West Bengal : A change in School

Group of girls in West Bengal now have a school bathroom and they are proud to use that. They designed the bathroom so that now they don’t need to cross the teacher’s room each time which was so embarrassing they also installed mirrors to adjust their cloth before returning to class.

Local government enthusiastically helps in financing and maintenance of school. Parents also contribute and a children-led WASH committee is in charge of hygiene education and ensuring other children use the facilities appropriately. This child-friendly approach toward water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in schools is now being replicated by other district governments and promoted in national school development plans endorsed at the ministry level.

So this model suggests that development initiatives can succeed when organizations innovate and work together with local stakeholders. Organizations across the WASH sector are rethinking their role in catalyzing the delivery of water and sanitation services. The water and sanitation crisis is still enormous and much more work is required. Efforts to ensure lasting and affordable water and sanitation service delivery must progress and innovate to meet the extent of this challenge.

Growth in Bihar

Growth in Bihar

Bihar State was unfortunate to see the infrastructural development and law & order, at this level, before the era of Nitish Kumar. But, in the second phase of development, it is important to  create sustainable model of growth, without going in complacent mode. Nitish Kumar government needs to focus on addressing the concerns of small landholders, Promotion of contract farming by inviting contracting agencies, land reform and electronic mapping of land and distribution of land to the landless people. On the other hand, marketing of horticulture crops, such as litchi, mango, banana and guava at national and international level, accurate and reliable market information to all the stakeholders, especially farmers, regulation of marketing yards and mandis and to provide other key inputs for agriculture development. 

Establishment of Engineering, Medical and Management Colleges on public-private partnership (PPP) model will increase the investment and retain the flow of money paid by the students in the other states as fee and other emoluments. Development of software and ITES Park in Bihar will reduce the migration, create employment, so the purchasing power of the people in the upstream and downstream channel. This will create a multiplier effect which will augment the process of development paradigm in Bihar.

Flood management will mitigate the risk and vulnerabilities of people which will further prevent the loss of human and property every year. What is important for Nitish Kumar is to sustain the growth rate which will be more challenging in the coming years.