Asha for Education

Project Brief: Asha has set up a full-fledged centre called Asha Ashram for carrying out social change and development in Lalpur and surrounding villages of Hardoi district. A new Ashram at Bharawan will work as Public information and resource center.
Project Type: Non-Formal Educational Centers (description)
Primary Focus: creating resources (description)

Secondary Focus: remedial education

Area: Rural
Supporting Chapter Contact:
DC

Status: CLOSED - ENDED
Project Steward: Sirish Agarwal
Co-Steward: Sandeep Pandey
Project Partner(s): Neel Kamal
Project Address: Asha Trust - Asha Center - Lalpur
Lalpur Village
Post Atrauli
Uttar Pradesh
Tel: 0522-2347365, 9415022772. Do n
Stewarding Chapter: DC

The Asha Lalpur Ashram is a local community effort of asha parivar carrying out intervention through right to information (RTI), self-governance, non-formal education, vocational skills development, gender rights and women’s self-help groups.

Empowerment through right to information is the main focus of activities of Asha ashram lalpur and surrounding villages in Hardoi district.

Strategies in Right to Information Efforts:
· Mobilization and Empowerment of people whose lives are affected.
· Awareness campaign and training programmes related to people’s rights, laws, government policies, schemes.
· A powerful tool of ‘Janata Jaanch’ introduced involving people, questioning authorities.
· Direct action to reclaim money taken as bribe by officials.
· Systematic use of RTI, food for work scheme, etc.
· Constant dialogue and confrontation whenever required with District and State authorities.
· Focus on dalits, women and poor.
· Networking with other movements working on similar issues to get pro-people policies, laws made and raise issues at State and National level.

Impact
· People raising voice, prioritizing development needs, asking questions, demanding accountability.
· The movement has become self-perpetuating where people from many villages have joined hands to make it into a people’s movement.
· Slowly but steadily things are improving. Schemes, funds meant for people are reaching the needy.
· Vested interests, political powerful section and repressive ruling class were forced to take notice of the people’s voice.
· Government administration, after initial apathy, forced to take action and is now cooperating realizing that the movement is in effect strengthening democracy at the grassroots.
· Poor people are standing up for their rights moving in the direction of realizing their of a just, peaceful, secular and democratic society.

Asha Ashram provides free education to children and health facilities to the villagers. Asha parivar is developing its model of education based on a philosophy which essentially focuses on cultivation of values for a just human order and promotes skills which will help a person become self-reliant. To strengthen the right kind of values for happy and satisfying human relationships Asha is developing curriculum through teacher interactions and training camps.