Graam Policy Scan
Volume - 1 / Issue - 2 / July 2020
Lead Story
NATIONAL LEVEL WEBINAR ON ‘SOCIAL STOCK EXCHANGE
A webinar titled “Can Social Stock Exchange (SSE) play a role in India’s Development? – A Global Perspective” was held on 25th July 2020. About 900 participants including government officials, international agencies, academic institutions, civil society organizations, media houses and professionals across the country attended the webinar on a virtual platform and it was also live streamed on social media platforms.
Grassroots Initiative
GRAAM’s " Sugamya Shiksha” – Enabling Access to Learning amidst Pandemic"
We are all passing through a very tough and unpredictable phase in our life. COVID-19 has brought a massive challenge in all aspects. Especially to the school going children. The Schools are shut since March 2020, leading to a great loss of learning. The children advised to stay away from casual interaction & games in groups or among their friends and classmates. Children are restricted only to home and the online classes and classes on television. This is posing a great challenge to the children to adopt to such a drastic change. A large section of the society still cannot afford to buy good quality smartphone or laptop which is a necessity for the online educational system. In view of this and keeping in mind of social and psychological aspects of the children.
Research at GRAAM
GRAAM has been awarded with Research study to Assess the Health and Wellness Centres across the nation by NHSRC
In August 2020, GRAAM was successfully awarded a research project by the National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC) on the assessment of Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) set up under Ayushman Bharat.
The Government of India aims to set up 1.5 lakh HWCs by 2022 based on the Comprehensive Primary Health Care (CPHC) paradigm. The research study awarded by NHSRC is aimed at an assessment of the ground level implementation processes involved in the roll-out of HWCs in eight states of India viz. Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Manipur. The study encompasses input, process and output dimensions and also intends to examine the alignment of the performance of HWCs with the expectations of key stakeholders such as the community.
Impact of COVID-19 on Education: Research studies conducted by GRAAM on “Reopening of schools” & “Parikshavani Program by GOK.”
On the backdrop of COVID-19, the Government has adopted stringent lockdown measures and strict societal norms. This has disrupted the process of teaching and learning in the schools and the students and teachers across the country are facing unprecedented situations. To understand the issues at the grassroots levels, GRAAM undertook two exploratory research studies to inform the government, civil society organizations, and major stakeholders of public education about the success and impediments of the measures being adopted by the Department of Education on teaching and learning related…
Policy Engagement
Education Minister of Karnataka Interacts with GRAAM’s Executive Director on imparting education during COVID Pandemic
Honourable Education Minister of Karnataka Shri Suresh Kumar has called a virtual meeting convened on August 28, 2020. Minister invited experts from the NGOs working in the education sector across the state to seek their opinion on disseminating quality education for all during the pandemic beyond reopening the schools.
GRAAM’s Executive Director was invited to present GRAAM’s views on imparting education during COVID 19. During the meeting Dr Basavaraju R presented GRAAM’s recommendations on how to continue teaching and learning as a continue process during COVID crisis.
GRAAM Publication
GRAAM’s Hand book on “Managing the schools during the pandemic”
COVID- 19 has disrupted the entire education sector. All educational activities have been halted and a record number of students are not attending the schools because of the closure of school premises mandated by the government due to the pandemic. However, one or the other day schools have to be reopened and then it will reminisce its glory.
But the worst fear of pandemic among the teachers, parents and students will be lost long. What are those precautionary measures a school should adopt to welcome the students If once government shows a green signal.
Book Launch “Leadership Lessons for Daily Living"
Dr. R Balasubramaniam (Balu) is a widely respected development activist, leadership trainer, thinker and writer. He is the Founder of SVYM & GRAAM. Dr. Balu’s seventh book “LEADERSHIP LESSONS FOR DAILY LIVING” was released on 18th September 2020 in a virtual event in the presence of distinguished guests Mr Pramath Raj Sinha, Founder and Chairman for Harappa Education, Founder and Trustee for Ashoka University and Dr R S Praveen Kumar, IPS, Secretary for Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society.
ILSS (India Leaderships for social change) is a co-publisher of this book along with the GRAAM. Well-known academicians, social sector leaders, writers and development practitioners attended the book release ceremony in the virtual platform.
Events by Graamers
Events attended by GRAAMers
Talks delivered by GRAAM chairman Dr R Balasubramaniam
Lecture delivered on “Social Stock Exchange: Why and how it is relevant in Indian Context?” in Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow on 8th September 2020.
Talk delivered about “Exercising Leadership to create a new economic order” in Indian Institute of Management, Tiruchirappalli on 6th September 2020.
Lecture delivered on “Policy Leadership” hosted by National Law School of India University, Bengaluru on 15th September.
Projects Partnerships
GRAAM’S MOU with CFTRI – Adopting technology in building sustainable rural livelihoods
CSIR-CFTRI (Central Food Technological Research Institute) and GRAAM (Grassroots Research and Advocacy Movement) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 20th August 2020. It was a remarkable day for GRAAM to gear up its rural livelihood initiatives to a cutting-edge. Through this partnership, GRAAM will enable the technology which will result in developing sustainable livelihood models in rural areas. The technical expertise of CFTRI and the philanthropic experience of GRAAM will together create a new lesson in community development. The memorandum was sign
Ongoing Projects at GRAAM – a Glance
Exploring the blind spots of Maternal Healthcare expenditures among BPL families
According to WHO’s Global Health Expenditure Database, “Out-of-Pocket-Expenditure (OOPE)” for health issues in India is the highest in the world. The nature of expenditure on maternal health care is not an exception to it and it can be observed even among the BPL families. Thus, in order to examine the magnitude and dimensions of OOPE at macro and micro household level, GRAAM took up a state level study on `Evaluation Study of Out of Pocket Expenditure incurred for maternal health care by BPL women in Karnataka in Public health facilities, under department of health and Family welfare through
Empowering Women through Social business - Enabling rural livelihood during pandemic
COVID 19 has not only brought a health crisis but has also triggered an unfolding economic crisis. Huge migration from the urban areas resulted in declining livelihood opportunities for the poor and the marginalized. All these factors intensified the livelihood vulnerability in the rural households.
In view of empowering the marginalized communities and addressing the rural distress, GRAAM initiated a social business to empower rural women and support a sustainable livelihood in rural Mysuru.
As the key stakeholders of this social business, women will produce millet-based value-added products under this project.
Academic Engagements
GRAAM’s Online Certificate Program on “Public Policy” Concludes recently on a virtual program”
GRAAM & QCI signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) last year to build capacity of young professionals at QCI on public policy. The third batch of online certificates on the program “Introduction to public policy” was held between 29th September to 6th of October, 2020. The workshop concluded recently on a virtual valedictory program.
The chief guest of the program was Dr.Devendra Singh, Head of academics and associate professor at Dr.Ambedkar International Centre, under the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, spoke about the challenges faced by our nation due to pandemic…
Webinars at GRAAM – Bridging communities and Policy makers
Can the Social Stock Exchange (SSE) play a role in India’s Development? – A Global Perspective.
This webinar presents the concept of Social Stock Exchange and discusses the relevance of Social Stock Exchange at present scenario. Introduction to the model of social enterprises and SSE in a global perspective are the other major aspects of the talk.
Follow the below link to know more about SSE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a14EIGniGIY