JAGO GAON

(Rural Development & Education)

                           caring for a better future          

JAGO GAON  is an independent non-profit making volunteer organisation, founded in 7TH DEC 2010 by a group of 9 founder members. It aims at collaborative intervention in important areas of human life. It draws together professionals from many disciplines –Rural Development and Education Economics, Agricultural Engineering, Bio-statistics, Social Sciences, Engineering, Law and Environmental Science – to evolve an integrated and holistic response to the challenges of all-round development. It seeks to play a complimentary role in evolving a healthy community by bringing in positive changes in agriculture, health, education, and employment generation and other important aspects of human life, especially in rural India. It aims at mainstreaming gender in its engagement with issues of development. Broadly speaking the organisation tries to reach out to the deprived sections of society.

These broad facets of Quality of Life in a developing country like India are too expansive but they also provide an opportunity to charter new courses, develop new paradigms and create new vistas of opportunities. JAGO GAON  aims to explore these new challenges and endeavours to make a positive contribution in important areas.

 

FOCUS AREA

             RESEARCH AND DATABASE

JAGO GAON strongly feel the need for a strong and scientific database of micro areas. Such database could go a long way in more scientific planning and intervention in small areas. JAGO GAON focuses on developing a composite as well as disaggregated Human Development index of micro areas (a district being the largest unit) on the line of National Human Development Report prepared by Planning Commission. Taking cue from UNDP prescriptions, JAGO GAON is trying to incorporate new variables, which reflect the quality of life of that particular area. We are in the process of compiling a Health Indices for Kalahandi district of Orissa,Bihar,Jharkhand,delhi,and all over india

We carry out socio-economic research and have already done a number of studies in the last three years.

                                              

            AGRICULTURE

 

JAGO GAON B believes that the only way to improve the quality of life in rural India is to change agricultural practices. With India likely to turn most populous country in the foreseeable future, the country needs to increase its crop production at the rate of 3 % per annum to meet the need of its populace. With climate change and unpredictable weather pattern due to El Nino, LA Nina and other invisible factors, we believe that proper management of water resource is essential to raise our crop output. Orissa, Biharf,or that matter eastern India, presents opportunities for new agricultural practices. Without neglecting agricultural crops, we believe that there is great scope in alternatives, particularly in medicinal plants and bio fuel. There are vast array of wasteland which can be used for cultivation of jatropha, karanj and other bio fuels to make a significant difference in the livelihood in rural India.

           

With 5.4% annual rise in the rate of fossil fuels and growing uncertainties in Middle East, there is a consensus among experts of the need of alternative fuel. Biodisel made of jatropha has great potential to fulfill that aspiration.

Our team now engages in the feasibility study of jatropha cultivation in Orissa.

         HEALTH

As mankind enters into third millennium, it faces many new threats and challenges — the most important being an unholy alliance between ‘enemies of health’ and allies of poverty, deprivation and disparities. AIDS pandemic is an additional threat, which poses another challenge to humanity and its resolve to secure a better world. To these new threats be added many of the unmet health agenda like reduction of infant and maternal mortality, providing safe drinking water, reduce childhood diseases, prevent many communicable diseases etc. Taken together, they pose formidable challenges to health professionals, public-policy experts, inter-state agencies and humanity as a whole.

JAGO GAON takes a holistic definition of health and emphasizes on disease prevention. At present JAGO GAON  is preparing a one-month module Course on Reproductive Child Health to be communicated among the reproductive women by tapping many of the women Self help groups (SHG).

         IEC (INFORMATION, EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION)

JAGO GAON ’s motto is to help create a Healthy Community through education, knowledge and its diffusion. For us: “Information is advantage and knowledge is power.” Education, Information and Communication (IEC) are vital for the growth of a Healthy Community. Education provides informed choices, awareness of rights and responsibility and promotes freedom. Knowledge of basic health and hygiene, awareness of opportunities are critical elements for success in a venture. Hence, JAGO GAON puts utmost importance to IEC. This includes diffusion as well preservation of traditional knowledge. JAGO GAON  seeks to achieve its goal by building community educators and community workers in different segments. Human Resource Development and management is an integral part of strategy to help build a Healthy Community.

            JAGO GAON  intends to engage in advocacy by developing pamphlets, booklets, poster campaign, roadside show, street play, research publication in vernacular languages and modular courses on different aspects, especially on subjects like:

• health (RCH, sanitation, drinking water, AIDS)
• gender rights & violence against women
• rural entrepreneurship and
• environmental awareness, including disaster preparedness.

q       Further it hopes to engage in innovative learning by enriching curriculum, by promoting open learning system. Use of important software programmes like PHPNUKE., HULCHUL.

         WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND GENDER RIGHTS

A gender perspective into planning and execution of programmes and policies has begun to acquire centrestage in the last decade, particularly after the Beijing Conference in 1994. Taking cognizance of all forms of discriminations against women in a patriarchal society, the new paradigm recognizes the women empowerment as an imperative in our strive towards all-round development. Given the critical role women plays in building society, JAGO GAON  strives in its effort to mainstream gender in its approach. It engages in policy advocacy, particularly in the area of women reproductivity, property and other rights.

           

At present JAGO GAON  is preparing a “Dossier on Violence against women in Orissa,Bihar and all over india . JAGO GAON strongly feel the need of awareness drive among women about various rights.

            HERITAGE CONSERVATION & AWARENESS

India has a rich cultural heritage– both tangible and intangible- which need to be protected. The Central Government particularly the ASI has been inadequate to conserve these heritage. Taking cue from UNESCO’s emphasis on local community participation in conservation and preservation of heritage, JAGO GAON ’s culture cell intends to focus on heritage awareness through

q       Photo exhibition( both mobile and in-house)

q       Slide show-cum- lecture.

q       Involve local communities in heritage awareness programmes by celebrating  special functions specific to the nature of sites to make people aware about the importance of the site and inculcate a spirit of pride in them.

q       To conserve the unprotected monument by the local communities with the help of district administration.

q       Mobilise funds for such purpose from corporate houses and Heritage Marketing through clothes with heritage print and other local products with heritage prints.

At present RUDCOF engages in bringing out a glossy book in Japanese on Buddhist deities found in major Buddhist sites of Orissa.

Fig A Neglected Image in an interior Orissa: Are we concerned about our rich heritage!

         SHG AND COOPERATIVES

Traditional skill is abundant in our country. What is required is the vision to tap and organize these skills and market the products to enrich the life of the people. Self-help groups (SHG) and craft co-operatives can be effective arrangements for empowering the people. One such area where JAGO GAON  is interested is Craftman’s cooperative.JAGO GAON  is now actively engaged in organising textile weavers of Fakirpur, a backward region in Keonjhar district of Orissa. These weavers whose forefathers migrated from the famous textile centre of Vardhaman of West Bengal specialsises in Tassar textile. JAGO GAON  believes that with quota restriction withering away in , Tassar textile could have great export potential, particularly in the temperate climatic zone of the world.

We hope to provide market linkage, first by organizing cooperatives in Fakirpur, followed by export promotion of their exclusive products.

         CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR)

The basic objective of our CSR initiative is to make the Corporate realize and share the responsibility of the society from where they are operating, by integrating the interests of the different stake-holders into their business policies and actions. The perceptions of paying back to the community is not only building the image of the corporate house, making them a good corporate citizen but also evolving as a standard for value judgment about the company in the market. With the engagement and collaboration of the non-profit sector with the profit making sector (business houses/corporate) great changes can be brought about in the lives of millions of deprived people living in the country.

JAGO GAON  directs its effort in advocacy, particularly among the mines workers and the health hazards they face, consultancy on corporate social responsibility as well as act as channelisation of corporate funds for building a healthy community.