What PREM Does: Networking Grassroots People's Movements
on Richard Johnson (India), 17/Aug/2010 06:29, 34 days ago
This is the second in aseries of postsabout the development work ofPeople's Rural Education Movement(PREM) Orissa, India.PREMis what you might call an intermediary non-governmental organization (NGO); it is less a solitary, issue-based organization than a movement that reflects the direction of hundreds of grassroots people's and community-based organizations (CBOs). The basic idea ofPREMis that people build up organizations, not the other way around.At its inception as an advocate for education of the marginalized people of Orissa,PREMdidn't just build schools. It began to build up a culture of education and literacy among those--aboriginal peoples (Adivasis), lower castes (Dalits), fisherfolk, rural villagers and farmers--who hadn't been exposed to the possibilities and rights of formal education. And it lobbied those who would deny these rights--inept or corrupt government, thehavesof society--to be a part of changing the prevailing social values.And after twenty-five years of evolution as a movement toward this value-based change,PREMnow nourishes hundreds of small, village-levelCBOs that, e.g., operate pre-schools, train and support local teachers, provide vocational training, promote new initiatives for curriculum development, and advocate for education among constituent communities of Adivasis, Dalits and other marginalized groups.Over the years,PREMhas expanded beyond education to facilitating projects and raising awareness about issues of health care (general, immunization,HIV/AIDS, malaria, hygiene, etc), water and sanitation, livelihood, governance, child rights and child protection, disaster relief and rights implementation.BeyondCBO-level support at the local level,PREMhas organized state-level and national-level networks so that these disparateCBOs might federate themselves for strength and unity in advocacy for change. The Orissa Adivasi Manch (lit: "forum") and theNational Advocacy Council for Development of Indigenous People(NAC-DIP) are state- and national-level, respectively, federations of Adivasi-developmentCBOs andNGOs that are facilitated byPREM. There are similar federations formed byPREMfor Dalits*, for the fisherfolk**, and for women's groups.***From a wide-angle view,PREMis situated within an immeasurably extensive web of people, organizations, development initiatives and values that--withPREM's core competencies of knowledge and resource sharing, and its capacity to bring people together for change--is continuously building itself into a stronger and stronger alliance for social justice among the Adivasi, Dalit and other marginalized people of Orissa.--*The Orissa Dalit Manch is a state-level forum for Dalit issues and organizations. It's national counterpart is the Alliance Network of Dalits (AND).**The Kalinga Fisher People's Union is a state-wide union of 35,000 local fishermen and women in Orissa. TheEast Coast Fisher People's Forum(ECFPF) is a network of fisherpeople's unions in various Indian States.*** In 1992PREMfoundedUktal Mahila Sanchaya Bikash(UMSB), a state-level federation of more than 2200 women's self-help groups (SHGs), most of which are small, village-based micro-credit initiatives including seed and grain banks, local arts and crafts commerce, forest-produce and agriculture collectives, etc. All receive training and other organizational support fromPREM. TodayUMSBhas more than 32,000 women members.UMSBis also part of a national network,INFOS(Indian Network of Federations of Microfinance Self-Help Groups).Photo: Ceremonial planting of a tree at a meeting of various tribal organizations andCBOs withPREM.