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NEWS FROM THE COUNTRYSIDE
www.infochangeindia.org, Pune
A unique experiment to train young villagers in the art of news gathering and reporting is being tried out in Maharashtra. Huned Contractor reports.
At a training centre located at Kedgaon, a few kilometres before Ahmednagar on the Pune-Nagar road, 21 young men and women troop into a classroom at 10 am for yet another day of learning. Some of them are yet to rub the sleepiness out of their eyes. Some crib that they would have liked to have hot water for their baths. Some have been up early and indulged in a game of carrom. “Our next generation of journalists,” is how a resource person puts it.
Implausible though it may sound, the truth is that this first batch of youngsters drawn from various villages across Maharashtra will, after the end of a fortnight long workshop, take up the task of news reporting to be able to contribute to a publication called ‘Rural Chronicle’. It’s an innovative concept taken up by the Ahmednagar-based NGO Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) that has been working in the areas of water harvesting, women empowerment, education and entrepreneurship.
Explaining the idea behind training villagers to become the ‘ears and the eyes’ of their villages, Joseph Shinde, the coordinator of the workshop has this to say: “During our organisation’s work in rural development, we have realised that collective participation is very important. While dealing with the various issues, we touch many lives and there takes place a gradual process of transformation. But what happens is that these impacts are not taken note of in our march toward the next milestone. We therefore thought of compiling them and sharing the good experiences through our publication. Also, reportage of this kind can also help focus on the shortcomings that need to be addressed. Ideally then, the stories should come from those who are living in those villages because they know the situation best.”
The reporters, whose news reports will be translated from Marathi into English, will later find their work uploaded on the WOTR website too. In fact, Dr Marcella D’Souza, director of WOTR, wants to take it still further. “We might even train them in video news gathering,” she informs.
The mood among the participants is therefore understandably that of curiosity and excitement. “This is an opportunity for us to learn something new. It will also help create better interaction between the villagers,” says Sanjay Harpade of Chandvad taluka in Nashik. In his village Vad-Varadi, infrastructural facilities are at a bare minimum. The primary health centre is located 7 kilometres away while the weekly bazaar takes place at Manmad, which is at a distance of 12 kilometres.
Similar is the case with the village Pangra in Beed and Sampat Misal, who hails from here, elaborates on how they have to travel at least 25 kilometres to avail of any medical, educational or civic facility. Swapnil Bhilkar of Chincholi village in Wardha district has done his HSC and an electrician’s certificate course from the ITI. He also has a fair knowledge of computer operations and now hopes that all this can be utilised to report on such issues as water shortage during the summer season, condition of roads, unemployment and alcoholism that affect his village.
For these ‘rural journalists’ in the making, the motivating factor is not just the desire to see their names in print but to be able usher in change, and development. “We are here to understand how to go about collecting news, interview people, follow up with government agencies for information and understand the various policies and schemes that are meant for us so that we can do a proper job of not only disseminating information but also point out the lacunae that exist in the system,” says Sanjay Pathade, a participant who is currently studying for his degree in commerce and has also worked as a computer programming assistant.
Undoubtedly, they are also impressed with what they see on the television news channels. “Journalism calls for a lot of fearlessness, isn’t it?” asks Anil Gavande of Wadala village in Amravati district. Some of them, in fact, admit that they might even think of pursuing a full time career in the media. Will we have, in the near future, Dhongde Sindhu Nivrutti reporting live from Akole taluka on bird flu? Why not?
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