Fish Farming Livelihood Opportunities

By Amarendra Kumar

There is saying that “practice makes a man perfect.” I realized the truth in this when I got a chance to observe and understand fish farming. The person we met with runs a very successful fish farm despite not having any background in fisheries.

His name is V. H. Ahmad Mohideen. He studied economics in Madurai, and then received a diploma in marketing from Mumbai, and took his first job as an executive manager in Saudi Arabia. He has now returned to his home because of the peaceful environment here.

Budget Watch and Dialogue, 2011-12

Today, development practitioners, bankers, scholars, media professionals, and the public gathered to watch a live telecast of the 2011-12 Union Budget and engage in a reflective discussion on the development perspective of the budget. The event, organized by Tata-Dhan Academy, is the fifth annual event of its kind. It serves three purposes: educating participants about the budget, analysing the budget and offering suggestions, and disseminating the outcomes of the discussion so it can benefit a larger audience.

Drought and the Nation

Nature has endowed us with various resources but not everybody has equal control over them. Despite an inequitable distribution, all natural resources are important for humanity. Some resources have greater importance because they are either scarce or they lack substitutes; scarcity and a lack of substitutes make these resources expensive and sometimes out of the reach of the poor. Among all such resources, water has a great importance for all categories of people, whether rich or poor. Though water is abundantly available on our planet, access to safe water for drinking and sufficient water for various livelihoods is not ensured. Indian villages, most of which are substantially dependent on agriculture, suffer huge losses due to irregularity of monsoons and the worst: droughts.

An Organised Push into Poverty

Big Bazaar has become the popular Indian face of organised retail. It is a place where we can get all the necessary household commodities under one roof. When I first heard about the inauguration of Big Bazaar in my home­town, Kanpur, I was glad. Only recently did I realise its consequences on small shopkeepers. The outlets of organised retails display modern technology, fashion, and commodities, and are the centres of attraction for youth, children, and women. They also offer discounts on heavy purchases even on branded items—a concept somewhat new in Indian markets. Now, a homemaker prefers to purchase from organised retailers rather than from the local shopkeepers. While they offer appreciable services to the consumers, have they snatched the livelihoods of middle-class entrepreneurs?

Every Human Can Contribute

Our planet has always been beautiful. The real beauty of our planet comes from life–plants and animals. The planet takes care of all living creatures by itself. The plants are the producers of food, the animals are the consumers, and the cycle goes round. With this natural cycle of consumption and production, everything is peaceful because the elements in this system are organised by nature, which accommodates the needs of every creature. In the past two centuries, human civilization has manipulated the elements of this system. This has been possible with the help of new technology, which promises efficiency and optimum usage of resources. Unfortunately, this has happened at the expense of nature, which has continually been ignored without caring for the needs of our future generations.

Indian Widows: A struggle for survival

By Ravi Raj

On 05 February, 2011, after a long gap, we resumed the flim-club activities with the screening of “India Widows’, a short documentary that presents the condition in India for widows, particlarly elderly widows. The documentary depicted the situation for women in India where, often, after the death of a husband, the widowed wife is not accepted by society, but instead, is treated like a sin. Many times, even the woman’s children will neglect her, often throwing their mother out of the house. The widows are seen as a liability and an extra expense burden that the children do not want to take on.

Microfinance: An inspiration for stakeholders for the development of the country

By Shanti Gupta

Before the first session of Microfinance for Poverty Reduction (MFPR)—a one-credit course in the second term of the Programme in Development Management—the students were all given a packet containing 70 pages of reading for the first session. I though to myslef, What does our faculty want us to do? How is it possible to read so much material?

Just then, Mrs. A Umarani came to meet with the students. With a beautiful smile she asked, “Have you all got the MFPR materials?”
Looking at the materials, I replied, “This is for one session? Or two sessions? Or three sessions?”

She smiled again and said, “No, no! This is only for one session. And, come prepared! There will be a small quiz.”

A visit to Lohanipur Slum

Amarendra Kumar (PDM 11) visited Lohanipur Slum during his first fieldwork and had the following video to share:

Jai Hind, Jai Bharat: Is a salute enough for development?

By Shanti Gupta

For the past five years, I have been thinking that the way I’ve always celebrated Republic Day is insufficient. In my college and in many formal and informal institutions, the “traditional” way of celebrating Republic Day has become simply gathering in a common place, saluting the flag, talking about our great leaders for a couple of minutes, and at last having some sweets; but, is this enough? I thought about it, and felt that “Oh, I’m a student. So, my responsibility is to study and respect my parents. These are my duties.” In this way, I satisfied myself. But this satisfaction was short-term. Another national festival would come every August, and again, subconsciously, I used to ask myself what I could do for the country’s development. I felt that I had the potential to serve under-represented members of society, but to do so, I would need a platform to enhance my knowledge and skill on how to develop the country.

Towards a new life

By Shanti Gupta

I have now spent four months with Tata-Dhan Academy. During this time, I got a number of opportunities to learn new things in formal classes as well as in “informal” classes. This is the first time I learned a new way of study. The curriculum of the Academy has given me many opportunities to learn from every second that I am spending here.