Three decades of walking with the people of Jharkhand

Sometime in 1992 the idea of working together on the cross-cutting issues of social development was conceived by diocesan priests of what was then Bihar — today Bihar and Jharkhand. Efforts were made to turn this idea into reality in their respective areas.

In 1998–99 the idea was first put into action. It was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 in 2002–2003 as “BIHAN Social Service Society” (BIHAN standing for Bihar and Andaman).

Six months later a resolution was passed to change the name to “BIJHAN Social Service Society” because of the creation of Jharkhand in 2000 (BIJHAN standing for Bihar, Jharkhand and Andaman).

The registered office was at Sewa Kendra, Sadquat Ashram, Patna. Bro. Bernard was the Secretary for Bihar and Fr. C. R. Prabhu agreed to take care of Jharkhand. The forum was not registered with the Ministry of Home Affairs to receive foreign funds, so all funds were channelled through Catholic Charities, Jamshedpur.

At the initial stage, the mandate was to build the capacity of the diocesan partners, catering to the needs of 12 dioceses of Bihar (Patna, Bettiah, Muzaffarpur and Bhagalpur) and Jharkhand (Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dumka, Gumla, Simdega, Khunti, Daltonganj and Hazaribagh).

From the beginning, Fr. C. R. Prabhu, the first Secretary of BIJHAN Social Service Society, continued guiding all the dioceses of Jharkhand until 2004.

Fr. Bipin Kumar Pani, while remaining Director of Catholic Charities, Jamshedpur, also served as the second Secretary of BIJHAN Social Service Society. During his tenure, capacity building of diocesan partners was carried out in different dioceses.

Fr. Augustine Topno of Jamshedpur Diocese became the first full-time Director of BIJHAN Social Service Society. He began living in Ranchi, although the society still received funds through Catholic Charities, Jamshedpur. During his tenure a drought-preparedness programme was implemented in 125 villages.

In 2009 Fr. S. Christu Das of Dumka Diocese succeeded Fr. Augustine Topno. On 22 December 2009, in consultation with the Governing Board, he registered the Social Service Society of Jharkhand afresh under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 as Social Initiatives for Growth and Networking (SIGN), Jharkhand, with its registered office at the 3rd Floor, Social Development Centre, Camil Bulcke Path, Ranchi.

SIGN is registered with the Ministry of Home Affairs to receive foreign contributions and holds tax exemption under 12A and 80G. Since then SIGN has served the needs of the eight dioceses of Jharkhand and the Port Blair Diocese in the Andamans. During his tenure, agriculture and health programmes were implemented in all the dioceses of Jharkhand.

From 2011 onwards SIGN worked to promote and strengthen tribal values under the project “Awakening Tribal Soul”, conducting workshops and seminars in every diocese. This continued until 2017.

To strengthen the nursing sisters engaged in the health ministry in rural areas, SIGN — in collaboration with the Community Development Medicinal Unit (CDMU), Kolkata — launched the Standard Treatment Guidelines (STG), a handy and practical support for sisters working in the remote villages of Jharkhand.

A Child Protection Policy, Procurement Policy, Gender Policy and Finance & Accounting Guidelines were formulated, and the Governing Board approved them for implementation in the organisation.

Seminars and workshops were organised on Catholic Social Teaching. SIGN also worked on the Clinical Establishment Act for the benefit of health centres in rural areas. The second edition of the Standard Treatment Guidelines was published, and the Governing Board passed SIGN’s Human Resource Policy.

One of the highlights of Fr. Christu Das’s tenure was taking over the Child Sponsorship Programme from the Archdiocese of Ranchi. Since 2015 SIGN has been in a special partnership with Fondazione Fratelli Dimenticati, Italy, to further its thrust on education through child sponsorship. SIGN began supporting poor children in 80 centres in the districts of Ranchi, Lohardaga, Gumla, Simdega and Khunti.

SIGN began promoting the System of Rice Intensification (SRI). In the same year it started a mother and child health care programme in collaboration with UNICEF in five hard-to-reach districts — Pakur, Sahibganj, Latehar, Palamau and West Singhbhum — targeting total immunisation, the prevention and management of diarrhoea and pneumonia, and nutrition promotion. With the support of Manos Unidas, SIGN also started forming Farmers’ Clubs in all the partner dioceses.

Between 2016 and 2017 SIGN organised many workshops on Laudato Si’ and the Sustainable Development Goals.

With the support of Kindermissionswerk, SIGN extended its mother and child health care programme in five hard-to-reach districts — Pakur, Sahibganj, Latehar, Palamau and West Singhbhum.

In June 2019 Fr. Bipin Kumar Pani took over from Fr. Christu Das. Since then SIGN has been implementing a capacity-building programme for its partners and, with the support of Kindermissionswerk, a mother and child health care project in five districts of Jharkhand and an agriculture programme in five dioceses.

When COVID-19 brought hardship to many families, SIGN used the time to serve the suffering community. With the support of Missio, Fondazione Fratelli Dimenticati and JivDaya Foundation, SIGN extended relief, mainly distributing rations to daily-wage earners, rag pickers, people from the begging community, people affected by leprosy, cleaners, maids, hawkers, sex workers and blind beggars, among others.

It was also an important year because, following amendments to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), SIGN changed its approach from a coordinating NGO to an implementing NGO.

In September 2020 SIGN revisited its vision and mission and adopted a new strategic plan, in which safeguarding children and vulnerable adults, safe migration and resource mobilisation became new thrust areas alongside natural resource management, gender equality, education for all, health for all, institutional development and good governance, inter-religious harmony, and networking with like-minded NGOs.

As it was difficult to visit COVID-19 patients or carry out field activities, SIGN — with the support and guidance of Catholic Relief Services and Caritas India, and with the help of 339 volunteers — helped save the lives of about 10,000 people, bringing awareness of COVID-appropriate behaviour to 2,595 families and preparing them for vaccination. It was the first time SIGN worked on an online project.

SIGN received tax exemption for the first time from 24 September 2021 to AY 2024-25 under the Income Tax Act, 1961 (80G unique registration number AAEAS6072PE20218). The Ministry of Corporate Affairs also registered SIGN for undertaking CSR activities (registration number CSR00015862).

The Ministry of Home Affairs (Foreign Division) renewed SIGN’s FCRA registration (number 337800203; nature: Economic, Educational, Social) for five years, from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2027, with its designated FCRA bank account (number 40098449782) at the State Bank of India, 11 Sansad Marg, New Delhi 110001.

SIGN’s tax exemption was also renewed from AY 2022-23 to AY 2026-27 under the Income Tax Act, 1961 (12A unique registration number AAEAS6072PE20210).

On 25 July 2023 the Governing Board approved the Safeguarding Policy for Children and Vulnerable Adults. With the support of Manos Unidas, SIGN built the capacity of four selected diocesan partners.

With the support of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), SIGN organised many orientation programmes on safeguarding for religious institutions. SIGN also worked to preserve, protect and promote tribal heritage and culture in 210 villages of seven districts — Ranchi, Khunti, Lohardaga, Gumla, Simdega, Latehar and Garhwa.