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Hindi Version |
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Bimonthly Issue, July 2005 |
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From the Editors Desk Dear Friends, One of the basic objectives of the Charkha Vikas Samvad has been to bring forth for our Charkha friends and family the voices from the grassroots that are unable to reach them. These are the marginalised and the rural poor, who need to be heard and to communicate with the world outside. In this issue, we focus on the Charkha Feature Service, which has been our strength and inspiration for the past ten years. It was our Founder, Sanjoy Ghoses vision to use the medium of writing for highlighting the issues of the rural poor. The articles that we receive in the Feature Service are more than just about the hardships of rural India. These articles are the reflections of positive change for these communities. Being bilingual, we are able to reach out to a large section of the country, that is, to both Hindi- and English-speaking groups. Today Charkha has evolved by using an appropriate mix of communication tools such as the print, the audio-visual, the community radio and the traditional media. Each channel of communication supports and strengthens the Feature Service, in and through the issues that they highlight, and the impact that each affects. All Charkha activities are linked inherently with the Feature Service. Thus while the Charkha-Sanjoy Ghose Fellowship for Peace & Development reaches out to the trauma-ridden lives of Jammu & Kashmir, the workshops and media interfaces bring the national and regional media persons and rural writers on a common platform. Charkha has been much encouraged, this year, with the support of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and the Bryan Guinness Charitable Trust, in strengthening the Charkha Feature Service. The latter has been the bedrock over the past ten years, and with the support of other forms of communication, we hope to reach new heights in the next ten years. Indrani Dey |
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J&K Sikhs hunt for identity Khursheed Wani (Srinagar) 
This article captures the alienated feeling among the Sikhs since the bloody carnage on March 20th, 2000. Baglihar Controversy By
Pradeep Dutta
The article highlights the focus of the Jammu
& Kashmir government to revive the Tulbul Navigation Project or Wullar
Barrage - the one on which the work has been stopped since 1987.
Armed with roses of goodwill: the Indian Armys Sadbhavna programme By
Tsewang Rigzin.
The articles highlights a completely new face
of the Indian army with its Sadbhavana programme, an initiative that has done
much for uplifting the lives of the people in Ladakh.
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Sanjay Ghose Fellowship Voices from Jammu & Kashmir The Charkha-Sanjoy Ghose Fellowship for Peace & Development, 2004-05 On 7th December 2005, Charkha awarded three of our Fellows, the Charkha-Sanjoy Ghose Fellowship for Peace & Development, 2004-05, from Jammu, Kashmir & Ladakh respectively. The Fellowship provided these three Fellows Pradeep Dutta, Khursheed Wani & Tsewang Rigzin the opportunity to write on their areas of research in Jammu & Kashmir. Thus Tsewang Rigzin highlights the positive and the negative aspects of the presence of the armed forces stationed in Ladakh and on its entire development process. Khursheed is interested in the problems faced by religious minorities, thus including the Kashmiri Pandits, the Sikhs and the Gujjar/Bakerwal tribes in the Kashmir valley. Mr. Pradeep Dutta looks into how the pros and cons of "water politics" have affected the socio-economic status of Jammu & Kashmir.
Moving away from the usual focus on terrorism and violence, these
articles reflect
Charkha Fellow receive invitation to visit US
Charkha congratulates
Mr. Khursheed Wani for this Felicitation and wishes him a very bright
future.
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the need for peace and harmony. But most
importantly, they are the voices of the marginalised and the rural poor,
who only want peace and progress for the local communities. The
objective is to capture not only the challenges, aspirations and the
issues of the people, but to further encourage interest and research in
the same.
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Charkha Publications 10th Anniversary Annual Perspectives
Published by Charkha, it is an
Annual Report with a difference.
Being brought out in the 10th year
of Charkhas establishment, it
encapsulates the essence of Charkhas
mission and work over the years and its
future directions. It is a snapshot of
existing activities, areas of intervention,
reach of Charkha articles through newspapers/
magazines and new explorations in media.
Supported by the British High Commission
and designed by the advertising agency
Imagine! this serves as an overview
of Charkha for the interest and
information of a wide circle of
friends, supporters and partners.
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Gaavaniyar
Development Documentary This 18 minutes film, directed by Ershad Ahmad, Associate Editor, Charkha presents 
the
Humraaz and the Gaavaniyars, groups from Jammu & Kashmir and Rajasthan, respectively.
It captures their performances on 7th December 2004 on the Award Ceremony of the
Charkha-Sanjoy Ghose Fellowship for Peace & Development at Gandhi Smriti and
Darshan Samiti. The film highlights how portrayed in their own language and
local style, folk media presents to the people a form of communication
that
can be both entertaining and informative. Here, traditional media provides
not only a creative outlet in conflict-prone areas for their anguish and pain,
but the message is clear: the people want peace and the violence to stop.
Empowerment of Rural Women through Traditional Media In a pioneering new initiative, Empowerment of Rural Women through Traditional Media, Charkha is attempting to open appropriate channels for traditional performing artistes, who need to create a new milieu for themselves within their communities and with urban audiences. These are the Bedin women of Uttar Pradesh, who were once celebrated and patronized by the nobility, but whose performances have now degenerated into providers of bawdy, frivolous entertainment for upper caste communities. Supported by the Bryan Guinness Charitable Trust, the essence of the initiative lies in using this folk media in carrying messages of value, thereby bringing a new idiom to these dying art forms and improving the self-esteem of these women within their own communities. This one-year project will be closely monitored to assess the impact on the communities and serve as a pilot study, which will generate a wealth of information and experiences. This can be a resource base for institutions and individuals dedicated to preservation of art forms and can have a ripple effect in taking the initiative forward. Noted theatre director, Tripurari Sharma, will evolve a new group from the Bedins in Banda, Fatehpur and Chitrakoot districts and create a performance to be held in Delhi.
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR Your comments and suggestions are very important for us, which is why we give the highest priority to our Letter to the Editor section. Your response will help us streamline Charkha Vikas Samvad. And the best that we receive shall be carried in a special position in our next issue. So write to us at samvad@charkha.org Some of the responses to our This is the first time I have received the Charkha e-Newsletter. I find it quite innovative and inspiring. When whole media is searching for sensation, such reading material gives me hope that what ever is going on in the world, all is not absolutely dark. It is good to know that there are people busy with aims of creativity and social change. Please accept my salute. Mr. Pankaj Chaturvedi from New Delhi.
Congratulations to Charkha team, thisis great.
This is a very nice alert in the field of
development communication.
Mr. Yogesh from Barmer, Rajasthan
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Well still live with the outside Nazim Hikmet
This beautiful poem summarizes Viji Srinivasans (Founder and
Managing Director, ADITHI) life perfectly. Working in Bihar for the past
three decades, Vijis name became synonymous with Bihars many
causes. Till her death she remained one of the most steadfast champions
of bringing about positive change in the state.
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who came into her contact to think "beyond
the walls" of poverty, deprivation and injustice. Every district we
traveled, we met `Vijis women dai
(midwife), village
women, community leaders whom she inspired to lead extraordinary
lives. Their love for her and her complete ease in being in their milieu
breaks all those myths about the artificial divide between insiders and
outsiders.|
Mr.Shankar Ghose, President Charkha & Ms. Sunita Roy, Manager Programs & Projects, met Mr.Rajiv Kumar, CEO AIR on July 19, 2005 at AIR, Sansad Marg, New Delhi to seek information for Charkhas Community radio initiative in Uttaranchal, details of AIR stations in the state and also to find possible areas of synergy in providing space for audio, visual documentation of Charkha stories. Mr. Rajiv Kumar acknowledged the need of projecting success stories from the rural remote areas written by rural writers and agreed to support Charkhas program and suggested us to send some short films for their reference.
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Jamshedji Tata National Virtual Academy for Rural Prosperity Sanjoy Ghose, founder of Charkha Development Communication Network had set up URMUL in the rural areas of Rajasthan to fulfill the basic requirements of the communities in the areas of health, education, and employment. Sanjoy, a visionary and social activist wanted URMUL to be different in creating an environment of positive thinking having a clear future direction. As early as in nineties Sanjoy, knowing well in advance the importance of Information technology, introduced Computer, Information Network Management and concept of sustainable development in the rural communities.
Jamshedji TATA National Virtual Academy Fellowship will have three important benefits
Charkha congratulates Shri Karnaram and URMUL family for this Felicitation and wishes them a very bright future. |
On July 11, 2005, his vision of introducing information
technology in rural areas became a reality when Shri Karnaram of URMUL,
Lunkarnasar received Jamshedji TATA Virtual Academy Fellowship
Certificate for Good Rural Circumstances by the President of India Dr.
A.P.J Abdul Kalam in the opening ceremony of National Session of Mission
2007. Smt Vasundhara Raje, Honble Chief minister of Rajasthan for his
achievement, also congratulated him.
Village Mission 2007 had announced Jamshedji TATA
National Virtual Academy fellowship in November 2004 to set up an
information knowledge center in each village. The selected fellows would
be entrusted to establish an information knowledge center in each village
providing necessary information about health, education, land records and
details of several government welfare & BPL schemes. Such information
from the entire country will be made available on the Presidents
website |
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Some Interesting Associations "Ek Duniya Kayi Kahaniyan" In this first phase, Charkha with the support of OWSA would provide training to the rural writers (Ek Duniya Fellows) to get stories directly from the community. OWSA will bear the cost involved in training the Ek Duniya Fellows. The selected stories will formpart of publications for dissemination of information. Ultimately these voices will be documented in an audio format in an effort to break the myth of radio with some simple demonstrations to them. The processwill be likedeveloping a band of bare-foot journalists from all over Rajasthan, whomay produce radiostories for programmes such as One Worlds Ek Duniya Kayi Kahaniyan. |
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FEATURES Womens Voice Poineering in Rural Media Tarannum Manjul
Seven ye |
ars ago, these rural newsletters started off as mere communication
tools for the women self-help groups. Their purpose was to initiate a
dialogue between the women, share information and also, give
them an
opportunity to voice their opinion. Hand written, hand designed, they
were a
perfect reflection of womens empowerment in rural Uttar
Pradesh.|
Charting milk routes from jails By Awanish Somkuwar
"I am seriously thinking of starting a dairy after I complete my jail term. I have learnt some basic things required for running a dairy, "says 36-year-old Mangilal Kurmi a prisoner in the Central Jail Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. Read More |
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Not Just a Name Game Tripurari Sharma Chala Ho Gaon Mein Pratibha Jyoti
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Voices of the marginalised It is the
villagers themselves who
choose the issues to be aired
in a programme. The residents
of these 17 villages are not only
the listeners, but also the directors
of and performers.|
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AUDIO VISUAL Mr.
Anshul Ojha, Intern |
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Previous Issues of Charkha Vikas Samvad: |
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CHARKHA: Ground Floor, G-15/11-12, G - Block, Malviya Nagar, New Delhi -
110 017 |