed his gratitudeto ‘BISWA’ and said that in this materialistic andselfish world still there exist some persons whorealize the problem of others and come to their help."When many known persons didn't help, anapplication to ‘BISWA’ enabled me to get the aboveamount which is of great value for me," Mr Dassaid.

Important personalities of Niali area includingthe local Sarapanch was present in this simplemeeting.

‘BISWA’ wishes Good Health and Speedyrecovery to Mr. Das.

Celebration of Earth Festivals under the Save My EarthAn organization 'EARTH'

based at Pattamundai underKendrapara district celebrated'EARTH FESTIVAL' for threedays in September at Pattamundaiand Aul block area wherevillagers, School teachers andstudents participated in goodnumbers. The main aim behindobserving the festival was how tosave the 'Mother Earth' from theman made hazards. Volunteers of'EARTH' also were present tomake common people andstudents who are the future of thenation aware of the dangers ahead.

EARTH is doing its Plantationactivities in full swing at differentplaces like road sides, openplaces and school premises. "Tocome down the brass-tacks; ourown staff, volunteers, students ofschools and colleges, locals andthe literati have come forwardto join hands with us," informEARTH office bearers. The

saplings and trees are protected bytree-guards (brick & iron). They arebeing watered regularly byvolunteers and even workers.EARTH has also with themspecialists to give advice andsuggestions. More still, theorganization is hard at work indeveloping green fingers among themass.

In Pattamundai Block, theplantat ions programme wasorganized in the campus of the SriAurobindo Purnanga Siskhashramaand various other places ofGovindpur village. There were nearabout 1350 or more saplings plantedfor making this programmesuccessful and give a green look tothe surroundings. The saplings areproperly protected with satisfactoryvisible growth, EARTH activistsinform.

In Aul Block, The Earth festivalwas organized at the Panchanparavillage of Sanamanga Gram

The members and volunteers ofthe 'EARTH' were delighted byorganizing the celebration of earthfestival under 'Save my Earth'campaign. " The campaign not onlygives opportunity for the protectionto the environment but also givesome knowledge to people ingeneral to protect themselves fromthe natural disasters," feel theorganizers.

"To begin the end, we needsupport , suggestion; help andcooperation from all to expand ouractivities, so that we shall never failin benchmarking in the avenue we arelooking for," appeal the EARTHmembers.

Panchayat. There were near about1000 saplings planted for making thiscampaign meaningful and successful.The support and cooperation of thevillagers towards this particularprogramme was quite overwhelming.

flood victims.It is always a policy of BISWA to

come to the rescue of the people whenthey are in need and once again wehave proved it in the non-descriptGuali village in Koraput district.

Continued from... Pg.4