Kerala   

New initiative for rural development

In tune with a series of measures being adopted for rural development through non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the Confederation of NGOs of Rural India (CNRI) has formed the Jana Seva Manch, a grassroots organisation spread across the country. A branch of the Jana Seva Manch was opened in Kochi recently.

CNRI’s chief of operations in Kerala N. Balagopal told The Hindu that since its establishment in 2005, the CNRI had been expanding in terms of its membership as well as scope of its activities. Despite its impressive growth, it was often referred to as a body of NGOs interested in receiving funds for implementation of projects and nothing more. The CNRI, not being a funding organisation, should grow beyond this perception and become part of a larger movement voicing the concerns of the deprived people at large, he said.

The Jana Seva Manch owed its origin to this idea arising from the deliberations held by the CNRI at its national executive council meeting in Bangalore a few months ago.

Over the past 15 years, India was emerging economically stronger, but was getting socially divided on grounds of caste, creed and community. The rich were become richer, while the poor were being denied access to the immense wealth generated in the era of knowledge economy and fast-changing educational and technological opportunities.

The Jana Seva Manch would pay attention to this problem of oasis of wealth and vast deserts of poverty by initiating specific schemes and measures to bring about quantitative and qualitative changes in the standard of living of the people. In order to achieve this objective, it would involve all sections of society. It would prevent the exploitation of the weak and the disadvantaged.

India had not been able to maintain success over the past one decade in transforming agriculture into a technologically rewarding and financially viable proposition. The vast human resources on the agricultural front should be converted into a powerful entrepreneur-oriented force capable of converting primary agricultural produce into semi-finished or processed products to meet the changing demands of consumers within the country and abroad.

By bringing about structural, operational and physical changes in agricultural operations, the country could transform the traditionally disadvantaged farmers into top-class entrepreneurs, committed to their fields and yet capable of dealing with the world of trade and commerce on their own terms and conditions, Mr. Balagopal said.

The Jana Seva Manch was determined to support an increasing number of entrepreneurs to make their forays into global markets.

It believed in building up of a class of entrepreneurs in the large, medium, small and tiny sectors capable of absorbing new technologies, generating jobs coupled with growth, and creating a strong framework that would resist adverse competition and seamlessly weave into the nuances of global integration, he said.

R. Ramabhadran Pillai

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