taskgroupruraldevlp


	*Task Group*

	SADWI

	SECULARISM

	YOUTH ISSUE

	RURAL DEVELOPMENT

	ECOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT

	HRD


*Rural Development*

		Serving the Rural Masses

	Voluntary organizations of whatever background are necessarily restricted in their influence by resources and personnel. It can never aspire to take the place of government over too vast an area either in geographical terms or in terms of activities. In the past voluntary agencies have concerned themselves primarily with charity and relief operations and provided services of various types in the field of education, health care and economic development.


	Most of the NGOs have done a great deal of pioneering work in their respective fields and now such work has been taken over by the Governments. But still there is an enormous need for service in the rural areas. Many government programmes doesn't reach the people at the grass root level and the bureaucracy is a big stumbling block for them in getting the various welfare schemes.

In that way Voluntary organizations like YMCA continue to have more flexibility than government agencies and are in a better position to seek new ways and means of overcoming emerging problems in the rural areas. YMCA's efforts in addressing the needs of the rural people are continuing with its limited resources and personnel. The following are some of the programmes organized by the YMCA Rural development task group during the year.


	Children's day & sports meet

	The YMCA Rural centre organized a sports meet for the rural school children on 14-11-2006 (Tuesday) at YMCA Kumbalgodu on the occasion of children's day. Around 1000 children and teachers from 20 government schools in Kumbalgodu area participated in the various games and sports activities. Shri. M.P. Nadagouda, Member of the Legislative council & Floor Leader Janata Dal (U) inaugurated the sports meet. He called upon the children to enjoy the day as it is dedicated for them and advised them to work hard and do well in their studies. In the evening a cultural programme was organized followed by the prize distribution function.


	Ysm.K.V. Jose, Member of the Board, YMCA Bangalore was the chief guest and distributed prizes to the winners of various competitions. All the Children and teachers were provided with a free lunch and it was indeed a great day of celebration for the children. The Y's Men's Millennium club of Bangalore, sponsored the entire expenses of the programme which amounted to Rs.18,000.


	We thank Ysm.Tony Vincent and Ysm.K.V.Jose for their kind gesture. YMCA rural centre has been organizing the sports and cultural meet for the children in the rural areas for the last 36 years to provide opportunities and leadership to the rural children and youth.


		Medicinal plants Conservation & awareness programme


	Traditional Medical Practice is an integral part of our culture. Unfortunately India continues to favour western allopathic medicine as the system of choice. As a result there is scant primary health care in our rural areas. So a strong revival of the Indian system of medicine like Ayurvedic, Siddha and better investment in developing the medicinal plants is necessary. Therefore the YMCA Rural centre started this project few years back with the following objectives:

		To create awareness regarding medicinal plants in the rural and urban areas around Bangalore city.

		To promote conservation and use of medicinal plants for Primary Health Care in the urban and rural areas.


	To demonstrate that raising Medicinal Plants Nursery can become a viable income generation activity in the long run for entrepreneurs.


	The YMCA rural centre is continuing its programmes and activities to realize the above-mentioned objectives of the project. School children, campers and the public visit the nursery and the demonstration plot to learn about the usefulness of the medicinal plants and take part in the environmental conservation activities.


			International Women's day



			Computer Centre


Women's day was observed on 8^th March 2007 at the YMCA Rural Centre. Around 60 women from the YMCA self-help groups (SHGs) and the tailoring school participated in the programme. Smt. Varalakshmi, Educational officer, Central Labour education Board was the chief guest at the function.

	Annual Summer Camp

	Summer camp was conducted at the YMCA Rural Centre from 10^th April to 10^th May 2006. Around 40 rural children and youth actively participated in Spoken English, Computers & Karate classes. The participants were provided free T -shirts, Certificates & Camp Diaries.

		The Computer centre named after Sri. Jacob Devanuja, the former President of YMCA Bangalore is continue to serve the rural students in providing computer education. 20 Students completed the basic computer training during the year and have been awarded the certificates on 26^th January 2006. Now the DTP and CCA courses recognized by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) have been introduced at the centre in association with the computer academy at city YMCA.

		Vocational training center

		25 students completed 6 months tailoring training programme at the YMCA Vocational centre at Chinakur village near Kumbalgodu.

JAN SIKSHAN SANSTHAN (JSS) a nodal agency under the ministry of HRD supported this programme. Successful candidates were awarded certificates on 20^th March 2007 at the training centre. Mrs. Jayalakshmi the project officer at JSS participated in the programme.

Rev. Dr. K.C. Abraham is the Chairman and Mr. John Kennedy is the related secretary for Task Group on Rural Developments.


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	Young Men's Christian Association, Nrupathhunga Road, Bangalore � 560001, Karnataka � India. Ph: +91-080-22211848/22105159 Fax: +91-080-22240431 Email: ymca_bangalore@vsnl.com