Dear
Friends,
Historic greetings from
Caritas India!
Imagine an initiative started 3 years
back, has now impact on community , policy makers and also to educational
institutions!! Now stretch your imagination that FIRST TIME in INDIA ( in fact
I hope first time in world) that there would be a Post graduate course based on
‘development initiative’ by a government university! Do you think could it be
possible?
Yes!
Now you can come out of your imagination, this is the reality that HARIT PRAYAS
programme ( started in 2010 By Caritas India with support from Caritas Spain
and Caritas Italiana with three partners in 64 villages of Bundelkhand region)
would be soon developed and taught as Post Graduation course ( Probably Masters
in HARIT PRAYAS & Rural Innovation) by India’s first rural University (Mahatma
Gandhi Chitrakoot Gramoday Vishwavidyalaya: www.mgcgvchitrakoot.com ). Interestingly it would be
affiliated by the highest body of Education in India i.e. UGC-University Grant
Commission (www.ugc.ac.in ).
This is big news, It has never happened in India, even with
the best performing NGOs and even with the best technically equipped NGOs. It’s
worth to know how this happens with Caritas India? Or what makes Caritas India
work different to reach up to this level? Here are some points:
·
Programme
designed based on specific need of area (Bundelkhand is the most backward
region of India. Source: 12th Five Year Plan- By Planning Commission
of India)
·
Involvement
of Community-Partner-Caritas India-Caritas Spain+Caritas Italiana in designing
of programme
·
Designed
with 100% baseline survey and based on result based management concept
·
With
specific personnel support to be with programme , team, partners and community
·
In
collaboration with all Panchayats, NABARD ( National Bank for Agriculture and
Rural Development: https://www.nabard.org ) and Krishi Vigyan Kenders (KVK)
·
Constant/regular
support and discussion through various available online platforms ( Skype
discussion-almost every week) by back donor agencies ( Caritas Spain and
caritas Italiana)
·
Support
from donor agencies ( Caritas Spain and Caritas Italiana) as a team member and
reaching to communities and cluster coordinators
·
High
quality recruitment at Partner level with joint effort of Caritas India
·
High
level of transparency with usage of blogs and updating everyday happening of
programme (www.haritprayas.blogspot.com ). Here also
support by Caritas Spain for designing blogs
·
Branding
of programme through local name and logo of programme
·
Best
possible media linkages and result sharing in various leading national and
local news papers ( about 450 media coverage in 3 years-Considered as highest
media covered programme in India)
·
Presentation
of programme result to planning Commission of India and accentuating issues of
Bundelkhand
·
622
days in Field by Caritas India team in three years
·
Convergence
based development programme
·
Review
meeting in villages with communities
·
Newsletter
of programme on 6 monthly basis
·
Rating
systems on monthly basis for programme to improve quality
Some
key impact which has made this programme different are:
·
Based
on impact on sustainable agriculture a village has officially changed its name
to HARIT PRAYAS Majhota (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY5dS9YpI-o)
\
·
A
village named Kota has become 100% Organic
·
Input
cost in agriculture has gone down to 70% of total cost
·
Zero
farmers suicide in three years ( where as when started it was 12 in 64 villages
and about 5000+ in Bundelkhand region)
·
Women
first time in the region did cultivation with ploughing (In India women do not
tough plough as they considered impure-but through HARIT PRAYAS it has changed)
·
Programme
has become a movement rather than just a programme.
interestingly
the above all said about the programme would take place as various subjects in
the course and with the support from Caritas India we hope course in University
would start from Jan 2015 session. Soon Caritas India would be engaging in MoU
for the same. With this course students from backward regions from various
parts of India would get chance to study and know more about HARIT PRAYAS and
innovation.
We
thank community who owned this programme and partners and team players
especially clusters coordinators who cycled this programme in to a movement.
We
thank the thought (in Hindi Soch) of our donors (Both Ms. Maribel and Mr. Beppe
from Caritas Spain and Caritas Italiana respectively.) to imagine an outline of
this programme design and worked with caritas India innovative and synergetic
team to give it a shape! They contribute for one of the historic change in
India and in world!
We
thank community who owned this programme and partners and team players
especially clusters coordinators who cycled this programme in to a movement.
Pope
Francis quoted:
In your school you take part in various activities that habituate you
not to shut yourselves in on yourselves or in your small world, but to be open
to others, especially to the poorest and neediest, to work to improve the world
in which we live. Be men and women with others and for others, real champions
in the service of others. To be magnanimous with interior liberty and a spirit
of service, spiritual formation is necessary. Dear children, dear youths, love
Jesus Christ ever more! (6/7/13 Jesuit Schools)
With HARIT PRAYAS we are meeting some expectations…
This
is matter of proud for Church Institutions not just in India, but throughout
the globe and indeed the programme strengthen the values of Catholic Social
teaching.
Read
this news on CI website and CI news letter!
Proud
Caritas regards
Vinod
Pandey
