DIBRUGARH, June 5 � Tea Garden Development Committees formed by the Seva Kendra, a non-governmental organisation, are proving to be a catalyst of change in the tea gardens as the committees have forced shutdown of at least five liquor shops in the Korangani tea estate in Tingkhong block.
In Moran tea estate, at Tikorai subdivision under Khowang block, the committee members and the youth club re-enrolled twelve children who were school dropouts.
The Seva Kendra is working in the district with the help of the UNICEF and district administration on the project �Social Behaviour Change Communication� (SBCC) to raise the living standard of the tea and ex-tea garden people. The main objective of committee formation is to support, follow up and monitor the SBCC activities, undertaken by the Seva Kendra to improve the behaviour of the community and thus make the behaviour sustainable.
The NGO is implementing awareness programmes on health and hygiene, about hand washing with soap before meal and after defection in order to reduce diarrheal disease, exclusive breastfeeding for physical and mental growth of the new born child, mass awareness campaign on girl child education to make the community realise that whether it is a boy child or girl child importance must be given to both, in all phases of their development process, HIV/AIDS awareness among the youths of tea and ex-tea gardens to help them to know the drawbacks of such dangerous dieseses that only lead to death.
The Seva Kendra has formed altogether thirty tea garden development committees in tea gardens and in villages inhabited by the ex tea garden community in three different blocks. For the formation of the committees, the NGO had involved prominent people of the community such as welfare officers, workers� union leaders and their active members, SHGs member, local teachers, ANMs, ASHA workers, local leaders, active members of the student unions and volunteers and members of community-based organisations, a release stated.
