Swami Manmathan

Ten years ago, Swami Manmathan, known across for his crusades against religious superstition, illiteracy and environmental degradation across Garhwal, stopped by at Anjanisain, a small village some 50 kilometres from the district seat of Tehri Garhwal.
Manmathan caused a stir with his arrival among the villages lying in the shadow of a temple devoted to the fierce goddess Chandrabadni, who was customarily propitiated by animal sacrifices. The Swami saw the custom as an expensive gesture which served only to deepen the poverty among the hill families of Dapoli valley. The women from the villages led a protest and the custom of sacrifice was abolished, but only after the Swami agreed to stay on at Anjanisain to lead a broader movement of social reform and development.
Like elsewhere in the hills, the men of Tehri Garhwa! go down to the  plains   by  the  thousands   in
By Cyril Raphael
Through its childcare programme, working through our balwadi centres, the Bhuvaneshwari Mahila Ashram is trying to protect the "rights of the child" in every respect. Our programe therefore emphasizes health, education and future opportunity.
In health, we have tried hard to move
away from the "outpatient syndrome", in
which only the illness is treated and no
thought is given to nutrition,
immunization and child-spacing. In the
under-    five  clinics   that   we
operate in the balwadis, the supervisee are trained to instruct mothers on matters such as personal hugiene, environmental sanitation, child safety, vision testing and dental care. Mothers are also shown how to deal with day-to-
 
search of employment (see July 1988 Himai). The women stay at home to work the fields, care for the babies and the elderly, and run the household. Some mothers, in desperation, are reported to have tied their children to the bed for hours while they completed their chores.
 
In repsponse, Manmathan started the Bhuvaneshwari Manila Ashram and encouraged the women of the valley to form a string of "mahila mangal dais", a self-support group to assist their empowerment. He also created the unique system of "balwadis", or children´s nurseries, which have now become the vanguard of social change in Anjanisain. In association with the mahila mangal dais, the Ashram today runs over 70 balwadis in the valley. Here at last, unique in the Himalaya and rivalling the childcare ideals of more prosperous societies, is the opportunity for the mother and child. — Rajiv Tiwari