Background
- Dindayal Bhuuddeshiya Prasarak Mandal (DBPM) is a registered voluntary organization from Yavatmal district (Maharashtra, India) working for the most neglected strata of the society viz. Paradhis (N.T.) & Suicide hit families of farmers.
- Since its establishment in 1997, DBPM has focused attention on Paradhis, a Nomadic Tribe (NT). Paradhis are mainly from Rajasthan, also widely spread in other states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The community having a long history of bravery carries a stigma of being “criminal” only because of its role in the freedom struggle of 1857. Traditionally the community was involved in hunting and working as soldiers or body guards for their kings. The victorious Britishers, realizing the threat to their empire from them, stamped the community as “criminal” and put them in the settlements under close watch. The plight of the community is such that even after independence till today the community hasn’t come out of this stigma. The socio-political negligence towards the community is of such a height that it’s away from the basic minimum necessities like ration card or any other record to prove that they belong to this country. DBPM has been involved in integrated development of this downtrodden and most neglected stratum of the society.
- Yavatmal, a district from Vidarbha-Maharashtra, has recorded highest number of suicides of farmers in recent years. Despite various packages and promotional programs to encourage the farmers for farming, this number is increasing alarmingly every year. There is an urgent need of planned efforts to reestablish the lost confidence of farming in the inner minds of these marginal farmers. Realising the fact, DBPM has been working with the farmers of Yavatmal district on various issues of agriculture through its project viz. “Shetkari Vikas Prakalp” (Farmers’ Development Project).
