Participatory learning actively and community involvement are important aspects which need to be used in every project to ensure success of the endeavour. Professor Harish Chandra Pokhriyal of the Delhi University’s School of Open learning said this while delivering a lecture on participatory learning from the poor. The lecture was jointly organised by the Uttarakhand State Council for Science and Technology (UCOST) along with the Uttarakhand State Science Education and Research Centre (USERC) here on Monday.
Addressing the gathering Pokhriyal cited various examples and stressed on the need for learning at the grassroots level in order to achieve success in varied endeavours.
“Those living in rural areas have a rich store of traditional knowledge which enables them to solve even rigid problems on their own. So if we aim to bring development in villages, we need to learn from those living in the villages. The villagers should be asked about the type of development they want and the government schemes should be moulded according to the expectations of the villagers to ensure all round development in rural areas,” he said while adding that the use of biodiversity, water and other natural resources should be in line with public expectations.
Speaking on the occasion, the director general of UCOST Vijay Kumar Dhaundiyal stressed on the need for formulating development plans according to the rural scenario in order to ensure development in rural areas. Community participation and management are important tools which can be used to ensure the desired level of development in the rural areas. UCOST will organise programmes on community participation and management in various districts of the State in the future, he added.Those present on the occasion included Dr DP Uniyal, Dr Ashutosh Mishra, Dr Kirti Joshi from UCOST and Dr Bhavtosh Sharma, Dr Manju Sundriyal and Dr Omprakash Nautiyal from USERC among others.