Glocal Conference

Abdul Azim Akhtar

It is agreed that mother tongue is the best medium to impart education to masses. This is more relevant in India, where more than dozen regional languages are spoken by people, in different states and many of the states are based on linguistics. In Uttar Pradesh, Urdu is an important language with centuries of rich history and patronage by the erstwhile Awadh state. Yet, the language finds itself on the periphery due the politics against the language, first in the 19th century and then in the 1960s, when there were movements to make Hindi the official language of the state. The gain of Hindi was the loss for Urdu and its speakers. This paper presents a historical perspective on this issue and its impact on education in the state.

The anti-Urdu movement with its narrow political objectives deprived Muslims of education as it was their mother tongue, and it had its effect on the education in the state. Despite the movement of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and his Aligarh scientific society to promote mass education among Muslims, by translating scientific and other text books in Urdu, the Muslims of Uttar Pradesh could not benefit much because, they were forced to study Hindi and Sanskrit in Government Schools. The situation worsened after partition, when Urdu speakers were neglected by the government for political reasons. After some time, it dawned on the government that mother tongue could not be ignored, but the damage has been done.

In August 1949, Provincial Education Ministers Conference passed a Resolution regarding Education through mother tongue. The Resolution states: “The medium of instruction and examinations at the Junior Basic stage must be the mother tongue of the child.” The Central Government also appointed I K Gujral Committee to look into the issue of Urdu and its speakers. The I K Gujral Committee recommended a provision of at least one Urdu medium school in areas where Urdu speaking population was 10% and in areas where Urdu speakers from less than 10% of the population there should be provision of an Urdu teacher in such schools as are likely to get a minimum of 10 students. In Uttar Pradesh, according to the state Department of Education, there are 1375 Urdu medium primary schools to serve a population of 10,767,175 Urdu speakers. Obviously, the number of these schools bears no proportion to the population of Urdu speakers of Uttar Pradesh. Apart from the apathy of the government to the Urdu language and its speakers, the political leadership of the minority has engaged itself in promoting only the interests of their respective political parties. It is in this context that the role of private initiative becomes very important in imparting education to the people in Uttar Pradesh.

Ajit Chaudhuri

The democratic decentralization process as outlined by Part IX of the Constitution of India contains opportunitiesand threats for the Indian development sector. Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) have been empowered with a constitutional mandate via the 73rd and 74th Amendments, and have seen a subsequent gradual but not uniform devolution of authority, responsibilities and resources to them, especially for delivery of public services in the fields of health, education and livelihoods. Where does this leave NGOs and development donor organizations, and what are the spaces and options for delivery of public services available to them?

The paper describes the democratic decentralization process in India, and then examines the implications of local institutional choice on democracy. It suggests that governments and international agencies ‘choose’ local institutions by transferring power to them, or by conducting joint activities, or else by soliciting their inputs for policies and programmes, and that this provides recognition, power and legitimacy upon the chosen institution. The choice of private bodies, NGOs, user groups, customary authorities and other non-democratic institutions for public service delivery effects more than the efficiency and effectiveness of service provision, it impacts the process of democratic decentralization and thereby democracy itself. The paper examines the effects of local institutional choice for public service delivery on three aspects of democracy – representation, citizenship and the public domain – drawing on thoughts from academics such as Archon Fung and Jesse Ribot. It suggests that working within the spirit of Part IX of the Constitution of India and thereby strengthening the democratic decentralization process would be in the long-term interests of beneficiaries of public services, including poor and marginalized individuals, households and communities.

The paper then examines the arguments against working with PRIs, including their existence as local political rather than development institutions, corruption, skill and efficiency issues, and legal issues and suggests that these are mostly valid and that those looking to support public service delivery through PRIs will need to factor them in. It lists the advantages of working with or through PRIs, and suggests policies and practices that would enable development donors to do so effectively – drawing from theory and from existing best practices such as the Kutch Navnirman Abhiyan’s work in Gujarat. Finally, the paper outlines opportunities for NGOs that have opened up with democratic decentralization, and means by which they can avail of them. The paper requests that donor organizations and development actors be part of this massive socio-political movement and help enable it to fulfill its enormous potential

Anshu Arora

Organ donation is a topic that is relevant to the whole of science fraternity and the society. Organ donation is a very important part of the medical science not only from today but also from history. It can help save lives of people afflicted with disease or simply needing an organ transplant due to injury or some other cause. It is an issue that needs to be addressed to all members of the society and people in the country. It is a topic that is addressed not to a great extent rather controversial in nature and is an issue that, if it is understood correctly, can help save many lives. Throughout this paper the researcher has tried to use secondary date and gone through a lot of literature on the topic as well as to gather information that can be presented to the society.

The paper also discusses the role of Science Communicators to bridge the gap between science and society and to create awareness about this sensitive topic to the masses. In this paper, the researcher has tried to discuss the various pros and cons of organ donation as well as how the organ donation process works. It will also address many common myths that are commonly associated with organ donation. The research further focuses on documentary film as a medium to further educate the community about organ donation as well as to create awareness on its importance.

Asok Kr. Dikshit

The field of nanoscience and nanotechnology is a promising emerging area in the field of new biomarker development. The nanoparticles of various shapes, sizes, and compositions are exploring to obtain a new novel biomarker. The potential of this work is to incorporate different chemicals to achieve a homogeneous, controlling and fixed spatial distribution with maximizing the interaction of the nanoparticles with the guided light. The variation of nanoparticles concentration as well as size may change the interaction between particles, which may cause a shift in emission spectrum [1-3].

The encapsulation of laser dye inside the silica matrix may be via electrostatic attraction, spatial constrain or covalent bonding. The positively charged dye molecules will have high affinity to negatively charged silica nanoparticle surfaces and entrapped into silica network [4-5]. This case of nanoparticles cannot only retain valuable features of both inorganic and organic moieties, but also provides the ability to systematically modify the properties of the hybrid material through the combination of functional elements. Here, I shall present developed optical biosensor containing dispersed silica nanoparticles with laser dye attached on it. These can be used as an optical probe in sensor devices to detect micro amount of bio-analytes cancerous cell [4]. The developed optical biosensor through bio imaging is promising and emerging modalities for the cancer detection in the early stage. The optical signals can provide the molecular information and it is essential as optical imaging probe in sensor device.

Brij Laj Joshi

The paper presents status of literacy and education in Uttar Pradesh with focus on socio-religious communal diversity. The focus of the analysis has been on different levels of education (basic literacy, matriculation and higher level education) for different relevant age groups. The absolute and per cent changes, for different age groups, from 2004-05 to 2009-10 has been carried out using NSSO’s 61st round and 66th round employment and unemployment data. A unique district categorization was made so as to evaluate the status of literacy and other factors in Uttar Pradesh. To test similar hypotheses in Uttar Pradesh, all the districts in UP are categorized in to five groups based on the percentage of Muslim Population. Thus ‘G1’ is a group of district, which may not be geographically contagious which has 40 per cent or more of its population to be Muslims. Similarly, G2 -30%-40% Muslims, G3-20%-30% Muslims, G4-10%-20% Muslims and G5 having less than10% Muslim population, respectively. The major findings of the paper include very low educational status, at each level, for Muslims and Hindu-SCs/STs. On the other hand, Hindu-Generals, Other Minorities and OBCs are the SRCs, which have benefitted from education the most.

Regional disparity in education is attempted for four unique regions of UP used for this analysis. The paper has used the total district population according to 2011 census and used the percentage distribution from the census 2001 and estimated the share of religious population for each of the four regions in UP namely, Bundelkhand, Central UP, Eastern UP and Western UP.

Debarshi Mukherjee

Learners and learning have always remained the cynosure for the researchers and many theories have been postulated to capture higher learning gain. In democracy of education transmission model of knowledge dissemination found opposition in peer group learning and knowledge creation. As technology progresses classrooms have also increased in size covering wide geographic area narrowing digital divide and making way for networked learning. Old school theory of education delivery at different levels offers limited academic freedom and teacher – student interaction that have fallen short of meeting student’s expectations. In today’s context changing skill requirement and ever growing competition in the market are forcing the student to look for flexible learning environment where teachers can facilitate learning and the ability to construct knowledge can grow. Besides discussion on two popular learning theories i.e., constructivism and media richness this papers offers an intuitive model of blended learning suitable in Indian context. Alongside the theoretical models a case of blended learning using LMS is briefly discussed. Keywords: Constructivism, Media richness, blended learning, 3-DE model, LMS

Education is one of the primary sources of human capital. Access to education is a basic human right and essential for human well-being. It is considered to be both an indicator and instrument of economic development. Education increases labour productivity and thereby helps a nation to achieve economic growth. School facilities (such as school infrastructure, class size, school funding, toilet & drinking water facilities, mid-day meal, school hours, etc.) and teachers’ quality (such as educational qualification and experience, teachers’ involvement, etc.) are important factors affecting the quality of education and overall development of a child. School quality is important for the development of cognitive competencies, human capital, and productive labour force for future growth and prosperity of a country. Indeed, at an early phase of educational development, school effectiveness may depend more heavily on factors that encourage attendance and retention of students. School facilities and teachers’ quality could be imperative in facilitating attendance and retention in a school. In this study we intend to examine both the availability of school facilities as well quality of teachers in understanding the dropout rates in the schools of Saharanpur district in the state of Uttar-Pradesh using data from District Information System for Education (DISE).

Gauri Jaswal

Enactus is an international non-profit organization that brings together student, academic and business leaders, committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to transform lives of people in need. Enactus at Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, University of Delhi initiated project Sanitation Solutions, a social outreach model aimed at improving the sanitary conditions of women in slums and villages across India, providing them an opportunity to earn a sustainable livelihood and have a better standard of living.

Started in 2009, the project aims at ensuring use of affordable sanitary napkins by women, by establishing a direct supply chain between manufacturers of sanitary napkins and some enterprising women, thereby eliminating middlemen and ensuring that the price is kept minimal, translating into affordability for the ultimate consumers and a fair profit for the sellers.

The team conducts regular awareness camps in the slums and villages, where women are encouraged to talk freely about menstruation, associated stigmas, and diseases that may be caused by lack of hygiene during the period. Our aim is to reduce afflictions like cervical cancer and infertility with improved sanitation along with an increase in the household income of our entrepreneurs giving them a more sustainable livelihood.

Neerja Dhankar

The NFHS survey reflects the female disadvantage is much more severe in rural than in urban areas. This probably suggestsa gender bias and a neglect of the needs of the girl child. The disadvantage of the rural child is evident in the higher infant and neonatal mortality rates in rural than in urban areas in either sex. The literacy rate in Uttar Pradesh at 57.36% is below the national average (65.4% ). Female literacy situation in Uttar Pradesh is dismal with the literacy rate for females being abysmally low at 42.98% as against 70.23% for males. Another barrier to education is the lack of adequate school facilities. There are not enough classrooms to accommodate all of the school age children. Furthermore, the classrooms that are available often lack basic necessities such as sanitary facilities or water. Girls drop out of school because of a lack of female teachers, distance of schools from their homes, parental fear for their daughter’s safety, and failure on exams. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the problems (educational and health) and the empowerment of adolescent girls of Uttar Pradesh. The difference in empowerment level, educational and health problems of adolescent girls of Meerut and Ghaziabad was studied. A sample of 150 girls studying in secondary schools of Meerut and Ghaziabad city was purposively selected. The findings reveal that there is a significant relationship between the educational and health problems and empowerment of adolescent girls. There is no significant difference between the educational and health
problems and empowerment levels of adolescent girls of Meerut and Ghaziabad.

Nilanjan Banik

In this paper we examine the nexus between growth and development using recursive structural equation system, which to the best of our knowledge has not been tried so far in the Indian context. Another novel feature of our study is that we use district-level data to capture greater heterogeneity at a sub-state level. We use growth rate of per capita income (PCI) as an indicator of economic growth, and infant mortality rate (IMR) and literacy rate as the development outcomes. We find that IMR and literacy rate have positive and statistically significant effect on growth rate of PCI. Our results also show that growth rate of PCI has a positive and statistically significant effect on IMR and literacy rate. Further sensitivity analysis is performed to test robustness of these findings. Key words: growth, development, structural equation system, seemingly unrelated regressions (SUR) JEL classification: C31, R12. Jointly written with Dr Jyoti Prasad Mukhopadhyay

Padmashree Pandey

With a population of 199.6 million, Uttar Pradesh could be counted as the 5th largest nation in the world, and amongst the least developed ones. Within the Indian context, UP is grouped with 7 other states in India collectively labeled “Empowered Action Group” states. Maternal mortality in the state is 345 against the national average of 212, and the under-5 mortality rate is 94 against the national average of 59. Ensuring accountable delivery of health services in UP is imperative, a task is made difficult due to the low political priority accorded to health in the state. Subsequently, a mismanaged health delivery system continues to function without effective direction and accountability.

Global Health Advocates India has found multiple instances across the Hindi speaking states among others, where face to face encounters between elected representatives with their electorate on improving the quality of health services have resulted in improvements in the health delivery mechanisms.

Creating opportunities for these face-to-face encounters requires the identification and training of credible, informed local individuals and organizations that can speak confidently to their elected representatives. It also requires prior sensitizing of the elected representatives of the health situation and the menu of remedies possible.

Pankaj Jain

The school education policy has to make important choices in the coming year to exploit the demographic dividend, and to attain both economic and social development. The note highlights that both the Government and private school systems, at present, suffer from major limitations. While the Government School system is ineffective in using resources and delivering minimal outcomes, there is little evidence that private school system has capacity to deliver good results or education on a large scale. Further, the nature of Education makes its efficient provision by the market mechanism a tough possibility. Analyzing the relative strengths and limitations of both the systems, this paper argues that Public-Private partnership is the best policy for meeting social educational goals. The paper uses the lessons from successes in India and other countries, and across sectors, to support the central argument.

Pankaj Jain

Payal Kumar

Faculty research publication from Indian universities as a whole, and business schools (B-schools) in particular, is quite low (Varman and Saha, 2009), so much so that this is becoming a matter of concern for the Indian Government as elucidated in the Bhargava report (2008) and the Mehta report (2009). This paper asks faculty from the 9 leading business schools in India, the reasons for this low research productivity level. The results of this survey indicate that the lack of ‘publish or perish’ pressure on faculty in India is linked to the dearth of faculty research publications.

Prakash Satyavageeswaran

Prior research has shown that nutrition has a long-term impact on education and on human capital. The present paper connects the dots back from long-term impact on education to malnutrition to diarrhea to safe drinking water.

Unsafe drinking water is common in developing countries and especially so in underdeveloped states or regions of such countries. We trace the scarcity of water to increasing scarcity of safe drinking water. We look at research in the field of health and medicine to identify the vicious cycle of occurrence of diarrhea, the link to unsafe drinking water and malnutrition that further leads to higher susceptibility to diarrhea. We look at the literature in nutrition to identify the effects of malnutrition on development of mental faculties and the propensity to continue longer in school, establishing the last link from safe drinking water to education outcomes.

We then adopt a practitioner’s focus and look at the current water purification practices and habits as well as the new technologies and innovations reported in the area of purifying water. Finally, we look at social marketing to suggest ways of promoting safe drinking water for overcoming the inertia towards water purification and drinking safe water.

Keywords – education, malnutrition, diarrhea, water purification, social marketing.
Author – Prakash Satyavageeswaran, Affiliation – Indian School of Business.

Rajesh Chakrabarti

Creating a well-functioning health and education delivery mechanism at a state level is not an easy task. Some states in India have taken steps in this direction that others can learn from. During 2006-1011, Bihar, starting from a near-anarchical situation, brought about very significant changes in its primary education and health sectors though certain selected and effective innovations in governance. This paper describes these innovations and the changes in the major health and education indicators obtained over the period.

Rajesh Kumar

This paper presents challenges and ways forward for ensuring that all government elementary schools are effective in learning of each child. Paper is based on the work of Lokmitra that has been engaging with elementary education system in multi pronged and multilevel manner. Lokmitra believes that change in possible if we work with long-term perspective. Mobilising parents & teachers to work collectively to transform the school from within and in the process influence the education system & political system is a long drawn task, but a critical one. We hardly find any way out if we aim to build a better world that inclusive, driven by love and sustainability. Teacher Motivation is key issue for initiating the process, especially when there are so many disincentives & social pressure against change. If teachers get feel of better school where children & teacher, both are at ease and filled with joy of doing and learning, there is scope overcome initial inertia. Next challenge would to collaboratively work out an activity system, which convinces teachers that vision of each child learning is possible. As they proceed towards realizing that vision, sufficient handholding and support from the system is required.

Rakesh Pillai

We present, EPQI a 7 step process and tools to improve the quality of HMIS and public health programs at large. First step in EPQI is to identify problems using tools like KJ methods, affinity diagram, fish bone diagram, pareto diagram, Why-Why board, multi-voting, theme selection matrix etc. Once the problem is identified it is important to frame a ‘problem statement’ also. Assessing the current status through process flow charts, re-defining the goals, standards and expectations, collection and analysis of fact data etc., is done after problem statement. Clarification of goals, assigning of roles and responsibilities to project team and work schedule is required. Tools like matrix diagram, arrow diagram, brain storming, affinity diagram etc., could be used. It is also required to do cause – effect analysis, using ‘WHY-WHY’ analysis, affinity diagram, fish borne diagram, correlation diagram, tree diagram, process mapping, KJ method, pareto diagram, histogram, graphs etc. Listing up solutions and strategic plans could be used to identify and successfully eliminate the root causes. Many tools like tree diagram, matrix diagram, affinity diagram, fish borne diagram etc can be used. Finalising action plans and implementation strategies through tools like Matrix diagram, Arrow diagram, Log frame etc is also used. Regular assessment of measures and corrective action is required at this stage. Tools like check sheets, graphs, pareto diagram, histogram, control chart, radar chart etc are used. Establish a mechanism to sustain the achieved effects and prevent recurrence of the problem is important. In conclusion, HMIS 7 step evidence based quality improvement steps helps to improve the quality of public health programs and helps to achieve the set goals.

Ratna Banerjee

The Right to Education (RTE) Act, which was passed by Indian government on 4th August, 2009, describes the modalities of the importance of free and compulsory education for children in the age group between six to fourteen years in India. India became one of 135 countries to make education a fundamental right of every child when this Act came into force on 1st April, 2010. State child rights commissions were to monitor implementation of the RTE Act in their respective states. All states have to set up state education advisory bodies.

In 1990, at the World Conference on Education for All, in Jomtien, Thailand, 155 countries including India took a pledge to ensure education for all by the year 2000. However in 1998, when UNESCO and other agencies reviewed India’s position in achieving these goals, it was found that very little progress had been made. The country was among those at the bottom of the list. In April 2000, 180 of a total of 193 countries came together for the World Education Forum in Dakar (Senegal). Participants acknowledged that a lot of people – people from the disadvantaged class, with low socio-economic status, and the underprivileged – were bereft of basic education. Amid discussions it was agreed that the right to education was a basic right.

The budget for implementation of the RTE Act throughout the country is just half of the amount spent on the 2010 Commonwealth Games! In this study a survey will be done to find common people’s awareness of this Act and would highlight the various issues of social justice required for it. It would also focus on the pedagogy to be adopted so that the right to education becomes an actual right for all our children and not merely a right on paper. Keywords: right to education, RTE Act, fundamental rights, pedagogy of education, social justice, child labour

Ratna Dhamija

We are living in an age of accountability and it is playing a critical role in Education as globalisation is demanding highly skilled work force. Accountability and data have become key words of educational reforms worldwide, with data playing a central role. Educators are recognising that the informed use of data is essential to teaching and student learning. The kinds of data that can be collected can emanate from different sources for this discussion we will take data that teachers have however they find it challenging to interpret and use student assessment data.

Assessment is critical to education process and is an integral part of teaching and learning. Research including Black and William (1998) indicates that effective teachers use assessment data to inform their instruction to improve student learning. The role of assessment is however misunderstood by most, perhaps because each stakeholder – student, parent, teacher, head of school, management, policy makers – requires different information. However, they all have a common objective that is to ensure students learn and improve over time. A stated purpose of assessment is informing teacher’s planning and instructional strategy. There is little evidence to suggest that this happens in schools in India. This is no surprise as the Teachers have had no formal training in writing assessments and analysing them.

Rekha Dey

Sport has unique attributes that enable it to contribute to development processes. It is an effective vehicle for personal and sporting development offering educational values, health benefits, social opportunities and sporting worth. When used strategically, sports-based assistance can make a measurable contribution to Australia’s international development efforts. It has a demonstrated capacity as an effective communication platform, a clear role in reducing the risk of non-communicable diseases and the potential to set the foundation for healthy child development. These contributions, together with its ability to connect people make it a tool that can be used to meet a range of development objectives. The Australian Sports Outreach Program (ASOP) India is an Australian Government initiative implemented by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) with a commitment of AUD 5 million over five years to June 2014. The ASOP program is implemented through strategic partnerships created with seven not-for-profit organisations selected, through extensive scoping and due diligence, for their notable impact in the Indian sport and development domains.

Saleema Razvi

It is widely accepted that deficiencies in public sector health systems can only be overcome by significant reforms. The need for reform in India’s health sector has been emphasized by successive plan documents since the Eighth Five-Year Plan in 1992, by the 2002 national health policy and by international donor agencies. Partnership with the private sector has emerged as a new avenue of growth, in part due to resource constraints in the public sector of governments across the world (Mitchell-Weaver and Manning 1992). There is growing realisation that, given their respective strengths and weaknesses, neither the public sector nor the private sector alone can operate in the best interest of the health system. There is also a growing belief that public and private sectors in health can potentially gain from one another (ADBI 2000; Bloom et al. 2000; Agha et al. 2003). Involvement of the private sector is, in part, linked to the wider belief that public sector bureaucracies are inefficient and unresponsive and that market mechanisms will promote efficiency and ensure cost effective, good quality services (WHO 2001). Another perspective on this debate is linked to the notion that the public sector must reorient its dual role of financing and provision of services because of its increasing inability on both fronts (Mitchell 2000). Under partnerships, public and private sectors can play innovative roles in financing and providing health care services.

The existing literature looks primarily on impact of economic freedom on trade deficits, FDI, property rights, education, and even culture. What is evident from the review of literature however is that there is not much work undertaken on the impact of economic freedom on health outcomes per se. Whether there are improvements in health indicators, a change in health expenditures, or improved health infrastructures as a result of the enabling environment that is required to establish economic freedom and the ease of doing business. And this lack of research is even more evident from an Indian point of view.

This study attempts to analyse the impact of enabling environments measured by the economic freedom index in Indian states on health outcomes. Data for 20 states of India for which the Economic Freedom Index has been calculated from 2004 to 2012 would be used. Panel data of economic freedom index and health data would be constructed for the period 2004 to 2012. The study would evaluate whether economic freedom leads to higher private participation in healthcare? It would also analyse the relation between the level of economic freedom and health expenditures, health infrastructure and health indicators across the Indian states.

Shantanu Gupta

Voice, Choice and Incentives: This session will try to unfold the education system of India form the angle of voice, choice and incentives of different stakeholders engaged in the education system – child, parents, teacher, government and private schools. The session will take the participants though the political economy of education policy, researches done on the subject and make them understand the exact set of issues and potential solutions to solve the education riddle in India. It will try to unravel, that how voices of the service provider is stronger than the service recipient and incentive structure is misplaced for any of the stakeholder of education to engage them in the process of teaching or learning.

Sheetal Chopra

Our Honorable Prime Minister referred this decade as a decade of innovation which reflected Government’s clear resolve to take India in the league of nations that are internationally acclaimed as hubs of innovation. Thus, efforts have been made by different ministries to implement several measures, which can create conducive environment for Indians to create/innovate. While on one side we are talking about innovation and creativity but on the other hand the current mindset of various sections of the society is putting country’s innovation potential at stake. The presentation will aim to connect the audience with the day today activities, which knowingly or unknowingly leads to illegal copying/downloading of film/music/games/software also referred to as piracy. This talk will capture how the current mindset is hampering the overall health of the Indian Economy and its brand image besides capturing how these activities also deprive the rightful owners of their dues. The presentation would deal with importance of education, right at the youth level, that can help curb this menace.

Srikanta Misra

Magic Bus (MB) is a pioneer in delivering Sport-for-Development programmes in India. The organization began its journey of mentoring young people through the medium of sport in 2001. Its vision is based on the idea that sport has the power to bring about real and lasting change in society. Magic Bus also understands that social change is a complex process, and requires engagement at multiple levels. Hence, as an organization, has within its core understanding and engagement with the ecosystems involved as well as theoretical underpinnings of behavior change, which drives the nature of intervention. This understanding is translated into a comprehensive programming which includes in it the adaption of the curriculum based on the need of the community, intensive training & handholding as well as a complete tried and tested monitoring and evaluation tools.

Subhash Mittal

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a buzz word today, however very little is known on the ground realities of the same. Socio Research Reform Foundation undertook a research in CSR based on the CSR programmes of 100 top corporates. Findings of the study are quite interesting. In regards to CSR interventions in the Education sector, it came out that of 100 top corporates as many as 86 were intervening in one way or other. Similarly Health is also a priority area of intervention as the study revealed that as many as 78 CSR programmes were undertaking programmes in the sector. Type of interventions both in Education as well as Health varies in different programmes.

Often a number of NPOs in civil society are apprehensive that CSR programmes are / would be implemented by the corporates directly. While majority of CSR programmes presently have their own foundation through which they undertake the CSR programmes, however whether a Foundation or not most of them work with NGO partners. Hence there is plenty of scope for NGO Partners to engage with these CSR programmes. Although concerns about areas of this relationship remain, particularly in relation to whether corporates would understand the ethos of partnership or would it be more of a relationship of Principal and Agent. There are also several other practical issues. Criteria for selection and nurturing of partnership will be presented in the paper to be presented at the Glocal University Symposium on 25-26 October 2013. The study also looked at several other areas, such as what are the drivers of CSR, could CSR become a sustainable source of funding as well as Transparency in CSR. Relevant findings of this study would also be presented through this paper.

Syed S. Kazi

There are emerging areas in use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Social and Behavioural Change (SBC) in areas of health and education. Use of ICTs like the web platform, mobile tools and latest social medial platforms for information and communication support are emerging viable medium to effect changes in enabling inclusive health services and in enhancing educational quality and reach out to remote areas. Inclusive ICT mediums are deployed to effect changes through information & content dissemination, training of frontline workers/resource persons and interpersonal communication, and monitoring and tracking of health & educational programmes.

While ICTs cannot bring change by itself, it is important to devise ways and means to bring desired social and behavioural changes through focused and relevant education and health interventions. For instance, can mobiles help to manage class routine and attendance of teachers in primary schools under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) programme. The challenge is how ICTs can emerge as tools of change in a context wherein communities have lived by age old cultural practices and lived in technology ‘alienation’. At policy level, decision making and implementation of ICT programmes in health and education must consider issues in – technology relevance, decentralisation, community participation, social relevance, access & connectivity, affordability and transparent systems.

Tapas Goswami

Water interfaces play a pivotal role in many physical, chemical, and biological processes. A few familiar examples are membrane function and environmental pollution. We form an immiscible liquid-liquid interface between the solution of the indocyanine green (IR125) dye in di-chloro-methane (DCM) and water. The dye used in the solution can transport from DCM layer to water layer through the interface. The particular dye molecule is widely used in medical diagnosis. The interface can mimic the cell membrane. Because of the significant role of interface in various processes and also due to the function of the dye molecule as a photosensitizer in photodynamic therapy, we use femtosecond time resolved spectroscopy technique to gain a better insight into the internal excited-state dynamics near the interface. Excited state dynamics is observed to be strongly dependent on the position of probing the dye molecule from bulk medium to interface. The excited state life-time is observed to increase from bulk DCM solution to its interface with water. Such results show that the effect of the presence of water layer over the dye solution in DCM extends several microns. This investigation of studying the dynamics of a dye across the interface can provide the important characteristics of micro-transport across the interface and also the transport of ions at cell membrane.

Vijaykumar Shivpuje

The healthcare in India is rapidly changing. However, accessibility of drugs remains a matter of critical concern. The presentation discusses current status of access to medicines and its affordability in India and issues related thereto. The presentation also discusses the concept of generic drugs as a option to access and affordability of drugs to common public. As a case study, ‘Jan Aushadhi Campaign’ which is being run by central government would be discussed. It concludes with some features about the Jan Aushadhi stores and how the scheme can be utilized for healthcare access.

Vijaykumar Shivpuje

Wilima Wadhwa

The Right to Education (RTE) came into effect in 2010. It guarantees enrollment to all children in the age group of 6-14 years and lays down infrastructure norms that all schools need to fulfill. However, it says nothing about what we expect children to learn in schools. As it stands, the RTE is more a right to “schooling” rather than “learning”. All the evidence on learning outcomes indicates that children are far below grade competency. Further, not only are learning outcomes not improving, there is some evidence that there has been a decline in the last two years. Given India’s diversity, there is wide variation across states, though. The case of UP, is particularly interesting, given its size and the large variations in the state itself. Progress of UP is important, not just for the state itself but also for the country as a whole.