Role of NGOs and Youth in Social Transformation

@Ashu

1. Advocacy is equally important for the melioration of the society. I feel we have all the infrastructure in place which we call "Government". The only thing lacking here is the co-operation and the co-ordination between governing bodies and the common people.

2. If something is not working which is run by government, its our duty to make sure that it gets conveyed to the concerned authority & the necessary measures are taken upon it and not starting something which is parallel to the government's efforts.

3. Starting a parallel system, like running own private school, librarry, hostel or something will only give the chance to the government system to get more inefficient, careless and irresponsible since there is no one to asking their accountability.

4. If we continue this trend, giving the reasons like corruption or un-willingness in the government system, we may end up running another parallel government since there is no scope and hope in the current government system.

5. Also, by starting a parallel system, can anybody ensure that the problems in the government system won't arise into the new system?

6. Although parallel systems are working towards the nobel goal, the time, money and efforts spent for establishing the government system are going to be macerate.

7. Other issue with running a parallel system is, not everybody will like a particular way the new system should operate, so we may end up having N number of systems running parallel, just because the modus operandi is different from others.

8. Here the need of advocacy arises. In democracy, the Government is for people, of people and by the people. We always conentrate on first two, but we tend to ignore the third one conviniently-"by the people". It becomes our duty to ensure that the everything is in place and the system is running smoothly as expected.

9. Since this is an indirect action, its a very slow, gradual, tiresome but sustainable and permanent process.

@Ravindra Says

A] Influencing Government:
From advocacy actions policy makers (bureaucrats and politicians) get to know about various social problems and views of people on them. This can help in formulating suitable policies as well as correcting the existing ones as per the need.

B] Sensitizing People:
i) Advocacy actions are very effective in sensitizing people, making them aware and mobilize their opinions on various issues. In our country this is necessary since we have various problems spread over a wide area. With improved communications means a chain action is possible, enabling a wider spread.

ii) Raising awareness in people assumes importance in the present context due to introduction of RTI act. People empowered with information / knowledge are better equipped to question the authorities about implementation failures and effectively utilize this RTI tool. Improving implementation of various schemes is a major concern of today.

iii) Empowerment of people is further going to be enhanced due to forthcoming governance reforms under which information covering all non-strategic areas will be placed in the public domain and there will be public reporting of progress of major schemes.

C] Attracting Media Attention:
Media’s attention is drawn due to advocacy actions like campaigns, etc. They give publicity for such actions which in turn helps to mobilize public opinion as well as compels the authorities to take corrective steps.

[Additional Information:
Presently we are facing many social / civic problems mainly due to unsatisfactory working of various schemes. The challenge lies in proper implementation of the schemes and bringing efficiency in working, since now with economic downturn it is not expected to further increase the allocations substantially. Moreover in many cases even the allocated funds are not utilized. Inefficient way of working, inadequate coordination, corrupt practices, political influences and lack of accountability are the major factors responsible for various schemes not giving desired results.

However with increasing trend of people’s participation in management of various local bodies, there is a scope for improvement. People’s participation is one of the provisions of flagship programmes and many municipal corporations / local bodies are also encouraging it. Besides this recently after formation of UPA government, the President in her address stated that there will be restructuring of various government schemes along with governance reforms for effective delivery of services. Among other things the governance reforms will include bringing more transparency in government functioning, placing information covering all non-strategic areas in the public domain, periodic evaluation of schemes by independent regulators, public reporting of progress and empowering of NGOs. Maharashtra government has also issued orders to all municipal corporations to keep various information on the net so that it is accessible by people. These developments will further empower citizens with information. Already introduction of RTI act is helping to bring transparency in working and ensure accountability of persons.]


@Krishna Says

“When you are swimming upstream in a nation where the average conversation is ‘what’s wrong with the policies of government,’ and we are telling them what’s right with the policies already made by them.”

These lines doesn’t mean that we are promoting and advocating all plans by government but it indicates that we have faith in the system in india. After all our evolution as a nation has a little contribution by government and no one can negate this. Now what makes this contribution little is the implementation part or operations part of policies passed by our representatives.

We as a group see that solution of child labour and related problems lies in making sure the policies made by system works properly and if there’s something lacking in these policies then point it out (as we are doing with ‘Right to education Act’) to government.

We don’t undermine the essence of a group activity which works parallel with the government policies and action but we do feel that such a parallel system shifts the the focus and make us believe that system is place in not good. However, fact is problem like child labour and complete rehabilitation can’t be solved without help of government and policies initiated in the system.

Therefore, working with the system, pointing out their drawbacks, getting them amended and making people aware about these policies is our way of working.

The most vital part, we as a group emphasize is awareness drive about the different policies in junta because systems is after all by people (our elected representative) and for the people. And of course other machinery of our system like Mass media and campaigns are just the ways to achieve this.

As probably Vinay would put it in Hindi “Vyakti jaga to Rashtra jagega” and only by awakening the people we can remove a deeply rooted problem like child labour.

Meeting with ZP Chairman

“When you are swimming upstream in a nation where the average conversation is ‘what’s wrong with the policies of government,’ and we are telling them what’s right with the policies already made by them.”

A meeting with a high profile government elected representative could not be better than this.

On Saturday 16^th Jan, we met Thane Zila Parishad chairman, Mr Kapil Patil, with an agenda to present him the details of awareness campaign which we carried out last year, and also brief him about the zeal and support which we received from people of Mumbai and Thane for Photo Signature and First Pay day phases of our campaign.

The meeting started with the screening of AV and short documentary which were prepared after completion of Photo signature and First Pay Day- interview phases of campaign. This was followed by a brief description and discussion on the aim of campaign and developments in the last one year under the campaign.

Mr Patil not only appreciated the work done under this campaign but also explained us numerous ZP level initiatives which were launched for child welfare. He accepted the fact that an awareness campaign like ours is vital in uprooting child labor and related issues. He also sought our suggestions for the new initiative which could be included in the under process ZP child welfare plans for current year.

Meeting concluded on a very supportive and positive note and with an assurance by Mr Patil that a meeting with all child-welfare and education department officers would be scheduled in coming days in order to help the campaign team to access and compile different initiatives taken by ZP and government.

We will be approaching ZP again in the last week of Jan to finalize the date of meeting.

Our voice reached the President‏

INTRO : I am joining cry because......

FIRST PAY DAY LAUNCHED

Dear All,

We have been talking about our Documentory,We had been working on from last many days.

Now Its ready and Uplodaded on CRY Channel......

http://www.youtube.com/user/CRYIndia#p/a/u/0/NYzqllNLHKI

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Regards
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Vinay Kumar Gupta