Jamuna Mudi Sets Example By Stopping Her Own Marriage

Being Motivated by Nityananda Janavani’s programmes, Jamuna Mudi, a 13 years old girl of the village Mudidi of Purulia District set example stopping her own marriage. Jamuna is a student of Class VII of Puncha Madhyamik Sikshya Kendra whose father Bhishma Mudi arranged her marriage against her will. But after knowing this fact, Jamuna called the bridegroom’s family and conveyed her unwillingness boldly. Then on 13th of May, she fled from her house and took shelter at a centre for Shabar Children named “Nabadisha”.

In an interview with our correspondence Shyamali Banerjee, Jamuna said that she always wanted to study more and more and she was well aware of the fact that it was illegal to arrange any girl’s marriage who is under 18 years of age. She also said that, the awareness programmes of Nityananda Janavani, a Community Radio Station of this locality helped her to know all these facts about underage marriage.

It was an excellent success story of Nityananda Janavani, whose people are working whole heartedly to eradicate these kinds of social problems.

Creating Awareness About Hand Washing Through Community Radio Reporters

One of the key messages of the SBCC programme is “hand washing” (wash hands with soap before taking meals and after defecation). To spread this message, the reporters of Nityananda Janavani Community Radio of MANT have done an extra-ordinary job in sensitizing the school children along with the teachers of the schools located in the area of Puncha, Purulia. They have successfully used the SBCC as the tool to motivate and sensitize them to wash hands before eating and cooking and after using the bathroom or defecation. As a result of this, the head masters or the institutional heads have admitted that the children are washing their hands or plates regularly before having “mid-day meal” and they are quite adapted to this. Not only that, the students are also spreading this awareness among their parents or family members.

So this can be regarded as an achievement as not only the students, but even the Mid-Meal Workers also wash their hands now and this good habit has surely increased the disease prevention power among them about 90 percent.

EFFECT OF SENSITIZATION PROGRAMME ORGANISED BY MANT

After some sensitization programmes held with religious leaders of the Hindu, Muslim and Santhali Community, the positive was shown recently at Puncha block of Purulia when Purohits Sri. Sridhar Chattopadhyay and Sri. Basudev Mukhopadhyay declined to give marriage to a boy who was still 6 months younger to be 21. The Purohits said that they wanted to examine the Birth Certificates of both the bride and groom and when they found that the boy was still not eligible for marriage, they refused to get them married.

Manbhum Ananda Ashram Nityananda Trust (MANT) organised some intensive sensitization programmes with the religious leaders where they were made understand why they would stand against the Under Age Marriage. The District Administration of Purulia is very elated about this fact and they had said that even they were encouraged from the incidents like this.