Partners

Registered in 2003, Promotion and Advancement of Justice, Harmony and Rights of Adivasis (PAJHRA) has worked on various issues with tea garden workers such as health, education, living wages, child labour, legal cases, entitlements and land rights, both at macro and micro levels. They also address issues of identity and Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, culture, literature and language through their work. 

PAJHRA’s aim is to empower members of the Adivasi community, develop their capacity to advocate for their entitlements and to live in harmony with other tribes in the conflict-affected state of Assam. Their primary focus has always remained on capacity building and nurturing leadership (aguas in Sadri language) and, in doing so, creating an "enabling environment" that would support work done by community members through various regional collectives and CSOs. Villages have been organised into Tolas with male and female leaders who are working at the panchayat and district levels. 

Work with MHI 

For PAJHRA, Adivasi well-being is rooted in the continuity of their culture and identity, access to resources, and having control and certainty over their future and ability to advocate for change as needed. Investing in the community’s aguas by instilling communitarian values in them and equipping them with skills and resources to navigate governance structures is one way to contribute to the communities’ well-being. 

MHI is supporting PAJHRA’s training programmes with different cohorts at different levels (village-level, plantation-level and state-level) to be trained in Adivasi history, mental health, knowledge of laws and schemes and ‘technical’ skills of problem solving and managing group dynamics. Through the project, the organisation also wants to revive the traditional youth dormitory systems, cultural festival celebrations, and publish written material on culture. PAJHRA will also host an in-house discussion with different community members to track how ethnic practices like music and dance contribute to the mental health of the community. 

Click here to find out more about PAJHRA.