The Hindu : National : No dearth of innovative spirit at academy for rural prosperity

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 06, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

National

National

No dearth of innovative spirit at academy for rural prosperity

Special Correspondent

— Photo:S. R. Raghunathan

Special moment: Bruce Alberts (centre), Editor, Science magazine, and M.S. Swaminathan, chairman, MSSRF (fourth from right), along with the international NVA fellows at the 6th convocation of Jamshedji Tata National Virtual Academy for Rural Prosperity in Chennai on Friday.

CHENNAI: Dressed in saris and kurtas, veshtis and dhotis and pants, with a few turbans thrown in, the 238 new fellows of the Jamshedji Tata National Virtual Academy for Rural Prosperity are the very definition of national diversity and pluralism.

“They are blossoms in the desert...unsung so far,” said scientist and Rajya Sabha member M.S. Swaminathan. “Our target is [to have] one million fellows. It will be the world’s largest academy.”

The Academy, an initiative of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, currently has 1,223 members, but Dr. Swaminathan is aiming for an initial target of one man and woman from every panchayat in the country.

The new fellows include greybeards and beardless youths, and told their stories — and songs and poems — in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam and Oriya. Nevertheless, they do share a common characteristic, along with the green, satin convocation sashes proudly draped around their shoulders.

They all live in an Indian village and they all have an innovative spirit, social commitment, communication skills, willingness to learn new technology and the eagerness to share their knowledge in their own fields — agriculture, environment conservation, fisheries, micro enterprises and social welfare.

“We were taught how best to use GPS [global positioning system] and satellite information,” said Ramesh, from a fishing community in Nagapattinam, sharing some of his experiences at the Jamshedji Tata Training School. Others shared the training they received in new agriculture methods, using technology for local weather stations, and incorporating new communication tools into education and social work. Quite apart from the experts, the trainees also learnt from each other — the Tamil Nadu fishing communities picking up ideas from the experiences of their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.

This kind of training was essential to bridge the gaps, especially in overcoming the stagnation in food production, said Dr. Swaminathan, noting that food prices were shooting up and malnutrition was on the rise in the country. The new fellows received their certificates from Bruce Alberts, editor of the prestigious Science magazine.

He compared the fellows, many of whom have not even finished high school, to the fellows he inducted as president of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, all of whom are eminent scientists.

“Just like them, you are being honoured for your achievements. But as I told my academy members, remember that this is not the end, but the beginning...You have more to do in your own communities,” he told the new fellows. “The grassroots spread of scientific knowledge can only be done by people like you,” he added, congratulating Dr. Swaminathan for linking academies such as the Indian National Science Academy with such rural academies as well.

Apart from fellows from 21 States, the Academy has members from Afghanistan, Philippines, Nepal, Kenya, Nigeria and Sri Lanka and is now expanding its reach to South America.

“We are looking for ideas, especially in the use of technology for development to take back home,” said a visitor from Chile working in agricultural research.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National