A blog promoting 'participation as empowerment' with the perspective of making democracy work for all, every day - within families, communities, institutions, and political systems
During on my final stage interview at PRIA, I was fortunate enough to engage in discussion with Rajesh Tandon Sir, on a recurring observation of mine on how policies and studies are often designed remotely, with researchers comfortably stationed in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, or Bangalore, far removed from the very communities they aim to ‘support’.
Over the past 12 months of the pandemic, millions of citizens around the world have ‘unlearned’ old ways of being, while learning new behaviours. For rural communities in India, lockdown created greater reliance on local sources of food, water and preventive health care.
Recently, I attended the DELIVERING DEMOCRACY: Retrospect and Prospect conference organized by the G20 Civil Society 20 Delivering Democracy Working Group Secretariat, which was a remarkable experience. The conference aimed to explore innovative ideas and solutions to strengthen democratic institutions and promote civic engagement.
Settling into a seat at my assigned table, I glanced around with nervous anticipation. It was a chilly Sunday morning in early February and guests from across India, as well as some from abroad, were gathering in the colorfully decorated outdoor space behind PRIA’s office in New Delhi.
These are the voices of civil society leaders in a recent get-together in Kolkatta. Such voices can also be heard from any other part of the country, or for that matter perhaps, from any other country in the world.
As a means to commemorate 40 years of Participatory Research in Asia’s journey, Dr. Rajesh Tandon (Founder-President, PRIA) embarked on a visit to Udaipur.
In a country like India, with wide socio-economic and cultural disparities, a centralised approach to program design runs the risk of excluding the target group from accessing social welfare benefits, such as health and education.
Samiksha Jha and Niharika Kaul are working to increase the agency of women domestic workers in Panipat and Gurugram and support them in finding alternative livelihood options that would mitigate some of the economic uncertainty in the lives of these women .
“I was told by elders that mobilising youth around menstruation issues in Bhagalpur was impossible; I went ahead anyway…” Shalini started Alharh, a campaign aimed at creating a robust community in a small town in Bihar (India), to spread awareness and smash stigma around menstrual health and hygiene.
As Indian sportspersons are shining on the grounds of the Tokyo Olympics, the country, and indeed the world, is beginning to hear their amazing stories.
In remote villages of Husainabad block of Palamau district of Jharkhand, most people have heard of some disease called Corona, but do not know anyone personally who got infected.
At the height of second wave of coronavirus infections in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked his officials how volunteers from civil society might be utilised to lessen the pressure on the healthcare sector during a review meeting held on April 30, 2021.
“Yes, we need ration for my family today; thank you for your generosity,” said a domestic worker in south Delhi when our relief distribution team reached her basti (colony) last week.
At a recent OECD event on enabling civil society in the context of COVID-19, Jeffrey Schlagenhauf, Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD, categorically stated that the pandemic has had a catastrophic impact on people’s lives and that “people are getting really hurt”.
Knowledge In Music And Dance: Learning From A Local Music Festival
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