Looking forward to serving the backward in Red bastions

Katha Kartiki,27
New Delhi

A research associate with the Centre for Policy Research,she cut short a visit to Durban for climate talks when she was selected for the fellowship. A Masters from the Institute of Development Studies,University of Sussex,Katha says that sitting in Delhi one can get the big picture but would miss what is actually happening at the ground level. “I had this feeling for some time and when this fellowship was announced,I thought this is the perfect opportunity to shift… to understand,experience and engage in implementation of policy,feel and analyse the needs of people and work in rural development,” she says. “It would be interesting to know the problems and their reasons in these areas where we will work. Is it the flow of funds? Is it corruption?” About meeting the challenge,she says,“I am not taking anything for granted… I am just going to be realistic.”

Vishnu V Nair,25
Kochi

The B Tech from NIT Trichy is excited about having got the fellowship but also appeared for an interview last week after cracking the civil services exam. “If I get into IAS,IPS,or IFS,I will go,” he says. “Otherwise,this is an equally good opportunity to do what I have in mind.” While working with a US-based MNC for a year,Vishnu found that all his skills are meant to cater only to corporates or MNCs. “We only end up serving the rich… after our governments spend lakhs on each engineering student. I wanted to do something where I can use my skills at local level,” he says. “I think district collectors have their hands full… as aides to collectors,we will have more flexibility. While we are like part of the government,we are also like activists. We can move around freely,meet people at the ground level and do our work without the trappings of being part of government,” he adds.

Dipti Paridhi Kindo,24
Ranchi

She still regrets not having taken M S Dhoni’s autograph when there were no queues or security outside his home a few years ago; it would have been possible as she knows some of his friends. With a PG in rural development from Xavier Institute of Social Science,Ranchi,Dipti worked for 11 months with the NGO Navnirman in Kutch. “It was a quite a change from Jharkhand to be in the most arid region in the country. For the first time I saw what real social work means and how NGOs work to make life a little easier for people in such remote areas,” she says. She wanted to start working in Jharkhand,too. “I had joined Safal NGO to work in Khunti when I came to know about the fellowships. I think this provides a great opportunity for people like me to expand their scope of work,understand and participate in government schemes,” she says.

Priya Tayde,26
Nashik

While working with an NGO in Bhilwara,Priya,a political science gradudate from MIT-School of Government,Pune,once met a farmer who told her that he could not waste a small piece of land to set up a windmill. “For him that piece of land on which his livestock graze was more important than having electricity at his home. Here we are,thinking of ways to boost power supply and internet speed,but you realise they have no utility for some communities and they have more pressing requirements,” she says. After doing an MA in development studies,Priya worked for a year in Rajasthan,studying common property and land usage and Rajasthan’s social inclusion policy. “There is a huge gap between government policy and priorities and the aspirations of communities. There is much more we can do by understanding government policies and schemes and engaging with the people they are meant for,” she says.

Mayank Lodha,25
Bokaro

An instrumentation engineer who worked in the IT sector for a year,Mayank found his calling in Teach for India,teaching 62 students of a municipal school on the outskirts of Pune. Now that he has quit IT,he wants to go into social and rural development permamnently. “If you want to swim in the sea lifelong,you have to learn swimming in a river first,and I am glad to be here among other rural development fellows. I think this gives us a great opportunity to work with the government and people with a lot of flexibility from the outside,” he says. To initiate even a small change,he says,one must first first understand the people’s problems and the policies for these. “There is no doubt that the government has the mechanism to reach out and bring about holistic change. By working in the districts,I think we stand a good chance to observe and understand how government policies are working at the ground level,and start contributing.”