Name of Fellow: Satya Mahar
Genre: Social and Economic Justice
Area of Work: Khandvamali, Bhawanipattanam, Kalahandi district in Odisha
Satya Mahar is a tribal rights activist from Kalahandi district of Odisha.
He used to go to tribal villages in the district from his home at the district headquarters in Bhawanipatna from an early age in 1995-1996. During his visits to the tribal villages, he saw the tribal way of life and how they were part of the nature and depended on the forests and hills for their livelihood. This experience brought him close to the tribals.
As a social worker, Satya is working on health issues of Adivasis in the district. He is organizing discussion groups, public meetings to educate the women and girls about health related issues and also mobilizing the gram sabhas discuss necessary hygienic practices among the women and adolescent girls.
Influenced by the plight of the tribals and constant threat of losing livelihoods, Satya is also engaging with tribal youths to make them educated so that they can have alternative livelihood options as well. In this effort, he is developing tribal groups to promote education in their villages. The gram sabhas is also involved towards the promotion of education among the youths.
As the tribals are dependent on ecology and if the ecological system is disturbed, that force the Adivasis to change their way of life, Satya is promoting awareness among the tribals about ecological issues, and environmental issues.
Earlier, he used to work was for mundane necessities of the tribals. He used to take up the issues of tube well installation, taking up the issues of ration cards with local authorities etc. But his experience while coming in contact with other social workers of Odisha, he shifted his focus to education of the tribals, and their health, and strengthening the gram sabhas, capacity building of community members on various tribal related laws.
Satya has started a peoples’ forum in the district through which he organizes the tribals of the region and aware them about their rights ensured in the Fifth Schedule, Forest Rights Act 2006, PESA act 1996, importance and role of gram sabha in local governance.
Devoting his career to the rights of tribals, Satya Mahar remains committed to organize the tribals to lead peoples’ movement for ensuring the rights of Adivasis, preserve their ecosystem and also get them their land rights as provided in the provisions of the Constitution.
In this effort, Satya intends to form a “Samvidhan Mitra Mandali” in the Kalahandi. The young tribals will be extensively trained about the values of the Constitution to make leaders from their village in taking forward the concepts of justice, equality, fraternity, and freedom to their respective areas. These empowered tribals will raise their own issues in context to Constitutional values.