STRUCTURE
Ama Sangathan has a President, Vice
President, Secretary, Joint Secretary and a treasurer as key functionaries.
The rest of the members belong to the General Body. There also exists
a 7 member executive committee. The executive committee handles most of
the functions and members of the executive body also act as resources
persons to train women on various activities. The criteria for membership
in this organisation is open to any tribal woman of the 17 gram panchayats
of 412 villages with a membership fee of Rs 11 towards initial primary
membership.
Sumoni Jhodia, a champion of the cause of empowering tribal women, heads
the organisation. She has been in the forefront during the struggles undertaken
by Ama Sangathan. Sumoni, a tribal herself, has been representing Ama
Sangathan in all its negotiations, besides leading the struggles it has
had to wage with the forest department and state Tribal Welfare department.
She is a member of the Chief Minister's committee of tribal welfare and
was actively involved in Ama Sangathan's drive to close down arrack shops
around many villages.
Ama Sangathan networks 17 mahila mandals of different panchayats in Kashipur
block. These panchayats play a catalytic role in the development of the
organisation and are also involved in highlighting the major tribal issues
taken up by Ama Sangathan in their respective area. This Block level federation
draws strength from the women's groups at the village as well as the panchayat
level, hoping to take on tasks that would increases the visibility and
scope of smaller groups. It encourages membership of village level groups,
panchayat level organisations and individual memberships.
Through these ancillary organisations and continuous networking, the membership
of Ama Sangathan is increasing steadily. |
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