India – NGOs tie up with IIMA to help slum dwellers

Ahmedabad: The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) will help the people in the city’s slums to bring about a positive social change as well as make a living by producing videos on social issues. The initiative is being undertaken along with NGOs Saath, Navsarjan and Video Volunteers.

Under the programme, the NGOs are forming several Community Video Units (CVUs) by training slum dwellers in the city in video production so as to use videos as a means of social change and human rights advocacy. IIMA is now taking part in the effort to enable the CVUs and their video productions sustain themselves by adopting a sustainable model.

The CVUs produce short films which highlight social issues such as ration shops selling at hyped rates, health issues like chewing tobacco and smoking and others issues like education and domestic violence and so on. These short films are screened in various areas of the city to sensitize the people and help bring about a positive social change. Right now, the NGOs and IIMA have started working in Gupta Nagar, Juhapura and Vadej.

Talking about IIMA’s role in the initiative, IIMA faculty Ankur Sarin said, “It will be only through a sustainable fund and income generation that the CVUs will be able to continue with the initiative on their own. With a team of students of IIMA and the institute’s CIIE, we are trying to find such a sustainable model to source their income and enable them to pursue the initiative.”

IIMA has employed researchers and assigned its students for detailed study and research in the area. Sarin said, “We are also seeking to involve the private sector and the government in the sustainable functioning of the CVUs.”

Talking about the importance of the initiative, Saath’s director of urban programmes Chinmayi Desai said, “The mainstream media leaves out many issues of these marginalized people. Through the programme the people themselves will get an opportunity to highlight their own issues which they understand better than anyone else.”

She said, “We have around 10 CVUs and have made 14 such short films till now. We have identified 100 pockets in the city where these films could be screened. We try to come up with a short film every month and screen them in various places after which we take up follow-up action by informing them what to do to sort out these issues and whom to approach.”

Source – http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_ngos-tie-up-with-iima-to-help-slum-dwellers_1335389