Of the 121 crore strong population in India, a mere 37.7 crore reside in urban areas while the majority 83.3 crore stay in rural areas, according to a census report. That makes nearly 70% of the entire population of the country staying in rural areas.
While globalisation and some government policies have played a role in development, most of these areas are yet to be connected by technology and other amenities that we deem basic.
The Charkha not-for-profit established in 1994 aims to connect the issues of rural marginalised communities to Indian policymakers through the media. Since its founding, it has set up information centers in states to empower the rural communities, helped them take informed decisions, and has engaged with government officials to solve local issues.
Their vision includes scaling up, a greater use of technology, self-sustainability and generating their own funds to help take care of expenses – all with the purpose of enabling communities to take up responsibility for their own development.
Charkha is building a team of communicators in areas that are falling off the map in this country. The idea is to tell stories from remote corners, conflict zones that never get told in mainstream media. Charkha wants to shed light on the darker corners of this country from Ladakh to Chhattisgarh, thereby uniting India.
Charkha also conducts workshops with journalists to address various development issues through the use of print and digital media. They are looking to develop a web portal to carry success and development issues that would normally not be covered by the regular media.
Help them help these communities grow today!This then became a germ of an idea that led Ghose to establish Charkha in 1994, an NGO to connect issues of the rural marginalized communities to the policymakers through the media. His vision marked the beginnings of a concept that has since evolved and in common parlance today – Development Communication.