SECURE has retained its identity as a grass root level organization beginning, as it did in 1994 (When it was registered), with all sorts of good work: running non formal schools for out-of-school children, sports activities for the rural youths, setting up library for the general public, raising herbal garden to preserve indigenous plants, free medical service through a homoeopathic dispensary, environmental awareness under NEAC, cultural programs to promote tribal theatre and helping the farmers and forest gatherers in earning remunerative prices for their produces etc. the organization moved through all these years building the credibility base in two underdeveloped blocks- Kaptipada and Gopabandh Nagar. Unlike its diverse approach in the past SECURE has recently adopted a clearer strategy of group-based activities in order to strengthen the livelihood of the targeted people and protect the environment for a long-term sustainable development.
Working mostly with scheduled tribes and scheduled castes in two blocks, the organization has expanded from a small number of Self-Help Groups in 2001 to 516 SHGs at present, with a total membership of 6000 women. It has received recognition from government as well as nongovernment agencies and made its presence visible in Mayurbhanj district with an animal rearing project running with support from Heifer Project International and GALVmed and the ongoing NABARD supported activities largely for the empowerment of women and farming families.
Age-old occupation gets a boost with modern know-how
From the time immemorial tribal and other rural households keep cows, goats, pigs, sheep and fowls to meet such needs as milk, meat and emergency cash. They have been rearing these animals as per their individual capacity and in the traditional ways. But this age-old practice as a supplementary economic activity offered a fertile ground for SECURE to develop it into a core strategy to fight poverty among the poor with the help of two aid agencies: Heifer International and GALVmed. Under their well-planned Mayurbhanj Socioeconomic (MSED) project SECURE has mobilized its huge force of 165 Self-Help Groups with a strength of 2046 women members in Kaptipada Block to undertake rearing of goats and native breed of chickens in a more efficient manner.
Programme activities aimed at social development as well as financial freedom of the beneficiaries include the following activities:
Started since 2015 the activities have made satisfactory progress during the year 2016-17, as shown in the table. One remarkable development is the formation of a Producers’ Association, the registration of which as a Company is on the way. With all 2046 families as its members, the company will be a platform for sale of all kinds of farm produces including the animals. The project attaches utmost importance to group-based development process and an inbuilt element of virtue. The beneficiaries are encouraged to fight poverty together and to extend a helping hand to a poor family to get out of its helplessness. The value of an original group gifting she-goats to those individuals or groups without any animal as seed capital is promoted in intra-group and intergroup transactions. The original groups (OG) through this passing-on-gifts practice create POG (Passing on groups). The practice is not limited only to passing on goats; it also includes poultry , sharing of concept, training and experience gained from the project activities and the benefits of vaccination etc., with the new groups. The programmes now continue with33 OGs and 132 POGs. The numbers of goats and fowls with the beneficiaries have increased, nutrition intake of the families has improved, and sale of grown-up he-goats has also gone up.The sale is now conducted through the informally working Producers’ Association which makes arrangement for the meat sellers from towns (Udala) to come and buy goats from the farmers on the basis of weight of the live goats and at an agreed rate. The present rate stands at Rs. 220/ per Kilo.Vaccination reduces the mortality and morbidity of the animals and birds and protects them from diseases like PPR (Peste-des-petits) which is usually suffered by goats. Vaccination is administered once in three months by 30 trained volunteers spread over the project area. Each of the vaccinators has been supplied with a toolbox and a kit to render their service for a small charge of Rs. 2/ per head.