With the help of PACS Programme CSO, Mahila Samiti, the women used the right to information (RTI) to get relevant information to press for their demands.

The long-drawn-out struggle began in February 2006 when women belonging to three self-help groups in Ramgarh, formed by Mahila Samiti under the PACS Programme, called a meeting to discuss the village’s water problem.

At the meeting it was pointed that there was water in one of the village wells, but that the well had to be deepened and a parapet built around it to ensure that the water remained clean and that there were no accidents.

The women decided to ask the men of the village to attend a meeting the following day, to discuss how the task could be undertaken.

The next morning, the men joined the meeting and volunteered to help deepen the well.

A sum of Rs 200 was collected from each family and the digging began. However, work had to be discontinued in April when, after digging up to 20 feet, they struck solid rock.

Paan Bai recalls: “This took us by surprise. We did not have the money to call for a machine. So we just gave up.”

The women then made their way to the Mahila Samiti office in Chhattarpur, and it was decided to use the RTI Act to get information on the availability of funds from the district panchayat.

One of the women, Benni Bai Ahirwar, says: “We got a right to information form and, with the help of some Mahila Samiti field workers, we filled it up and demanded information about heads under which this work of digging the well could be undertaken.”

Their efforts paid off. The official response to the application revealed that the women could apply for a grant under a state government scheme known as Jan Bhagidari. Under this scheme, the government provides 50% of funding for small development works; the people contribute the rest.

The women took the matter up with Mahila Samiti programme coordinator Bindesh Pandey in Chhattarpur and the CEO of the district panchayat.

An inspection team arrived in Ramgarh to review the work. They told the women that since they had already contributed labour and had spent an estimated Rs 50,000 on digging the well, they were eligible for funds under the Jan Bhagidari scheme from the district panchayat. The well was now to be a 50-foot-deep one. The total cost would be over Rs 1 lakh, and the government would provide the required additional sum of Rs 50,000.

Mahila Samiti helped the women submit the required documents for the sanction of funds. The CSO also advised the CEO of the district panchayat to contract the women to complete the work.

The district panchayat was ready to approve the proposal. But approval from the village’s woman sarpanch was required, and it was not forthcoming. The sarpanch’s husband, Ram Kishore Mishra, told the women flatly that he would get the work done by the panchayat. Angry words followed. Neither side was ready to compromise, and the project was stalled.

The women then began frequenting the collectorate. They were given assurances, an engineer visited the site, an estimate of Rs 110,000 was drawn up, but things simply did not move on the ground.

Paan Bai Ahirwar recalls that in their frequent visits to the district panchayat, they often met the sarpanch’s husband. “Once he asked us what we were doing there. I replied, ‘Do I ask you why you are here?’. I told him, you are here for work and so am I!”

Finally, after submitting several petitions to the collectorate, the women, accompanied by Mahila Samiti workers, met district collector Ajatshatru Shrivastava in October 2006 to vent their frustration.

The collector issued instructions to the panchayat officer to study the case and take immediate action.

An official order was issued on February 10, 2007, stating that the district panchayat would make Rs 48,000 available.

Meanwhile, the sarpanch’s husband remained adamant. He told the women that only Rs 47,000 would be made available for the work, and it would be done by the panchayat, not the women. (The sarpanch’s obstinacy could be linked to informal system ‘cuts’ on all works undertaken through panchayat funds.)

Although the women of Ramgarh have lost part of the battle, they have not given up. Says Mahila Samiti field worker Ramrati: “The women SHG groups in Ramgarh will keep an eye on the work being done at the well.”

Work on the well was expected to start by the end of April 2007 and be completed by June 2007. When full, the well is expected to meet the needs of 50 families through the year

(This story is based on inputs sent by Write Solutions, the PACS Programme’s communications agency for Madhya Pradesh)