Paku Murmu is a member of the Suraj Baha Swam Sahayat Samuha self-help group in Nowadi village in Dumka. Paku is a marginal farmer, with two children aged eight and six, and her family depend on agriculture for their livelihood.
She is also the village ‘Sahiya’ (community level health worker), responsible for supporting people to access local health services, particularly those relating to reproductive and child health. This is a serious problem in Jharkhand, where the maternal mortality ratio is 219 per 100,000 live births, compared with 178 for the whole of India.
Before joining the group, Paku was passionate about supporting pregnant women, but unclear about her role as a health outreach worker. Through the group, she has participated in training and awareness raising activities to enhance her understanding of her role. During the training, she learnt about the importance of institutional delivery in reducing maternal and child mortality, and also about Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), a government scheme to support rural women to give birth in hospital.
Over the past six months, Paku has worked closely with the local Auxiliary Nurse Midwife and Angandwadi worker to support four pregnant women through the final stages of their pregnancies. She helped them to access the JSY scheme, and arranged for the ‘Mamta Vahan’ (a government vehicle acting as a free ambulance) to provide free transport for the women to Ramgarh block hospital. With her support, all four of the mothers delivered their babies safely.
Paku has gained confidence in her ability to support other women and is now working to raise awareness among all of the women in her community of the importance of giving birth in hospital.
Tribal widow Naimi rebuilds her life by claiming pension and housing support for herself and sponsorship allowance for two of her vulnerable children Naimi Burh aged about 29 is a widow and belongs to the Scheduled Tribes (ST). She along with her four children – one daughter and three sons live in Loaram village(…)
