Vision

Background

Mahatma Gandhi, who led India’s independence movement, believed in the power of mass action for India’s development.  He said, “We must be the change we want to see in this world.”  Inspired by Gandhi’s philosophy, Dr. Parameswara Rao, has dedicated his life to social work.  He is the founder of India Literacy Project (ILP) and  Bhagavatula Charitable Trust (BCT). 

Based on 34 years of experience, he realized that mass action was needed for effective development on a national scale. He exhorted the community working on developmental issues in India, to work together to rekindle the flame of mass participation.  Thus, Rejuvenate India Movement (RIM) was formed in 1999.  The goal is to catalyze a mass movement to strengthen democratic processes toward self-reliant development.

During the past year, the leaders of reputable NGOs (Non-governmental organizations) from several states have met several times to develop a strategy to realize RIM's goal. Dr. Sudarshan, Padma Sri, of VGKK was nominated as convener.  The leaders agreed that to realize RIM's goal it is necessary to have trained volunteers working full-time, to empower and catalyze the villagers in developmental action. It is envisoned that the number of volunteers must be large enough in a few years (in the thousands at least), so that the effect of the program can be felt nation-wide. Currently the financial support for these volunteers would be provided through a stipend from RIM.

The meeting and interaction between these NGOs is enabling them to learn from each other. We hope that these meetings will lead to a common platform within which the NGOs can act. All these respected organizations speaking with a common voice can enable significant policy changes and implementations at the national level that would not have been otherwise possible.

How can RIM's work lead to a mass movement?

RIM works by sponsoring volunteers who work full-time in villages on the felt needs of the villagers. The participation of local NGOs who are already working in the field is essential to the success of the effort. The NGOs pick volunteers who are suitable for the location and work. The volunteers participate in a common training program to give them the tools and perspective needed for their work. For the past year, 65 volunteers have been hard at work in 100 villages and their work is impacting 30000 villagers.  The volunteers are motivating the villagers to work cooperatively to develop their villagers.  If the number of volunteers can be increased steeply from year to year, a critical mass of Indians working cooperatively for self-reliant development can be reached. A crucial constraint on making this happen will be the raising of appropriate funding to support the volunteers.

The 65 volunteers have been working under the supervision of 25 NGOs in 11 states. Many of the NGOs have been in the field for a long time and are much respected for their knowledge and contributions. (A list of NGOs and information on them is available here). There have been 4 meetings over the past year of representatives of these NGOs.  In these initial years constant monitoring of the volunteers is going on to maximize their effectiveness and evolve best practices. The direction we are moving in is to develop training modules of best practices, that can be used to train new volunteers and swiftly spread the movement.

RIM in the USA

In the U.S. a number of organizations are supporting and collaborating with RIM. Primary support is from I.C.A (Indian for Collective Action), and  I.L.P. (India Literacy Project) have contributed financially. Volunteers from A.I.D. (Association For India's Development),  Asha, I.L.P. and other India-related organizations are actively participating in RIM's activities. RIM has also excited the imagination of many individuals who have previously been uninvolved in development work, and their input and efforts have been essential to its success.

The primary role of RIM in the US is publicity and fundraising. During the 2 years we raised $88000.  RIM USA has set up and maintains the RIM website.