RWDT (Rural Women development Trust)

Rural Women Development Trust is a community based organization formed in 2001 by Arundhatiyar activists in Salem. The organization works in six blocks of Salem District (Edappadai, Tharamangalam Konganapuram, Magudanchavadi, Nangavalli, and Sangagiri) of Tamil Nadu. RWDT has been actively working with the Arundhatiyar community and forming Arundhatiyar women’s groups and building their capacities to raise their voices against the atrocities targeted at them by the dominant communities. The Arundhatiyar community (also known as chakiliar) is popularly known as ‘dalits’ and ‘untouchables’ in India. It is one of the most marginalized communities even amongst the dalits and is the most exploited by the dominant communities in India. The organisation has been focusing on abolition of the bonded labour system prevalent in Tamil Nadu. The Arundhaitiyar community living in abject poverty and discriminative and exploitative environment is forced into bondage and generations of exploitative labour. The organisation works towards the abolition of bonded labour system in Tamil Nadu through their interventions on rescue, rehabilitation and protection of bonded child labourers and families. The organisation is headed by Ms. Alamelu Banan. She has been working on securing the rights of Arudhatiyar community especially focussing on ending violence against Arudhatiyar children and women for many years now. She is a renowned dalit rights activist who has successfully intervened and rescued child bonded labourers and assured the bonded labour families to access the benefits and rights through the Bonded labour relief and rehabilitation programme of the state government. She is also a part of the Arudhatiyar Human Rights forum which has been formed to initiate advocacy programmes specifically focussing on trafficking of Arundhatiyar children for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labour; violence against Arundhatiyar children and abolishing the practice of forceful-and exploitative manual scavenging done by the Arundhatiyar community.   
 
Vision:

Each Arundhatiyar community should be free of discrimination, exploitation and marginalisation and each Arundhatiyar person’s fundamental rights are protected

Objectives:

• Ensure quality education to all Arundhatiyar children
• Providing Arundhatiyars with opportunities to participate in local decision-making process through their children’s parliament activities
• Enhance the overall capacity of Arundhatiyar women in  Salem area
• Enhance education and occupational opportunities for Arundhatiyar youth in the Salem area
• Ensure protection of human rights for Arundhatiyars at district and state level 

EveryChild India and RWDT: Working Together

With the support from EveryChild from Oct. 2006 through the Engal Kural (Our Voice) Project, RWDT has been working towards ensuring quality education to Arundhatiyar children and protecting their rights in 75 villages in Salem district in Tamil Nadu. In fact since 2001, the organization has accomplished in organizing 7000 women in Self Help Groups and thereafter linking them to various bank schemes with economic development activities. Through the project with EveryChild India, RWDT has been able to take the women’s empowerment initiatives to a second level whereby women’s banks are being set up and various livelihood options for the Arundhatiyar community are being evolved and implemented. The organization has also exerted itself in securing the release of bonded labourers from the clutches of upper castes people.

Read more about the EveryChild India Engal Kural Project

Contact us:

RWDT (Rural Women development Trust)
D.No 17-7/62,13th Ward, Teacher’s Colony,
Vettinikaradu (East)
Tharamangalam-636 502
Omalur Taluk
Salem (Dist)
Tamil Nadu, India
Phone No: 04290-250240
E-mail: rwdt.salem@gmail.com