🚀 go-pugleaf

                  P A R I V A R T A N      N E W S L E T T E R

                                   FALL 1992



    During the last few decades India has witnessed considerable progress on
various fronts.  Increase in agricultural production has eliminated death by
starvation, modern medical facilities have reduced infant mortality, an
expanding middle class and industrial diversification has given rise to
consumerism, scientific institutions and university education has provided
training to college graduates in modern technology and new scientific
methodology.  Yet India has not achieved sustainable development.  Poverty
remains a serious concern even though death by starvation is no longer a
problem.  Rural development has not kept up with the pace of rapid urbanization.
Large scale illiteracy coexists with high technology and university education.
The benefit of higher education reach only a small section of India's vast
population.  While consumerism is largely a trait of the urban middle class, the
mass of rural poor remain outside the purview of industrial development.  While
India has harnessed natural resources for industrial power, deforestation and
soil erosion threaten a ecological disaster.  What then does "development" mean
for India?  What constitutes development for a nation?  Does it imply creation
of wealth or greater distribution of that wealth; does it imply rapid
urbanization or should urbanization be accompanied by rural prosperity; does it
imply building dams, bridges and harnessing energy or a more responsible and
policy oriented approach towards the environment; does it imply creating an
educated, technology oriented, westernized elite or to ensure at least
elementary education for the majority?  Can development that touches only a
small section of the population be considered development at all?  These are the
questions and concerns that face Indians today forty five years after
independence.  No responsible citizen can afford to evade these crucial
questions about India's future.

    Development is a complex process and higher education, technological
advancement and consumerism are only some of its variables.  Rural development
constitutes a crucial part of that complex process and unless the remote,
neglected and most impoverished parts of the country are integrated into the
process of development, sustainable and far reaching progress will continue to
elude the country.

    What then should be the most effective strategy for achieving rural
development?  It is important to understand developmental programs on a micro
scale, that is, concentrating on a few projects, in one village and led by a
small group of volunteers.  This can often prove to be more effective than a
large scale government program covering a hundred villages and involving
thousands of government officials.  A case in point is the kind of work being
undertaken by the Pune based volunteer organization, Vanarai.  Large scale
developmental projects that only government organizations can afford to
undertake often prove ineffective because of bureaucratic disorganization,
corruption and red-tape.  Non-governmental organizations (NGO) with their
philosophy of volunteering can, and are, providing an alternative to government
projects.

    In addition to the scope and size of the projects, it is crucial to identify
the specific goals that each project intends to accomplish and the specific
method that it proposes to adopt.  It is often erroneously assumed that mere
redistribution of money and financial assistance alone can solve much of the
problems, that mere monetary contribution is enough to bring development to a
remote corner of rural India.  Such a myopic look at the problems of rural
development and a short term approach to solve them has been discredited.  Many
of the NGOs have instead adopted a long term approach of making rural areas
self-sufficient and self-reliant -- a task that financial assistance alone
cannot achieve.  Instead, an approach that aimed at achieving a local solution
to local problems, that proposed utilization of regional resources for making
the villages self reliant, and one that advocated intelligent, appropriate and
cautious use of science and technology to facilitate development has often
proved to be the only alternative to grandiose schemes and extravagant outlays.
An outstanding and particularly heartwarming example of this approach is
provided by the little village of Khandia, in the drought-prone hinterland of
Gujarat.  The intelligent use of biogas digesters and photoelectrics allowed
this village to achieve energy self sufficiency at a cost that was lower than
that required to integrate them into the state electricity grid (Ceres 1987,
20:8-9).

    But should the responsibility of offering these alternatives rest solely
with volunteers in India?  Today North America is the home of one of the largest
concentration of overseas Indians.  As per the 1990 census in the United States
alone there are 815, 447 Indians most of whom are educated and professionally
successful (India Today July 15, 1992, 56e).

    Over the past few decades, a large number of organizations (the NGOs of
North America) have sprouted in North America with the general purpose of
raising awareness about the problems and, wherever possible, suggesting
remedies.  Considering the vast amount of resources -- educational, financial,
professional -- that the Indian community in North America commands, it seems
appropriate to suggest that overseas Indians can and should contribute in
promoting India's development.

    The activities of some of the North American organizations have demonstrated
that the scope and opportunity for such involvement is indeed vast.  Overseas
Indians can take their technological and professional including medical skills
to India by initiating, financing, supporting and organizing workshops, rural
development projects, literacy programs, health care centers etc.  But overseas
Indians can contribute more effectively in the developmental process if they
succeeded in coordinating their efforts.  The recently convened National
Conference of Indian Activists in Chicago, in which Parivartan participated,
represented a step in that direction.  We hope that coordinated action will
enable the overseas Indians to broaden the scope of their activities.

    However, one cannot do much unless one becomes aware of the relevant issues
and the nature of the crisis facing India today.  NGOs in North America can and
are trying to go beyond media sensationalism and political rhetoric in providing
information about the social, economic, political and environmental problems
plaguing our country, in order to provoke a constructive and intelligent
response from the Indian community.  Parivartan represents and actively supports
these efforts.


PARIVARTAN UPDATE

    The year since our last newsletter has been a busy one here at Parivartan.
With our fledgling year behind us, we have seen some projects come to fruition
and laid plans for new endeavors.  Along the way many a helping hand has been
extended to us and people from all over have come through for us during our fund
raising drives.  We have also been inspired and edified in the course of the
many splendid talks.  Here is a report.

    August 15, 1991 :  We joined hands with Friends of India to celebrate
Independence Day.  Dr.  Rustum Roy hoisted the Indian flag at the ceremony.
This was followed by a panel discussion entitled "Indian Economy:  Where Do We
Go From Here?"

    September 16 :  The Database Project was launched.  We decided to compile a
computer based repository of information about organizations and individuals
engaged in developmental work and social upliftment in India.  We plan to make
this list available in hard copy or on diskettes, with a small charge to cover
mailing and material costs.

    November 18 :  We started a fund raising drive for a blood bank to benefit
the Dharwad Medical Center in Dharwad, Karnataka.  This non-profit center is
staffed by doctors who volunteer their services to provide health education,
vaccination and preventive medicine in the surrounding villages and for the
poorest people in the town of Dharwad.  We hoped to raise $1,500 for a blood
bank at the center, which should better enable the volunteer physicians to care
for critically ill people.

    January 27, '92 :  Elections were held for new office bearers.  Rajib and
Anuradha appeared on 'Taking Note', a local affairs talk show on WPSX-TV
(Channel 3).  They introduced viewers to Parivartan and highlighted some of our
projects including our efforts to network with like minded organizations.

    February 22 :  Rekha Gore of Vanarai presented a talk entitled "Integrated
Rural Development:  A Field Workers Perspective in Social Activism in India."
Vanarai is a Pune based social service organization engaged in rural development
programs that include promoting sustainable agriculture, reforestation and the
use of alternate energy sources.

    February 23 :  The International Food Festival was held in the Hetzel Union
Building and was attended by several thousand people.  We reached for our
favorite Indian recipes and had on hand a menu that included:  chhole (chick
peas in a spicy sauce), coconut rice, curried chicken, pau-bhaji ("street food
from Bombay"), carrot halwa and rasgullas.  Everything sold briskly except the
rasgullas which some people took to be 'pickled eggs'!  We collected about $200
which we will use for costs associated with our networking program (overseas
postage).

    March 16 :  We collected $1,800 in our DMRC fund raiser!  The money was sent
to the group in Dharwad and we have recently heard that the blood bank is now
operational.  Mr. M.L. Wajapey of DMRC has informed us that the money was used
to purchase an air-conditioning system, a refrigerator to hold reagents, blood
drying equipment, and other disposable items required for drawing blood.  Blood
donation campaigns have been launched in Dharwad and neighboring towns.  The
blood will be available for Rs.80 per unit for those who can afford and free of
cost for those who are unable to pay.

    April 26 :  Once again the Earth Day celebrations had to be moved indoors
because of inclement weather, but this did nothing to dampen the spirits of the
participants and visitors.  Members of Parivartan put together a poster entitled
"Energy Alternatives for India" in which we focused on solar energy and biogas
use in India, as well as reforestation and social forestry, as a means for
meeting the needs of the rural poor.

    May 23-24 :  The "Annual Conference of Indian Activists" was held in Chicago
hosted jointly by India Development Service (Chicago) and Indian Progressive
Action Group (Austin, Texas).  More than 200 people attended, and issues ranging
from rural development to communal harmony were discussed.  Members of
Parivartan presented information about alternative sources of energy such as
biogas and solar energy in the context of rural development in India.  Meeting
so many people dedicated to the same goal was exciting and inspiring for us.  In
a later "brainstorming session" it was agreed that there was a need to set up
some mechanism that would enable us to network with each other.  These ideas
have crystallized further and plans are now afoot to launch the India
Development network (see boxed announcement).  It is our hope that this network
will allow like minded groups and individuals to communicate with each other, so
that we may use our concerted energies to increase our effectiveness on issues
of common interest.

    June 13 :  Dr.  Wayne Myers from the Environmental Resources Research
Institute at Penn State delivered a talk entitled "India:  Prospects for Natural
Resources Sustainability."  Dr.  Myers spent two years in India (1988-89) as
technology advisor for the USAID Mission in New Delhi working on social forestry
and natural resources sustainability.  In his talk Dr.  Myers discussed forestry
and environmental protection in the social context of India.  He showed examples
to illustrate that soil erosion following deforestation is very dependent on
local topography and micro climate.  His descriptions of the nature of the
forest department bureaucracy and the almost "paramilitary" approach of
foresters towards forest conservation were especially insightful.

    June 20 :  Mr. Narayanbhai of Sarbik Gram Bikash Kendra spoke on "Rural
Development Project in West Bengal".  SGBK is a grass-roots group that seeks to
achieve rural development through empowerment of the rural poor.  They are
engaged in several irrigation and agricultural projects, and have on-going
programs for education, vocational training and employment of rural youth.


PERSPECTIVES

                               Reading Tea Leaves

              Reflections on the Economic Liberalization in India

                                       by

                                  Rajib Doogar


    In this essay, I explore possible consequences of recent economic policy
changes and implications for NGOs.  The major concerns are, in the short run,
threats to political stability due to economic disparity and the implementation
of the reforms; in the medium term, the overhaul of the legal system and the
administration; and in the long term, education, health care and population
control.  Since our readership is primarily concerned with the transition to a
"better" state of affairs, the purpose is to focus on a number of social and
public policy issues that have to be addressed, whether by the government or by
NGOs that wish to be involved in this transition.

    The first concern is the short term political stability of the country as it
goes through the massive dislocations that a true economic liberalization will
entail.  The reforms to date have mainly been in the financial sector and are
just the tip of the iceberg.  Sooner or later, the exigencies of competition
will force a major restructuring of the public sector enterprises and the
segments of the economy that are currently protected by various tariffs and
import restrictions.  It is unlikely that in the short run we shall have
completely open trade; but if the economy is to prosper, basic sectors such as
steel, fertilizers, power, heavy machinery, machine tools, transportation and
many others will have to provide competitively priced, high quality products to
their customers.  Achieving this target is no simple task.  The biggest obstacle
to privatization of many public enterprises is the question of job security for
existing employees and the out-dated equipment in use.  Thus I expect that
meaningful liberalization must bring with it "rationalization", that is, firings
and obsolescence.  How this can be done with the present manpower and management
remains an open question as is the question of where their replacements are
going to come from.  The social unrest and economic impact of these changes is
obviously not going to be insignificant.

    In an already highly politicized labor climate, I do not know of any
political party that seems ready to swallow the pill and force this unpopular
and difficult change to occur and adopt social policies that may help offset
some of the pain.  Quite to the contrary, based on a rather dismal past record,
we can expect this climate of uncertainty and pain to be utilized by distractive
forces that use the general discomfort and anxiety of the voters to promote
chauvinistic and divisive agendas that are ultimately highly reactionary and
regressive.  Progressive thinkers, parties and NGOs have to consider the likely
outbreak of fresh round of social and political nastiness in their short and
medium term outlook on the future.

    The government is the most powerful, arbitrary and dangerous creature in the
country today.  Its massed powers, often exercised through a thoroughly corrupt,
even evil, police force trained in the art of coercing the honest citizenry,
unchecked by an emasculated and only too often corrupt judiciary, have created a
terrible social and political climate over the last twenty odd years.  The
colonial approach to government not only persisted beyond the departure of the
British, it seems to have positively flourished under independence.  The evil
that the hand of one "great leader" did has withered political institutions and
destroyed healthy political developments in the sense that it is understood in
most of the West -- the checks and balances that were to have restrained the
power of the central government have been systematically eroded.  In this sense,
the government and its agents have become the oppressors of the poor and the
disenfranchised since local power in the states are controlled or even exercised
by anti-social and openly criminal persons.  As the scale and scope of the
recent revelations in the financial scandal have unfolded, the trail of personal
corruption leads to the top of the government.

    How this corrupt edifice is to be reformed is beyond easy comprehension, but
the fight must begin and it must begin now.  We, the people, cannot promise
ourselves happiness without earning it.  Lacking strong democratic institutions
and an abiding commitment to honest governance, our social compact is dissolving
in the face of rampant corruption and lawlessness.  There are some rules that no
five-year hack should be able to change, bounds beyond which the government
cannot go, and issues that no decent government can either promote or tolerate.
It is not enough to know it cerebrally as a constitutional platitude.  The only
guarantees for democracy today and democracy forever lie in the institutions we
build.

    NGOs can build local pockets of pressure on corrupt officials, try to
provide assistance to people to ensure that they get what they are entitled to
according to the rules and educate people about their political, economic and
other legal rights.  This is an aspect of NGO activity which is not popular
among most middle-class Indians who seem to support "strong" leaders most
vociferously.  Under these "strong" leaders, the crudest and most brutal
repression gets the sanction of the state machinery under the aegis of national
security.  Fighting this mind-set involves standing up to the thugs that operate
in the name of the state.  Some brave people are doing this right now and many
of them are paying for it with their lives.  Who will follow them?

    NGOs that tackle the task of mass political and social education face
particular difficulties in that they run counter to powerful forces in Indian
society.  It is very easy for the activists in this area to be branded
troublemakers and anti-social or marxists and naxalites or whatever the current
bugaboo is.  We have been taught that it is wise to avoid confrontation with the
state for you can be called a criminal, or a naxalite, or a khalistani, and shot
in the back even though all you were really complaining about was the rape of
some women by forestry or police officials.  Since the activist goal is to upset
the status quo, by the definition of those in power, such activists would of
course be anti-social or troublemakers or even anti-national.  The educated
middle class mentality does not take kindly to such aspersions since they
challenge the safe respectable social position that we have all been urged from
earliest childhood to aspire to, just the way many people aspired to titles
during the colonial rule.  I think the importance of NGO involvement in this
area stems from the fact that legitimate government in India has been largely
subverted by a corrupt chain of command.  Even if policy were made by academics
and intellectuals with the purest of motives, it would be emasculated and
perverted by the time it gets implemented.  The only reliable source of mass
awakening must be through social activitsts and NGOs.

    In the long run, without the improvement of women's social and economic
status no real economic progress can be made.  The rate of economic progress
depends significantly on the size of the population which is directly
controllable by women alone.  Except among some groups of educated
professionals, the status of women in India is deplorable.  Women of all classes
are systematically deprived of the education, the formation of value systems,
and the emotional support and social expectations that would allow them to
pursue economic independence.  Without economic independence, they have few
rights to start with and even fewer that are upheld by family or society.  In
this climate their ability to limit family sizes becomes moot since it is often
the only source of social legitimacy they possess.

    It is a widely observed phenomenon that economic independence of women is
highly associated with lower child-birth rates.  The only way in which any
family planning program is going to work is through raising the status of women
and all that has been done to date is just a scratch on the surface.  Of course
a large number of NGOs are working in this area, but they need more support,
more resources and more volunteers.  Almost any problem, social or economic,
facing our society today is connected to the population question and if one were
to prioritize spending, this area may be the single most effective place to
start.

    Rural health care and education are the other pillars of the social agenda
that needs to be pursued.  Population control depends on the level of health
care available in the sense that as survival rates increase, birth rates are
observed to drop.  Education and the prospects of earning a livelihood are also
relevant.  Birth rates will drop only if the survivors have reasonable economic
prospects.  Hence the importance of education of the kind that equips people for
a job or a vocation.  In this area, the government can do much more by
committing more money, more facilities, more well trained teachers, better
curriculum design and other things that the professionals among you know better
than I do.

    A generally more prosperous economy should be able to absorb a slightly
expanding labor pool, but our numbers are so large that without actually putting
into place a population reduction program, I do not think that the problem can
be solved.  I think enlightened people can take a lead in this regard by having
only one child per couple and adopting as many more as they can afford.

    Finally, across the world, a great divide is emerging among the haves and
the have-nots, particularly among those who have knowledge and those who do not.
The dictum that knowledge is power is perhaps truer today than ever before.  I
see the same divide between haves and have-nots in India leading to a
possibility that the urban and rural parts of the country will be at conflict
with each other.  With access to reasonably decent education, the urban parts
will want to secede from the rural regions either openly or more implicitly as
the U.S. middle and upper classes have seceded from the poor by fleeing to their
own enclaves and by voting for divisive leaders.  If the future India we see is
not to be held together by an accident of history or by coercion, then this
inequality of prospects between urban and rural sectors needs to be addressed.
The India that we know, the geographic and ethnic boundaries within which our
generation was born is a fragile entity.  It is like a unicorn that has somehow,
mysteriously and fortunately, materialized for in the pages of history, there
never was such an India.  If India is to be a viable, united nation in the
modern political sense of the term, and a democracy, it must be founded on
social, economic and political justice or it must take its chances on perishing
in the flames of hatred, envy and prejudice.  The economic liberalizations are
only a small first step in the right direction and we should not expect too much
of them because they do not address the fundamental flaws in our society.  In
the short run, these reforms may possibly make the lot of the worst-off segments
of society even worse.  Some of these effects may be alleviated by proper social
choices and voluntary activity, others cannot.  NGOs and activists of all kinds
have a very important part to play in determining the final outcome of this
process and should spend some time thinking about how their future plans might
relate to the opportunities that might crop up.



NETWORKING

Organizations Supporting Developmental Activities
in India

1. Organizations in India

    Sevalaya is a volunteer organization formed with the objective of providing
orphan children a healthy atmosphere for growing up in, and preparing them to be
useful and upright citizens.  It is a major step in preventing such children
from falling into the hands of anti-social elements.  When the institution was
first established there were only five children, but now it is home to thirty
youngsters.  All the basic amenities, education and medical aid are provided
free of cost.  The orphanage is housed in a rented place in Thiruninravur.
Recently Sevalaya purchased land in Kasuva village near Thiruninravur with the
objective of helping more orphaned children because until now they have had to
turn down many children due to lack of space.  For further information write to:
Sevalaya, 109 V.M.  Street, Mylapore, Madras 600004, India.

    All India Council for Mass Education and Development (AICMED) is a voluntary
organization established in 1987 in order to develop adult education programs,
to encourage and promote rural development through voluntary action, and to
promote research directed at developing adult education and rural development
programs.  Because the work of adult education is an enormous challenge, AICMED
firmly believes that only a mass movement can adequately deal with the problem.
AICMED has taken several constructive steps such as organizing local meetings,
conventions, symposia, and seminars, to launch a mass movement to further the
cause of adult education.  AICMED tries to integrate its adult education program
with its rural development projects through its rural development training
institute, the Gram Bikash Kendra.  The Council brings out a bi-monthly English
journal, Adult Education and Development covering news reports on adult
education and theoretical articles, and a Bengali fortnightly, Amader Khabar
(Our News) published especially for the "neo-literate", that is, those who have
acquired education through the adult education program.  For further
information, write to the General Secretary, All India Council for Mass
Education and Development, 60 Patuatola Lane, Calcutta 700009, India.

2.  North American Organizations

    Asha has been formed by some students and scholars at the University of
California, Berkeley to help the cause of basic education for the
underprivileged children in India.  The organization works in close cooperation
with individuals and groups engaged in direct implementation of the objectives
of the group.  The primary objectives of the group are:  to provide education to
the underprivileged children in India; to support and cooperate with other
organizations engaged in similar activities; to address, whenever possible,
other related issues affecting human development such as health care, women's
issues, and other social, economic and cultural problems.  For further
information contact, Asha, Mrs. Kausalya Hart, 1915 Napa Ave., Berkeley, CA
94707, Ph. 510-525-1793.

    India Progressive Action Group (IPAG) is a student group based in the
University of Texas at Austin with the primary goal of raising awareness and
promoting activism on social and political issues affecting India and Indian
immigrants in the United States.  IPAG supports various development projects in
India.  Most of these projects are grassroots self-help oriented projects which
try to reach the least privileged sections of society.  IPAG's support includes
raising funds, monitoring the projects and learning from them.  IPAG is
currently focusing on projects that deal with illiteracy, child labor, tribal
conflicts, employment for rural youth and rehabilitation of prostitutes.  For
further information write to, India Progressive Action Group, Box 321, Texas
Union, Austin, Texas 78713.

IN FOCUS

Vanarai

    Vanarai is a people's movement directed towards a greener India, and was
started as a reaction to the rapid decimation of Indian forests.  Vanarai Trust,
registered under the Charitable Trust Act, was formed to educate, sponsor and
organize a massive people's movement towards an environmentally safe India.
Vanarai believes that afforestation cannot be a singular activity.  It is
dependent on the integrated management of land, water and other natural
resources and manpower.  Vanarai aims at motivating farmers, gram panchayats,
educational and cooperative institutes and other voluntary organizations to
protect the existing trees and forests, to take up afforestation in conjunction
with integrated rural development, and to restore the lost balance between the
ecosystem and rural life.  Vanarai encourages generation of energy through
non-traditional methods like bio-gas plants.  The organization tries to promote
self-help, family planning, and eradication of illiteracy.  This movement has
gained momentum all over Maharashtra.  It has also attained notable success in
coordinating various government departments, NGOs and local people in promoting
its afforestation programs and integrated rural development projects.

    Some of the projects undertaken by Vanarai are:

- Wasteland development and afforestation in Maharashtra.

- Guaranteed employment and incentives for those villages which develop
their wasteland (through horticulture, afforestation, etc.).

- Ideal village program, a plan for integrated rural development on a
scientific basis, aimed at making villages self- reliant.

- Afforestation programs based on coordinating the activities of government
agencies such as the forestry department, and educational, social and voluntary
organizations.  These efforts have now benefitted a number of districts in the
state of Maharashtra.

- Plantation drives based on the Vanarai motto of "No axes, no grazing; we
believe in social fencing".  This drive has been successful in villages such as
Ketkovala, Devdi, and Mordari in Pune District.

- Formation of tree growers cooperative societies all over Maharashtra.

- Establishment of nurseries, and supply of seeds and saplings to farmers.

    Vanarai has its headquarters in Pune and divisional centers all over the
state of Maharashtra.  The Vidhaba regional unit of Vanarai has expanded to nine
districts of the region.  Address :  Vanarai, 2064 Vijaynagar, Pune 411030.
********************************************************************************

Karma Kutir

    Karma Kutir (the Work Hut) is a registered non-governmental organization
dedicated to the welfare of women and children.  The overriding concern of this
voluntary organization is to make women self-dependent, to provide such training
that would "help women to help themselves."

    Karma Kutir had its origins in Calcutta in 1961 during the period of the
massive influx of refugees from Bangladesh.  Several prominent women social
workers of Calcutta formed Karma Kutir in order to alleviate the suffering or
refugee women and children.  The immediate purpose of the organization was to
rehabilitate and uplift women by providing vocational training.  The institution
chose the traditional arts of embroidery and kantha work as the vocation in
which to train needy women in order to provide them with a certain degree of
financial stability.

    The Handicrafts Training Centre of Karma Kutir located in South Calcutta
trains fifty girls for one and a half years in batik and bandhni crafts, block
printing, kantha work and in making toys.  The girls are carefully selected
usually from among the most helpless including abandoned wives and widows, and
destitute women from Calcutta's pavements and slums.  But by the time they leave
the Institute, one and a half years later, the successful candidates receive
certificates that provide them with the ticket to start out on their own and
acquire financial self- sufficiency.

    The volunteers of Karma Kutir are aware of the difficulties that women in
general face in a metropolitan center like Calcutta when they start out on their
own.  Karma Kutir operates two centers of craft production where new graduates
from the Institute can find a job and earn between 300 to 800 rupees a month.
Wages in these production units are not handed out as alms.  Each worker earns
her due on the basis of individual merit ("accuracy, quality and speed").  This
inculcates pride and joy in ones work and enables the women to be emotionally
and financially self reliant.

    Concern for women's problems includes concern for children.  Karma Kutir's
range of activities includes setting up of balwadis and creches for children
while their parents work.  A three year course in reading, writing and
arithmetic at the balwadis prepare the children for primary school.

    Karma Kutir has reached out to the poor of Calcutta through its Urban Pilot
Project that covers about 15,000 people.  The organization provides general
community welfare service to economically backward sections like rickshaw
pullers, vegetable vendors, maid servants, rag  pickers.  But Karma Kutir's
activities are not restricted to the urban centers.  The organization is aware
of the plight of rural women and has set up two income generation schemes of net
weaving and goat rearing supplemented by literary programs in the Contai
sub-division of Midnapore district of West Bengal.  A large number of women have
attained self reliance through these schemes.  Three decades of dedicated work
has earned Karma Kutir nationwide recognition and financial assistance from both
State and Central governments of India.  Through their social service,
volunteers of Karma Kutir have reached out to the needy and the helpless in both
the cities and the villages and have provided a ray of hope in the midst of
desperation.  Most significant of all their contribution is their recognition of
the value of self-dependence and their efforts to liberate women by making them
financially and psychologically independent.  KARMA KUTIR, P-8 Gariahat Rd.,
Calcutta 700029.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Girish Subramaniam
Penn State.