On a regular day in Bihar, Seema Kumari was immersing herself in routine household chores when her father unexpectedly asked her to get ready in anticipation of visitors. Ignoring the reason, she quickly got ready and was then instructed to greet the arriving family.
Seema was shocked when the conversation between the two families turned to marriage rituals. At the tender age of 17, she found herself in an unexpected situation. The memory of his elder sister, who got married at a young age even after studying 6th standard, was hurrying.
“I didn’t know my marriage was going to be fixed. After the family left, I protested to my father saying I didn’t want to get married. My father asked me, ‘Then what are you going to do?’,” she recalls in a conversation with Seema. Uttam India.
Within Bihar, 40.8 percent of women, representing four out of every 10, enter into marriage before reaching the legally mandated age of 18. Out of 38 districts in the state, 12 districts have crossed the average prevalence of child marriage. Notably, Seema’s hometown Jamui is one such district along with Supaul, Purnia, Saharsa and Begusarai.
Child marriage is linked to extreme poverty and girls are often forced into marriage due to lack of education and awareness. But that day Seema managed to get out of this cycle. “I told my father that I wanted to become an ANM (assistant nurse midwife). Fortunately, he decided to support me and talks of my marriage were put on hold,” says a 22-year-old student in her second year at RB Chandra Para Medical Nursing College, Jamui.
“If I had not spoken up, I would have been forced into marriage like other girls in the village. They marry young, become mothers early, and suffer health problems as they grow weaker. Today I feel empowered; All this has been made possible by the efforts of doctor sir. His guidance inspired me to study,” she says.
For the past two decades, Dr Shankar Nath Jha, a pediatrician by profession, has been volunteering to help children like Seema use education as a tool for empowerment. Like Seema, he has helped 407 children of Musahar community in the district to break the bonds of child marriage and labour.
Due to her efforts, today Seema is able to raise Rs 1.5 lakh for her college and is teaching around 30 children of her community in the village. Chaupal.
Socially marginalized, the Musahar community is situated at the bottom of India’s caste system. in Mushar Bhojpuri Literally means “rat eaters”. They were often forced to subsist on a diet of rats. Their former main occupation was rat killing, but now they mostly work in agriculture and working in brick kilns.
The community resides in some districts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and eastern Uttar Pradesh. According to the 2011 census, there are at least 2.5 lakh Mushars in Bihar.
Dr. Jha, who has been in medical service for the past 40 years, often brought patients from the Musahar community to his clinic. Explaining their socio-economic situation, he says, ‘Their children are malnourished. Even if their children died, they would not shed tears (because the death rate was high and they often drowned emotionally). I would see thin young women with babies in their arms. It will be very heartbreaking to see,” the 70-year-old explains Uttam India.
“I often think that if they graduate or at least learn to read and write, their lives could be better. But there is a lack of awareness in the society. They live in unsanitary conditions and engage in child labour. Let alone girls, we won’t even find boys who have passed class 10th. I wanted to work for these kids,” he says.
According to Mushar: A Socio-Economic Study The AN Sinha Institute of Social Studies in Patna, with the help of the National Human Rights Commission, found that education among members of this community was almost nil, with a literacy rate of only six percent. “Government’s development programs have not reached them,” the study stated.
“Even the political parties show no interest in working for them. They get free votes the rooster (chicken) and daru (alcohol). In schools they were ostracized and not allowed to live with others,” explains Dr Jha.
Treat the root cause
In an effort to help these children, Dr. Jha started going to the slums of the Musahar community living in the Dalit slums of the district. He decided to teach the children but found it difficult to stay in the place after noon.
“Men go after 2 o’clock in the afternoon after drinking and lazing about. Convincing them to send their children to study was a challenge. My only advantage was that people knew me and respected me because of my profession. No one objected when we started teaching the children,’ he adds.
Along with Makeshwar, the founder of a non-profit social service institute, Dr Jha began using some of his earnings and stopped visiting the community for a while. Gradually, he hired some teachers from his own pocket to teach the children and engaged them in sports, dance and debate programs.
“We have focused on sanitation, education and employment. We started taking donations from individuals and friends to distribute food items, clothes, books etc. Seeing this, more and more children were motivated to join the class. These were all small steps, but the results were huge,” says Dr Jha, who is also a senior consultant at the non-profit.
Today, around 5,000 children belong to 85 centers (called Community Culture Education Centers) where 82 volunteers teach the children basic education so that they can be at par with their peers in school. Around 5,000 children have been enrolled in schools since the initiative started in 2007. Currently, around 3,000 children are studying in the centers in Jamui.
“Once they are educated, they will be able to come out of a life of hardship. If you read it, all the diseases will be gone (Educating the children will get rid of all the hardships of poverty). Communities who do not understand the importance of education have now completed their master’s degrees. As a secondary benefit, girls have started resisting early marriage, children have started leaving labor jobs and entering the mainstream,” he says.
For his work, Dr Jha was awarded Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Shiksha Puraskar, Bihar’s highest award in the field of education, by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in 2021.
“I grew up playing with children of different castes or communities. My parents have always taught me to get along with all communities. It feels satisfying to do something for the (Mushar) community, although I never thought it would have such a big impact. After receiving the award, I got more recognition and support from my friends even from abroad. I will continue this work for the rest of my life,’ he said.
(Edited by Pranita Bhat; All photos courtesy: Makeshwar, Institute of Total Services)