Cover Story: Reaching the Unreached
Intro: Pragya India has been working to address the needs of communities in remote areas in Himalayan ranges. It has also has set up a Solar – Wind Hybrid System (another first in the Himalayas) at the impossible height of 14,000 feets in
village Lossar.
In order bring development in the least developed regions, deliver services to isolated and underserved communities, and build their capacity to help themselves, Pragya was formed in 1995. It was initiated in the South. Currently it is operating in countries like India, Nepal, Sub-Saharan Africa, UK and USA.
The organisation was set up with a concern for last-mile communities who have been marginalised in the development process, and unique ecosystems (frequently the two converge) that suffer the destruction brought about by overuse of resources and inappropriate development. Its initial grassroots work was focused in the Himalayan region across India and Nepal. Today, it has reached out to remote regions and isolated communities in other continents.
In 1990, two management professionals set out on an exploration of the Indian Himalayas—from Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh) in the East to Leh (Kashmir) in the West. They saw the severe deprivation of the indigenous communities, the enormous and yet fast depleting natural wealth, the tremendously rich but eroding culture and traditional knowledge. They saw the conservation and development needs, and the neglect. In this situation vision of Pragya was born, which stands for the path to sustainable development through the application of modern technical and managerial knowledge to development issues and needs, blending it with the ancient wisdom of nature-based peoples.
Today Pragya facilitated community institutions have begun managing their natural and cultural heritage on sound professional lines. These include the Lahaul Amchi Society, Tawang Heritage Preservation Council, et al. Some of them are managing Culture Promotion Centres while others run Community Afforestation Drives, still others are carrying Policy Advocacy Programmes.
Farmers of the Himalayan region have established micro plantations of medicinal plants and are getting reaping revenues from harvests of Dactylorhiza hatagirea and Aconitum heterophyllum. The first Medplants Growers Cooperative in the Himalayas has been established by Pragya and is today a vibrant 400-member body actively promoting medicinal plants cultivation within Lahaul valley and its produce in faraway markets like Delhi.
Select dying crafts of the Himalayas are on the path of revival through effective product upgradation and diversification. In Spiti, for instance, womens’ groups have taken up the weaving of lingche—the beautifully embroidered stoles. The art of Thanam weaving in Lahaul and rari-weaving in Lachen are receiving focused impetus.
Pragya also has set up a Solar – Wind Hybrid System (another first in the Himalayas) at the impossible height of 14000 feet in village Lossar. The system provides electricity for several community facilities and some households, and ensures energy security for the Lossarites in bitter-40oC and frequently power-less winters. It has also aunched the concept of a Common Energy Facility for electrification of remote villages.
It seeks to address the needs of communities in remote areas of the East African highlands and the indigenous people of the arid savannah lands in the region. It also wants to address the problems of communities living in the highlands of western Kenya and in northern Tanzania. It aims to improve the livelihood of the communities of this region and also ensures proper management of natural resources and conservation of the natural and cultural heritage. —Bureau Report
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