Yatra for uplift of rural poor, checking forced migration

Balkrishan Prashar

It was a journey in challenging climatic conditions of harsh winter through snowbound tough mountainous terrains. The participants of the Shodh Yatra, which began from Dalhousie, battled snow and proceeded towards their destinations covering 10 far-flung villages. They were determined to seek creativity in the depths of the lives of simple men, women and farm labourers.

The yatra is an initiative of SRISHTI (Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions), a developmental voluntary organisation supported by NotOnMap, an NGO. Its objective is to uplift economically backward communities through sustained development and check migration of villagers. It also aims at imbibing the values of knowledge and creativity through a search for innovations at the grass-roots level. It provides the participants with an opportunity to slowly understand diverse cultural differences and acknowledge the human societies living in different geographies.

Padma Shree Prof Anil Kumar Gupta has time and again observed and valued the situational and incidental crisis faced by villagers and their innovative solutions that emerge from their presence and proactive approach. He started the yatra in 1988 as a learning experience for participants and it showcased the cost effectiveness of these innovations. Gupta had earlier served with the IIM, Ahmedabad, and is at present heads the yatra.

This year too, Gupta stressed the importance of preserving traditional practices, as they have the potential to help humankind more efficiently than the solutions branded and sold by corporations.

“The purpose of the honeybee network of NotOnMap is to give voice, visibility, and velocity to unheard, unseen and unknown creative communities. It is an excellent example of how this philosophy can be practised in an ethical manner,” says Gupta.

The yatra shares more than 75 per cent of the income through learning tours and its ecotourism activities involving local communities testify the ethical standards followed by Anubhav and his team.

They are planning to take up conservational measures for biodiversity, cultural and knowledge diversity of the communities. The honeybee network feels proud of such members of the network.

Various developmental standards have been established in the hilly district of Chamba, where an innovative library that aims to cater to the needs of children from lesser privileged communities has been started for the first time at NotOnMap—H2O House at Chamba.

Multiple interventions such as these have been initiated involving women and children with the long-term goal of inculcating the importance of ecological knowledge.

“The Shodh Yatra is an open air innovation lab and is being organised in association with NotOnMap, an NGO working in Chamba,” says Manuj Sharma, a functionary of NotOnMap. Chamba has been identified for the much-awaited 45th Shodh Yatra, which will be covered in six days, entirely on foot.

Sharma says that the yatra is ensuring that vulnerable yet culturally rich villagers get their fair share of the tourism economy. In order to empower rural people, the yatra is also empowering and promoting them to create alternative livelihood sources in villages, keeping tourism at the core.