What’s on your Mind – Kiphire!!

What’s on your Mind – Kiphire!!

Every morning as I switch on my phone, I have Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook staring at me with the question – What’s on your mind!! As we bid good bye to 2017 and heralded 2018 – when most of my friends and family wished a Happy New Year for me and my family – my mind was more occupied with Kiphire – one of the remotest districts in the extreme North East of India. Kiphire is around 2500 kms from New Delhi and it takes almost 18 hours to reach the district from Delhi with the fastest mode of transport – a combination of a 4.5 hour flight to Dimapur and another 13.5 hours of tiring road journey on the hill roads.

               Towards the end of 2017, I got a call from the young Deputy Commissioner of Kiphire with the news that his district has been identified as one of the most backward 115 districts of the country which have been chosen for a special focus by the Prime Minister for Transforming India. He also informed me that he has been invited to participate in a Conference in New Delhi on 4^th and 5^th January where the District Collectors (Deputy Commissioners) of the 115 most backward districts will be making presentations before a panel chaired by none other than our Prime Minister. He asked for my suggestions on the theme that he should chose for Kiphire – from amongst Education, Health, Nutrition, Agriculture, Water Resources, Financial Inclusion, Skill development and Basic Infrastructure. We discussed the various development indicators for the district and the Deputy Commissioner was preparing for his big Day with the PM. However, this was in the last week of 2017.

               Come 2018 and a different kind of crisis awaited the DC and the district of Kiphire. A potentially explosive law and order situation over nomenclature of a village and we had a situation where the focus shifted from development to maintenance of basic law and order. Social Media these days is a willing medium to be misused for spreading all kinds of rumours that can disrupt normal life. So a decision had to be taken – much to the chagrin to champions of free speech – to restrict Internet services in the district. Meetings were held with all stakeholders to avoid any loss to life and property. With great effort, the situation has been brought to control and normalcy prevails as of now. But at what cost? The Deputy Commissioner could not attend the Conference which was addressed by Hon’ble Prime Minister. The Prime Minister exhorted the young District Collectors – referred to them as Change Agents – who can together transform the Backward Districts to be Aspirational Districts. Identifying the aspirations of the people of these districts and taking steps to meet those aspirations can help not only transform these districts but the entire State. The Deputy Commissioners – the Change Agents – who have the opportunity to work in these Aspirational Districts are fortunate to get an opportunity to do something meaningful – that can bring about real change. The Prime Minister called upon the young officers to strive hard to change the negative psyche and mindset of pessimism into that of optimism in these districts.

Given this context, we need to go beyond the dispute and the acrimony of the past week – look for ways and means to resolve our differences and work together – hand in hand – to help improve the development indicators of Kiphire. The literacy rate of the district is 69.54% against 79.55% for the State. The Sex Ratio of the District – 956 is better than that of the State – 931. But the sex ratio of children below the age of 6 is only 948 and that’s a trend that needs to be reversed. Poor infrastructure facilities in the districts results in a situation where we don’t have sufficient teachers in schools and colleges, doctors in hospitals are missing and people suffer as a result. Bad roads and lack of proper infrastructure is one of the biggest bottlenecks in the district. Coverage of Banks is limited and Financial Inclusion is a major challenge. With the relatively young population, Skill Development can be a major focus area to help the youth find jobs. The Prime Minister has given a target of 3 months to work out a plan and move ahead – this will be challenging and what we need is to get all like minded people – specially the youth – who are aspirational to come forward and give suggestions that can help transform Kiphire. If we can do this, there is an opportunity to make Kiphire the role model for the Nation. And this would ensure that Kiphire will be on the minds of people across the country, next year – for a totally different reason. Lets do it.

Abhishek Singh

(Views are personal)

A Day with Teach for India

A Day with Teach for India

I was delighted when my friend Tarun asked me if I would like to volunteer for teaching a class in a MCD school in Delhi as part of the Teach For India week that is being observed from 27^th to 31^st Jan 2014. Teach for India is a project of Teach to Lead, a not for profit organization,  launched in 2008, with a mission to create leaders to make education more equitable.

Teach for India selects college graduates and young professionals as TFI professionals who commit to teach full time in selected under staffed teachers. Presently Teach for India has more than 700 fellows across Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai. Delhi has around 180 fellows and I had the opportunity to talk to this group regarding the work that I do earlier this month.

Today, as part of the Teach for India week, I was taken to Nigam Pratibha Primary School in Tughlaqabad Extension. The school has a nice building with huge compound with around 1200 students and 22 teachers. However, the complex is running 5 schools presently as some of the nearby school buildings are under renovation. Two schools with almost 2200 children were running when I was there. Other schools function in afternoon shift.

Well, I was taken to the class that is run by Hemant Bhalla, who is a Teaching Fellow for almost a year and plans to write Civil Services Examination. Night before, I has thought that I will be talking to the Grade 3 students in Hindi and was mentally preparing myself for the same. This class had almost 35 girl students and I was surprised to observe that all of them greeted me in English, very enthusiastically.  Hemant also had given the structure of my class on the Blackboard, all in English and it helped me to structure my thoughts and go along.

I was impressed by the awareness levels and the questions put up to me. Two girls asked me about how one can become a Cardiologist! A few others wanted to know of the ways to become Engineers, Doctors, Teachers, IAS officers, Police officers, Scientists and more. 8-9 year olds asking such questions was really interesting. I was flummoxed when a girl asked me as to what I wanted to become when I was a 8 year old. I remembered my days when a Pilots profession appeared too fascinating to me, and told her about that. Next question was then why did I join IAS and not chase my dream!!

However, what really made me speechless when I was asked by a girl as to why do Boys use bad words with girls? She then asked me as to why is it that Boys have more power? I explained to them about how girls today are at forefront in all professions. She was quick to ask me, what if a boy hits them? I told her to hit back and not to take things lying down.

Seems a workshop against sexual abuse was conducted by some local police officers, a few days back, in the school.  The girls were advised not to accept chocolates or gifts from strangers. A girl asks me, why should we not accept such things? I told them it is not safe. Next question was what if someone known to them gives them something? Given the fact that most cases of abuse are by people known to kids, I told them that they should tell their parents or teachers about it. Secondly, one should never accept something which is not earned. Another girl asks me, Why do people try to lure them? I had no answers.

It’s such a sorry state of affairs when 8 year olds have to be told against this menace that exists in our society? Whom do we blame? Our social structures, films or the way we bring up our boys?

Anyways, the questions continued and I explained to them about various arms of the Government and how it functions. I also told them one of my favourite stories – that of the Rabbit and Turtle – albeit the extended version. The kids seemed to enjoy the story. I ended my talk with lessons that one can earn from a humble pencil. We could have continued longer, but I was told that it was time for the mid-day meal.

Overall, it was a very satisfying experience. It changed my perception of MCD Schools. The schools have good infrastructure and the quality of education being imparted is decent. The children are from poor backgrounds but are no less compared to any public school kid. The questions about abuse and the problems girl students face made me see the underbelly of our society. It’s sad and shocking. However, the saving grace was that the girls are not shy to ask questions and generally appeared to be alert and aware. It was obvious that the Teach for India fellows have made a mark.

A truly satisfying and enriching day.