It was a session well-spent for a batch of American students and their teachers at a rural local body near Chennai.
As part of their ‘Study Abroad programme,’ 18 students and two teachers from the University of Florida visited Mudichur village panchayat near Tambaram and interacted with members of women self-help groups (SHGs). Prior to their visit to the village panchayat, the delegation spent a day at the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD) at Sriperumbudur, attending seminars on ‘mainstreaming youth in local governance’ and ‘role of NGOs’.
The students and their teachers had hands-on experience in community development in rural areas involving women groups. Participants led by Muthuswamy Kumaran from Family Youth and Community of the university, said the visit was an attempt to pick up some lessons in community participation, and involvement of government and elected representatives in improving the quality of life of people.
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Head of Faculty, School of Governance and Public Policy from RGNIYD, K. Gireesan said the participants posed many questions on community development in India and they had couple of sessions on leadership development and powers of the village panchayat. Mudichur panchayat president, P. Damodaran explained the concept of women SHGs, its advantages and also certain disadvantages while implementing innovative projects.