By Megha Raha & Varsha Priyadarshini

                                                                                           Editorial Credits: Pooja Bhatia

Awareness session at a village in Shivpuri District of Madhya Pradesh, India. Conducted by our supervisor. 

In this edition of Pravasi, we bring to you an overview of the field engagements of a last mile delivery worker - our Chalo supervisor; as he ensures that migrant households in his region are well served.

One of the primary goals of the chalo team is to facilitate better service delivery (including financial, welfare and documentation services) to low-income migrant households. Chalo’s supervisors are social workers who engage actively with the field, identify low-income migrant families, create awareness regarding newly launched schemes and help them get their benefits on time. They connect these families with different Chalo Saathis (Common Service Centre agents) in the area, who further ensure that the worker gets access to several financial and welfare services in a timely manner.

They also act as the bridge between the backend team of Chalo Network and Chalo Saathis on the field. They shortlist, train and monitor Chalo Saathi’s work, providing useful feedback to the team. This helps in enhancing the team’s strategies and addressing any technical issues the Saathis might face. After shortlisting the Saathi, the supervisors spend a maximum of 6 hours on their training. They then evaluate them on a digital portal monitored by Chalo’s backend team.

Dharmesh ji from Shivpuri district, Madhya Pradesh is one of our Chalo supervisors who works with migrant households in Shivpuri and Tikamgarh districts. Having done his bachelors in social work, he worked extensively with different NGOs in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh before joining the Chalo Network. He is a father to two daughters and aspires to educate them and give them a secure future.

He first started working with Chalo during the pandemic. He was part of a survey team who helped identify migrant households across 20-30 villages, with the aim of understanding their financial inclusion status. He looks back at the experience as an enriching one. He says, “I learnt how to make a project from scratch, understanding the different steps that are involved in getting a document done. The training sessions also helped me in connecting with the communities better.”

A major hurdle he faced during his initial days was a lack of trust among migrant communities. They asked, “What is the benefit of getting it (documentation) done from you?” He strategized with the team and started mobilising migrants to explain the process in detail to them. He was methodical in his approach and guaranteed that they would receive their updated documents within 10-15 days of their application. In this manner, Dharmesh ji built a transparent relationship with the community. Now, whenever he visits these villages, the communities are aware that he has come to explain a new welfare scheme.

Dharmesh ji recalls one such incident when a woman named Sunita travelled 12 kilometres from Gajora Village in Khaniadhana Tehsil in Shivpuri District of Madhya Pradesh along with her two young daughters for PAN application. Her PAN application was rejected multiple times due to a mismatch in her UIDAI number. On further investigation, Dharmeshji found out that a false numbering in the Aadhaar Card had led to this issue. He assisted the lady to the Updation Centre where it was originally made and resolved the issue by getting the number fixed.

Further, he processed her PAN application at a Chalo Saathi’s centre and within a span of two weeks, her PAN card was delivered to her address. Ten months later, she met Dharmeshji and thanked him, informing him that because of her corrected identity documents, she was now eligible for government relief. Her husband stays in Rajasthan for work and she was thankful to Dharmesh ji for his assistance.