CONTENTS:
COVER STORY: Marginalised People: Understanding the Transgender Community
NIRDPR Celebrates 131st Birth Anniversary of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
NIRDPR Organises Training Programme on Accounting for Rural Development Functionaries
NIRDPR Inks MoU with Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU)
Meghalaya Administrative Training Institute (MATI) Team Visits NIRDPR
Software Technology Park of India Conducts TOLIC-2 Meeting under the Aegis of NIRDPR
CDC, NIRDPR Organises Library Talks on Best Platform Available to Access Online Journals
Panchayat Secretaries from Ladakh Visit NIRDPR
SIRD/ETC CORNER:
Training Programme on Organic Farming for SHGs at ETC, Meghalaya
COVER STORY:
Marginalised People: Understanding the Transgender Community
Transgender is an umbrella term that describes people whose gender identity or gender expression differs from the sex they were born into. In India transgenders are addressed as ‘Hijras,’ ‘Aravanis/Aruvanis/Tirunangais,’ ‘Kothis,’ ‘Jogtas’/Jogappas,’ ‘Shiv Shaktis,’ ‘Kinnars,’ etc. Transgenders call themselves as Kinnara or Kinner, referring to the mythological beings that excel at song and dance. A transgender could be a transformation from man to woman and woman to man.
Indian Context:
In India, hijra identity is largely based on religious and cultural backgrounds; few even believe them as demi-gods. Indian mythological scriptures like Mahabharata, Ramayana, and the Kamasutra have a reference to transgenders. In India, their history has been recorded for more than 4000 years. Even a few gods were represented as both male and female at different points and various incarnations. Lord Shiva, also called as Ardhanarishvara formed by integrating Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati, is widely worshipped. The concept of tritiya prakriti or napunsaka is an integral part of vedic and puranic literatures. The word napunsaka has been used to denote the absence of procreative capability.
Present Scenario:
On 15th April 2014, in the National Legal Services Authority (NLSA) Vs Union of India, the Supreme Court of India ruled that transgender people should be treated as a third category of gender or as a socially and economically backward class entitled to proportional access and representation in education and jobs. Despite the judgment, transgenders are still targets of harassment and humiliation. They are undergoing discrimination in the field of healthcare, employment and education. According to the UNDP report (2010), Human Immune deficiency Virus (HIV) and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) are now increasingly visible among the transgender population. According to the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), one-fifth (22 per cent) of respondents who have interacted with police, reported harassment by police, with much higher rates reported by people of colour, 29 per cent reported police harassment or disrespect; and 12 per cent had been denied equal treatment or harassed by judges or court officials.”
Recognition of Transgenders
The landmark 2014 judgement gave relief to an estimated four million transgender people in the country. The courts have also ordered the government to provide quotas in education and jobs, similar to the other minority groups in India. The apex court ordered the governments to construct separate washrooms for the transgender community and create health departments to take care of transsexual medical needs. The apex court has provided an entitlement to adopt children after sex reassignment surgery and identify with their gender of choice.
Employment
In 2002, the All India Eunuch Conference was held in Varanasi. The conference demanded that universities and government should open more job opportunities to the transgender community.
State Initiatives:
Pride Place is a government of Telangana initiative to deal with violence against LGBTQIA and monitor the crimes committed against them. This cell will act as a single-stop solution by offering police and other services through networking and collaboration with other stakeholders. A State-level cell was also planned in the same manner.
Healthcare:
Healthcare policies do not address the pre and post-operative needs of those who undergo sex-change operations. In addition, many of the transgenders were affected by HIV-AIDS. They were refused medical care due to their transgender status.
Transgender individuals are not categorised into the gender binary, and hence they are not covered by insurance and legal protection. Further, they are not protected by primary healthcare and refuse publicly funded gender-affirming health services. Transformation surgery in the country is expensive but of low quality.
Besides physical health, transgender people confront mental health-related problems. They experienced a high level of stress, which lead to a high rate of depression, anxiety, and suicidal behaviour. The Central and State governments must create an exclusive department to treat transgender people in order to ensure their healthcare.
Laxmi Narayan Tripathi
Laxmi Narayan Tripathi is a transgender/Hijra rights activist, Bollywood actress, Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer and motivational speaker in Mumbai, India. She was born male but later transformed into a woman. In 2007, she started her own organisation, Astitiva. This organisation works to promote the welfare of sexual minorities, their support and development. Laxmi Tripathi was married to Indian Trans man and bodybuilder Aryan Pasha. She has adopted two children and lives in Thane.
Zara Sheikha-Successful Transgender
Zara Sheikha, born as Nishant, is currently working as an HR consultant in an MNC based in Kerala. Zara Sheikha came into the limelight for being the first transgender individual in India to be appointed as a Human Resources (HR) executive in an MNC in Thiruvananthapuram.
Prithika Yashini – Icon of Inspiration
Ms. Preetika Yashini made history when she became the first transgender person in India to become the sub-inspector in Tamil Nadu State Police. In February 2015, Yashini applied for the position of sub-inspector police officer in Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board. However, before she could prepare for the test, her application was rejected because she didn’t belong to either of the categories ‘male or female’. Yashini questioned the decision in Madras High Court.
Shabnam Maus
Shabnam Maus was the first transgender woman to be elected as an MLA. She was an elected member of the Madhya Pradesh State Legislative Assembly from 1998 to 2003. She was born visibly intersex and was given a masculine name. In 2005, a fiction feature film titled Shabnam Mausi was made about her life. The film was directed by Yogesh Bharadwaj and the role of Shabnam Mausi was played by Ashutosh Rana.
Aryan Pasha- first Trans man to become a bodybuilding champion
Aryan Pasha is the first Indian transgender man to win a prize at a bodybuilding event. Pasha came second in the Men’s Physique (short) category of Musclemania India. Aryan Pasha was born a girl as ‘Nyla’ in Delhi. Pasha realised early on that he did not identify as a girl.
In 2019, The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act was passed by the Parliament with the objective to provide protection for the rights of transgender people, their welfare, and other related matters. Department of Social Justice and Empowerment (DoSJE) is creating many initiatives to help the transgender community. The department has created a national portal to reach out to the transgender community. It provides the transgender community with educational scholarships, market-oriented skill training for employment, and medical help through insurance for gender reassignment surgery. The department also provides housing facilities for destitute transgender people. Unfortunately, awareness of these initiatives among transgender community members is limited and hence, it failed to make an impact on their lives. Besides, the awareness of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act is very low. In this regard, the DoSJE needs to take up the task of creating massive awareness about its reach. The NIRDPR, with its wider network, can create awareness about the initiatives and help the transgender community to live with dignity.
Dr. S. N. Rao
Associate Professor & Head,
Centre for Equality and Social Development,
NIRDPR
NIRDPR Celebrates 131st Birth Anniversary of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
The National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad organised the 131st birth anniversary celebrations of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, popularly known as the father of Indian Constitution, on 18th April, 2022.
Shri E. Ramesh, Senior Hindi Translator and Vice-president of SC/ST Welfare Association, NIRDPR welcomed the guests and staff to the celebrations organised at Dr. B. R. Ambedkar block on the campus.
Dr. G. Narendra Kumar, IAS, Director General, NIRDPR garlanded the bust of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and unveiled the plaque inscribed with the preamble from the Constitution of India. Addressing the gathering, he said that we should follow the path and ideals shown by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. Following him, Shri Shashi Bhushan, DDG (i/c) and FA, Dr. M. Srikanth, Registrar and others offered floral tributes.
Further, the Director General released a ‘Compendium of selected literature on Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’ complied by Assistant Librarians Shri P. Sudhakar and Smt. K. Radha Madhavi. The programme was attended by faculty heads, Centre heads, faculty and staff of NIRDPR.
NIRDPR Organises Training Programme on Accounting for Rural Development Functionaries
The Government of India is spending crores of rupees towards the welfare and development of people living in rural areas. Most of these development programmes in rural areas are implemented by functionaries of Panchayati Raj Institutions and Rural Development departments. Officials of implementing agencies face a lot of issues, especially related to accounting procedures, in carrying out their day-to-day tasks and implementation of programmes. These officials were given basic training on accounting procedures as part of their induction programme after joining office. But that training was ineffective and did not deal with the intricacies of accounting procedures. Thus, it became important for the officials to have a detailed knowledge of accounting procedures for the effective implementation of welfare and development programmes in rural areas.
During the Training Needs Analysis (TNA) carried out by NIRDPR, a training programme on ‘Accounting’ emerged as a training need for the implementing departments of RD programmes. In this context, the Centre for Internal Audit in Rural Development (CIARD) designed a training programme to address this issue. The clientele for this training programme comprised Drawing and Disbursement Officers (DDOs) at various levels (Block & District), implementing officials of various Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Departments under the State government. Initially, the training programme was designed for online mode and during the second wave of COVID-19, CIARD conducted five training programmes online. For the academic year 2022-23, it was planned to conduct the training in classroom mode for more effectiveness and the first training of this kind was conducted at NIRDPR during 18th -22nd April, 2022.
Shri Shashi Bhushan, DDG (i/c), FA and Director, CIARD gave the welcome address and explained the importance of the training programme. Dr. G. Narendra Kumar, IAS, Director General, NIRDPR gave the inaugural address. He stressed the importance of the accounting procedure in any organisation, particularly those implementing the rural development schemes. Dr. G. Narendra Kumar, IAS released the printed version of course material for this training programme. The inaugural meeting concluded with vote of thanks given by Dr. U. Hemantha Kumar, Course Director.
The training programme was scheduled with 16 classroom sessions spread over five days, including a one-day field visit to State government offices, to have knowledge of the accounting records and procedures.
A total of 36 participants from five States (Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya and Telangana) participated in the programme. The training programme was participatory in nature as the classroom sessions were delivered through lectures using PPTs, exercises, interactions with participants and exposure visits to State government offices. The assessment of the participants was made by a test.
The topics delivered during the training programme were ‘Government Accounting System’, ‘General System of Financial Management’, ‘Gran-in-Aid and Loans’ and ‘Contract Management System and Public Works’. Two sessions on ‘Budget Formulation and Implementation’ and ‘Pay Bill system’ were also delivered during the training programme. The ‘Maintenance of Cash Book and other related Registers’ and various reconciliations with all other records’, ‘Statutory deductions from various payment bills and Furnishing of Tax returns to Tax Assessing Authorities’ and ‘Basic concepts of Accounting and Book Keeping’ were discussed with practical exercises. The other topics such as ‘Administrative Expenditure under Each Scheme of MoRD and Limitations’, ‘Procurement of Goods and Services’, ‘Public Finance Management System’, and ‘Types of Audits and Its Importance’ were also delivered. To have exposure to accounting procedures and maintenance of various accounting records at the PR & RD Department, a field visit was organised to two offices, namely MPDO, Sankarapalli and Shabad in Ranga Reddy district of Telangana. The training programme ended with feedback and valedictory sessions.
The programme was coordinated by the CIARD team comprising Shri Shashi Bhushan, Director, CIARD, Dr. U. Hemantha Kumar, Course Director, Shri S. V. Narayana Reddy, Course Co-coordinator, Ms. Shashi Rekha and Ms. Shirisha, Training Managers.
NIRDPR Inks MoU with Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU)
The National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) and Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) inked a Memorandum of Understanding in order to promote agriculture-based livelihoods in rural development activities, on 8th April, 2022.
Dr. G. Narendra Kumar, IAS, Director General, NIRDPR and Dr. V. Praveen Rao, Vice Chancellor of PJTSAU signed the MoU in the presence of Shri Shashi Bhushan, ICAS, Deputy Director General (i/c), Prof. G. V. Raju, Head, Centre for Planning Monitoring & Evaluation, Dr. Ravindra Gavali, Prof & Head, Centre for Natural Resource Management, Climate Change and Disaster Mitigation, Dr. Radhika Rani, Director, National Rural Livelihoods Mission-RC, Dr. Surjit Vikraman, Associate Prof. and Head, Centre for Agrarian Studies, Dr. K. Krishna Reddy, Associate Prof., CNRM, CC and DM, Dr. Nithya V.G, Assistant Prof., CAS, NIRDPR and senior officials of PJTSAU.
The main purpose of this agreement is to focus on different collaborative activities by sharing each other strengths
(a) to promote entrepreneurship development in agriculture sector
(b) mainstreaming farm-based livelihood strategies and value chain development by integrating with National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) activities, and in convergence with other programmes
(c) integration of agriculture development planning with Gram Panchayat Development Plans and
(d) developing models for climate proofing of villages under various agro-ecological conditions.
Dr. G. Narendra Kumar, IAS, Director General, NIRDPR emphasised that the collaboration between the two institutions is very important for improving farm-based livelihoods through value chain development and setting up of micro enterprises. He said that this MoU would contribute to the task of creating a network of centres of excellence in rural development. “This collaboration will facilitate the process of dissemination of research findings through action research projects and capacity building of senior government functionaries. The technical competence of PJTSAU in agricultural technologies for the region, and the strength of NIRDPR in rural development and decentralised planning through strengthening PRIs, creating entrepreneurial opportunities and marketing support through SHGs under NRLM across the country will act in synergy to transform rural livelihoods,” he opined.
Meghalaya Administrative Training Institute (MATI) Team Visits NIRDPR
A team from Meghalaya Administrative Training Institute (MATI), Shillong visited the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) on 27th April, 2022. The main objective of this visit was to explore the options for collaboration with national level institutes for conducting training programmes and research studies. The team interacted with the Centre Heads to understand the activities of the NIRDPR and possible collaboration between NIRDPR and MATI.
The team consisted of Smt. Loretta D. Nongbri, Assistant Director (e-Governance Cell) and Smt. Emelia K. Massar, Assistant Director (Case Development & Documentation Cell), MATI.
The MATI team made a presentation on their infrastructure and focus areas of training and research activities. During the discussion, Centre Heads of NIRDPR, including NERC-NIRDPR, Guwahati and NIRDPR-Delhi, briefed the MATI team about their respective centre’s mandate, and the major themes of the capacity building training programmes and research studies taken up by each centre. The MATI team opined that there are possibilities in making use of the infrastructure available with NIRDPR and MATI for conducting training programmes and exposure visits to NIRDPR, Hyderabad and MATI vice-versa. The following are the possible centre-wise activities that can be taken up in collaboration with MATI in the northeast region, especially in Meghalaya.
- Centre for Social Audit can collaborate with Social Audit activities in Meghalaya.
- Centre for Geo-Informatics Applications in Rural Development may have collaborative activities in the areas of GIS applications in Meghalaya.
- Centre for Natural Resource Management, Climate Change and Disaster Management can collaborate with MATI on bio-diversity governance and climate proofing of villages in NE region.
- Centre for Panchayati Raj, Decentralised Planning &Social Service Delivery can collaborate with MATI for conducting training and workshops for district councils in GPDP, model clusters, etc.
- NIRDPR-NERC has the potential to collaborate in academic activities, and research projects on issues related to NE Region.
- NIRDPR faculty can be involved in MATI programmes as resource persons
- Centre for Information Communication and Technology can collaborate with MATI in the areas of e-Panchayat and ICT applications in RD.
- Centre for Rural Infrastructure can involve in SWM activities in Meghalaya and NE region.
- NIRDPR may offer faculty development programmes for MATI staff.
As concluding remarks, the MATI team informed that they would submit the report to their Director General with possible collaboration and propose signing an MoU with NIRDPR in the specified collaborative activities. After completion of the interactive session with Centre Heads, the MATI team briefed the purpose of their visit to Dr. M. Srikanth, Registrar & Director (Administration) and visited the Audi-Visual Lab established in NIRDPR. The programme was coordinated by Dr. Kathiresan, Associate Professor & Head (i/c), Centre for Innovative Appropriate Technology for Skills and Jobs and Dr. Venkatamallu Thadaboina, Research Officer, Centre for Research and Training Coordination and Networking.
Software Technology Park of India Conducts TOLIC-2 Meeting under the Aegis of NIRDPR
The Town Official Language Implementation Committee-2 meeting was organised by Software Technology Park of India under the aegis of National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, at MCR-HRD Institute Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad on 27th April, 2022. The meeting, held under the chairmanship of Shri Shashi Bhushan, Deputy Director General (i/c), NIRDPR, began with the lighting of the lamp. Dr. C. V. D. Ramprasad, Director, STPI attended as the special guest on the occasion. Shri Narendra Singh Mehra, Deputy Director, Regional Implementation Office, Bengaluru, Dr. Naresh Bala, Deputy Director, Hindi Teaching Scheme, Hyderabad, Dr. Jaishankar Prasad Tiwari, Assistant Director, Dr. Ahmed Minhajuddin, Director, Office of Unani Medicine also attended the meeting.
Smt. Anita Pandey, Assistant Director (Official Language), NIRDPR and Member Secretary of Town Official Language Implementation Committee-2, welcomed the guests, made a PowerPoint presentation on the best works done by a few institutes in progressive use of Hindi and also presented the report about the TOLIC works.
Shri Shashi Bhushan, Deputy Director General (i/c), NIRDPR and Chairman of the committee welcomed the participants. Addressing the gathering, he said that there are 52 offices in Town Official Language Implementation Committee-2 and substantial steps should be taken to increase the number of reports since very few offices are sending reports. He requested to organise the next meeting of the Town Official Language Implementation Committee in the member’s office and also urged the members to send the quarterly report on time.
Dr. C. V. D. Ramprasad, Director, STPI, Special Guest, said that the work related to the progressive use of Hindi in STPI is going on smoothly. “Our office has won many awards at the local and regional levels,” he noted.
Shri Narendra Singh Mehra, Deputy Director, Regional Implementation Office, Bengaluru and representative of the Department of Official Language expressed his resentment over the low number of reports received. While discussing the Official Language policy, he said that attending the TOLIC meeting is mandatory and the absentee offices may be asked to state the reason for non-attendance.
Dr. Naresh Bala, Deputy Director of Hindi Teaching Scheme, gave information about Prabodh, Praveen, Pragya and Parangat training and also informed how the employees can be motivated to work in Hindi after training.
Dr. Jaishankar Prasad Tiwari, Assistant Director, Hindi Teaching Scheme, enriched the knowledge of all the members with compendious thoughts on the topic ‘Rajbhasha Hindi, Why and How.’
Shri Akhtar Alam, Deputy Director, made a presentation on the activities of STPI with respect to the use of Hindi language. Shri E. Ramesh, Senior Hindi Translator proposed vote of thanks. The meeting was compered by Smt. Annapurna, Junior Hindi Translator with the full support of OL staff of NIRDPR and staff of STPI.
CDC, NIRDPR Organises Library Talks on Best Platform Available to Access Online Journals
The Centre for Documentation Development and Communication, National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad organised a library talk on 29th April, 2022, on the topic “Best Platform Available to Access Online Journals.’ Dr. M. R. Murali Prasad, Librarian, Centre for Economic Social Studies, Begumpet, Hyderabad, delivered the talk.
The programme was chaired by Shri Shashi Bhushan, DDG (i/c), NIRDPR. Smt. Anupama Khera, Documentation Officer, NIRDPR introduced the speaker to the audience.
Dr. M. R. Murali Prasad spoke at length about the journals and explained the ways to access them. He started his presentation by listing out the difference between a journal and a magazine.
“A journal is meant for scholarly articles in a particular field. They are also called periodical and serial, as they are published at regular time intervals. Each journal has a reviewing process and they are graded based on the papers published,” he said.
Dr. Murali Prasad further explained the essential components of a journal, such as Journal name, Abstract, Author’s credentials, Purpose, Language, Reference, Charts, Graphs and Statistics, DOI/ISSN, Peer Review Process, Literature Review, Literary Criticism and other information.
“Journals are different types such as online, offline and online/offline. For offline journals, printed copies are to be published and a subscription fee is collected. A few of them are open access journals,” he said. “Subscription methods can be individual, institutional, consortia and aggregator. While subscribing to perpetual journals via online mode, one needs to ensure access to data and journals for future use. Access to the journals or databases are based on IP, login, remote access and single stop service,” he said and also talked about e- Shodhsindhu, a consortium for Indian journals. The lecture ended with a Q & A session.
Dr. Jyothis Sathyapalan, Prof. and Head, CDC proposed vote of thanks. Dr. Akanksha Shukla, Associate Prof., CPGS-DE, honoured Dr. Murali Prasad with a memento. The event was attended by faculty, staff and students.
– CDC Initiatives
Panchayat Secretaries from Ladakh Visit NIRDPR
The Centre for Panchayati Raj, Decentralised Planning and Social Service Delivery, National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad organised a training-cum-exposure visit for Panchayat Secretaries of Ladakh from 18th -22th April, 2022. The programme was sponsored by the Department of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Union Territory, Ladakh.
This programme was designed to apprise Panchayat Secretaries of Ladakh of the functioning of best performing Panchayats and to build their knowledge, skills and attitude. The programme had lectures, group discussion, assignments, practical exercises like SWOC analysis, PowerPoint presentations, documentary presentations, field visit and participants’ experience sharing presentations.
The programme broadly covered the following focus areas. 1. Decentralised Planning and GPDP, 2. Solid Waste Management at GP Level: Methods and Practice, 3. Creation of Sustainable Assets under MGNREGA, 4. Localising Sustainable Development Goals with Gram Panchayats, 5. Case Model Presentations, 6. E-enablement of Panchayats, 7. Promoting livelihood through Homestay Tourism, 8. Gender Budgeting in Panchayats, 9. Social Audit in Panchayats, 10. NRLM-SHG Activities, and 11. Own Source Revenue in Panchayats.
A visit to Rural Technology Park (RTP), NIRDPR and a field visit to Gangadevipalli village were included in the programme. During the Rural Technology Park visit, participants were introduced to drumsticks plantation, NADEP, named after a farmer Narayan Deotao Pandharipande who invented the method of composting, cost-effective rural housing technologies (compressed bricks) and building models having arch foundations, rat-trap bonding brickwork for walling, Mangalore tile roofing, conical tile arch roofing, filler slab arch roofing, brick dome roof, etc. Illustrations were made about natural dyeing of silk, wool, leather, cotton, bamboo, kora-green and other fibres silk, wool silk and food stuff silk using vegetables, flowers, fruits, rinds, seeds, branches and plants.
They visited various units involved in activities like beekeeping and honey processing, production of handmade paper, handmade soap, leaf plate making, tribal jewellery and processing of pearls. They were also made aware of botanical pesticides, neem seed processing and oil extraction, home-based products like sanitary acids, phenyl, scented phenyl, dish wash powder, hand wash liquid, detergent, candle making, agarbathis, etc. Dr. P. K. Ghosh, Assistant Director, RTP gave a demonstration on vermicomposting, and fish waste composting and explained various models available at the Rural Technology Park.
A field visit was made to Gangadevipalli Gram Panchayat in Geesukonda block of Warangal Rural district, Telangana, which is situated at a distance of 12 kilometres from the district headquarters. The population of Gangadevipalli village is 1,227. In 1994, the village earned the status of Panchayat. The village shot to fame after it was run by an all-woman Panchayat for a decade from 1995 to 2006. Gangadevipalli has been revered as one of the best model villages in the country.
Shri Rajamouli, former Sarpanch elaborated on the successful initiatives of Gangadevipalli village. The dedication and hard work of the residents of the village in major developments like cent per cent alcohol prohibition, 100 per cent literacy, household family planning, fluoride-free drinking water, toilets for every household, free television network, free Wi-Fi connectivity, full coverage of CC roads, underground drainage system and good community infrastructure were narrated to the participants. Awards received by Gangadevipalli village were exhibited to the participants. All the participants were actively involved and interacted with the Sarpanch, Secretary and other members of the Gram Panchayat. The participants inquired about own source generation, Gram Panchayat Development Plan process, community participation in Gram Sabha, etc. They also had a discussion with self-help group members to know about their livelihood interventions, skill training, and social and financial development. All participants appreciated the efforts of Gangadevipalli Gram Panchayat Sarpanch and the residents in the village for their cooperation and coordination in making their village as a sustainable model.
Apart from Dr. S. K. Sathyaprabha, Programme Director, Dr. Anjan Kumar Bhanja, Head, CPRDP&SSD, Dr. R Ramesh, Head, CRI, Dr. Rajkumar Pammi, Asst. Prof., CWE&L, Dr. Pratyusna Patnaik, Asst. Prof., CPRDP&SSD, Dr. C. Kathiresan, Head, CIAT&SJ, CICT, Dr. Partha Pratim Sahu, Head, CGG&PA, Dr. N. V. Madhuri, Head, CGSD, Dr. C. Dheeraja, Head, CSA & CWEL, Shri Sanjay Sharma, Deputy Director, NRLM Cell NIRDPR and Dr. Mohammed Taqiuddin, Consultant, CPRDP & SSD handled sessions as NIRDPR resource persons.
The programme was organised by Dr. S. K. Sathyaprabha, Assistant Professor, Centre for Panchayati Raj, Decentralised Planning and Social Service Delivery. Dr. Dambarudhar Garada and Shri Munish Jain were the Training Managers and S. Madhusudhan, Consultant, CPRDP&SSD coordinated the programme.
SIRD/ETC CORNER:
Training Programme on Organic Farming for SHGs at ETC, Meghalaya
The Extension Training Centre, Nongsder, Meghalaya organised a three-day in-campus training programme on organic farming for the self-help groups of Nongsder Village under Bhoirymbong C&RD Block of Ri Bhoi District during 27th – 29th April, 2022. The training programme covered the theoretical and practical (hands-on practice) aspects. The main objectives of the programme were to promote organic farming and encourage the SHGs to take it up as an income-generating activity for sustainable livelihood. The training programme comprised the following three topics:
- Nursery Management
- Field Management
- Seed Production
The sessions covered different aspects of site selection, soil treatment, bed preparation, sowing of seeds, protection from different kinds of environmental conditions, water management, thinning management, plant protection management, seedlings selection and hardening of nursery plants, and advantages of crop rotation and diversification.
The participants took part in the field practicals on the preparation of seed beds, applying manure (cow dung) to seed beds, sowing seeds of spinach, tomato, chillies and capsicum, watering the nursery beds, and field preparation and planting of seedlings of broccoli, turnip, Chinese cabbage and palak.
The resource persons for the said programme were from the Department of Agriculture. Sessions on leadership skills, communication skills and time management were also covered by the faculty.
At the end of the training programme, the SHG members made the following observations:
(1) Organic farming is one of the most economical farm management practices as no expensive fertilisers or pesticides are used. High Yield Variety (HYV) seeds are required for the plantation of crops.
(2) A good return can be achieved with the usage of cheaper and local inputs
(3) Organic products are more nutritional, tasty, and good for health. Given the huge demand for organic products, it can be taken up as an income-generating activity
(4) Organic farming is also environmental-friendly as the organic products are free of chemicals and fertilisers.
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