Karnataka   

Striving to keep Gandhain values alive

Belgaum: A few villages in Belgaum district on the Karnataka-Maharashtra boundary have proved that Gandhian values are still alive.

Young children are groomed to see life and society on Gandhian values in a simple and natural way by the Govindram Shikshan Sadhana Trust (GSST), which runs 12 learning centres. “All of them may not become Gandhians, but they could grow to become torch-bearers of the Gandhian value system, a good human being and self-reliant and responsible citizens,” says 62-year-old co-coordinator of GSST Ashok Deshpande.

Mr. Deshpande resigned as engineer in the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of Maharashtra, to take the Gandhian movement to villages. The activities of the GSST are based on the Gandhian philosophy and his concept of gram swaraj. Nearly 400 children studying from 1st to 7th standards spend about two hours every day in the learning centres — seven in Belgaum and five in Khanapur taluk. These centres, christened “Kalika Kendra,” are run by the GSST without any government support. At the Kalika Kendras, while importance is given to develop language skills, particularly mother tongue, and mathematics, the emphasis is to bring out the latent talents in the child, environment, medicinal values in plants, hygiene, health, sanitation, etc. The children are exposed to various art forms and are trained to produce and enact short plays, skits and street plays on social topics. They are trained to develop an analytical mind, inquisitive thinking, self-reliance, develop a habit to think before doing anything, courage to question, assert their rights as provided under the Constitution and explore how useful and productive they could be for society.

The volunteers appointed as Bal-Sakhas and Sah-Sakhas, affectionately called as “Dada” (elder brother), work like a friend so that the communication between the teacher and the learner becomes cordial.

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