My endeavor has been to unite all the sections of the village so that they all work together and help each other for achieving 100% literacy for their village. One of the objectives of every Sunday's program was primarily intended for the same. But in spite of inviting the youth associations the presence of youth has never been felt. Even, the district collector during his visit last Sunday pointed that youth was missing.
In order to motivate the youth I was planning to invite some popular film star and have been in touch with a veteran and well respected Telugu film maker for some time. He had already spoken to a star earlier but because of Collector's planned visit I requested him to wait. Now that the collector's visit was over I was planning for the film star's visit. But I have been told that there could be a festival in the coming days and hence it may not be a good idea to invite any film personality. There was no confirmation, yet.
I visited the village again on Wednesday, 27 July, and checked with the village leaders. They promised to sit together the next day and would let me know by afternoon, the same day. The next day when I called Sarpanch he told me that "Bonalu", the festival, was cancelled for this year and I could go ahead with my program. I immediately called the film maker and requested him to arrange for a poplar figure to visit the village on coming Sunday, 31 July. He responded positively and promised to arrange somebody.
The next day, when contacted, Sarpanch told me that some people opposed the festival cancellation plan and they had to again declare the festival celebrations for the coming Sunday and Monday.
It was very embarrassing for me to again contact the film maker and ask him to stop arranging one. But, I had no choice. Called him and requested him not to arrange anyone. He understood the problem and accepted my request.
We can only let go the things which are beyond our control!!
Friday, July 29, 2016
Pushing the envelope
No choice but to take leave:
My frustration was fast catching up. Not because the learning progress was too slow. But, because of the laid back attitude of most of the stake holders despite the fact that we hardly had time. No one was interested to know the facts and figures of the project and its progress like, where we are, how we are progressing etc. All were dreaming that it would happen automatically. I was left with no choice, but to take leave from my work and rush to village and try to push all the stake holders.
Visit to Adult Education department:
On Wednesday, 27 July, I dashed to Adult Education department at Nampally, first. Met Mr.Srinivas Babu and after a long wait met the Dy. Director Mr.Ramdas Naik also. Requested them to look for any Mandal coordinator who could visit the village on daily basis and push the project. They discussed among themselves a few names but felt none were suitable. Later, along with Mr.Srinivas Babu set to visit the village.
Visit to village:
We raeched around 5 pm and the Sakshar Bharat office was in dark, like the current project situation :), as the power was disconnected by the Electricity authorities. I did some analysis of the progress of learners and found that 23 learners were lagging behind by a very big gap compared to others. As there was no power in the Sakshar Bharat office my system's battery was getting drained out. Hence took a snap of the 23 names and whatsapped to Sarpanch.
In the morning itself requested the Sarpanch and Meenakshi to arrange for a meeting with all the Ward members. Slowly people started coming. There were 5 ward members, Sarpanch, Meenakshi and Jyoti. I also called Chandra Sekhar and Jagan who have been with Sakshar Bharat and I was requesting them to help the project for some time. We also called youth association president.
With all the people we had a detailed discussion. Firstly, I made it amply clear that the documents handed over to ward members by the Collector were to make sure that each of the Ward members has to visit the learning center on daily basis and update the document with the learner's progress and their attendance. I had told them that these documents needed to be given to Collector on weekly basis, either by me or by the ward members themselves.
With this strategy I expected the ward members to work for their respective wards with more responsibility and to ensure that all their respective learners would be made to learn with minimum absenteeism.
Tried to motivate Chandra Sekhar, very experienced in this field, to work seriously and help in achieving our goals. Told him that he was the need of the hour and with him around we were sure of making the project a success. He appeared interested and assured us to start his work from the next day. Earlier also he promised. Hope this time he kept his promise. I whatsapped the 23 members details to him also. Likewise, requested Jagan, employee at Gram Panchayat's office, to help. He also agreed. But, I doubted if he would really help.
Requested the youth president to invite all the youth of his association for the Sunday programs and asked him not to sulk for not being invited earlier. It was surprising that the Sunday programs were primarily meant to invite youth and the people still feel that they were not invited.
Also discussed to involve School teachers, Anganwadi people etc.
Cine Star's visit plan:
Discussed about the next Sunday's program. I was planning to invite a Cine Star in order to attract the youth. But, the leaders said there could be a festival in village, called Bonalu, on coming Sunday. They were to meet the next day and finalize the festival date. Based on that, requested me to plan accordingly.
I did not know how fruit full my visit was but I was happy that at least I was able to buy fresh vegetables, which was a rarity in cities, at cheaper price in the village.
:)
My frustration was fast catching up. Not because the learning progress was too slow. But, because of the laid back attitude of most of the stake holders despite the fact that we hardly had time. No one was interested to know the facts and figures of the project and its progress like, where we are, how we are progressing etc. All were dreaming that it would happen automatically. I was left with no choice, but to take leave from my work and rush to village and try to push all the stake holders.
Visit to Adult Education department:
On Wednesday, 27 July, I dashed to Adult Education department at Nampally, first. Met Mr.Srinivas Babu and after a long wait met the Dy. Director Mr.Ramdas Naik also. Requested them to look for any Mandal coordinator who could visit the village on daily basis and push the project. They discussed among themselves a few names but felt none were suitable. Later, along with Mr.Srinivas Babu set to visit the village.
Visit to village:
We raeched around 5 pm and the Sakshar Bharat office was in dark, like the current project situation :), as the power was disconnected by the Electricity authorities. I did some analysis of the progress of learners and found that 23 learners were lagging behind by a very big gap compared to others. As there was no power in the Sakshar Bharat office my system's battery was getting drained out. Hence took a snap of the 23 names and whatsapped to Sarpanch.
In the morning itself requested the Sarpanch and Meenakshi to arrange for a meeting with all the Ward members. Slowly people started coming. There were 5 ward members, Sarpanch, Meenakshi and Jyoti. I also called Chandra Sekhar and Jagan who have been with Sakshar Bharat and I was requesting them to help the project for some time. We also called youth association president.
With all the people we had a detailed discussion. Firstly, I made it amply clear that the documents handed over to ward members by the Collector were to make sure that each of the Ward members has to visit the learning center on daily basis and update the document with the learner's progress and their attendance. I had told them that these documents needed to be given to Collector on weekly basis, either by me or by the ward members themselves.
With this strategy I expected the ward members to work for their respective wards with more responsibility and to ensure that all their respective learners would be made to learn with minimum absenteeism.
Tried to motivate Chandra Sekhar, very experienced in this field, to work seriously and help in achieving our goals. Told him that he was the need of the hour and with him around we were sure of making the project a success. He appeared interested and assured us to start his work from the next day. Earlier also he promised. Hope this time he kept his promise. I whatsapped the 23 members details to him also. Likewise, requested Jagan, employee at Gram Panchayat's office, to help. He also agreed. But, I doubted if he would really help.
Requested the youth president to invite all the youth of his association for the Sunday programs and asked him not to sulk for not being invited earlier. It was surprising that the Sunday programs were primarily meant to invite youth and the people still feel that they were not invited.
Also discussed to involve School teachers, Anganwadi people etc.
Cine Star's visit plan:
Discussed about the next Sunday's program. I was planning to invite a Cine Star in order to attract the youth. But, the leaders said there could be a festival in village, called Bonalu, on coming Sunday. They were to meet the next day and finalize the festival date. Based on that, requested me to plan accordingly.
I did not know how fruit full my visit was but I was happy that at least I was able to buy fresh vegetables, which was a rarity in cities, at cheaper price in the village.
:)
Monday, July 25, 2016
100% Literacy Project - Pressure mounting
With collector's visit to the village and all the fanfare on every Sunday, all are thinking that the 100% literacy is just a stone throws away. Surprisingly, some people, who were never seen, even started taking the credit for its success. But, no body knows that we are way too far to even come close to the success mark.
There are, literally, 26 days left for the examination and all the 263 adult learners will have to complete the learning of the two prescribed books before August 21 so that they become exam ready.
There are several challenges, like a few below, which might deprive the village of 100% literacy tag by August 21. These are other than the health problems, rain, power cuts, differences of opinions and lack of coordination among village leaders etc.
1. No time - Many people do not have time as they leave early in the morning and come back only in the night
2. Late beginners - Many started learning very lately. Some started just a few days back
3. Absenteeism - Too many absentees still
4. Second Book - Many are still in the first book learning process only
5. No Ground level leaders - There are no smart leaders on ground level who could analyze the progress on daily basis, identify the challenges and provide appropriate solutions etc.
6. Lack of fire - With little time left some people still display laid back attitude and have no sense of urgency
7. Local leaders - Just a couple of ward members are working and the rest do not care
There are just two village coordinators who are working and trying to monitor from Sakshar Bharat, the organization responsible for the adult literacy programs. They are not sufficient to monitor 263 adult learners and 50 odd volunteers.
Then, what is the way forward?
Option 1:
I need to be there in the village for all the 26 days to drive each and every person and make them toil while addressing the problems of those who hardly have time etc.
Option 2:
Each of the ward members should take responsibility of their wards and drive the way I am trying to drive. They need to have fire and zeal to take this forward.
Option 3:
The village Sakshar Bharat volunteers need to be more smart and more efficient in discharging their duties. My observation is that they work very hard, they don't make analysis of the progress in a systematic way.
Option 4:
The Sakshar Bharat department must station a couple of officers at the village level to monitor the program. The Deputy Director, when requested for this tried his bit but could not help.
Option 1 is not possible. At least I am planning to be available in the village in the last week before the exam. So, just trying to control and monitor over phone which is not as effective as being on the ground. Option 2 may not be fully exercised as many Ward members are too old and have any hold on anything. But still tried to make them accountable in the presence of the District Collector.
Option 3 I have been trying for some time. Attitudes are very difficult to change. Hopefully, by the end of the program they would become more smart in dealing with things.
Option 4 is the only thing which is almost impossible.
Need to see how the things would shape with time. Will the village attain 100% literacy? Will the efforts of the volunteers, the two Sakshar Bharat village coordinators go in vain? Will the additional expenses incurred by the Sarpanch in arranging the weekly programs go in vain? Let's wait and see.
There are, literally, 26 days left for the examination and all the 263 adult learners will have to complete the learning of the two prescribed books before August 21 so that they become exam ready.
There are several challenges, like a few below, which might deprive the village of 100% literacy tag by August 21. These are other than the health problems, rain, power cuts, differences of opinions and lack of coordination among village leaders etc.
1. No time - Many people do not have time as they leave early in the morning and come back only in the night
2. Late beginners - Many started learning very lately. Some started just a few days back
3. Absenteeism - Too many absentees still
4. Second Book - Many are still in the first book learning process only
5. No Ground level leaders - There are no smart leaders on ground level who could analyze the progress on daily basis, identify the challenges and provide appropriate solutions etc.
6. Lack of fire - With little time left some people still display laid back attitude and have no sense of urgency
7. Local leaders - Just a couple of ward members are working and the rest do not care
There are just two village coordinators who are working and trying to monitor from Sakshar Bharat, the organization responsible for the adult literacy programs. They are not sufficient to monitor 263 adult learners and 50 odd volunteers.
Then, what is the way forward?
Option 1:
I need to be there in the village for all the 26 days to drive each and every person and make them toil while addressing the problems of those who hardly have time etc.
Option 2:
Each of the ward members should take responsibility of their wards and drive the way I am trying to drive. They need to have fire and zeal to take this forward.
Option 3:
The village Sakshar Bharat volunteers need to be more smart and more efficient in discharging their duties. My observation is that they work very hard, they don't make analysis of the progress in a systematic way.
Option 4:
The Sakshar Bharat department must station a couple of officers at the village level to monitor the program. The Deputy Director, when requested for this tried his bit but could not help.
Option 1 is not possible. At least I am planning to be available in the village in the last week before the exam. So, just trying to control and monitor over phone which is not as effective as being on the ground. Option 2 may not be fully exercised as many Ward members are too old and have any hold on anything. But still tried to make them accountable in the presence of the District Collector.
Option 3 I have been trying for some time. Attitudes are very difficult to change. Hopefully, by the end of the program they would become more smart in dealing with things.
Option 4 is the only thing which is almost impossible.
Need to see how the things would shape with time. Will the village attain 100% literacy? Will the efforts of the volunteers, the two Sakshar Bharat village coordinators go in vain? Will the additional expenses incurred by the Sarpanch in arranging the weekly programs go in vain? Let's wait and see.
Sunday, July 24 - Collector and MLA's visit
Laptop suddenly unearthed - Courtesy Collector's visit:
Saturday, 23 July, a day before District Collector's planned visit, I visited the village and had a discussion with Meenakshi and Jyoti, Sakshar Bharat's village coordinators. For the first time they started keying the attendance and progress of the Adult learners in the system. Though the excel with volunteers and adult learners was ready long back, may be a over one and half months back, now a computer was found for them, thanks to Collector's planned visit. When I strictly told all that Collector would be interested to see the progress in the system, their minds started working and they found a small laptop within the Gram Panchayat, apparently lying idle for a long, long time. Till date I was being assured that the Desktop systems which were not in working condition would be repaired. Had these people arranged for this computer long back, the progress of the literacy program would be been much, much better.
I reviewed the updates in the excel and after talking to Mr.Srinivas Babu, Supervisor, Adult Education, over phone, finalized the list of adult learner's to 263. I needed this to show to Collector and also wanted the prints of the following to be handed over to each of the Ward Members by collector so that they are made accountable for the adult learners attendance and progress.
1. Progress Sheet of adult literates
2. Attendance sheets
Collector's confirmation:
On Sunday Morning at around 8.30 am I called Mr.Ranghunandan, IAS, over phone to confirm his visit to the village. He confirmed to visit the village by 7 pm, though my requested time was 7.30 pm :) Informed all the concerned about collector's visit.
Print outs for Ward Members:
Again this Sunday, I had to cancel my regular session with the volunteers as there was a small function at home. While all my siblings and their families arrived at my house, I had to leave for the village in the afternoon. Spent some time on system, before starting, and modified the excel sheets which had the adult literates attendance and progress so that the right info is printed in few pages. En route to village I stopped at an Internet center and took print outs of learners current progress sheets (8 pages) and their attendance sheets (10 pages), 11 copies of each as there were 10 Ward Members and one for Sakshar Bharat office. I spent almost one hour there.
Arrangements for Collector's visit
While I was entering the village road I saw Sarpanch, coming from the city, rushing towards village at around 4 pm. Earlier, in the Morning he mentioned to me that he was planning to give a bouquet and shawl to Collector. I told him that I was also thinking of bouquet and it was a good idea. I was happy as I need not buy it now. I did not comment on shawl part as I did not know the importance of it on this occasion.
Once I entered the Sakshar Bharat office I found a few girls practicing songs. They were of the opinion that as they were given a chance during the previous Sunday's program, this time too they would be asked to perform. But, I doubted if they would get any chance. I asked Meenakshi, Sakshar Bharat village volunteer to prepare the list of adult learners who completed their first book so that we could request Collector to hand over the second book along with a gift (steel plate). She was happy and told me that she would prepare one.
Sarpanch called me outside to discuss about the arrangements. He left the option to me whether a stage needs to be arranged, and if yes where. I had to give the Collector some presentation and it was a challenge to have a screen in the visible range from the stage. Some how set up both the stage and the projectors, though distant apart. I also learnt from him that he was planning for Harita Haram (planting trees) with the collector and MLA.
From 5 pm I observed a few cars arriving one after the other and various officials started coming in. After some time even the MLA, Mr.Kala Yadaiah arrived. I felt his arrival as a bumper offer. I met him a few days back and invited to the village. Though he mentioned that this Sunday he would visit, but I was not sure. Apparently, Sarpanch invited him for this event.
Meanwhile, Mr.Srinivas Babu spoke to me over phone and again mentioned about the learning centers arrangements for the Collector to visit. Previous Sunday also it was arranged and Mrs.Pamela was happy to see the centers. Hence, I told him to go ahead, even though I was not happy forcing people to set up, as already we have updated everybody that learning centers were only seen on week days.
Collector's arrival:
Upon Collector's arrival he was greeted by the MLA and all the other officials along with Sarpanch. I felt amongst the people surrounding him, he was looking for me. I made my way though the people and greeted him. Srapanch pulled out a Shawl and Collector was surprised. He said it would be better if this was done on the Dias. Sarpanch was in dilemma. He already raised the shawl to a height and, apparently he did not want to withdraw. The Collector gave his nod and the Sarpanch happily put a shawl on his shoulder. I was expecting a bouquet to be given to Collector, but to my surprise, I found him giving a tall plant. :)
Sarpanch also repeated this act of shawl and plant to the MLA. The same act was repeated by a few other people.
Just in time somebody told me that Harita Haram plan was cancelled as it was too dark, otherwise I would have misguided or messed up in answering Collector's question. He asked me what was the plan. Now, I could confidently tell him that we would be visiting learning centers.
Visiting Learning centers
We set out to see the learning centers. En route he was checking if I knew the MLA. I told him that I met the MLA the same day I met him, at Joint Collector's office. He also inquired about how I got involved in this project etc. We reached the first learning center, It was in front of a house. I introduced Collector to all the adult learners. The Collector immediately advised me, in a low voice, that I should always introduce MLA first. :) I introduced MLA also. There were around 8 adult learners seated in a semi circle. They were now surrounded by tens of officials and others with the noise of photo clicks and flashes. Collector and MLA started checking them. They asked them what they were reading and writing. Some people answered and some people could not.
We proceeded to the second learning center. I expected this center to be a saving face as the previous one was not up to the mark. There were around 12 adult learner's seated in a circle. Here the MLA and Collector pierced the circle and sat along with them and started inquiring. A few people were able to write and read properly and a few were not able to write or read.
I really felt embarrassed. The same people were happily writing and reading in front of Mrs.Pamela, IAS, just a week ago and now they were too afraid to write or read anything. Possible reason could be the fear of Collector and MLA and the tens of people surrounding them with the continuous photo clicks and flashes. Both the Collector and MLA chatted with them for a few minutes and also inquired like why were they studying, what are the advantages of studying, are their husbands allowing etc. Collector also checked "Muggulu" with alphabets in front of a house.
Later I checked with Collector, if he would like to visit the next center and he said we should proceed to the venue straight. Explained him on the way how it was going on and the next plan was to meet the Ward Members in the gram Panchayat's office. Once we reached Gram Panchayat, Sarpanch asked me not to plan that as it would lead to unnecessary discussions. Collector then mentioned that it might not work that way and said, 'lets talk at the venue only with all'. Do I have an option :D.
The Speeches
Mr.Srinivas Babu, as usual, wielded the mike and started inviting the chief guests, starting with the MLA, followed by Collector, Sarpanch, Dy.Director of Adult Education and many other officials. Probably the last invitation was for me and my colleague from IBM, Sunanda, and we run the programs on every Sunday :)
After Dy.Director's small speech I was invited to talk. I held the sheets which I wss planning to be given to ward members by the collector. I turned to Collector and told him that the volunteers are very young village girls and they were gems. Also, appreciated the adult learners. Reminded the villagers that the time is very less and we all needed to work more harder and so on. I mentioned about working smartly and forgot to explain about the smartness plan.
After a couple of more speeches MLA Mr.Yadaiah spoke. He spoke about the adult education and also about the achievements of his party and his leader and so on as expected.
The Collector spoke very well and appreciated the volunteers and the adult learners. He encouraged the villagers not to stop learning and should develop the capability to read newspapers and learn more about the happenings in the society and so on. He pointed out that the volunteers were mainly girls and the boys also need to come forward. With the assurance of providing all the support he concluded his speech.
Communication woes:
While speeches were on I went to the Sakshar Bharat village volunteer for the list of adult learners who were to be given gifts, I was surprised by her answer. She told me that she (or they) decided not to give. I asked her when was decision taken and why was it not informed to me. I just asked her to get the gifts and provide me the list. This was actually a big problem in the village. We were not going hand in hand. We talk something and later plan something else without intimation. There was a big communication problem. And I was really worried about the communication problem.
My second speech
Immediately after Collector's speech I requested Mr.Srinivas Babu to give me the mike once again. Dy Director commented, in lighter vein, saying I was not satisfied with my earlier speech and I wanted to talk more. Mr.Srinivas Babu also commented saying I will not be satisfied even if I stay in the village the whole night :)
I referred a point from Collector's speech, boys not in volunteers list, and told all that I have been requesting youth associations to come to the Sunday programs so that we could ask them to help us in driving the 100% literacy program. I have told all that the volunteers alone are not enough and the entire village has to work together. Whatever problems and hurdles we have we could solve and proceed. If people were working from morning to night, we could still find a solution. If all do their work efficiently we would definitely achieve our objective. In this regard I told them that we will also need to work smartly. The Sakshar Bharat village volunteers would use a Computer for tracking the progress from now on-wards. For the Ward Members, I told a few were running around just like that and from now on they would carry the List of Adult learners sheets which would have the list of volunteers and adult learners with progress and attendance updating options. I requested Mr.Srinivas Babu to call each Ward Member one by one over mike. I then requested the Collector to distribute the adult learners information sheets to Ward Members which he did happily. One of the primary objectives of inviting the Collector was met by this. The objective was to make each Ward Member accountable for the progress of the adult learners in their respective wards. And this, according to me, was very crucial for the success of the literacy program.
Then I requested Collector to hand over the second book to all those adults who had completed learning the first book and also requested MLA to give away gifts (steel plates) to these adults. While Mr.Srinivas Babu read out names the adults came on to the Dias and collected the book from Collector and the gift from MLA.
I concluded my speech by saying that with such big people visiting our village the pressure was more on us to perform. And drawing an analogy with diamond told them that with pressure diamonds are created.
Leaders
When the program concluded I requested the collector for a snap with all the volunteers and he obliged. After the snap when I asked the volunteers, 'who are you?' they all shouted, 'volunteers'. Again when I asked 'who are you?' they all shouted, 'Leaders!!'
Hope, the collector left the village satisfied.
Saturday, 23 July, a day before District Collector's planned visit, I visited the village and had a discussion with Meenakshi and Jyoti, Sakshar Bharat's village coordinators. For the first time they started keying the attendance and progress of the Adult learners in the system. Though the excel with volunteers and adult learners was ready long back, may be a over one and half months back, now a computer was found for them, thanks to Collector's planned visit. When I strictly told all that Collector would be interested to see the progress in the system, their minds started working and they found a small laptop within the Gram Panchayat, apparently lying idle for a long, long time. Till date I was being assured that the Desktop systems which were not in working condition would be repaired. Had these people arranged for this computer long back, the progress of the literacy program would be been much, much better.
I reviewed the updates in the excel and after talking to Mr.Srinivas Babu, Supervisor, Adult Education, over phone, finalized the list of adult learner's to 263. I needed this to show to Collector and also wanted the prints of the following to be handed over to each of the Ward Members by collector so that they are made accountable for the adult learners attendance and progress.
1. Progress Sheet of adult literates
2. Attendance sheets
Collector's confirmation:
On Sunday Morning at around 8.30 am I called Mr.Ranghunandan, IAS, over phone to confirm his visit to the village. He confirmed to visit the village by 7 pm, though my requested time was 7.30 pm :) Informed all the concerned about collector's visit.
Print outs for Ward Members:
Again this Sunday, I had to cancel my regular session with the volunteers as there was a small function at home. While all my siblings and their families arrived at my house, I had to leave for the village in the afternoon. Spent some time on system, before starting, and modified the excel sheets which had the adult literates attendance and progress so that the right info is printed in few pages. En route to village I stopped at an Internet center and took print outs of learners current progress sheets (8 pages) and their attendance sheets (10 pages), 11 copies of each as there were 10 Ward Members and one for Sakshar Bharat office. I spent almost one hour there.
Arrangements for Collector's visit
While I was entering the village road I saw Sarpanch, coming from the city, rushing towards village at around 4 pm. Earlier, in the Morning he mentioned to me that he was planning to give a bouquet and shawl to Collector. I told him that I was also thinking of bouquet and it was a good idea. I was happy as I need not buy it now. I did not comment on shawl part as I did not know the importance of it on this occasion.
Once I entered the Sakshar Bharat office I found a few girls practicing songs. They were of the opinion that as they were given a chance during the previous Sunday's program, this time too they would be asked to perform. But, I doubted if they would get any chance. I asked Meenakshi, Sakshar Bharat village volunteer to prepare the list of adult learners who completed their first book so that we could request Collector to hand over the second book along with a gift (steel plate). She was happy and told me that she would prepare one.
Sarpanch called me outside to discuss about the arrangements. He left the option to me whether a stage needs to be arranged, and if yes where. I had to give the Collector some presentation and it was a challenge to have a screen in the visible range from the stage. Some how set up both the stage and the projectors, though distant apart. I also learnt from him that he was planning for Harita Haram (planting trees) with the collector and MLA.
From 5 pm I observed a few cars arriving one after the other and various officials started coming in. After some time even the MLA, Mr.Kala Yadaiah arrived. I felt his arrival as a bumper offer. I met him a few days back and invited to the village. Though he mentioned that this Sunday he would visit, but I was not sure. Apparently, Sarpanch invited him for this event.
Meanwhile, Mr.Srinivas Babu spoke to me over phone and again mentioned about the learning centers arrangements for the Collector to visit. Previous Sunday also it was arranged and Mrs.Pamela was happy to see the centers. Hence, I told him to go ahead, even though I was not happy forcing people to set up, as already we have updated everybody that learning centers were only seen on week days.
Collector's arrival:
Upon Collector's arrival he was greeted by the MLA and all the other officials along with Sarpanch. I felt amongst the people surrounding him, he was looking for me. I made my way though the people and greeted him. Srapanch pulled out a Shawl and Collector was surprised. He said it would be better if this was done on the Dias. Sarpanch was in dilemma. He already raised the shawl to a height and, apparently he did not want to withdraw. The Collector gave his nod and the Sarpanch happily put a shawl on his shoulder. I was expecting a bouquet to be given to Collector, but to my surprise, I found him giving a tall plant. :)
Sarpanch also repeated this act of shawl and plant to the MLA. The same act was repeated by a few other people.
Just in time somebody told me that Harita Haram plan was cancelled as it was too dark, otherwise I would have misguided or messed up in answering Collector's question. He asked me what was the plan. Now, I could confidently tell him that we would be visiting learning centers.
Visiting Learning centers
We set out to see the learning centers. En route he was checking if I knew the MLA. I told him that I met the MLA the same day I met him, at Joint Collector's office. He also inquired about how I got involved in this project etc. We reached the first learning center, It was in front of a house. I introduced Collector to all the adult learners. The Collector immediately advised me, in a low voice, that I should always introduce MLA first. :) I introduced MLA also. There were around 8 adult learners seated in a semi circle. They were now surrounded by tens of officials and others with the noise of photo clicks and flashes. Collector and MLA started checking them. They asked them what they were reading and writing. Some people answered and some people could not.
We proceeded to the second learning center. I expected this center to be a saving face as the previous one was not up to the mark. There were around 12 adult learner's seated in a circle. Here the MLA and Collector pierced the circle and sat along with them and started inquiring. A few people were able to write and read properly and a few were not able to write or read.
I really felt embarrassed. The same people were happily writing and reading in front of Mrs.Pamela, IAS, just a week ago and now they were too afraid to write or read anything. Possible reason could be the fear of Collector and MLA and the tens of people surrounding them with the continuous photo clicks and flashes. Both the Collector and MLA chatted with them for a few minutes and also inquired like why were they studying, what are the advantages of studying, are their husbands allowing etc. Collector also checked "Muggulu" with alphabets in front of a house.
Later I checked with Collector, if he would like to visit the next center and he said we should proceed to the venue straight. Explained him on the way how it was going on and the next plan was to meet the Ward Members in the gram Panchayat's office. Once we reached Gram Panchayat, Sarpanch asked me not to plan that as it would lead to unnecessary discussions. Collector then mentioned that it might not work that way and said, 'lets talk at the venue only with all'. Do I have an option :D.
The Speeches
Mr.Srinivas Babu, as usual, wielded the mike and started inviting the chief guests, starting with the MLA, followed by Collector, Sarpanch, Dy.Director of Adult Education and many other officials. Probably the last invitation was for me and my colleague from IBM, Sunanda, and we run the programs on every Sunday :)
After Dy.Director's small speech I was invited to talk. I held the sheets which I wss planning to be given to ward members by the collector. I turned to Collector and told him that the volunteers are very young village girls and they were gems. Also, appreciated the adult learners. Reminded the villagers that the time is very less and we all needed to work more harder and so on. I mentioned about working smartly and forgot to explain about the smartness plan.
After a couple of more speeches MLA Mr.Yadaiah spoke. He spoke about the adult education and also about the achievements of his party and his leader and so on as expected.
The Collector spoke very well and appreciated the volunteers and the adult learners. He encouraged the villagers not to stop learning and should develop the capability to read newspapers and learn more about the happenings in the society and so on. He pointed out that the volunteers were mainly girls and the boys also need to come forward. With the assurance of providing all the support he concluded his speech.
Communication woes:
While speeches were on I went to the Sakshar Bharat village volunteer for the list of adult learners who were to be given gifts, I was surprised by her answer. She told me that she (or they) decided not to give. I asked her when was decision taken and why was it not informed to me. I just asked her to get the gifts and provide me the list. This was actually a big problem in the village. We were not going hand in hand. We talk something and later plan something else without intimation. There was a big communication problem. And I was really worried about the communication problem.
My second speech
Immediately after Collector's speech I requested Mr.Srinivas Babu to give me the mike once again. Dy Director commented, in lighter vein, saying I was not satisfied with my earlier speech and I wanted to talk more. Mr.Srinivas Babu also commented saying I will not be satisfied even if I stay in the village the whole night :)
I referred a point from Collector's speech, boys not in volunteers list, and told all that I have been requesting youth associations to come to the Sunday programs so that we could ask them to help us in driving the 100% literacy program. I have told all that the volunteers alone are not enough and the entire village has to work together. Whatever problems and hurdles we have we could solve and proceed. If people were working from morning to night, we could still find a solution. If all do their work efficiently we would definitely achieve our objective. In this regard I told them that we will also need to work smartly. The Sakshar Bharat village volunteers would use a Computer for tracking the progress from now on-wards. For the Ward Members, I told a few were running around just like that and from now on they would carry the List of Adult learners sheets which would have the list of volunteers and adult learners with progress and attendance updating options. I requested Mr.Srinivas Babu to call each Ward Member one by one over mike. I then requested the Collector to distribute the adult learners information sheets to Ward Members which he did happily. One of the primary objectives of inviting the Collector was met by this. The objective was to make each Ward Member accountable for the progress of the adult learners in their respective wards. And this, according to me, was very crucial for the success of the literacy program.
Then I requested Collector to hand over the second book to all those adults who had completed learning the first book and also requested MLA to give away gifts (steel plates) to these adults. While Mr.Srinivas Babu read out names the adults came on to the Dias and collected the book from Collector and the gift from MLA.
I concluded my speech by saying that with such big people visiting our village the pressure was more on us to perform. And drawing an analogy with diamond told them that with pressure diamonds are created.
Leaders
When the program concluded I requested the collector for a snap with all the volunteers and he obliged. After the snap when I asked the volunteers, 'who are you?' they all shouted, 'volunteers'. Again when I asked 'who are you?' they all shouted, 'Leaders!!'
Hope, the collector left the village satisfied.
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Collector - will he visit tomorrow?
Ever since I met Mr.Raghunandan, IAS, Collector Ranga Reddy District, on 16th of this month I was in touch with him for his visit to the village, Bakaram Jagir, in connection with 100% literacy mission. He had indicated to me that on 23 July, Saturday, evening he would be there around 7 pm.
But, today morning I got a message that because of his health problem it had to be postponed to tomorrow, that is on 24 July, Sunday. I am banking on his visit heavily for various reasons. I wanted him to appreciate the volunteers, motivate Adult learners, talk firmly to the Ward members to focus on this project till it is completed and also tell the Sakshar Bharat (Adult Education dept) to do their job efficiently, a few are really working hard.
The major problem here is lack of urgency among people. The exam date is on August 21 and there is hardly any time, with so much work to be done. Ward members have to be on toes. We cannot afford a laid back attitude. In order to make this program successful the entire village and the Adult Education department has to be aggressive and focused.
With Collector's visit I am expecting the project to move at jet speed.
But, today morning I got a message that because of his health problem it had to be postponed to tomorrow, that is on 24 July, Sunday. I am banking on his visit heavily for various reasons. I wanted him to appreciate the volunteers, motivate Adult learners, talk firmly to the Ward members to focus on this project till it is completed and also tell the Sakshar Bharat (Adult Education dept) to do their job efficiently, a few are really working hard.
The major problem here is lack of urgency among people. The exam date is on August 21 and there is hardly any time, with so much work to be done. Ward members have to be on toes. We cannot afford a laid back attitude. In order to make this program successful the entire village and the Adult Education department has to be aggressive and focused.
With Collector's visit I am expecting the project to move at jet speed.
One Adult Learner expired
This week has been very bad for the village Bakaram Jagir where the 100% literacy program is running. One of the learners who was a cancer patient expired in this week. May her soul rest in peace. Her son is a volunteer who teaches other Adult Learners also. I am told he is shattered. May God give him strength to come out of grief soon. Planning to meet him tomorrow.
There is another Adult who had a brain surgery recently. We were planning to remove her name also as she was also not in a position to learn anything. Along with these two names we also removed three more names who are not in a position to be taught. So, the total count of Adult Learners came down to 263.
There is another Adult who had a brain surgery recently. We were planning to remove her name also as she was also not in a position to learn anything. Along with these two names we also removed three more names who are not in a position to be taught. So, the total count of Adult Learners came down to 263.
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
July 17, Sunday's Program - Asst. Collector's visit
My blunders:
Generally, on every Sunday I visit the village at 11 am, sharp, and have a session with volunteers where in I talk, discuss and teach things to keep them motivated. Motivation is like fire, unless you keep supplying fuel it dies down. Hence this Sunday session was also very essential as it would serve as fuel and keep them motivated, like the burning fire, for the entire upcoming week. But, this Sunday I had to cancel the 11 am session because of some personal work and postpone the session with volunteers to 3 pm. This was my first blunder.
I started from my residence in time to reach the village by 3 pm but after covering considerable distance I remembered that I did not pick up Projector from residence. This was a second blunder and surely this was going to spoil the session with the volunteers.
During last Sunday's program Sunanda, my colleague at work who attended the last Sunday's program, suggested me to keep the projector with myself and hence it was with me. The projector belonged to her. I had to rush back, collect and proceed again. By the time I reached it was around 4 pm. Not many volunteers were present by that time. Hence no session. :( I asked them to start listing down the names of the illiterates who were to be given gifts in the evening program.
Mr.Srinivas Babu's proposal:
Meanwhile, Mr.Srinivas Babu, Supervisor from Adult Education, called me and proposed a plan. His plan was to show the Asst. Collector some learning centers and then will make her attend the program. I was against showing learning centers as on Sundays there won't be any centers because the illiterates assemble at Gram Panchayat's office for the evening program. I told him I had already communicated to her that learning centers were seen only on week days and on Sunday the villagers assemble for the program. I also indicated to him that it would look fake if we show centers on that day only for the sake of showing. Moreover the program would also be disturbed with the new addition, as I was planning for many interesting things. I could sense his unhappiness with my decision. Later, I called him and gave my consent to go ahead, so that he was not upset.
The arrangements:
Sarpanch came, asked for the requirements, instructed people to make arrangements for the evening program and left. Since the focus mainly was on the illiterates learning something, I requested the people to arrange the tables for the chief guests to a side. This would ensure that the illiterates would face the wall to which projector was to be focused and from the side table the guests could also watch the computer projections.
Asst. Collector's arrival and visiting of learning centers:
The Asst. Collector, Mrs.Pamela Satpathy, IAS, arrived along with Srinivas Babu, who picked her up en route. She was a very young and graceful lady. She enthusiastically visited the learning centers and upon seeing her the illiterates were eagerly handing over their slates and books to her so that she could see what they had written. The Collector appeared happy to check their writings. She tried to read their writings with difficulty and most of the time was successful in identifying the Telugu words. Some wrote their own names or their village's name, some even wrote the Collector's name, amusing her.
The commotion:
Later, we reached the gram panchayat's office where our regular Sunday programs were conducted. We asked her and Sarpanch to occupy the chairs behind the table and I started displaying some learning based video's. While the illiterates were watching it keenly we heard somebody shouting. He was a man and was drunk. He was shouting for a while and none were ready to go and stop him. He was raising a big ruckus and Sarpanch had to get up and try to stop him. But the man was not heeding and was further raising the voice. Sarpanch tried to push him away, but the man fell down. Then came a few people shouting on Sarpanch. Now there were two gangs jostling, shouting and there was a commotion. There were other male ward members who could have got up before Sarpanch but they were just watching the drunkard as if he was providing some comic entertainment.
Smart and bold girls:
The Volunteer girls asked me if they could go and stop them. I was really amused as there were men who could have stopped this nonsense in the beginning itself and here were a bunch of girls who wanted to try and stop the melee. The girls then advised me to stop the video so that they could start singing the song. I had asked one of the girls earlier to prepare to sing a song which she was singing one day, when I visited a learning center, for entertaining the illiterates while they were learning. The girl sang it very well, with the help of couple of girls as chorus. The song stopped and the commotion was also dying down. But one gentleman was shouting unnecessarily. Collector madam remarked that this guy is too fearless and she appeared little upset. But, she maintained her composure through out.
The Speeches:
Later Mr.Srinivas Babu addressed first and surprised everybody by taking just one Ward member's name when there were many ward members. He then handed the mike to me. As promised to the illiterates during my last Sunday's program, I had shown them one of the questioning pattern on screen explained how simple it was to answer. Then told them that we were left with just 33 days to go for exam. Also announced, as promised, that this time all the people who had attended the learning centers for all the 6 days in the week would be given a gift.
Mr. Srinivas Babu then requested the same ward member to talk. I clearly told him not to make this program formal and bore the villagers with speeches. He has his own way. The ward member, apparently belonged to a different party, is very much against Sarpanch. He spoke for a considerable time, that too the things which were not related to the subject. I could see the villagers getting bored. When the Sarpanch was asked to talk he was reluctant because of the ward member's speech content. When requested he had to speak certain things only to counter the ward member's points. Probably that was the reason he chose not to talk initially.
It was the turn of Madam Pamela, IAS. I think, she hesitated initially to talk as she was not well conversant in Telugu. But, when she spoke, she spoke with excitement, saying, "your village is very good" in Telugu. I wanted to translate her Hindi speech, as people there don't understand Hindi, but her flow was so smooth and she was talking with such enthusiasm I did not feel like interrupting. She told the people that some people create nuisance like this and we should not fear or care. She also told the people to listen to our heart and if our heart says what we want to do is right then we should definitely do it. She concluded her speech by promising that the next time she would speak in Telugu more fluently. As there was no time I decided to translate her Hindi speech and share it with all the people in the next Sunday's program.
Wrist Bands and Gifts
Mr.Srinivas Babu bought some wrist bands and wanted all to wear/tie it. The intent was that it could serve as an oath for accomplishing 100% literacy program. The idea was good. I hope he also understands that just by garlanding a cow, the cow does not yield more milk. One has to feed the cow with appropriate fodder and take care of it well. Likewise the project does not progress with bands alone, he or somebody with capabilities has to be available on ground to steer it forward. Mrs.Pamela was requested to tie the bands for a few people.
There were more than 100 gifts to be distributed to the illiterates who attended learning centers for all the 6 days of the week. Earlier I bought 25 steel plates only and wanted to have lucky draws with regularly attending illiterates and and pick 25 names only. Later, for a change decided to give gifts to all and took the help of Dr.K.V.Ramanachari for buying more plates. As the time was running out we decided to give gifts to only 5 people. Advised the volunteers to hand over the gifts personally to their respective illiterates.
We randomly picked a few names and Mrs. Pamela did the honors of handing over the gifts to the illiterates. The funny part here was certain people, whose contribution in the literacy project was almost nil, were found adjusting themselves for the photo session while Mrs.Pamela was distributing the gifts.
My worry continues:
I ended the program by saying that we all have roles and if we just perform as per our respective roles we would definitely see 100% success. But, I was 100% sure, it fell on deaf hears. I was directing this to Sakshar Bharat people, except Meenakshi, and the Ward Members, who appear whenever there was a chief guest or photo/video event. On other Sundays responsible people of the Sakshar Bharat and Ward members were hardly seen. But this day, their attendance was full. I wish their attendance would also be there on daily basis. Their attendance and keen interest is the main mantra for the project's success, as there was a lot of work to be done. I think the time has come for me to talk tough.
Every Sunday people were going back happy and probably I was the only one who was not happy. Nobody seems to be interested in facts and figures. The facts and figures were, in reality, terrible from the fast approaching examination day perspective. Two of the important objectives of my Sunday program were not met. They were to gather more than 80% of illiterates and also the village youth. The illiterates attending the program could be around 70 people out of 268. The youth is conspicuously absent in spite of inviting them. I am now wondering whether the program is successful or not, of course I would still conduct the program till August 21, the day of exam. Leaving aside the success part, the attending illiterates have to be really lauded and appreciated as many of them were coolies and have come to the program after a tiring long day of hard work, but still sat through the program which lasted till 9.30 pm or so.
Newspaper release - Surprise quotient:
The next day when some gentleman called me over phone and asked about the designation of Mrs.Pamela as the matter was being printed in newspaper, I clearly told him to select only the snap which also displays Meenakshi as she was the one who was leading the project on the ground making many sacrifices. The gentleman promised he would do it. When the paper came out Meenakshi was no where to be seen in the newspaper photo. But, that gentleman was there very much :) Ironically, the same gentleman very recently told me and Sarpanch that Meenakshi should be highlighted everywhere as she was doing wonderful job :)
Generally, on every Sunday I visit the village at 11 am, sharp, and have a session with volunteers where in I talk, discuss and teach things to keep them motivated. Motivation is like fire, unless you keep supplying fuel it dies down. Hence this Sunday session was also very essential as it would serve as fuel and keep them motivated, like the burning fire, for the entire upcoming week. But, this Sunday I had to cancel the 11 am session because of some personal work and postpone the session with volunteers to 3 pm. This was my first blunder.
I started from my residence in time to reach the village by 3 pm but after covering considerable distance I remembered that I did not pick up Projector from residence. This was a second blunder and surely this was going to spoil the session with the volunteers.
During last Sunday's program Sunanda, my colleague at work who attended the last Sunday's program, suggested me to keep the projector with myself and hence it was with me. The projector belonged to her. I had to rush back, collect and proceed again. By the time I reached it was around 4 pm. Not many volunteers were present by that time. Hence no session. :( I asked them to start listing down the names of the illiterates who were to be given gifts in the evening program.
Mr.Srinivas Babu's proposal:
Meanwhile, Mr.Srinivas Babu, Supervisor from Adult Education, called me and proposed a plan. His plan was to show the Asst. Collector some learning centers and then will make her attend the program. I was against showing learning centers as on Sundays there won't be any centers because the illiterates assemble at Gram Panchayat's office for the evening program. I told him I had already communicated to her that learning centers were seen only on week days and on Sunday the villagers assemble for the program. I also indicated to him that it would look fake if we show centers on that day only for the sake of showing. Moreover the program would also be disturbed with the new addition, as I was planning for many interesting things. I could sense his unhappiness with my decision. Later, I called him and gave my consent to go ahead, so that he was not upset.
The arrangements:
Sarpanch came, asked for the requirements, instructed people to make arrangements for the evening program and left. Since the focus mainly was on the illiterates learning something, I requested the people to arrange the tables for the chief guests to a side. This would ensure that the illiterates would face the wall to which projector was to be focused and from the side table the guests could also watch the computer projections.
Asst. Collector's arrival and visiting of learning centers:
The Asst. Collector, Mrs.Pamela Satpathy, IAS, arrived along with Srinivas Babu, who picked her up en route. She was a very young and graceful lady. She enthusiastically visited the learning centers and upon seeing her the illiterates were eagerly handing over their slates and books to her so that she could see what they had written. The Collector appeared happy to check their writings. She tried to read their writings with difficulty and most of the time was successful in identifying the Telugu words. Some wrote their own names or their village's name, some even wrote the Collector's name, amusing her.
The commotion:
Later, we reached the gram panchayat's office where our regular Sunday programs were conducted. We asked her and Sarpanch to occupy the chairs behind the table and I started displaying some learning based video's. While the illiterates were watching it keenly we heard somebody shouting. He was a man and was drunk. He was shouting for a while and none were ready to go and stop him. He was raising a big ruckus and Sarpanch had to get up and try to stop him. But the man was not heeding and was further raising the voice. Sarpanch tried to push him away, but the man fell down. Then came a few people shouting on Sarpanch. Now there were two gangs jostling, shouting and there was a commotion. There were other male ward members who could have got up before Sarpanch but they were just watching the drunkard as if he was providing some comic entertainment.
Smart and bold girls:
The Volunteer girls asked me if they could go and stop them. I was really amused as there were men who could have stopped this nonsense in the beginning itself and here were a bunch of girls who wanted to try and stop the melee. The girls then advised me to stop the video so that they could start singing the song. I had asked one of the girls earlier to prepare to sing a song which she was singing one day, when I visited a learning center, for entertaining the illiterates while they were learning. The girl sang it very well, with the help of couple of girls as chorus. The song stopped and the commotion was also dying down. But one gentleman was shouting unnecessarily. Collector madam remarked that this guy is too fearless and she appeared little upset. But, she maintained her composure through out.
The Speeches:
Later Mr.Srinivas Babu addressed first and surprised everybody by taking just one Ward member's name when there were many ward members. He then handed the mike to me. As promised to the illiterates during my last Sunday's program, I had shown them one of the questioning pattern on screen explained how simple it was to answer. Then told them that we were left with just 33 days to go for exam. Also announced, as promised, that this time all the people who had attended the learning centers for all the 6 days in the week would be given a gift.
Mr. Srinivas Babu then requested the same ward member to talk. I clearly told him not to make this program formal and bore the villagers with speeches. He has his own way. The ward member, apparently belonged to a different party, is very much against Sarpanch. He spoke for a considerable time, that too the things which were not related to the subject. I could see the villagers getting bored. When the Sarpanch was asked to talk he was reluctant because of the ward member's speech content. When requested he had to speak certain things only to counter the ward member's points. Probably that was the reason he chose not to talk initially.
It was the turn of Madam Pamela, IAS. I think, she hesitated initially to talk as she was not well conversant in Telugu. But, when she spoke, she spoke with excitement, saying, "your village is very good" in Telugu. I wanted to translate her Hindi speech, as people there don't understand Hindi, but her flow was so smooth and she was talking with such enthusiasm I did not feel like interrupting. She told the people that some people create nuisance like this and we should not fear or care. She also told the people to listen to our heart and if our heart says what we want to do is right then we should definitely do it. She concluded her speech by promising that the next time she would speak in Telugu more fluently. As there was no time I decided to translate her Hindi speech and share it with all the people in the next Sunday's program.
Wrist Bands and Gifts
Mr.Srinivas Babu bought some wrist bands and wanted all to wear/tie it. The intent was that it could serve as an oath for accomplishing 100% literacy program. The idea was good. I hope he also understands that just by garlanding a cow, the cow does not yield more milk. One has to feed the cow with appropriate fodder and take care of it well. Likewise the project does not progress with bands alone, he or somebody with capabilities has to be available on ground to steer it forward. Mrs.Pamela was requested to tie the bands for a few people.
There were more than 100 gifts to be distributed to the illiterates who attended learning centers for all the 6 days of the week. Earlier I bought 25 steel plates only and wanted to have lucky draws with regularly attending illiterates and and pick 25 names only. Later, for a change decided to give gifts to all and took the help of Dr.K.V.Ramanachari for buying more plates. As the time was running out we decided to give gifts to only 5 people. Advised the volunteers to hand over the gifts personally to their respective illiterates.
We randomly picked a few names and Mrs. Pamela did the honors of handing over the gifts to the illiterates. The funny part here was certain people, whose contribution in the literacy project was almost nil, were found adjusting themselves for the photo session while Mrs.Pamela was distributing the gifts.
My worry continues:
I ended the program by saying that we all have roles and if we just perform as per our respective roles we would definitely see 100% success. But, I was 100% sure, it fell on deaf hears. I was directing this to Sakshar Bharat people, except Meenakshi, and the Ward Members, who appear whenever there was a chief guest or photo/video event. On other Sundays responsible people of the Sakshar Bharat and Ward members were hardly seen. But this day, their attendance was full. I wish their attendance would also be there on daily basis. Their attendance and keen interest is the main mantra for the project's success, as there was a lot of work to be done. I think the time has come for me to talk tough.
Every Sunday people were going back happy and probably I was the only one who was not happy. Nobody seems to be interested in facts and figures. The facts and figures were, in reality, terrible from the fast approaching examination day perspective. Two of the important objectives of my Sunday program were not met. They were to gather more than 80% of illiterates and also the village youth. The illiterates attending the program could be around 70 people out of 268. The youth is conspicuously absent in spite of inviting them. I am now wondering whether the program is successful or not, of course I would still conduct the program till August 21, the day of exam. Leaving aside the success part, the attending illiterates have to be really lauded and appreciated as many of them were coolies and have come to the program after a tiring long day of hard work, but still sat through the program which lasted till 9.30 pm or so.
Newspaper release - Surprise quotient:
The next day when some gentleman called me over phone and asked about the designation of Mrs.Pamela as the matter was being printed in newspaper, I clearly told him to select only the snap which also displays Meenakshi as she was the one who was leading the project on the ground making many sacrifices. The gentleman promised he would do it. When the paper came out Meenakshi was no where to be seen in the newspaper photo. But, that gentleman was there very much :) Ironically, the same gentleman very recently told me and Sarpanch that Meenakshi should be highlighted everywhere as she was doing wonderful job :)
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