e-Conference on Rural Development through Volunteerism
NIDRPR-NERC, GSDS organise an e-Conference on ‘Rural Development through Volunteerism’
Dimapur, July 12 (MExN): People themselves can solve their own as well as community problems by harnessing the existing volunteerism among the people, Secretary for Rural Development Nagendra Nath Sinha, has opined.
Sinha said this during the inaugural speech of e-Conference on ‘Rural Development through Volunteerism’ jointly by the National Institute of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, North Eastern Regional Centre (NIDRPR-NERC), under Ministry of Rural Development and GSDS (Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti) under Ministry of Culture, on July 10.
It was part of Azad ka Amrut Mahostav, the celebration of 75 years of Indian Independence.
Pointing out that the role of voluntary organisation has changed a lot over the time, Sinha stated that at present Self-Help Groups, Cooperatives and Panchayati Raj Institutions are the main vehicles of volunteerism in rural India.
‘These institutions are playing more significant role during the crisis across the country,’ he said.
NIDRPR-NERC Director General Dr G Narendra Kumar in his presidential address emphasised that the Gandhian concept of Gram Swaraj, holistic approach of development and volunteerism are even more relevant in the context of current paradigm of rural development.
Increase in economic growth is not sufficient to address rural problems like poverty, unemployment, etc and therefore volunteerism, volunteers and voluntary organisations are important to meet the gap in the performance of Government effort, he noted.
With his personal experience in working in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, he acknowledged the impact of voluntarism in the North East (NE) states.
Dr Murugesan Ramasamy, Professor &Director, NIRDPR-NERC, also called for rejuvenating the volunteerism in India in general, more particularly for the NE region. He also recollected the effects of induction program on entitled “Swa Netritwa Se Bharat Nirman” conducted by him last year for the welfare of Youth in Assam at Khahikuchi Campus in Guwahati.
An Associate Professor at the centre, Dr Jayanta Choudhury while briefing about volunteerism in the region, stressed that it is the practice of providing time and skills for the benefit of all the needy people and causes rather than for financial benefit.
Dipankar Shri Gyan, Director, GSDS made a brief introduction account about its different activities related to Gandhiji’s life and works integrating to encourage rural youth.
Grassroots level volunteerism in NE
Various grassroots level volunteerism efforts across NE states shared their experiences and successes during the conference, informed a press release received here.
The Pradhan of Sonapur Panchayat, Assam, Nur Ahmed Laskar shared his experience on how his panchayat took various initiatives during the pandemic and build confidence among the public.
Sadam Hanjabam, founder of Ya-All, an NGO from Manipur presented their experience and works, listed by United Nations as one of the top 10 global initiatives for an inclusive fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vishü Rita Krocha, Independent Journalist from Nagaland presented the case of how Naga communities came together to help each other during the pandemic. The contribution of Christo Naga’s Club of Zhavame was also highlighted.
Adap Golo, SMM, Arunachal Pradesh, State Livelihood Mission and Lishi Yania, Women President, CHUN Ajin Self Help Group presented their experience of volunteerism as the members of the group are involved with various social activities apart from their economic activities in the state.
Community Chief of Nongkseh locality, Shillong, Nathan Thangkhiew shared their experiences of volunteerism in their locality of Meghalaya while Suren Mohra, Field Facilitator, State Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Sikkim shared about how they arranged blood donation camps as volunteer and also contributed a lot during the pandemic to help thousands of people in the state of Sikkim.
