Giving

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Giving
BY ANAGH PAL

Up next x For What Its worth pg 76

MAKING A DIFFERENCE
ORGANISATION WORK AREAS GET INVOLVED WEBSITE/ CONTACT AZAD INDIA FOUNDATION Kishanganj, Bihar INSTITUTE OF RURAL RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT (IRRAD) Haryana SANJEEVANI NGO Almora, Uttarakhand Female literacy, employment, Sponsor a child or non-formal eduwww.azadindia.org income generating skills, health cation centre. Donate for building of aif_org@yahoo.co.in and awareness programmes libraries, labs, clothes and books Develops and implements sustainable, scalable models for rural development in Mewat, a backward district in Haryana Volunteer for natural resources manwww.smsfoundation.org agement, development research, communications and policy, gover- poojamurada@irrad.org nance and advocacy

URBAN HELP TO RURAL INDIA

The abysmal development indexes of Indian villages offer huge scope for each of us to pitch in

ndia lives in her villages, not in her cities, Mahatma Gandhi had famously said, stressing on the importance of rural development in building a modern country. With more than 7,00,000 villages accounting for 75 per cent of Indias populationthree-quarters of them below the poverty linehis statement is as true today as it was in preIndependence India. Without adequate thrust on rural development, Indias ambition to become a world power is likely to remain a dream. THE GROUND REALITY Mahesh Ghughtyal, secretary, Sanjeevani, a rural development NGO in Almora, Uttarakhand, says: Poor policy and poor implementation of upliftment programmes make development a dire need for the rural people. The issues to be addressed are many, but NGOs agree that education and employment are the crucial ones.

Womens empowerment, eduDonate, volunteer, build awareness www.sanjeevaningo.org cation, development, science & in your local community and among mail@sanjeevaningo.org technology awareness and jobs friends and family members Volunteer by participating in their activities, sponsor specific projects and donate Volunteer, be an intern, visit, make a sponsor, a program or make a financial contribution
www.serudsindia.org serudsindia9@gmail.com www.sevamandir.org deepti@sevamadnir.org

According to Census 2001, 41 per cent of the rural population is illiterate. There is also a marked gap in the illiteracy rates among men (29 per cent) and women (54 per cent). The few village youths with access to education often migrate to cities for jobs and the majority remains unemployed. Health is another area of concern, with few villages in India that can boast of basic amenities like clean drinking water and sewerage. Rural parameters of malnutrition, infant and maternal mortality are also often very high. The condition in certain districts is worse than the national average. A
NILOTPAL BARUAH

survey by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found the self-reported literacy rates in tribal villages in southern Rajasthan was 25.3 per cent among men and 9.9 per cent among women. As such, many rural development organisations concentrate their activities on specic regions. AREAS OF ACTIVITY There are a few basic tenets for rural development, says Pooja O. Murada, director, communications, Institute of Rural Research and Development (IRRAD), which develops and implements models for rural development in Mewat in Haryana. (See visual below).

Skills development, health SERUDS FOUNDATION camps, bio-diversity conservaKurnool, Andhra Pradesh tion and midday meal for old SEVA MANDIR Udaipur, Rajasthan Adult education, improving livelihood, access to primary schooling, public healthcare

Seva Mandir, an NGO, started out with adult education programmes in Udaipur and Rajsamand districts of Rajasthan in 1968, but has now graduated to improving farmers natural resources base, increasing access to primary schooling, pre-school childcare and public healthcare services. We diversied our activities, says Deepti Ameta, programme-in-charge,

resource mobilisation, Seva Mandir. Most rural development NGOs focus on women and children, the most vulnerable sections of society. The low literacy among young women is a reection of low enrolment and high drop-out rates, as illiterate parents do not believe girls need to be educated; so, special measures need to be taken, says G. Mallikarjuna, chief function-

ary, Seruds Foundation, which works for women and children in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. GET INVOLVED NOW The sheer scale of need provides immense scope for each of us to pitch in. Heres how you can contribute: Volunteer: Most NGOs post their volunteer needs through websites or social networking sites. Individuals can visit the eld ofces for a rsthand view. Interested candidates usually have to ll up an application form and send a request to the NGO. I was searching for a local organisation to do some work for the ood victims and came across Seruds, says Bangalore-based software engineer Kumar Mukkala, who visited the oodaffected areas in Andhra Pradesh and Bangalore in 2009 as a volunteer. Donate: Donating money is an option, but one can also sponsor projects like building a computer lab or library, a childs school fees or his midday meal and so on. Donating items like clothes, books, stationary and lanterns do not cost much. Being involved in rural development activities or projects is not just about making a difference, but also helps you meet new people and expand your horizons.
anaghpal@outlookindia.com

RULES OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

QUALITY OF LIFE Health, water, sanitation and education for children and adults ECONOMY Livelihood (agriculture and allied activities, rural art and craft); access, availability and affordability of the means; availability of money; self-help groups and NGOs; bank loans; personal lending and microfinance. SOCIAL Culture, religion and caste structure, reducing gap between the haves and the have-nots, gender inequality through awareness INFRASTRUCTURE AVAILABILITY Roads, water supply, housing, schools, hospitals and communication centres

KUMAR MUKKALA 33
Bangalore, Karnataka Profession: Senior Software Engineer Volunteer and donor for SERUDS What he did: Was involved in flood relief activities in AP and Karnataka in 2009

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