Dear friends,
Mass Education is working in West Bengal and other Eastern States of India covering 300 villages with the activities like child protections to provide basic education, health & sanitation, environment improvement through livelihood development training & support activities, empowering youths, women and net working formulation of people’s organization with the following objectives:
(a) To formulate integrated programmes for effective mobilisation of human and natural resources for empowering to the poor of urban and rural areas towards sustainable development
(b) To raise and create awareness and opportunities for providing basic human rights such as education, health, hygiene, nutrition, sanitation, water, infrastructure facilities, employment generation, waste management, social forestry, water management, capacity building and skill development training activities; ecological agriculture for food security in other words to ensure sustainable development.
(c) Coordination and execution of development plans, projects and human rights issues with other NGOs and GOs at various levels throughout West Bengal and India and International NGOs, Human Rights organisations.
Despite the difficulties and complexities of social issues, Mass Education took up the great challenge of fighting for poverty alleviation, democracy, equality and equity. Now looking back Mass Education has a success story to tell, the story of achievement of the poor and the weak. We hope it would be an inspiring reading for all who stand for human development if we list some of Mass Education’s key interventions.
Mass Education was formed in the year 1976 and officially it was registered in 1978. Since the need for poverty alleviation of the poor in India was strongly felt in the post-emergency situation. Several young people joined hands together to form organisation for development activities to eradicate poverty. Since then, Mass Education played a vital role to promote development education and enriched the poor for sustainable developmental work.
Mass Education is an effort to give collective voice to the experiences, achievements, sufferings, hardships and togetherness of poor. Mass Education acts as a platform, a net work and an association of people’s initiatives to provide opportunities to mobilise human and material resources so that the people themselves can build their own institution and able to sustain in order to alleviate their own poverty and security. Collectivity, transparency and sustainability are the motto of Mass Education ever since its inception and through collective democratic action it has been successfully demonstrated.
The year 2009-10 has been encouraging for all the units of Mass Education to continue the activities of the previous year and also that has taken up more effective programmes in the rural areas to provide safe drinking water, sanitary latrines, social forestry, ecological agriculture and rainwater harvest activities for sustainable economy.
‘Mass Education Training Institute’ at Kamalgazi, Garia, Mathurapur and Primary Teachers Training Institute at Patharpratima has been able to improve its training capacity and infrastructure facilities for community leaders, students, youth groups, women groups, community based organizations, NGOs, health workers & teachers.
Mass Education undertook a comprehensive education programme known as ‘Basic Education for all’ to provide functional Pre-primary, Primary, Higher Secondary, Adult Education, Skill training support & teaching aid & scholarship support to the urban & rural children, youth & adults. 15000 children are provided regular support.
Solid Waste Management activities of Mass Education, which is to improve urban environment, continues to grow, reaching more community, housing complexes, establishments and public places under Kolkata Municipal Corporation. Job opportunities for unemployed youths have been created & street children, rag pickers and children of sex workers are also rehabilitated.
To improve the Environment the organisation has also taken up more effective programmes in the rural areas to provide safe drinking water, sanitary latrines, social forestry, ecological agriculture and rainwater harvest activities for sustainable economy.
Relief, Rehabilitation and livelihood development work of Mass Education has done additional work to extend its activities in other States of India after Tsunami.
Mass Education has initiated a network of Small grass root level NGO’s in West Bengal. 1000 NGO’s are members of the “West Bengal Forum for NGOs” and Mass Education is also working committee member of VANI-New Delhi.
Mass Education works through a decentralized method of administration. At the Apex level, the Executive Committee is elected annually where the President, Secretary and Treasurer are elected. This Committee takes stock of the annual activities, evaluate the programmes launched and deliberate on the accounts placed and adopt the same. This Committee gives general direction for execution of programmes / taking up of need based programme.
The execution process is affected through Village Education Committees / Women’s organization in consultation with Field workers of ME who have necessary expertise and experience. Assets thus created at the village level belong to the community.
Mass Education raises funds locally and internally by collecting donations, grants, subscriptions and income generation activities. The community now mostly supports most of the community schools run by Mass Education. This has been possible due to advance planning and time bound execution of programme for sustainable. Cost like maintenance of the building, furniture, teaching materials and educational materials are supported by the organization apart from the community development programmes.
During this year, Mass Education has received fund from the Sunderban Development Board, Government of West Bengal as donation/grants for super cyclone Aila. Mass Education have received reimbursement of the cost incurred by Mass Education for construction and installation of low cost sanitary latrine slabs and installation from the District Authorities of South 24 Parganas, and also from Kolkata Municipal Corporation against the collection, disposal and sweeping of roads services provided under solid waste management activities.
Income also raised from agriculture, Ambulance services, Hospital, Old age Homes and Home for the children as rent and service charges as well as donation and grants. Beside that several foreign and national Donor Agencies, individuals and people of different community funded Mass Education. All foreign funds are received on request made against the appeal and project proposal based on livelihood improvement and sustainable development activities from the donor agencies.
All foreign funds received through Bank transfer through Mass Education’s single FCRA Account. Yearly returned are submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.1976. Income Tax (Trust Circle) under the Income Tax Act, 1961, Govt. of India and to the Registered of Societies under the Societies of Registration Act 1961, Govt. of West Bengal.
Our Bankers are : Deutsche Bank-Kolkata Branch, Allahabad Bank-Garia Branch-Kolkata, Allahabad Bank-Bishnupur Branch-South 24 Parganas, State Bank of India-Dakshin Barasat-South 24 Parganas, West Bengal State Co-operative Bank-Patharpratima Branch-South 24 Parganas.
All the work we could do because of financial and moral support from our donors, the activist of Mass Education and many individual donators from home and abroad.
We would like to offer our thanks to Members of Mass Education International, France Liberates, SME-France, George Fischer Foundation-Switzerland and SAHAY Children International-Kolkata.
We also offer our thanks to the Govt. of India, Govt. of West Bengal, Sundarbans Development Boards, Kolkata Municipal Corporation, West Bengal Board of Primary Education, Govt. of West Bengal and to all the political, social & cultural leaders, Panchayat members and government officials for their cooperation and special thanks to the members of the Executive Committee, Members of the Staff, SHG/VEC Leaders and all the well-wishers/individual donors for their sincere cooperation. We are also thankful to our distinguish guest, well-wishers and Patrons at all level without whose support we could not move.
We welcome suggestions/assistance from any quarter to improve our activities.
Remain,
Sincerely yours,
Sukumar Singh
Secretary
Mass Education