Education in the Himalayas

In 2014, efforts to build and maintain strategic roads in the areas along India’s border areas were ramped up. In the remote and hilly regions of the Himalayas, the roads are usually shut during the winter, and when open, the elements and the terrain often conspire to cut off access.

Most of the laborers who work on the roads are migrants from the plains. It is a matter of irony, then, that the children of those who work to improve and maintain connectivity to these remote regions have little or no access to education themselves. While most children are enrolled in the local schools, the itinerant nature of the workers’ lives leads to a large percentage of children dropping out of the schools altogether.

At Pragya, we believe that if you cannot reach the schools, then the schools must come to you. Mobile Education Units (MEUs), popularly known as ‘My School on Wheels’, are vans equipped with digital equipment, and specially designed material by the folks at Jodo Gyan.  These vans are working to improve basic literacy in these regions.

The strategy of our ‘My School on Wheels’ is multi – pronged: to operate a Basic Minimum Literacy program for children and adults, while encouraging the children to enroll in the local schools and minimizing the drop out rate. Simultaneously, Pragya is also in the process of promoting health and safety awareness among the migrant laborers. Members from Pragya act as facilitators between the employers and the laborers, conducting campaigns and holding awareness camps about basic health and safety standards. Two ‘My School on Wheels’ are already operational in Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh and Chamoli, Uttarakhand, serving a total of 12 migrant camps in both the districts. So far, 78 sessions have been conducted and 148 children have already enrolled in the program.

Solar Wind Hybrid - embracing renewables for rural energy solution

Pragya has set up its third ‎Solar ‎Wind Hybrid System (‎SWHS) in Shyaso village, Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh, as part of its efforts to enhance energy access in the Indian ‎Himalayas to improve quality of life in rural households. (View Photographs from the installation process) 

The jubilant Shyaso villagers inaugurated the facility in presence of the Block Development Officer. The combination of solar and wind ‎energy would ensure continual generation of power in this high altitude village - day-and-night, summer-or-winter.

The SWHS technology is ideal for stand alone systems for remote rural settlements. This innovation had won The Energy Globe Award (2005) for the pilot in the neighbouring district of Lahaul & Spiti, Himachal Pradesh.

View an update on IUCN quarterly newsletter. 

Addressing nutrition - the Pragya way...

Food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition continue to pose a major challenge for development, globally. The Himalayan belt, a particularly remote and backward region, where food production is constrained by the terrain and severe climatic conditions, and the problems are compounded due to weak infrastructure, displays the worst food insecurity and nutritional status, with maximum impacts on women. Pragya is addressing these concerns through three broad strategies: (i) Women’s nutri-gardens and Nutrition Watch: small agricultural initiatives for women to increase family food security and nutritional levels; (ii) Nutrient-dense montane farming: agricultural practices and technologies which address nutrient deficiencies; and (iii) Himalayan agri-production scale-up: agricultural improvements for improving land productivity and crop yields to enhance farm incomes.

In Kinnaur district in the western Himalayas, early detection of high iron deficiency (Hb 7.0) in a women’s group member, by the women’s care and ‘Hunger & Nutrition Watch’ processes, and appropriate and sustained dietary intake via growing of cabbage and spinach crops in Nutri-Gardens helped the woman farmer achieve acceptable Haemoglobin levels (Hb 11.0). Women's groups in Sikkim, Darjeeling as well have shown keen interest in managing their home gardens and poly-houses for year round production.