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Keywords
Rural, Tribal, Adivasis, disaster management, community
Geographical Location
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
Languages
Telugu, English
Objective/Mission/Goals
SAKTI (Search for Action and Knowledge for Tribal Initiative) has been working to protect the forests and the tribal people in Andhra Pradesh for over 15 years. Based in Hyderabad, SAKTI operates in the East and West Godavari districts and the Nallamalai hills near Srisailam. Both areas have rich forest lands and are home to several tribal communities like the Koyas, the Kondareddies, the Valmikis and the Chenchus (The East and West Godavari tribals are well known for their uprising against the British Empire in the early 20th century). SAKTI is headed by Dr. Sivaramkrishna, a school teacher turned cultural anthropologist turned social activist.
Work Description
One of the first issues addressed by SAKTI was tribal land rights. A notion alien to the tribals, property rights was introduced to the tribals by the British. Early in the 20th century, the British Administration assigned land to individual tribals. But over time, land was stolen from the tribals by conniving non-tribals and corrupt government officials. One of the biggest obstacles the tribals face when fighting for their rights is their lack of understanding of the judicial system and the administrative machinery. To overcome this barrier, SAKTI volunteers not only taught the tribals to read and interpret land records but also trained them to handle legal issues themselves.
In 1984 SAKTI won a public litigation case against the Godavari Plywood factory, an industry that was threatening the livelihood of the tribal people by cutting mango and jackfruit trees in the tribal forests. While Sunderlal Bahuguna and Chandni Prasad Bhat were advocating tree hugging to protect the trees in the north, and while the naxalites in A.P were taking extremist measures to fight for the rights of the poor, SAKTI had adopted an entirely different approach using the democratic machinery and judicial system to fight for tribal rights and the environment. Since then SAKTI has filed numerous other public litigation cases against development projects that threaten the environment and the survival of the tribal people. SAKTI is, educating school children on disaster mitigation measure. This effort is going a long way in sustaining the program and in the capacity building of the community in disaster preparedness.
"School Children informed us of their knowledge about disaster preparedness due to the disaster preparedness training introduced in their schools. Among all the other CAP partners, this is a unique program initiated only by Sakti in India. The curriculum includes topics such as: causes of disasters both natural and man made; flood, cyclones, earthquake; importance of environment protection to reduce natural disaster; Importance of preparing contingency plan and task force groups; government accountability and action taken pre-disaster, namely warning people, shifting people to a safe place, storing food grains, kerosene, water etc. and identifying the most vulnerable groups such as children and the aged, and shifting them in the safe place first. About four hundred children from various schools have already undergone such training." - Review report of Oxfam, Hyderabad 20-25, Nov 2002
Contact Information
Dr. P Sivaramakrishna
SAKTI
305, 1st Block, Janapriya Abodes
New Bakaram, (near Gandhinagar)
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh 500080
Phone: (040) 5561 4787