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WHERE WE WORK

  • About Gingee

  • Economy

  • Education

  • Lower castes


CECOWOR is a not for profit, apolitical organization registered under the Society Registration Act 1992. (Reg.No 58/92) It is also registered under the FCRA division of Ministry of Home affairs. Its services are for everyone, irrespective of gender, creed, caste, class or ethnicity.

CENTER FOR COORDINATION OF VOLUNTARY WORKS AND RESEARCH
257, GANDHI BAZAAR, GINGEE, VILLUPURAM DT, 604 202.
TAMIL NADU, INDIA.

Tel: 0414 5223674 / 5222747
cecowor@gmail.com

Copyright © 2008 Cecowor.in. All rights reserved. Powered by Q-Base Technologies.

Gingee is a town of about 25,000 people 150 km south west of Chennai (Madras) in the state of Tamil Nadu in South India. Our offices are in the town but we do most of our work in the surrounding villages, where we work with marginalised and exploited groups like Gypsies, tribal people, Dalits (untouchables) and women.


Economy 

This is a particularly backward area with few opportunities for employment. 90% of people in the villages depend on agriculture, but very few own any land. They have to work as day labourers for the land owners and earn very low wages Typically a man will earn 60 rupees a day – not much more than 1 US dollar, women half that.  They have only seasonal work, so two thirds of the population will be earning less than 3,500 rupees per year.


Education

There is a high rate of illiteracy among the groups we work with (e.g. among Dalits (untouchables) 55% for men and 72% for women, and among adult Gypsies almost 100%). Parents cannot afford to send their children to school and often keep them at home to work or look after young ones. Of the children who do go to school, only 8 out of 100 complete eight years of school. There is no training at all for those who drop out of school,


Lower Castes

In this area roughly a third of the people are low-caste (Dalits). They suffer discrimination in many areas.  For example:

  • They are not allowed to use public services like water tanks, schools and clinics 

  • They have to do menial work for little or no payment, such as clearing dead animals and burning the dead

  • Females are often abused by higher castes; girls are teased and women sexually abused.

  • In tea shops they have to drink from separate glasses and are not allowed to sit on benches.




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