Colleges of Assam asked to work with village clusters
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: All Government and provincialized colleges of Assam will soon have to develop linkage with a cluster of villages in order to identify development challenges and evolve appropriate solutions for accelerating sustainable growth of the rural population concerned. According to a letter sent by Assam's Education Minister Ranoj Pegu to all principals concerned, this initiative has been taken under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) of the Union Ministry of Education (MOE), which seeks to promote the Gandhian vision of self-sufficiency.
The Minister said that the mission envisages transformation of the rural development process by utilizing institutions of higher education to work with people of rural areas of the State. The colleges will have to provide knowledge and recommend practices for meeting the development needs of the chosen villages. Pegu further stated in the letter that it would be preferable for each college to select a cluster of five villages. He stated that the role of the colleges concerned would involve promoting the required Science and Technology interventions for improvising and expediting developmental efforts in the selected villages.
According to the Minister, the UBA programme will provide financial support of Rs 10,000 per village for assistance pertaining to creation of awareness, Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP) study, assessment and contingency expenditure. Further, he said, there is a provision of grant of Rs one lakh for technological intervention/solution and Rs 50,000 for the customization of technological solutions under the programme.
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