IIAC is being envisaged as a centre of excellence for the promotion of participatory democracy in India by mass education initiatives. ‘Rashtriya Gramdoot Pariyojna’ is a fellowship programme being conceived as the flagship initiative of the Institute.

Background:

I come from a village where there isn't a single adult girl who hasn't had sex- not exactly rape, dynamics are such that they have to. Police can come and take you whenever wherever they wish and do to you whatever they want. People don't even question that. Last year a guy from backward community fought a gram-panchayat election in my neighboring village and won it against an upper caste incumbent person. within a few days, he was killed by those people when he was coming back from the market in the late evening. Sadly, this isn't an unusual story-it all keeps happening.  

The Indian government is spending hundreds of millions of public money to drive anti-poverty programmes like MGNREGA and PDS. Institutes like LBSNAA and IIPA train our bureaucrats who are supposed to implement government policies but we are yet to do much to enable our citizenry to become an agent and not merely a beneficiary in the development process. There exists a wide void between India and Bharat. The 21st century is yet to reach rural India and there persists a massive information and awareness gap. Democracy is all about peoples' participation and there is a strong need that people contribute as active participants in the decision making pertaining to their communities taking charge of their lives.



Objective:

This initiative aims to strengthen participatory democracy in India by a high-quality non-partisan citizenship education to the masses. We aim to build stronger communities by empowering masses through 'Citizenship Education'. The curriculum will broadly revolve around the basic functioning of government, politics, law, and economy and critical thinking. 

Civics education that we have in schools teaches us to obey state but Citizenship Education and critical thinking skills will Indian masses have a strong sense of right and wrong. Our allegiance and obedience towards our state shouldn't stop us from asking for fairer rules and better opportunities.



Rashtriya Gramdoot Pariyojna

Young and bright graduates, typically 1 from premier institutions outside the community and 1 from within the community will jointly work in most backward and marginalized rural regions for a year as a Gramdoot.

Gramdoots will work directly with the youth from schools, colleges, and Gram-Sabhas in their host communities to impart high-quality citizenship curriculum that focuses on citizenship education. We are partnering with few top-notch institutions to design a high-quality curriculum.

Experiential Citizenship Module

Community youth will collectively undertake short-term field-work on any of the pressing issues concerning to their communities. Youth will be groomed to act as disruptors, change-agents and opinion shapers in their communities tackling people’s problems using active citizenship skills.
Each project will be under close observation of a government official who will ensure a successful completion of the project by guiding community youth and Gramdoots.



Indicative timeline:

• Legalities, partnerships, approvals, internal detailing & fundraising:   by December 2018

• launch event & applications live: January 1st, 2019
• Gramdoots on board – By July 2019

• Gramdoot’s orientation and an intensive 3-week induction training before the start of their projects (July)
• Gramdoots will work with the Youth engaging with schools, colleges, and Gram-Sabhas for around 9 months
• Youth trained by Gramdoots will take-up field-work collectively on any of the pressing issues concerning to the community – to be facilitated by the Gramdoots.
• All Gramdoots will meet once every quarter for knowledge sharing and peer review and forge a mutual support system for each other.
• During their fieldwork after 3-week training, they will be personally guided, supported and mentored by a government official. They will be especially instrumental in the successful completion of collective projects that are to be done in the last months of Gramdoot’s tenure.

Ongoing training & coaching for Gramdoots:
A distinguished group of industry experts and role models from the government, politics, and social work will visit Gramdoots for onsite mentoring at least once every quarter.
Gramdoots will also attend leadership and capacity building training programs as per their individual needs.



 
Indicative Financial Plan:

		Cost (in Rupees)	Remarks
No. of Finalists	20
	Unit
Publicity and Branding		1,00000	Public meetings, media, and communications,
Outreach		1,50000	Presentations, Advertising, community visits, campaign
Interview		2,00000	3 centers, includes venue related costs & interviewee’s travel cost
Website and related expenses		50,000
Research		1,00000
Total		6,00000
Orientation and Training for Gramdoots
No. of days	20
Transportation	3000	60,000	both arrival and return
Food	200	80,000	All meals for 20 days
Accommodation	500	2,00000	All 20 days
Venue costs	20,000	4,00000
Guests NCR pick-up	2000	80,000
Stationery		50,000
Sightseeing and external meetings		50,000
Total		9,20000
Gramdoots’  living cost	14,000(for a  team of  2)/month	1,40000
Professional development	25,000	5,00000
Mentorship, coaching, and counseling- Lifetime		Free	Supported by JNV Alumni community
Experiential Citizenship Module (Grants)	5,000	50,000

Other program costs:
A high-quality curriculum will be designed by an external agency- Rs 2,80,000
Stipends of 2 program implementers for around 15 months: Rs 4,80,000 (Rs 16,000 per month.

Total cost will be around Rs 30 Lakhs; Rs 1.5 Lakhs per Gramdoot
(Total 20 Gramdoots in the pilot year)