ASHA For Education
Document Number 9

Indian Site Visit Report

 

Organization Name: Gyanganga

Establishment Date/Location: Initial projects summary 2001/ Pilani, Jhunjhunun District 333031 Rajasthan/Birla Institute of Technology and Science

 

Religious Affiliation/target client group: None / Focused on underdeveloped villages of Jheri, Raila and Garinda. Note: Virtually 100% unemployment.

 

Lodging and transportation information: After arrival in Delhi go to Kashmir gate bus terminal hourly buses to Pilani. Auto rickshaw to Birla Institute of Technology. Both Pilani Hotels and Institute guesthouse are possible.

 

Report date/authors/contact information: August 21st-25th /Report written by James minter 3300 Wyndale court Woodbridge, Virginia 221912 Ph. 703.590-0289 Email: jamesminter@comcast.net, mintersadhna@hotmail.com.

 

 

Assigned India Contact: Dr. Motilal Dash (dash@bits-pilani.ac.in) currently assigned ASHA contact: Ph. 01596-245073 Ext. 263 and Professor Dr. Vinda Singh (Rajasthan native)

US ASHA Chapter contact Information: Ajay Dalmia Yale ASHA chapter ajaymona@yahoo.com Additional ASHA contacts; gauri.shah@yale.edu. And nareshdevnani@netscape.net.

 

Organizational Head: A committee of seven faculty three student and nine village members take joint decisions.

Note: Academic schedules and committee management often leads to long project execution times. Dr. Motilal Dash is working to prevent this.

Operational Structure: All committee members are unpaid volunteers who take joint decision. Dr. Motilal Dash does primary implementation and financial oversight.

 

Management Structure:

The committee structure takes responsibilities for project selection and implementation. Currently not a single female student or village committee member exists. This creates vulnerability of project selection. It is strongly recommended that a total of at least three village members and one student be selected who are female. If this can not be implemented this should be reported directly to the ASHA contact person.

 

Activity # 1

Title: School Infrastructure

Description: Due to Government refusal, NGO funding has been used to provide drinking water, separate boy/girl toilet facilities and school building repair. Government action’s reduced 10th standard girls to either leaving school premises or urinating on the open ground.

 

Capital out lay: Approx. 220,000 Rs.

 

Annual expenditure: All expenses of ongoing maintenance are expected to be minimal.

 

Activity #2

Title: Single Day Health Camps

 

Description: Government doctors have been collected for in village health camps at Garinda and Jherli villages. Raila village completion is expected before year-end 2003.

 

Capital Outlay: Minimal

 

Annual Expenditure: 70,000 Rs. including medicines, transportation, and small equipment.

Activity #3

Title: Vocational Education:

 

Description:  The approx. 100% rate of unemployment creates a desperate need for sustainable jobs. It is strongly recommended that only activities with female management be financially supported.

Proposed Projects:

  1. Sewing School: Village women from Garinda have requested a sewing school. This would require two manual sewing machines and an experience Seamstress with a 3000 Rs./month salary. A vocational structure is built and available. Cleaning, painting and 5 Rs./ day tuition would be the responsibilities of villagers. This project is highly supported, due to its source of initiation.
  2. Candle Making Facilities: A single equipment manager would provide location, equipment and all needed materials at cost and be compensated by a per person/per day fee paid by village women. Initial outfitting cost would be paid form Gyanganga funds. This project should not be implemented without documented support from village women.
  3. Screen Making: This project requires identification of market potential of window screen production. The Jherli school facility would provide a location. This project requires an active project manager to create a business plan that identifies her compensation and defined worker compensation. It is recommended that only women management be used.
  4. Envelope Making Facility: A roof area of an unemployed photographer has been offered to begin an envelope-manufacturing center. This business would require a marketing plan and worker compensation definition. While rent could be paid to the homeowner. It is strongly recommended that all management staff be woman.

 

Non Active Activities: University faculties have proposed elegant descriptions of projects, which have had little or no effective field implementation.

  1. Increase Water Availability: AK Sarkar supports plantation schemes, sock pit construction, channeling rainwater, No evidence of any activity found during site visit.
  2. Increased Electricity: Vimal Bhamot is supporting education of power theft, and non-payment, He is evaluating implementation of solar power and wind energy systems. No evidence of any activity was found during site visit.
  3. Health Education: A well-defined list of issues, problems, and solutions had been presented in a Power Point Presentation. However village women when asked if Gyanganga had an effective health education program indicated no awareness of one.

 

Future proposed activities:

  1. Collection of U.S. science VHS tapes, which will be converted to Indian based V.C.D. Format for voice dubbing in Rajasthani dialect. These would be tested in the Jherli Secondary School.  This could provide an invaluable science education resource library for minimal cost. U.S. resource person James Minter.
  2. Newsletter – a village created newsletter of village issues, problems, and solution by the Jerhli, Raila and Garinda villages. This would facilitate cognitive writing skills, problem and solution analysis and information distribution. Collection or writing, formatting, printing and distribution would be organized by NSS student volunteers annual expenses would be paid by Gyanganga.

 

 

Visitation Conclusion:

Site visit analysis:

The Gyanganga in highly leveraged with low administrative cost, which is functionally paid by the Birla Institute. The composition of faculty, students, village members is critical to sustainability. The percentage of female participation must be bought to a reasonable level. Student committee members must increase facilitation of savings; micro banking, writing and government access by direct facilitation with villagers. NSS (student volunteers) members currently have the opinion that Birla Institute wants to prevent direct relationships with villagers. This issue must be brought out, discussed and resolved.  Facilitation by educated students is the single greatest tool to implement integration of villagers with business and government structures.

 

The single greatest vulnerability of Gyanganga is due to its committee structure. Focus needs to be narrowed to defined physical activities that can be implemented. The inclusion of a broad agendas of social change lead to reduced impact on the life of villagers and a support for statements at photographed conferences that can not be implemented.

 

Because of the Birla Institute support, program destruction by political, government, or criminal activity is greatly reduced. This is a major advantage of the Gyanganga project. In addition the excellent communication, finances and budget record keeping allow a high level of transparency.

 

Funding recommendation:

 

Assuming the continue communications and project focusing by the Yale ASHA Project Steward, this project has my highest recommendation for project funding. Additional funding scheduling should not allow funds to exceed 5000 USD in Gyanganga account.