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"Reaching the Unreached" Book : "Reaching the Unreached" is a MSSRF (M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation) book by Suchit Nanda and Subbiah Arunachalam. More details can be found at: http://www.mssrf.org/ and http://www.mssrf-nva.org/ The book may also be downloaded as a PDF file from: http://www.suchit.net/books/Reaching-the-Unreached.pdf I'm happy to be able to post this book online and in PDF on 20th Jan'10 - the day of "Basant Panchami" (Devnagari:वसन्त पञ्चमी), which is a festival in which people pray to Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, music and art. It is celebrated every year on the fifth day (Panchami) of the Indian month Magh (January-February), the first day of spring. Traditionally during this festival children are taught to write their first words. And people start things to do with knowledge, wisdom and intellect.

"Reaching the Unreached" Book

"Reaching the Unreached" is a MSSRF (M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation) book by Suchit Nanda and Subbiah Arunachalam. More details can be found at: http://www.mssrf.org/ and http://www.mssrf-nva.org/ The book may also be downloaded as a PDF file from: http://www.suchit.net/books/Reaching-the-Unreached.pdf I'm happy to ...

Updated: Jan 20, 2010 1:37am PST

"Transformative Impact of ICT" Book : "Transformative Impact of ICT - Change stories from rural India" is a MSSRF (M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation) book by Arundhathi, Suchit Nanda and Subbiah Arunachalam. More details can be found at: http://www.mssrf.org/ and http://www.mssrf-nva.org/ The book may also be downloaded as a PDF file from: http://www.suchit.net/books/Transformative-Impact-of-ICT.pdf I'm happy to be able to post this book online and in PDF on 20th Jan'10 - the day of "Basant Panchami" (Devnagari:वसन्त पञ्चमी), which is a festival in which people pray to Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, music and art. It is celebrated every year on the fifth day (Panchami) of the Indian month Magh (January-February), the first day of spring. Traditionally during this festival children are taught to write their first words. And people start things to do with knowledge, wisdom and intellect.

"Transformative Impact of ICT" Book

"Transformative Impact of ICT - Change stories from rural India" is a MSSRF (M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation) book by Arundhathi, Suchit Nanda and Subbiah Arunachalam. More details can be found at: http://www.mssrf.org/ and http://www.mssrf-nva.org/ The book may also be downloaded as a PDF file from: http://www.suchit. ...

Updated: Jan 20, 2010 1:43am PST

Suraj Kund Mela, Annual Fair, Haryana (Delhi) : The Surajkund Crafts Mela is an annual event that takes place in the first week of February at Surajkund which is located in Haryana. Surajkund is just an hour's drive from New Delhi and it comes alive for two weeks with the rhythm and beats of folk dances, lots of shopping opportunity and a riot of colors each year. Each year, there is a theme state and artists from that state and other states displayed their prowess in folk painting, batik & leather craft, wooden laquarware, clothing and variety of foods. The annual Surajkund festival is widely known to showcase the finest handlooms, handicrafts, authentic fragrances & flavours of rich Indian cuisines. Its large open space food court is a great place to try different foods and hang out with friends and family. As North India's winter turns briefly into spring, a caravan of 400 National and State awardee craftpersons from every corner of India wind their way to Surajkund. Craftpersons from SAARC Nations, Thailand, Egypt etc. also participate in the Surajkund Crafts Mela. At Surajkund Mela, the artisans demonstrate their skills as well as sell their creations crafted by their delicate hands into the most beautiful pieces of work. All day, at the Chaupal & later at Natyashala, various dance troupes perform to enthralled audiences. The Surajkund Mela is organized by Haryana Tourism and is held near Faridabad (outskirts of New Delhi). Visitors pay a small entrance fee like Rs. 50. First held in 1981, the event is a popular showcase for traditional Indian arts and crafts and includes a bustling food fair and plenty of live entertainment. For additional details visit: http://haryanatourism.gov.in/

Suraj Kund Mela, Annual Fair, Haryana (Delhi)

The Surajkund Crafts Mela is an annual event that takes place in the first week of February at Surajkund which is located in Haryana. Surajkund is just an hour's drive from New Delhi and it comes alive for two weeks with the rhythm and beats of folk dances, lots of shopping opportunity and a riot of colors each year. Each year, there is a ...

Updated: Jan 11, 2010 4:42am PST

Photo Exhibition - "Below the Poverty Line" @ DRIK, Dhaka 23rd-30th Sep, 2007 : Below the Poverty Line (BPL) by Suchit Nanda The headlines on 26th April 2007 newspapers in India screamed and declared "India a trillion dollar economy", but does this headline really matter to over 350 million Indians? Probably not as arguably, that many Indians can't read or write a word. For that matter, they probably don't really understand the meaning of the word economy or the number of digits in trillion! Visiting rural India in a place (GPS data included with images) about 300 kms from Nagpur in Maharashtra state and bordering with Madhya Pradesh State one comes face to face with this reality. On an ICT evaluation visit, I was amazed to learn that most of the villages I visited had 100% illiteracy. All of them fall under this virtual line that we have drawn called "The Below Poverty Line (BPL)". In other words living on an earning of under a dollar a day. The BPL Census in India is conducted by the Ministry of Rural Development at the beginning of each Five year Plan period. According to the survey and estimates, the number of people living below the poverty line (BPL) in the country continues to remain in the range of 22-23 crore, while in terms of net percentage of population it has decreased. This suggests that the series of poverty alleviation programmes undertaken by the Government between 1993-94 and 2004-05 have had only a minimal impact on the real economic situation of a larger section of the population, according to the findings of the National Sample Survey (NSS). A visit to any of the villages shows this is true. In August, 1995 The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was passed. It states that every state government shall within six months from the date of commencement of this Act, make a scheme for providing not less than one hundred days of guaranteed employment in a financial year to every household in the rural areas scheme and whose adult members, by application, volunteer to do unskilled manual work. Ironically even to fill the form for this one needs to be literate. Even though thousands of crore rupees have been allocated and Governmental and NGOs have tried to help by offering assistance in this regards, the benefit does not seem to percolate down to all. Even this limited financial assistance has not reached everyone. On my visit to villages such as Banur, Pathakila, Pipalna and others I could see the levels of poverty and sufferings. Some of the villages I visited get cut off from the rest of the civilization for nearly 3 months each year due to the monsoon season. Healthcare is poor and even the basic amenities like clean water was an ordeal. Suchit Nanda's photography exhibition "Below the Poverty Line" was held from 25th to 30th September, 2007 at the Drik Gallery, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Suchit is a majority world photographer and regularly contributes to http://www.majorityworld.com/ The exhibition was part of a series of activities carried out under UNESCO's Artist in Development Programme funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Norwegian Embassy). See: http://majorityworld.com/features.php?sessioid=&features_id=17

Photo Exhibition - "Below the Poverty Line" @ DRIK, Dhaka 23rd-30th Sep, 2007

Below the Poverty Line (BPL) by Suchit Nanda The headlines on 26th April 2007 newspapers in India screamed and declared "India a trillion dollar economy", but does this headline really matter to over 350 million Indians? Probably not as arguably, that many Indians can't read or write a word. For that matter, they probably don't really ...

Updated: Nov 16, 2009 12:37pm PST

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