CAMPAIGN FOR LOK TALEEM
(A PROPOSAL FROM BHARAT GYAN VIGYAN SAMITI)
INTRODUCTION
India is brazing itself for a giant leap forward. The successful launching and subsequent performance of ‘Chandrayan’ has placed India at a respectable position in the world science and technology. Indian economy has been growing at 8-9 percent rate for more than one decade. It has enacted (or introduced) several socially revolutionary acts and bills like Right to Information Act, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Right to Education Bill etc. A decade and half earlier it had made two important amendments in the constitution, the 73rd and 74th amendments, broadening and deepening democracy in the country. The last decade of the past century saw an unprecedented mass mobilization for literary involving nearly 150 million learners and 15 million volunteers much much larger than whatever any other country has ever experienced. Awakened by the literacy campaign, parents, especially rural parents, became aware of the necessity and probable usefulness of education for their children. Demand for education more than doubled in many districts – schools began to overflow. Many states introduced Education Guarantee Schemes. Earlier in 1990 the Jomtien Conference had declared: “Education For All – EFA.” In 1992 a Nine Nation (most populous nations) conference to deliberate on EFA was held in Delhi. As an outcome of this the Distinct Primary Education Programme (DPEP) was introduced in about 200 districts which after a few years got expanded to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). A New Bill making 8 year Elementary Education a Constitutional Right of the Child has been introduced in the Parliament.
In the meanwhile taking lessons from the experience of Kerala’s People’s Plan Campaign, the National Planning Commission has embarked upon a District Planning Programme. This envisages close and deep involvement of the citizens in grama sabha as well as in village, block and district panchayats and preparation of development plans at village, block and district levels. All these have to be done with the involvement of all citizens.
However, even today there are many districts with nearly fifty percent of them being illiterate, villages with more than 60-70 percent illiteracy. They have to become functionally literate if they are to participate effectively in running the affairs of the society, to make democracy worth its meaning – a government by the people. Mere literacy or numeracy will not be sufficient. Increasing number of people should become knowledgeable about the natural, and human resources of their village or district, about economic development with justice, about watershed based development plans and linking them with NREGS and so on and on. This is not only for neo-literates, but also for paleo-literates and even for the educated. Further, illiteracy and poverty, today, go together. So literacy programmes should have, it has been recognized since long, a component which would enhance their livelihood earning capabilities. All these form the content of continuing or life long education. Basic literacy, thus, forms, thereby tip of an iceberg, of a Comprehensive Education for Democracy and Livelihood. The LOK TALEEM programme is conceived by the NLM as a programme to achieve this objective.
The Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti had been a close partner of the NLM from 1989 onwards. In fact the BGVS was promoted by the NLM to function as its ‘informal arm’, to enlarge its reach and introduce flexibility in its operations.
FIRST OF A SORT
Year 1990. Hotel Ashoka International at New Delhi. A consultation meeting preparatory to the Jonutien Conference. Officials of UNESCO AND UNICEF were present. So were the Education Secretary, Technology Mission Adviser and few other officials of Government of India. The Secretary of BGVS too was present. In the course of discussion Dr. James Grant, Chairman of UNESCO remarked: “We are concerned only with basic education (of children). Adult literacy is not on agenda, (The NLM was at that time contemplating a major campaign on literacy), because it is too difficult. Literacy, campaigns have succeeded only in countries which had a ‘social revolution’ or in the throes of a revolution. In India no such situation exists.” The Secretary of BGVS retorted: “Sure, there is a relationship between ‘social upheaval’ and mass Literacy Campaigns. But it’s order could be reversed. Instead of a social upheaval engendering a mass literacy campaign it could be the other way round: a mass literacy campaign could take the society towards a massive social change. The BGVS is confident that it can engender a mass campaign for literacy.” True, the participants were not quite convinced because there was no precedent. No ‘first of a sort’ can have any ‘precedent.’ The total literacy campaign in India was ‘first of a sort’ – carried out in a non-revolutionary situation. However the People’s Science Movements (PSM) were optimistic. They had the experience of rallying lakhs and lakhs of people and enlisting thousands and thousands of volunteers in a science popularization campaign – the Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha. The Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, (KSSP) a leading member in the PSM had already succeeded in mobilizing more than twenty thousand volunteers in one district alone (Ernakulam) in Kerala for literacy. More than 150,000 learners have enrolled and are learning their first letters.
MISSION APPROACH
There was, of course, a basis for pessimism. Literacy efforts had, already, decades long history. Night schools and Literacy classes were a part of the freedom struggle. It was, also, a part of Nai Taleem - Gandhiji’s education plan. However, it did not catch popular imagination. After Independence there were more pressing issues to attend and literacy remained on the side line. Even the constitutional mandate to provide free and compulsory education to all children in the age group 6 to 14 was not fulfilled. A large percentage of children remained out of school. There were, simply, not enough schools. Existing, schools did not function properly. The dalits the poor and even girls were treated as second class or “low class” persons. Though literacy ‘rate’ went up steadily, but slowly, the number of illiterates in the country has been growing at alarming rates. Still, for about three decades since independence, there was practically no ‘social itch for literacy’ or for that matter even for universalization of elementary education. It was only towards the end of the seventies, a new initiative for literacy became visible; the National Adult Education Programme – NAEP. It was an ambitious programme with paid (notionally) volunteers, teaching groups of thirty adults. One person making another person literate (Each one Teach one) was another program. But, there was really no social enthusiasm or political desire and will to sustain it. Soon it got degenerated – the adult education centers becoming paper centers, peoples began to call proudh shiksha – fraud shiksha. It was under these circumstances, as part of the New Education Policy adopted in 1985, that the concept of a “Mission approach” to literacy was enunciated. Initially it was called Technology Mission for Eradication of Literacy which was renamed as National Literacy Mission. The NLM was launched in 1988 May.
GENESIS OF BGVS
The first meeting of the NLM Council was held in June 1988. Present in the meeting was Dr. M.P. Parameswaran, Member of the Executive Committee of NLM Council and an activist of the KSSP. Sometime during the deliberations of the Council, one member from the council stood up and asked: “why the representative of KSSP is silent? They have, with other movements, only very recently organized one of the most impressive mass communication campaign for taking science to the people. Can’t they do something similar to help a literacy campaign” As an impromptu reaction to the suggestion. Dr. Parameswaran stood up and told: “We had five Jathas mounted on buses, in October 1987. Now for literacy why not we contemplate a train jatha. Two Literacy Trains running north-south and two east-west, for a period of 6 months to one year, carrying an exhibition, a team of artists and a team of academics and social activists – both rotating time to time. At each halt point of the train science and literacy festivals can be organized in all villages around within 15-20 KM radius. The academics and activists will address the people and enthuse them with the desire to learn. Kala jatha teams will give performance.
Shri. Sam Pitroda, Technology Mission Adviser to the government who was sitting on the dias responded immediately: “We will provide the trains. You prepare a detailed proposal.” The People’s Science Movement took up the challenge. After a series of internal deliberations it was decided that a very large number of district level jathas will be much more effective in creating a demand for literacy and local level machinery for delivering it, than train jathas. The train jatha was shelved and four hundred district jathas all over India, except a few states in north-east were planned. Programmes were conceived in 40,000 villages. The NLM was bearing the total cost. It became necessary to create a new national level legal body to carry this out. The All India People’s Science Network was only an informed network and could not receive any funds. A new national level organization was formed and registered for this purpose. Thus the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samithi came into existence. A very detailed project proposal was prepared and presented before high level officials like Anil Bordia, Laxmindhar Mishra, Sam Pitroda, Jairam Ramesh etc. Listening to the detailed presentation Shri Pitroda came out with an observation. “So, Dr. Parameswaran, you are contemplating a parallel NLM!” “Yes. In a way” he replied – but without its limitations, with a high level of fexibility, to establish contacts up to hamlets, mohallas/tolas. Yes, it is an informal and popular complement of the NLM.” The approach was appreciated and the project was approved. Since then for years the BGVS and NLM were working hand in hand in conceiving, in planning, in training, in implementing, in monitoring and in making mid course corrections. Though legally BGVS is an NGO, it was quite different from the conventional NGO’s. It has been created as part of the government’s efforts. The education department provided the office space for BGVS, provided resources for its administration and implementation of the project.
The Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti was so named, because it was formed to implement a specific project – to organize a Bharat Gyan Vigyan Jatha (BGVJ), with the objective of raising a nationwide demand for literacy. It was termed as Gyan Vigyan Jatha with a specific purpose. Vigyan stood for science. Gyan stood for the ‘Eternal Word’ or shabda, for the Ultimate Knowledge and Wisdom. As clearly expressed in the document on literacy mission, the long term objective was not simply to make the illiterate, literate, but also give them insight to the causes of their illiteracy and poverty and the strength to remove them.
BGVJ EXPERIENCE
The BGVJ was scheduled from October 2, to November 7, 1990. 400 district level activist – artist teams will travel for 37 days within that district, perform in 100 to 120 villages and interact with them. Pada yatras from neighbouring villages were expected to converge there. Local Organizing Committees were to be formed in each village – about 40,000 of them and in blocks and in districts. The preparations got started in 1989 itself. Full time activists were identified and were given charges of one or two districts. They were called Literacy Ambassadors. The University Grants Commission came forward to help BGVS. College teachers who are ready to work for literacy as Literacy Ambassadors or in any other capacity will be treated as under Faculty Improvement Programme, their salary being paid by the mother institutions. It was a herculean job. Reporting on the organizational work of the BGVJ Dr. Anita Dighe and her colleagues concluded:
“The BGVS strategy of consciously reaching out to political leaders and workers of various political parties, irrespective of their ideology was an important lesson learnt… The organizational structures set up by BGVS showed clearly how institutionalization of the campaign becomes necessary…. The BGVS experience clearly showed the important role played by the Collector at the district level in galvanizing administrative support for the campaign…… The planning strategy for BGVS clearly recognized the important of each of the steps for building up a tempo for the campaign…. The Literacy Ambassadors were really the kingpin of BGVS work…. To catalyze action on a mass scale BGVS used a ‘war theme’- The BGVJ was a prelude to a ‘war against illiteracy’ and the volunteers were called soldiers (Akshar Sainiks) who had to lead others in attacking the common enemy – poverty, exploitation, oppression……. The BGVJ ingeniously used popular education forms to raise people’s interests in literacy…. By using centralized/decentralized strategies BGVJ was able to ensure that there was certain minimum core content but without curbing or extinguishing local initiatives….. The strong ideological under pinning of the messages created a climate for literacy… The problem of illiteracy was, for the first time, being perceived from the perspective of the poor…. There was, also, an underlying assumption that BGVJ would have greater success in areas that had a history of people’s struggles and of people’s grass roots movements. (Campaigning for Literacy – The Experience of Bharat Gyan Vigyan Jatha – 1990, An Analytical Documentation Study – Dr. Anita Dighe et al, 1991)
These remarks recapitulate the essential elements of the BGVJ as well as of the later Total Literacy Campaign, namely
(i) Political will
(ii) Organizational structures
(iii) Close cooperation with the bureaucracy
(iv) Detailed and meticulous planning
(v) A team of full time activities ‘possessed’ with the spirit of the campaign
(vi) Use of ‘art’ to motivate both the public and the activist
(vii) Enlisting people’s participation
(viii) A judicious combination of centralized planning and decentralized creative modification
(ix) Partisanship to the poor
(x) Linking up with other organization
All these, emanated from the experience of the KSSP in
(i) Conducting statewide and nation wide Kalajathas from 1977 onwards
(ii) Running a Total Literacy Campaign in Ernakulam district.
The concept of Zilla Saksharatha Samiti, and even the concepts of TLC came from Ernakulam. The insistence on voluntary instructors in place of the ‘paid’ ones, as under NAEP too came from Ernakulam experience. The moral dignity and the pleasure giving that the volunteers get from teaching adults, who are often as old as their parents was a much greater motive force than the meager honorarium they were getting earlier. Closing the divide between the people and bureaucracy and running a 24 hour control centre or office were the other two unique elements in the campaign. All these got finally reflected, later, in the national TLC. In most of the ZSS, the secretary came from Social Movements – many from the BGVS.
The BGVS, was, however a nascent organization. Its activists came from the People’s Science Movements – the AIPSN. In most of the states the PSM units came into existence only through the previous jatha – the Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha of 1987. However, the contagious spirit of these activities soon infected more and more people, and more importantly, a large number of young IAS officers - District Collectors and Government Secretaries. An unusual kind of collaboration, between the officials and the activists of BGVS developed. Perhaps, this is the most important single reason, for the success of the initial phase of the literacy campaign. In more than 250 districts out of the 500 districts were TLC was conducted the BGVS provided the secretaries or major shared responsibilities of the ZSS and the collector themselves became ‘activists’. The rapport that got built up between the rural poor and the senior district officialdom was, perhaps, as or more important than the literacy outcome itself. Many of the district collectors with whom the BGVS district committees have worked, are to day senior secretaries to the state government. The mutual respect and appreciation still exist.
NLM ON BGVS
The Executive Committee of NLMA recognized this contribution of BGVS in its sixth meeting of February 27, 1991 (p 6) in the following words:
“Simultaneously, the NLMA had also learnt valuable lessons from the experiments of Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha which was launched in 1987 under the auspices of Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad. This was a very successful experiment which helped in disseminating the message of science and popularizing that message, generating a demand from the people for the utility of science and technology apart from helping to inculcate a rational and scientific temper and enabling people to build a foundation of self-reliance by making use of science and technology. The National Literacy Mission drew heavily from this successful experiment which went to show that something seemingly impossible could be made possible only if people were aroused and awakened to take up a venture with excitement and joy, with a tinge of voluntarism and without expectation of any award or reward. With this end in view, setting up an autonomous body called BHARAT GYAN VIGYAN SAMITHI with the support and help of National Literacy Mission Authority was conceptualized in August, 1989 under the chairmanship of Dr.Malcolm S. Adiseshiah with Dr. M.P. Parameswaran as the Secretary and several leading scientists, technologists, educational and social activists as members.”
The need for such a combination of BGVS & NLM had been anticipated earlier in the 3rd meeting of NLMA-EC (p.5) by the then Chairman UGC in the following words:
“We have to think in terms of literacy promotion not as an activity in isolation but as a component of the totality of the problems facing the vast majority of our people. Such a movement can be launched in synergy with BGVS and National Literacy Mission. It must emerge in different ways, in different areas as may be consistent with the local milieu and local culture.”
That BGVS was set up under the specific request and sponsorship of NLM is evident from the proceedings of the General Council meeting of NLMA held on Feb. 15, 1991, where the Council was specifically informed (p.12) that:
“The Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti – a registered society, sponsored by the National Literacy Mission Authority undertook a major initiative by launching a countrywide Jatha from 2nd October, 1990 to 14th November, 1990. In terms of numbers, the Samiti organized 721 major jathas and 1971 local jathas, covering 332 districts and 31,000 villages and in the process enrolled about one million volunteers for taking up literacy work as a totally voluntary effort.”
The initial contract of BGVS with NLMA was till Dec. 31, 1990. At many informal meetings, the then Education Secretary and DG (NLM) stressed with BGVS the need to continue the collaboration on a long term basis. After detailed internal discussions within AIPSN and BGVS, it was decided by BGVS to accept the request of NLMA to continue such collaboration. The 4th EC meeting of NLMA, Dec., 14, 1990 recognized the decision to continue the collaboration in these words (p.2,3,4):
“Education Secretary mentioned that BGVJ had done tremendous amount of work in creating a demand for literacy in several parts of the country and that the momentum gained was required to be sustained for a longer period of time. He expressed his satisfaction that the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti had agreed to continue their activities beyond 31st December, 1990.
The DG, NLM mentioned that he had the opportunity of visiting four States namely, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Karnataka during last two months and he could see the tremendous impact created by the activities of BGVS. The performances staged by them stirred up the imagination and sensitivity of people-both literates and illiterates. While State Govts. of AP and Karnataka extended excellent support and help to BGVS, similar help was not forthcoming from the remaining States. He was emphatic that the BGVS activities should continue beyond 31st December 90 so as to ensure that all the uncovered areas are covered fully and that the desired impact was sustained.
Summarising the discussion on this item, the Chairman observed that the countrywide jatha through BGVS has been launched at a time when social dissension was at the height and the country was torn by several divisive forces. The country was desperately in need of a third force to neutralize the impact of the divisive forces and the support extended by NLMA to BGVS should be viewed in this perspective. It was an article of faith and the results have been very rewarding. He requested the members to visit different districts and see the impact for themselves.”
The context in which the BGVS was now asked to continue was the emergence of the Total Literacy/Post Literacy campaign strategy. These campaigns in contrast to earlier adult education approaches envisaged literacy as being done not by government alone or by NGO’s but by a partnership between government, NGO’s and other people’s movements. At the district level this partnership was expressed in the formation and registration of Zilla Saksharata Samiti. But to ensure such district level collaboration with NGO’s and people’s organization, it was felt that a nodal organization was needed at the national and state levels too. Since BGVS was with the NLM, the joint founder of the TLC strategy, it was called on to play this role. Indeed, in March 1991, the BGVS was requested to expand its infrastructure & develop regular state offices for this purpose.
EVALUATIONS OF BGVS
In 1998 the NLM made an evaluation of one decade of NLM – BGVS collaboration. The report starts with the purpose of the evaluation.
“Central to our examination of BGVS’ Association with and involvement in NLM are two considerations:
- One, how have BGVS activities helped NLM, and
- Secondly, how could BGVS play a role of greater relevance and utility to NLM in the changed context of literacy movement which has graduated to the PL phase in more than half of the districts covered under TLC and poised to enter the CE phase in a major way, in the near future”
(The full Report is given as Annexure I)
The future referred to was not that ‘near’. It is nearly a decade since. The continuing education never acquired the campaign spirit. The warmth of the relationship between BGVS and NLM had been decreasing. The spirit of the campaign had evaporated. The BGVS was no longer considered necessary as a ‘partner’. It began to broaden its interests, from literacy to development, to elementary education, to watershed development, to health, to women development etc. In fact even within the first two or three years it had become obvious that women constitute more than seventy percent of the learners as well as of volunteers, Literacy was, effectively, a women’s programmes. Recognizing this and wanting to strengthen the gender component of the programme BGVS organized an all women Samata jatha in 1993, which culminated at Jhansi.
Five years later in 2003, Prof. Denzil Saldanha of the Tata Institute of Social Science made yet another study: The Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti Organization, Intervention and Perspectives in the Literacy Campaign. (This too is appended as Annexure II).
NEW BEGINNING
The Lok Taleem is a new beginning. It means ‘People’s Education’ or Citizen Education. It’s scope is far larger than plain literacy and numeracy. It encompasses basic literacy, post literacy, continuing education, life long education, equivalency programmes, kill upgradation, developmental education and so on. It is, no longer, a hundred meter sprint, it is a long marathon. The strategies will have to be different. The implementational structures will have to be different. Long term programmes require institutions. The Lok Taleem conceives of Lok Taleem Kendra’s at panchayat and village levels. Roughly three hundred to four hundred thousand kendras in all. A national campaign can only initiate the formation of such kendras. Their expansion, survival and active life depends very much on local dynamism, vision and missionary zeal. Monetary attraction, particularly at individual level, is the surest way to kill missionary zeal, of repelling visionaries, of attracting mercenaries. The TLC’s succeeded mainly because the volunteers felt that they are members of a great mission. The NAEP volunteers did not feel it. And, that program got degenerated into ‘fraud shiksha’ – drawing honorarium without doing any work.
The setting up and running of Lok Taleem Kendras will require huge resources. What the national government can provide will be only a small fraction, though that is crucial. The real success comes from rooting the LTK into the local community, from which it can then draw its sustenance. To set up three hundred thousand institutions and nurture them sufficiently long so that they take roots and begin to draw its nutrients from the local community, is no joke. These LTK’s are not merely literacy centres. It should became the nerve venture of all the village level activities including literacy – in mother tongue, in English, in arithmetics, in computer handling and so on – education of children, implementation of various central and state government programs etc.
Campaign mode and mood will be required to set up three lakh institutions and root them, within a reasonable period of time, say 10 to 15 years. The political leadership of the nation should be excited with this idea. There has to be a central team with a vision and imbued with a missionary spirit. The BGVS, certainly, has such a vision and the spirit. If its partnership with the government is revived, wonders can happen, as it happened earlier. It is with such an objective in view the BGVS is submitting this project proposal.
BGVS EXPERIENCE
The BGVS has been experimenting with such a ‘Grand Convergence’ programme during the years 2004-2008, under a Rs.10 crore grant from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust.
The main foci of this project were:
(i) Training and capacity building of personnel across 20 states.
(ii) Leadership and capacity building of volunteer cadres at village level
(iii) Strengthening intervention strategies on key developmental issues such as basic education, health, women empowerment etc. across 20 states in India
It contained the following elements:
(i) Basic Education: Training teachers for and setting up of what have been called Gyan Vigyan Vidyalaya. These primary schools are set up entirely by the local communities and all the costs borne by them. The BGVS was attempting, through this programme, to train a new genre of teachers who are equipped with better pedagogic skills as well as imbued with a new value system. The present education system imbues the children with competitive values instead of cooperation, it promotes exclusion, instead of inclusion based on caste, religion and social status, it strengthens the reptilian instincts rather than social instincts.
(ii) Strengthening women empowerment programmes through leadership training, vocational training, formation of self help groups, help setting up of enterprises etc.
(iii) Panchayat Level capability building for convergence and efficient utilization of various centrally sponsored schemes such as literacy, SSA, NERG, NRHM etc – in fact the basic elements of Lok Taleem.
(iv) Publication of training manuals as well as books for children, neo-literates and rural women.
The targets and achievements under this project are given in the table below:
S.No | Programme | Targeted | Achieved |
1 | Basic Education Resource Persons Training | 45 | 48 |
2 | Basic Education Teachers Training | 126 | 106 |
3 | Bal Melas/Children Activities | 0 | 315 |
4 | Gyan Vigyan Vidyalaya | 0 | 576 |
5 | Continuing Education Resource Persons Training | 100 | 296 |
6 | Continuing Education Training and HR in Panchayats CE Centers and CE Libraries CE and Samata Convergence | 100 100 1500 | 375 268 1673 |
7 | Samata and Health Resource Persons Training | 48 | 186 |
8 | Samata and Health Vocational and Entrepreneurial Training | 320 | 284 |
9 | Jan Vachan Andolan Preparation/Writing of Booklets in Hindi | 200 | 296 |
10 | Printing of Books | 200 | 179 |
11 | Manuals/Books | 10 | 8 |
12 | Children’s Books | 50 | 90 |
PROJECT PROPOSAL
Lok Taleem is an ambitious dream. It envisages making 200-300 million illiterates literate, providing them and the rest with three lakh or more Lok Taleem Kendras, providing equivalency programme for all those who desire so, up to the desired levels, ensuring that the children of school going age are in schools and that they receive good quality, comparable to those of central schools, education, providing citizen education for democracy, developing groups knowledgeable in schemes like SSA, NREG, NRHM, NHM, PMSY…. etc. etc. Even crude details of such a programme cannot be worked out at National, State or even District level. Details are to be worked out at Gram Panchayat (GP) level. Only broad objectives can be placed before them. Also a nominal quantum of resources. The over all resources required for such a programme will be too big, even for a GP, to be born by any one department or one scheme of the government. Resource reaching the panchayats through sources other than NLM, such as SSA, NREG, etc. etc. should be so pooled as to make the most effective utilization instead of wasting through competition and repetition. Such a convergence can be better effected at the point of utilization, at GP levels, rather than at Delhi. The BGVS, therefore, proposes a strategy of ‘Grand Convergence’ at the GP level, facilitated by all higher levels. Though BGVS, today is much more equipped than what it was in 1989, with units in every state, with committees in more than 300 districts and with direct contacts in over ten thousand Gram Panchayaths, it is in no way capable of reaching more than a few thousand panchayaths for such an in-depth programme. The NLM will require the support of several organizations like BGVS, to reach all the panchayaths it wants to. However BGVS feels that it can develop some useful models, as it has done in the case of TLC. The strategies of TLC will not, of course, suffice for Lok Taleem. It requires permanent institutions. They are to be democratic institutions, lest they will become lifeless or distorted sooner or later. Before planning these institutions one should have an idea of what all things are to be taken up under Lok Taleem, bearing in mind that it is Lok Taleem. The following could be some of the activities that are to be carried out in each panchayat and Lok Taleem organized in such a way as to help it.
(i) Impart functional literacy to everybody, in the panchayat under, say 45 or 50 or 60 years of age.
(ii) Provide opportunity for every one, neo-literates and paleo-literates, to obtain all levels of equivalency under open school programes.
(iii) Make sure that every child in the panchayat between the age of 6 and 14, goes to school and receive good quality education on par with central schools in accordance with NCF, through regular schools – ensure that the child’s fundamental right to education is respected.
(iv) Ensure that in the schools all children are provided with good learning environment, that no child is discriminated against on the basis of caste, religion, social position, gender or any other reason.
(v) Ensure comprehensive early childhood care to all children under the age of six and health care to breast feeding and expectant mothers by universaling ICDS and ensuring its proper working.
(vi) Provide general education to all citizens in such matters like Panchayathi Rj, functioning of grama sabha and panchayats, rights and responsibilities of citizens etc.
(vii) Develop local level expertise in understanding and implementing the scores of centrally sponsored programmes such as Lok Taleem. SSA, NREGS, NRHM, NHM, PMSY… etc.
(viii) Help develop a broad based local level leadership which continuously enhances is own capabilities and promote democratic participation of all citizens in running the affairs of the society.
(ix) To facilitate the above, form such associations like, Neighbourhood Groups (NHG), ward/village and GP level Development Samities.
(x) Set up Nodal and Local Lok Taleem Kendras as a physical space where all these groups can meet and as an academic space where much of the teaching learning exercise takes place.
(xi) Set up libraries at LTK’s as well as in each ward/mohalla/tola
(xii) Organize training programmes to provide/enhance skills of the poor, especially women, to improve their livelihood earning capabilities.
(xiii) Set up Bal manches, Kishori manches, Women’s Samata manch, Self Help Groups etc.
(xiv) Prepare Panchayat Development Reports and short term/long term development plans
(xv) Infuse the society with an atmosphere of democracy, secularism, equality and above all of HOPE for an increasingly better society as well as the will and the skill to build it.
All these are envisaged under the Lok Taleem Campaign. Obviously finances for many of these activities will have to come from a number of other departments and schemes. Even a much larger share will come from the citizens themselves either in kind or in voluntary labour. But they are to be initiated. The fire will not start spontaneously. It has to be ignited. And this is what the BGVS proposes to do: the role of a candle, to set fire to the capabilities and desires slumbering within the society. In the chosen panchayaths it will identify a team of youngsters, say 4 to 6 men and an equal number of women, interact with them, try to infect them with bright dreams for action, encourage them to initiate a number of activities, give the continuous field level support so that they become confident of undertaking more and more varied and numerous tasks. They will be helped to interact with the elected panchayat members and to form Panchayat Level Lok Taleem Samitis. In order to provide continuous hand held support to the LTS Block level Resource Groups (BRG) and district and state level resource groups will be formed.
The Panchayat Resource Group (PRG) will initiate the process of preparing action plans in all the above mentioned areas.
FUNCTIONAL LITERACY
To prepare a panchayat level project – a sub project of the district (ZSS) project, the first thing required is to identify illiterates (potential learners) and literates who are willing to teach (volunteer instructors). This will be done through a one day house to house survey. A large team will have to be built for this – roughly two people for 50 households or 20 teams of two each for a GP of about 5000 population. The identified illiterates will be clubbed into proximate groups of ten persons each and matched with a volunteer instructor. The ZSS can provide the primers, slates, charts, lantern etc. The NLM will have to prescribe certain norms for providing financial support. It can fix a per head learner grant consisting of (i) material cost (ii) training cost (iii) running cost and (iv) overhead cost. Item (i) will go through the ZSS. Rest of the costs added and multiplied by number of learners, can be placed in the hands of the Panchayat Saksharata Samiti, under the Panchayat Vikas Samiti. This can be located in the Lok Taleem Kendra. The PSS will batch the learners, match them with volunteer instructors and each batch will identify locations for conducting classes and decide on timetable. The NHG’s and ward/gram Vikas Samitis will help them. The PSS will, also, arrange for the initial training and later booster training of instructors. The training components will include, besides pedagogy of literacy, elements of citizens education, like essential aspects of 73rd and 74th Amendments, functioning of Panchayat and Grama sabha, rights of individual citizens, responsibilities of elected panchayat representatives etc. The BGVS had developed curriculum for such training during the past three years.
EQUIVALENCY
The PSS will oversee the progress of the basic literacy programme and encourage them to continue their learning through equivalency programmes. Diversified adult’s curriculum will be developed for this equivalency programmes. This will be done at state/national levels. The premises of the existing schools and new ones as well as the Lok Taleem Kendras will be used as premises for the Adult Equivalency Programme. Some of the important recommendations under the National Curriculum Framework, such as legitimizing local and traditional acknowledge by incorporating it into the formal knowledge system, breaking gender, caste and religious prejudices, imparting self respect and self confidence etc, will be progressively introduced into the Equivalency Programme for Adults (EPA). Another aspect of the EPA will be inclusion of basic English language literacy. In today’s world, even in remote village areas, elementary English language knowledge will have a high liberating and empowering value. The community will make its own arrangements, to run the programme. This will be one of the activities of the Lok Taleem Kendra, besides overseeing the basic literacy activities.
BASIC EDUCATION
Ensuring universal enrolment, retention and achievement is the agenda of the Panchayat. It will be carried out through the existing or a newly formed Panchayat (village) Education Committee. The LTK can be, again, the physical location for the Samithi and the PRG can service it. The PRG will initiate, together with the PEC (existing or new) a house to house education survey. This can be carried out together with literacy survey. Before that, the panchayat will organize on ‘Education Festival’ and commit itself to a long term programme for Universal Education, including universal enrolment retention up to 8th class and achievement for children and universal literacy and equivalency (class 5 for all and class 8 for those who desire so). This could be a three year long programme. The adult stream will be through literacy, and equivalency. The children’s stream will be through formal schools, existing and new, whose teachers will be given further training in all the three areas - knowledge, skills and value content - of education. Training resource persons for teacher educations will be undertaken by the BGVS, under the proposed project. The PRG will help the PEC to prepare a medium term (three years) and long term (ten years) education plan for the panchayat and get it implemented through the SSA and various other state and central government programmes.
LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
All children are to be provided with the best learning environment – in the schools, at home and in the society at large. This has to be consciously created, because naturally existing environment is hostile to the child except in a very few isolated cases.
In the school the learning environment consists of physical-material environment, academic environment and socio-cultural environment. The physical-material environment consists of buildings with neat floors, walls, openings etc, good furniture, class room architecture suitable for interactive learning, library, laboratory, play grounds, school garden, mid day meals , drinking water, urinals etc.
The academic environment is to be created by appropriate pedagogy, through educational tours, through use of surroundings as open text books, through formation of a series of manchs etc. Teachers will be consciously trained to enjoy teaching to enjoy the company of their children and to love them as their own children. The children in turn will enjoy learning, love and respect their teachers and long to be in the schools.
Socio-cultural environment has to be consciously created. Today the environment is hostile to the dalits, to the poor, to the first generation learners. The teachers have to give extra attention to them and through a variety of programs like cooperative learning, common tuition, mixed picnics, interactive films and, of course through personal examples and integrate them into one single stream of universal sisterhood/brotherhood. The children, especially from the so called upper caste/class should take home a spirit of fairness and mutual respect.
True, given above is a tall order and obviously cannot be achieved through a small project of three years. But attempts will be made to conduct a variety of experiments in this field as part of literacy and education programmes.
EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE
We are using the term ECC instead of the more common ECCE. The last E, education has invariably resulted in snatching away the first C, childhood from the child. The kindergartens are anything but ‘gartens’. In fact most of them are ‘prisons’ or ‘safe custody’ shops for working parents. Early Child Care should provide, all the children under the age of six, physical, emotional and intellectual nourishment to ensure the development of their full potential. ICDS is the best vehicle through which this can be achieved. Every parent should have, if they desire so, access to a well run Anganwadi – which is close by(in your Ankana and a wadi – a garden). Children in these anganwadis WILL NOT BE TAUGHT. They, even those coming from the poorest and most deprived homes, will have opportunities and a conducive environment to learn. All the breast feeding mothers and expecting mothers will be provided with nutrient supplements and medical care. Girls in teen age will be given emotional counseling to get over the initial shock of entering womanhood and later problems. All these are provided for, in the ICDS. What the Panchayat Vikas Samiti, with the help of PRG, will do is to ensure that what is envisaged under the scheme is fully realized and that the scheme is universalized. In this too, the role of the PRG is that of a candle to get the fire of desire start burning in the minds of the people. The household survey for literacy would collect, also, information required for ICDS, namely information about children under six, expecting mothers, lactating mothers and teenage girls so that appropriate demands can be formulated and projects drawn up.
CITIZEN EDUCATION
The LTK can organize classes/activities, based on definite curricula, on panchayathi raj, grama sabha, variety of centrally sponsored schemes, etc. There could be, also, classes which will expand the knowledge horizons of people – such as on evolution, astronomy, human voyage across the globe, global warning, successful experiments like Ralegaen Sidhi or Hewri Bazar, medicinal plants… any number of them. The objective is to convert the community into a permanent learning and thinking community
EXPERTS’ GROUPS
The PRG is a group of 8-12 people who had a general grounding on a number of issues related to the development of the panchayat,. But we would require in the panchayat ever increasing expertise in agriculture, watershed management, health care, education, cottage industries like handloom, pottery, food processing etc. Within any panchayat there will be a few people with more or less expertise, engaged in these activities and a few who want to enter into these professions. The LTK can, organize, in depth courses in all these areas, of one week or one moth duration. This will help improve the overall economy of the panchayat.
PANCHAYAT VIKAS SAMITI
To carryout all these activities on a long term basis we should have a suitable institutional structure. One such structure , with some experience in Kerala and lesser experience in Bihar (Palamu District), Orissa (Ganjam District) etc. is the Panchayat Vikas Samiti which is a complementary institution to the elected panchayat. The proposed structure for this PVS is the following. All the houses in each Tola/Mohalla/ward will be grouped into groups of 20-30 proximate houses to form a Neighbourhood Group – NHG. They can meet at short notice, which can be spread from mouth to mouth. In their first meeting they will elect from amongst themselves a man and a woman as their representatives, through consensus or open voting. A panchayat may have, on an average 80-100 such neighbourhoods. The NHG representatives (160-200) together with elected panches, designated government officials and invited experts together form the General Council of the Panchayat Vikas Samiti. The sarpanch can be the ex-officio chair person of the PVS. It can have, also, an Executive Chair person elected by the GC.
We can have a Ward/Tola Vikas Samiti as an intermediate tier. Once the PVS is formed in any panchayat it shall take the responsibility of running the LTK and organizing the various activities mentioned above.
PANCHAYAT RESOURCE GROUP
As mentioned early the first conscious intervention will be the selection, training and setting up of a resource group of 8 to 12 persons, half being women. This is the initial Panchayat Resource Group. The initiating agency, here the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti, will identify the initial contacts and through them organize the initial group, and give them field based training. The BGVS has already done such an exercise in about 1650 panchayats as part of an action research programme from 2004 to 2008.
will identify the initial contacts and through them organize the initial group, and give them field based training. The BGVS has already done such an exercise in about 1650 panchayats as part of an action research programme from 2004 to 2008.
PROJECT ELEMENTS
The present project consists, essentially of:
(i) Selecting 2000 GPs, from amongst the most illiterate ones, in consultation with the NLMA on the one side and in accordance with the access for BGVS.
(ii) Contacting each GP, through BGVS District/Block level activist and identifying/selecting 8-12 would be panchayat resource persons.
(iii) Imparting training to these resources persons and forming them into PRG’s.
(iv) Organizing a joint meeting of panches and PRG members to plan a number of activities such as literacy/education festival and surveys, preparation of action plans, setting up of LTK, formation of PVS etc.
The PRG members would require support almost on a day to day basis for a few months at least. In order to ensure this a Block Resource Group will be set with proper theoretical and field training. Neither the PRG members nor the BRG members are paid. They are voluntary activists. However many of the BRG members may be in government or private service. Their employers will be requested to spare their time to the tune of 30-40 days a year, as their own contribution to the programme. Travel, food and other expenses of the BRG members and PRG members will have to be, of course, born by the project.
The BRG will be formed by a State Resource Group which will have both full timers and honorary workers. The wages of the full timers and travel/food etc. expenses of all the resource persons will have to be met by the project.
At national level too there will be a National Resource Group consisting of full timers, short term consultants and honorary members.
This is the general outline of the proposal.
However, this will be effective only if we can re-establish the same type of relationship, of mutual complementarity and faith, of being an ‘informal arm’ of the NLM. NLM may require several such partners.
Based on the above premises the BGVS proposes to initiate and develop the following programme over the coming three years – from April 2009 to March 2012.
The first step will be a brainstorming/strategy planning session in Delhi involving NLM, DAE and BGVS. It should be understood from the very beginning itself that we will select the districts/states where BGVS shall have Block/GP level involvement in building up a Lok Taleem Model from amongst the low literacy districts indicated by the NLM.
The next step will be a number of state level meetings, in the selected states where BGVS and NLM will share the dreams/plans arrived at in Delhi and to dream and plan with them the state level programme, the districts in which BGVS could help them in preparing District Resource Groups and preparing district level action plan.
The third step will be District level meetings, in the BGVS project districts, jointly finalized with SLMA, to prepare overall district action plan as well as detailed implementation plan in blocks selected jointly by ZSS and BGVS.
The fourth step will be the formation and training of District Resource Groups and Block Resource Groups. Many of them would be officers of the various departments of the state government. They will require, on an average 40-50 days of on duty leave to participate in this project which should be given to them. Only those who volunteer to participate need to be selected. There is no extra remuneration to them except their travel, and accommodation.
The fifth step will be training of GP resource groups of 8-12 persons, half women, in clusters of three to five panchayaths. The BGVS State Resource Persons and the Block Resource Persons will organize this training.
From thence onwards it is field action. Some of these can be detailed now, but a good many will spring up only when we move forward.
· As part of training, the PRG will prepare a programme to prepare illiteracy map, volunteer availability map and school availability map, habitat by habitat in their panchayat.
· Based on this information they will prepare a detailed action plan for literacy. The funds for implementation have to be made available through the ZSS, both in cash and in kind. Role of BGVS is limited to training and on course consultancy support.
· The PRG will proceed with the formation of neighbourhood groups, gram (ward) Vikas Samithis and (GVS) Panchayat Vikas Samithis (PVS)
· The PRG will, also, broaden and strengthen its human resource base by including more people and involving them in planning and implementation.
· The enlarged PRG will help the PVS to select sites for Lok Taleem Kendras and the Nodal LTK. This Nodal LTK shall be the centre of the PVS too.
· The BGVS will monitor and give hand held support to the model – pilot panchayaths through district and block resource groups.
· BGVS will, also, help SLM’s to train District Resource Groups in the agreed number of districts.
Thhe numerical targets could be summarized as below
No. of States - 10-12
No. of Districts for DRG - 80-100
No. of Districts for pilot programmes - 40-50
No. of Blocks - 60-80
No. of clusters of 5 GPs - 400-600
No. of GPs - 2000-3000
With an average population of 5000, this will cater to 10 to 15 million persons, half of them being illiterate
No. of State Resource Persons - 150-200
No. of District Resource Persons - 1000-1500
No. Block Resource Persons - 1000-1500
No. of Panchayat Resource Persons - 20,000-30,000
No. of Lok Taleem Centres @ 5 per GP - 10,000-15,000
No. of illiterates in the basic literacy programe ≈ 6-8 million
No. of neo-paleo-literates for class V equivalency - 3-4 lakhs
These figures are at, present, orientatory. A fraction of the original districts, blocks and panchayats may drop out due a variety of reasons, as we have found in the comparatively easier literacy programme.
BUDGET
A. RESOURCE PERSONS
A.1 National 20 persons @ Rs.20,000x36 months - Rs. 144 lakhs
A.2 State Level Resource Persons 40 p xRs.10,000 x 36 m- Rs. 144 lakhs
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- Rs. 288 lakhs ==========
B. RESOURCE PERSON TRAVEL
B.1 National Level 20 p x 10,000 x 36 m - Rs. 72 lakhs
B.2 state level 40p x 5,000 x 36 m - Rs. 72 lakhs
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- Rs.144 lakhs
C. OFFICE EXPENSES
C.1 National Level:
Rent - Rs. 80,000
Electricity – Rs. 20,000
Telephone – Rs. 60,000
Printing, Stationary - Rs. 20,000
Staff – Rs. 120,000
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Rs. 3.00 lakh X 36 m - Rs.108.00
State Level – Rs. 20,000 x 12 states x 36 months - Rs.86.4
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Total - Rs.194.4 lakh
D. CONSULTANCY – L/S - Rs. 25.00
E. TRAINING
E.1 National workshop – 3 x Rs. 5 lakh - Rs. 15.00
E.2 State “ - 12 state x 3 x Rs. 1 lakh - Rs.36.00
E.3 District “ - 100 dis. X 2 x 0.5 lakh - Rs.100.00
E.4 Cluster/panchayat 2000 x Rs.20,000/pan - Rs. 400.00
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Total - Rs.551.00
F. TRAINING MANUELS AND OTHER
MATERIALS – L/S - Rs. 30.00
GRAND TOTAL A - 288.0
B - 144.0
C - 194.4
D - 25.0
E - 551.0
F - 30.0
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- Rs. 1232.4 lakhs
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