Attendees :
Ankur, Gaurav, Savitha, Arvind Rao, Ashwini, Arun, Charanya, Sais,
Sandhya , Ganesh, Santhosh, Anuja and Arshia
Pragnalaya :
* Introduction to Pragnalaya.
* 1500 per teacher , 19-20 teachers. 150 children. Good ratio.
* Ankur needs to put a proposal and budget with details of teachers salary.
* Questions
* Is there a limit on the number of childrens that they want to take in
* Action Items
Conference call with pragnalaya would be good. In the next 7 to 10
days
Bharathi Trust efforts and Siddamma's work :
Fellowship and Resource Center -
http://www.ashanet.org/austin
Project Freedom - http://www.ashanet.org/projects
Tsunami Relief and Rehabilitation -
http://www.ashanet.org/projects
-Background on Bharathi Trust and Siddamma fellowship by Savitha and Santhosh
-Quarry work in Balasamudram disctrict in Chittur, AP
.Siddamma noticed some quarry work in the hills near resource center
.Lands donated by AP govt to SC/ST Irula people
.Boulder rolled down the hills onto the land, could have been potentially fatal
.Quarry owner denies this happening, even though Siddamma recorded it
on her phone camera
.Sidamma trying to raise awareness in the local community, find if
the quarry is legal or not, filing an RTI application to find such
data
.Asha Austin also planing to file an RTI for the same
.Farmers need to level the land, need electricity for farming
.AP govt provides commercial electricity connections to farmers at a
subsidised rate of Rs.6000 per family
.Sidamma trying to raise these funds for 8 families. Total
need=8x6000=Rs 48,000
.Asst. Engineer who can set up these connections is only in power
till March, so Siddamma trying to get this work done by then.
.Sidamma was wondering if this could be taken up as a proposal with
Austin.Right now, Siddamma is funding this through her own funds from
other sources
.Asst. engineer estimated 16 poles per connection, instruments for
wiring etc, giving a total estimate of roughly Rs.6000
-Bharathi Nagar Updates
.29th of Nov, all permanent houses were completed and house warming
ceremonies were held.
.Families happy with Diwali celebration
.Local collector has offered to help with getting ration cards set
up, have roads constructed, etc.
-Project Freedom updates
.Asha Madison has agreed to support financially
.Problem with livelihood
.Possible options are to use the resource center itself to see if
some people can be involved in agriculture
.Brick Kiln
.Siddamma to have a call later to discuss specifics
-SEZ and Resource Center
.Lady offered to sell her land for a lower cost to Siddamma (Rs.6
lacs for 5-6 acres), but Siddamma could not since she did not have
enough funds
.A broker for a leather company has offered a higher price for the
land which might get SEZ benefits
.No official rehabilitation/compensation provisions if govt. decides
to acquire the land for a 'public purpose'
.Fellowship conference coming up at the Resource Center
.Ashok trying to get a BSNL internet connection for the resource center
-Tsunami affected areas
.Action Aid funds stop 15th Dec, Siddamma trying to finish 24 houses
(7 Asha-supported) with these funds by the 15th
.Someone has volunteered to set up computer connections in 3 of the EMCs
.Detroit-based ACN TV station recognized Siddamma's 'Modern day heros
to end slavery' award and will be aired in a 6-7 min segment
Questions:
.What was the situation before this i.e. before they got the land?
Out of the 10 families, 3 of them were quarry workers, 2 were farmers
in the neighboring region. Basically none of them were living off the
land before this.
Concerns:
.Probably not feasible as a loan since Siddamma said it'll take at
least a couple of years for them to start making profits
.May be difficult to follow up with different aspects of Siddamma's work
Things to follow up with Siddamma:
.Try to get some photos
.Arrange for conference call