Period of training = May, June July 2023

Dahwa is a tribal-dominated village, in which 95 percent of households belong to tribal families. The village is situated in the middle of a forest area without any transportation facility. It isn’t easy to travel outside the village after sunset because the forest is dark and unsafe. Most of the families in the community are engaged in subsistence agricultural practices, so real poverty can be seen in this village.

The general reply by the girls for their future education is that “they are not sure whether they would be able to pursue their education after 10th or not.” For some families, even passing the tenth standard by girls is not possible. The main reasons for not pursuing further education are poverty and language. The community speaks Santhali, but all the education is available in English or Hindi. So the basic disinterest starts from the language.

Most girls in Dahwa village aspire to become nurses as they have witnessed the pain and suffering of the elderly during illnesses and accidents. Unfortunately, there are no primary healthcare centres in the vicinity, and the nearest government hospital is located in Hazaribagh town, which is around 20 kilometres away from the village, across the dense forest area. During counselling activities, it was observed that counselling not just for students but also for parents and the community is essential. Therefore, counselling sessions were conducted at the village level in addition to the school and educational hub centre. During one such session, Manti’s house was found to be decorated with traditional paintings, and it was suggested that she pursue artistic work as her livelihood activity. She showed interest in stitching work, and both Manti and her elder sister Bahumuni underwent a three-month residential stitching training program at the Mission Hospital centre under the Kaushal Vikas Yojna/ Skill Development program by the Government of Jharkhand. After completing the training, both sisters are now proficient in stitching skills, and Bahumuni received a job placement in Tamil Nadu, where she worked for more than six months at a stitching company before returning to her village. They dream of purchasing a good tailoring machine to expand their business.

The government has various programs for rural development, but there is a significant communication gap. The government lacks an effective medium to convey information to the people in need, resulting in benefits not reaching the actual beneficiaries most of the time. In India, the rural scenario differs significantly from the urban settings, and therefore, career counselling must have a wide scope that suits the rural community girls, especially the tribal girls. In our counselling sessions, we provide information on the available local vacancies for 10th or 12th-pass candidates, particularly for girls. We also communicate job opportunities at the private level within the town of Hazaribagh.