India is alive & kicking at the grassroots: Unicef’s amazing Village Planning process
On the road!
I had the chance to see a fascinating experiment in grassroots-level village planning process when I travelled to Latur district( Maharashtra), in June. Latur is one of the 17 districts where Unicef has been testing its integrated approach to addressing health and social issues.
From small beginnings in 2002, this effort now covers ALL the 1000-odd villages in the district. The starting point is a 5-day workshop in these villages, that involves village volunteers, Gram Panchayat members, Anganwadi workers, etc. The group collectively debates and identifies the top issues that need to be addressed in the coming years. These issues range from the predictable ones like child marriage and infant health, to surprising ones like alcohol being fed to crying babies!
Be that as it may, the wonderful thing is that the village takes these challenges and targets in their own heads, and track progress in the ensuing years.
Unicef, as the nodal agency, has put together a dedicated band of local NGOs who take charge of co-ordinating and facilitating this on-going effort in a couple of Blocks each.
My local guides during this trip were the two sisters- Zia and Shanno – from NGO ‘Saath’, which is responsible for Ausa and Ahmedpur blocks.
