Ranchi bureaucrat a living goddess for Sabar tribals

Seraikela-Kharsawan: More than 325 families belonging to the Sabar primitive tribe group (PTG) in remote villages of Jharkhand worship a living woman as their deity and call her 'Ma'. Last Mahalaya, when people were busy in Durga Puja arrangements, members of the tribe got an opportunity to see their Ma in the flesh. A large number of village women, most of them Bengali-speaking, queued up to touch her feet.Photographs of Suchitra Sinha also find a place in their homes alongside pictures of gods and goddesses.
But Sinha, a bureaucrat with the state government, is oblivious of the respect tribals give her for transforming their lives more than two decades ago. Now a director in the state department of tourism, Sinha was selected for administrative service in 1990 through the Bihar State Public Service Commission and was posted as deputy collector of East Singhbhum (Jamshedpur) in the erstwhile Bihar government. She was later posted as project officer, development of women and children in rural areas (DWCRA). This was the time when things changed in her life and the hamlet of the tribe.
"I still remember it was December 20, 1996 when I was invited by Bharat Sevashram Sangh to meet one of the most primitive and languishing tribes in the remote village of Samanpur under Nimdih block of Sereikela istrict. I was shocked to see that hardly 60km from the industrial city of Jamshedpur, there was a tribal village comprising huts made of palm leaf and people had to eat dead animals and birds when the ashram could not supply food," Sinha said, remembering she was named Ma by the village women when she asked them if she could do anything for them.
Sabar, one among the nine endangered tribes of 32 tribal communities of the state, predominantly reside on the hilly forests in the villages under Nimdih block of the present Saraikela-Kharsawan district. For their insubordination to the British, they were placed in the list of 68 de-notified tribes and declared criminals under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871. Sinha found that the tribals had an inherent art for making baskets from Kanshi grass, bamboo and palm leaves. They used to make baskets, mats and brooms and sell them in the local village haat at throwaway prices. The DWCRA officer decided to promote their skill, but could not find support of the local administration. She was transferred to New Delhi in 1998, where her husband, R N Sahay, an IRS, served the Centre in the income tax department.
Sinha still decided to do whatever she could to help out the tribals, who were being lured to Left wing extremism. She remained in touch with them even while living in Delhi and visited the village, often without informing her family members who were against her going to such remote areas. After being posted at Bihar State Export Corporation, Delhi, she managed to send five trainers of National Institute of Fashion Technology to this hamlet and 50 artisans were trained to manufacture 104 items, including files, lamp shades, bags and paper holders. Later, an NGO, Ambalika, was formed with the village artisans with its headquarters in Delhi to help sell the art pieces under project Palash. The income of the village artisans soon reached Rs 2,000 to 4,000 per month.
"I went to Delhi when "Ma' called us in a group of 15. We stayed at her home and were trained for nearly a month by designers from Delhi," said Haradhan Sabar who now has a pile of finished art pieces in the NGO's office at Samanpur. One of the villagers went to Delhi wearing woolens in summer. When the trainers inquired, he innocently said, "Ma gave me the sweater". Remembering this incident, Sinha said that she had to take all of them to a barber's shop for hair cut and then she bought them clothes from local Sarojini Nagar market so that they could attend the training properly dressed.
Sinha's initiative was later supported under the centrally-sponsored Integrated Action Plan and Samanpur became the first PTG village to be picked up for a programme launched by the Planning Commission. The Jamshedpur-based consultant for IAP, Abhishek Pratap Singh, said that it was a pilot project for the PTGs Birhor, Sabar and Pahariya for development of their sustainable livelihood by enhancing their inherent skill . Though some of the hats, baskets and bags are sold in Delhi haat and other outlets in Delhi, Sinha is not satisfied with what has been done till date. " These artisans have piled up a room full of finished goods, but in absence of market linkage they are unable to get regular income," she said.
Corroborating her concern, Malti Sabar said, "Unless someone pays us for these baskets, bags and lamp shades, they cannot be sold in the village market," she said pointing to a dozen pieces that she has made. Dreaming to develop the Nimdih on lines of Sanganer, Rajasthan, Sinha is planning to use government resources to develop the villages as a tourist hub. "We want everyone to participate so that the special art of of this primitive tribe reaches even foreign countries," she said.