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Asha-MIT an action group for basic education in India |
June 24, 2002
From:
Ananth Chikkatur
Asha-MIT
W20-401
77 Massachusetts Av.
Cambridge, MA 02139
USA
To:
Ms. Jahermuni Germaine Alphonso
Jaher Development Samiti Bagjobra
Village Bodra, Tola Bagjobra
P.O. Churchu, 825411
Hazaribagh District, Jharkand
INDIA
Dear Ms. Alphonso,
I
hope this letter finds you in good health. I hope that you have already
received and used the check that we had sent with Mr. Nayak to you. I have not
received any acknowledgement of that fact. Please send us an acknowledgement as
soon as you can. I have attached a copy of the letter which was to be delivered
to you, along with the check, by Mr. Nayak for your information.
In
our Asha meeting, we also discussed the Jaher fishery project that was sent to
us through Shanmuga. After some debate and questions, we unanimously decided
that in principle Asha-MIT would
indeed support the project. However, we do not have the money ($14,000) to
support it by ourselves. So we will put up the project to receive funding from
Asha-wide resources. I hope that funding for this does come through. I will
keep you updated on it.
However,
in the meantime, we have some questions regarding the project. I understand
that the postal delays make it difficult for us to communicate, however, it
would be great if you can answer them for us as soon as you can.
1)
What is the people's view of this fishery project? Do they support it? We knew
that they supported the school by building structures for them, but what about
in this case?
2)
Where is the fish being sold? How is the market for fish? Do they need to sell
in Ranchi? Is there is a lot of competition for the fish market?
3)
Do the people in the village have to buy it as well for food? at the same
price?
4) Is there a contract
between the mahila mandals and the land-owners? If not, what is mechanism for
ensuring that they don't break away in the middle of the project?
5)
Who are the fishermen? Also santali? Will they be from the same village? or
some specialized people?
6)
When the village has a local school, it seems that the education share will go
to that school. However, we have only evaluated the Jaher Primary school and
not those schools. So, who is running those schools? The samiti or someone
else? Do those schools have the same credibility and standards that the Jaher
school has?
7)
There was lots of discussion on the financial aspects of the plan in terms of a
regular business. While we all knew that the project would be really useful for
the Santhal society, we could look at this purely from a financial point of
view and state that the Rs.50,000 for school can be gotten from the interest
from putting the Rs. 6,80,000 in a bank. But, there is a larger risk in
undertaking the project, while the interest from a bank is less risky. Any
comments on this?
8)
There was some feeling that Asha should not be solely responsible for the
financial risk of the project. So, would be reasonable for the Samiti to borrow
say Rs. 3,00,000 from a bank, and Asha can act as a guarantor for this money?
Of course, there is some interest to be paid, but maybe it is reasonable. Is
that a possibility?
9)
It seems that the timing of the project is reasonably critical. Since our
approval has been so delayed, it is possible for you to start this next year
(2003)?
10)
There was a math error in calculating cost for repair for the village Bali,
Tola - Tala Tola (#4), where 20 workers x 15 days x Rs. 50 = Rs. 15,000, rather
than the Rs. 18,750 that is mentioned. I think this is a simple math error,
which I have corrected.
|
Asha-MIT an
action group for basic education in India |
Please send me a quick response to these questions as soon as you can.
In case you do get access to email in Ranchi or so, my email address is: ananth@mit.edu. Please send me an email as soon as you can. Also, if you are in touch with Mr. Nayak. Perhaps you can send us a reply through him.
Finally, I will be visiting India in this autumn and I hope to be travelling around the Jharkand area in October. So, I hope that I will get a chance to meet with you then.
Thank you and hope everything is going well for the Samiti,
Sincerely,
Ananth Chikkatur