Shoshit Kamgar Sangathana

The sangathan has six main karyakartas, four in Shiroor Anantpal and two in Nilanga block. Each block has a Taluka committee with 1-2 representatives from each village. At the village level there are village committees and ration committees that take up local issues.

The expansion of the sangathan has been a steady process and the structure has evolved out of people’s needs. The effort has been to develop local leadership in a village to such an extent that they are not dependent on the main karyakartas to sort out their everyday problems. The karyakartas, in turn, are encouraged to take initiative rather than just execute a plan. Since they belong to the same milieu as the people they are working with, they face the same problems and have a good understanding of what the community’s primary concerns are.

One of the main challenges the sangathan is facing today is the diminishing youth participation in its activities. The young people of today seem to prefer becoming associated with political parties who woo them with money, food and drinks. In the long term, the sangathan aims to expand its reach to a district level, to involve the youth, to develop and enhance the common person’s decision making capacity, and to mobilise the poor to claim social, economic and political power.