Shelter and Livelihood Recovery Projects for the Earthquake Displaced and Migrant Salt-Workers in Gujarat (2001 - 2004)
Following the 2001 earthquake in Gujarat, IOM embarked on a shelter and livelihood programme which targeted migrant workers traditionally employed in the salt pans that line the bleak desert coast of Kutch in Gujarat.
The programme, funded by the British Department for International Development (DFID) was implemented in close cooperation with three local NGOs – Gram Swaraj Sangh, Samerth Charitable Trust and SETU and with the Indian Council of Architecture. By actively involving the beneficiaries in the construction process and by ensuring constant on-site vigilance by the Village Advisory Committees, the project was able to set up 2408 semi-permanent shelters in 45 villages in Kutch and Jamnagar districts, 2 community centres (which are serving as schools and meeting places) in Mandiviya Vandh and Jodhparvandh villages, a 12-bedded semi-permanent centre for paraplegics in Anjar town and 4 underground water storage tanks by March 2002.
The second phase of the project, supported by the European Commission, focused on recovering the livelihoods and rebuilding the lives of 2000 earthquake affected and migrant salt workers and their families through: community organization, skill enhancement, improvement of working conditions, provision of training and awareness creation.
The project was implemented at both the points of origin and destination of the migrant salt workers. Migrant salt workers living in 97 villages spread across 7 Talukas of Anjar, Bachau, Mundra (Kutch), Rapar (Kutch) Maliya (Rajkot) and Jodiya (Jamnagar), Rajula (Amreli) and working in 21 saltpan sites in the project area benefited through: construction of shelters and shaded rest areas, extension of micro-credit assistance, provision of vocational training, distribution of safety health kits and extension of health education and training with specific focus on women and children.
With the cooperation of the partner NGOs, the salt industry and the government, the project:
- Constructed 860 seismic resistant
permanent shelters and 15 shaded rest areas close to the
saltpans under the technical supervision of the Centre
for Environmental Planning and Technology, Ahmedabad.
These shelters have provided migrant salt worker families,
who usually live for up to eight months a year near the
saltpans in makeshift huts, with a secure place to stay.
This has also led to an improvement in their living conditions
and productivity, enabling them to earn more. The shaded
rest areas/community centres have not only been used by
workers for rest periods, but also for meetings and other
activities. NGOs working in the area have been able to
use these locations to set up crèches, play centres
and educational activities for children, who would otherwise
have to accompany their parents to work.
- Motivated the saltpan owners/leaseholders
of Anjar Taluka to form a “Salt Workers’ Welfare
Association. The members of this association created a
welfare fund with an initial contribution of about INR
390,000 (EUR 7,235). The Association has already initiated
various activities focusing on emergency/disaster response,
health and education for the children of the migrant salt
workers
- Extended vocational training to 538
salt workers focusing on alternative livelihood options,
56% of them being women
This training, in trades including carpentry, masonry,
welding, diesel mechanics, electrical engineering, dyeing,
tailoring and beauty parlour skills, has provided new
skills that has enabled migrant labourers to find alternative
job opportunities. Learning new skills has also helped
them to negotiate better terms and conditions from employers
or contractors. This training was conducted in collaboration
with agencies including ICECD, Ahmedabad; CSMCRI, Bhavnagar
(salt production & quality enhancement); and through
local trainers. Micro-credit assistance has also been
extended to people seeking self employment.
- Extended micro-credit to 1,683 migrant workers and their family members for supplementary income generation activities
Micro-finance assistance to the tune of INR 1.18 crores (EUR 219,000) has been disbursed to the migrant workers, to enable them to earn supplementary income during the wet season, when salt collection is impossible. With a primary focus on women (69% beneficiaries are women), self-help groups were formed in 97 project villages with the support of NGO partner staff. The beneficiaries were given advice in identifying economically viable enterprises including small shops, fishing, animal husbandry, diesel engine repair and flour milling. This process helped the beneficiaries to create their own assets, and brought the migrant workers together to regularly interact on issues affecting their livelihoods.
- Facilitated the establishment of
an institution called “Migrant Workers Development
Trust” for ensuring the sustainability of development
aspects necessary for the well-being of migrant workers
in the state of Gujarat and for acting as the custodian
of the revolving fund
- Distributed 4,250 safety gears to
the migrant salt workers to reduce their occupational
health hazards and facilitated the training of 1,132 women
health volunteers and 913 children on preventive aspects
of health and hygiene
With technical support from CHETNA, IOM trained 1,132
women from migrant salt worker families in preventive
health and hygiene, to work as health motivators / educators
in the community. 913 children were also selected and
trained as child-to-child health promoters in the community.
A group of 29 selected women volunteers were also given
specialized training as Trained Birth Attendants. These
volunteers play an important role in the saltpans, where
there are not even basic health facilities. The project,
which emphasized building the capacity of local NGO staff
to serve as community trainers, also provided 4,250 salt
worker families with safe work kits containing rubber
boots, sunglasses and gloves to protect them from the
corrosive salt and glare of the sun in the white saltpans.
Awareness camps on how to use the safety kits and how
to avoid other occupational health hazards were conducted
with the support of the National Institute of Occupational
Health (NIOH) and partner NGOs.
- Created a social impact by bringing about improvements in the knowledge, attitudes and practices of the migrant salt workers on their living and working conditions
All the four major components of the project namely shelter construction, vocational training, micro-credit and health have replicable characteristics. Any agency interested to work with the migrant salt workers can either replicate any of the project components as a stand-alone programme or can implement it as an integrated program. Sustainability of the project has been assured through the aspects of Capacity building, Institution building and Replicability inbuilt in the project interventions. The Government thorough the Department of Industries has already launched a special housing scheme for salt workers. Examining the feasibility of this initiative, the salt department has asked its implementing partners to construct the houses in the saltpan as opposed to initial plans of construction in source villages. They have also collected the shelter design from IOM and have asked the implementers to adopt the design.
The project has created enormous amount of impact on the life of the migrant salt workers in the operational area. The group formation and institutional development at the village level has not only contributed to the leadership development and confidence building among the beneficiaries but also has created a platform for regular interaction and problem solving abilities among the community. The vocational training and micro-credit components have contributed to a substantial and regular income to the beneficiaries. Some of them have come out of the continued debt bondage from the salt pan owners while many of them have created either household or productive assets of their own. Thus there are many instances of the upward socio-economic mobility of the migrant workers in this region.
In course of the project implementation process, IOM sensitized its partner organizations on the issues affecting the salt migrant workers and also on the need for civil society intervention to protect their interest. IOM was instrumental in building the capacity of the partner organizations and their staff members through different training programmes, meetings and reflection. The vulnerable salt-migrant community, which was earlier left out of development interventions, has now become a FOCUS GROUP for many NGOs.
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