The film highlights the experiences of various Soliga mothers of BR Hills and its surrounding settlements, captured through a participatory research carried out by Dr. Tanya Seshadri and Dr. NS Prashanth. The narrators of the 30 minute documentary include Madevi (a community activist) who recollects her childbirth experiences and Tara (a young pregnant Soliga woman) who is traversing the government healthcare system as the film unfolds.
BRT or Biligiriranganatha Temple is a recently declared Tiger Reserve (Dec 2010) in the southern Karnataka district of Chamarajanagar. UNDP’s Human development index ranks it 25th among the 27 districts. The district has a high population of indigenous communities. ST’s comprise of 12% of the districts’ population and 28,907 of these are indigenous communities (the focus of the study).
Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra (VGKK) has played a tremendous role in the empowerment of Soligas in the region for the past 30 years. They also provide a fully functional tribal hospital providing free healthcare. Their mobile Medical Unit is still relied upon by most villagers as the only way to get to the nearest public hospital in case of emergencies.
Dr.Tanya Seshadri and Dr. N S Prashanth are the co-investigators of a yearlong research titled “Implementation research with indigenous communities in southern India for local action on improving maternal health services.”
This study is providing a unique platform for the National Health Mission (NHM) schemes to be contextualized for Chamarajanagar districts’ Soliga population, with a focus on maternal health. Although NHM has brought financial resources and decentralised health planning to the district level, it does not cater to the specific needs of the marginalized communities who need it the most.
NHM has been implemented in a very ‘top-down’ manner without considering the socio-political context of various districts. The indigenous women do not utilize various services provided under the Reproductive and Child Health programme of NHM. The study proposes to facilitate a dialogue between the various stakeholders for health services in the district level to come up with innovative solutions tailored to the community’s needs.
The wide gap between the needs of the community and the government’s response are the focus of the film. I hope that audiences will understand the challenges faced by the community and the public health workers in such regions across the country.
Most solutions to the healthcare crisis seem fairly logical but cannot be implemented and/or sustained here for a variety of reasons. These reasons must be heard through the voices of the people on the ground.
The Soligas are unique in the way they have historically organized themselves and succeeded in their rights over the forest lands (since the past decade). This reflects in the way they live and their desire to be a part of the ‘mainland’ schemes, albeit at their own pace. This film would moves away from the ‘imagined indigenous man/woman’ and talks about their needs and aspirations today.
The film showcases not only some of their very last economic activities, which still depend on forests, but also their latest ventures and future plans. From lichen collection to working as small coffee plantation owners and migrant labourers, the Soliga’s seem to be at a cusp. They made history in 2011 by winning land rights in BR Hills through the FRA (Forest Rights Act), even though they resided in some of the core areas of a tiger reserve. It is now time for the community to also exercise their right to proper education and healthcare. This film will highlights the conversation that has begun and continues to grow in this regard. The NGO no longer wants to handhold the community and enforce pre- designed schemes. They now want to play the role of facilitators/enablers in a dialogue where the community (with the help of the Soliga Abhivriddhi ‘Sangha’), will not only suggest solutions but also be major participants in the enforcement of these plans.