ASHA: India Together newsletter, May 1999 (fwd)

[Subramanya Sastry <sastry@cs.wisc.edu>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 11 May 1999 08:31:21 -0700
From: news@indiatogether.org
Reply-To: indiatogether@hotmail.com
To: indiatogether@hotmail.com
Subject: India Together newsletter, May 1999

May 1999
India Together Newsletter Service
http://www.indiatogether.org/

**********************************************************************
This newsletter is a free service of the India Together public 
awareness and solidarity campaign. If you received this newsletter 
forwarded through friends, you can subscribe to this service directly 
at the campaign's web site. 
**********************************************************************

Dear Reader:

The May 1999 newsletter from India Together is presented here. Links
to new articles, as well as recent earlier ones, are included here. All
our articles are available for reading at the web site through links from 
the main page itself or from the archives. As always, India Together 
requests that you pass on this newsletter to any others who share your 
concerns and determination to build a better nation.

In this edition
***************

Every once in a while, a few individuals stand up to call our legislators to
account, and to assert the public interest. The recent campaign to have
Mr.Arun Bhatia reinstated as the Municipal Commissioner of Pune was one such
instance. In a small yet meaningful expression of solidarity with those who
made it possible - the judges, Mr.Bhatia himself, the people of Pune, and
those who filed the petition in the courts - India Together hosts its first
signature campaign. ADD YOUR VOICE.
http://www.indiatogether.org/petitions/bhatia.htm

Empowerment and development are as often about ability as they are about
compassion and concern. The weavers of Surajpur, especially the womenfolk
among them, have understood this well, thanks to their own perseverance and
the assistance of well-meaning organizations around them. In the process,
they have created a community that prides itself on the quality of its work
as well the empowerment it has made possible.
http://www.indiatogether.org/finish/stories/surajpur.htm

Even in a non-revolutionary social milieu, it is possible to initiate a 
mass literacy campaign and execute it with some degree of success. There is a
tremendous reserve of innate goodness and volunteer spirit among the people,
which can be catalysed, despite an overwhelming ambience of cynicism, if a
critical minimum core of committed activists and governmental support are
present. Shanmuga Subramaniam reviews Athreya and Chunkath's Literacy and
Empowerment, an evocative recital of development by those who made it
possible. 
http://www.indiatogether.org/finish/reviews/litemp.htm

Earlier stories
***************

Widely hailed as an economist whose work has addressed the concerns 
of the lower income groups in society, Dr.Amartya Sen, Nobel 
Laureate, has much to teach those of us who aspire to further social 
justice through sound economic policies. Ankur Sarin reports on a 
recent lecture that Dr.Sen gave at Chicago, at a gathering hosted by 
the India Development Service.
http://www.indiatogether.org/finish/stories/sen.htm

A few years ago it would have been hard to imagine Indian students
from abroad visiting villages in India to report on development 
projects. Today, thanks to the vision and dedication of the Association 
for India's Development (AID), there are probably about 100 such 
volunteers visiting villages, determined to make a difference in the 
lives of scores of unfortunate people. In the process, many lives 
have been enriched. Children who would otherwise have not had access 
to education are now in school and crowded schools squeezed 
for space now have more classrooms.
http://www.indiatogether.org/finish/stories/aid.htm

The Narmada Bachao Andolan has remained in the news for many years 
now. A people's movement that demands justice for those affected by 
elaborate dam-building plans on the Narmada, the NBA has sought the 
conscientious support of those who live their lives far away from the 
troubled waters. The Supreme Court of India, in a recent ruling, has 
permitted further raising the height of the dam, drawing strong 
protests from the NBA and from human rights organizations.
http://www.indiatogether.org/finish/stories/nba.htm

In countries where informal economies involve more participants than 
the formal sector, the poor receive the greatest benefit from 
development programs that enhance their income generating abilities. 
Kumar Thangamuthu discusses Microcredit lending, the practice of 
offering small loans to the poor, which has shown great promise in 
reducing poverty around the world and is gaining acceptance at 
organizations like the World Bank. 
http://www.indiatogether.org/finish/stories/microcredit.htm

Imagine a banking institution that could boast a 97% repayment rate on
its loans! That is precisely what Activists for Social Alternatives, a
microcredit lending institution in India, has achieved. In the 
process, the organization has empowered hundreds of women in rural 
Tamilnadu, and sent their children to school rather than work. Kumar 
Thangamuthu profiles the organization that has made a lasting dent in 
chronic poverty.  
http://www.indiatogether.org/finish/stories/asa.htm

Sometimes, the dream is everything. Utopia is at best a faraway 
promise in a book from another time, but if only in our mind's eyes, 
imagining it is the first step. There is an idea of India that lives 
in many of us, and from it we have often drawn inspiration to better 
ourselves, and pride in the small ways we actually do. If we dare to 
dream of a better nation, and ponder ways to make it happen, some 
part of it will come true one day. Ashwin Mahesh imagines a different 
India.
http://www.indiatogether.org/finish/edits/ash.htm

For your convenience
********************

You can subscribe to this newsletter at the India Together home page.
Simply key in your email address in the subscription box and hit the 
enter key, and the newsletters will be on their way to you regularly. 
Should you decide to unsubscribe from our newsletter, you may do so 
automatically as well at 
http://www.indiatogether.org/unsubscribe.htm

Thank you for your time. 
Sincerely,
______________________________________
INDIA Together: "we know, and we care"

**********************************************************************
India Together has been made possible by the efforts of several Indian
professionals and students in India and abroad, editors of 
neighborhood newspapers in various Indian cities, and a whole host of 
other interested people. Please visit our web site at 
http://www.indiatogether.org for the latest stories and good news 
related to India. 
**********************************************************************