Jyotirmoy Goswami,

04/09/2011

Date-

Associate Professor, Vivekananda Mahavidyalaya, Burdwan-713103, West Bengal. Ph-09474779844

To The Vice-chancellor, The Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla. Subject: - A proposal for National Integration through Socio-economic and Environmental entrepreneurship.
Honoured Sir, I would like to draw your kind attention to the striving we have been making for almost a decade for the implementation of the proposal mentioned above. Now I am glad to inform you that the manner by which we are proposing to perform socio-environmental activities are getting attraction from several quarters. In short, our proposal for one type of exploratory applied research is a sort of venture by the society itself, which aspires to do away with socio-environmental problems to a great extent. Perhaps, we all know that the civilization is heading towards a grim future. Almost 40% of arable land shall go off beyond the ambit of agriculture for environmental change and industrial and other activities within fifty years. The rate of food production is getting diminished day by day. On the other hand, within next fifty years another two hundred crore people will be added to the existing six billion. Therefore, it is obvious that environmental crisis will worsen the problem of food security and social equity. Keeping the petrifying problem in mind, we have started exploring effective methodology, at least to mitigate those problems. Nowadays, all over the world, poverty is being addressed to a great extent by forming Self-Help Groups (SHG). However, so far we have seen some of the limitations of this methodology. The persons who

have got the benefits of SHGs are marginally poor. Very poor people have got excluded from this movement. Moreover, though small scale businesses have been promoted to a notable extent, this methodology has hardly done anything in matters of natural production be it greenery, fishery or animal husbandry. Our Honourable Prime Minister has given a clarion call to initiate the Second Green Revolution. No doubt, the upcoming green revolution will mostly be based on natural farming and horticulture. The technology of natural farming is being sponsored and propagated by the central as well as state governments and various agencies and individuals. In spite of that this technology does not spread to the expected extent. The failure deserves adequate attention. Hence there comes the exploration of a contributory social technology that can help spreading technology of natural farming. In search of such a social technology we may form a forum called Self-Sustained Green Society or SSGS and carry out the activities what are urgently needed. The NSS of a university can extend their hands in forming such SSGSs for making the activity done. The SSGSs will be one kind of a co-operative which will be one kind of a creative co-operative. We may call it a club-cooperative. The goal of such co-operatives would be to minimise the environmental problem, to avert the agricultural crisis and to accelerate the self employment process among the rural masses simultaneously. The entire world is now agog with ideas and concepts of saving the earth from ecological bankruptcy and severe social upheaval. The extremism which has sprung forth from economic or religious standpoint has given birth to a fatal type of disharmony in our country. Social and economic disharmony can at least be mitigated through natural farming, which is a significant part of a wholesome pro-environmental activity. Natural farming does require diversity in agriculture. Diversity in agriculture requires an extra endeavour for protection, marketing and processing of the produce. If this endeavour is to be carried on by individually, it would be far fiercer than hardly be profitable for the marginal farmers whose number is exponentially increasing day by day. To fill up this gap we are proposing for exploring the possibilities of a new movement of sharecropping system taking the unused or underused land or water-body, which would be three-portioned in nature. Three beneficiaries are: the land owners, the labourers and the mediatory forum established for exploring the possibility of the beauty of relationship in between the other two or every type of us and them prevailing in the society. This new share-cropping system may eventually give birth to a new society, i.e., SSGS.

No doubt, it would be such a movement which would necessarily be interdisciplinary in its very nature. It includes not only greenery, fishery and animal husbandry, but also society to combat effectively the challenges of the new century. Our challenge is that even if the internationally accepted target percentage of greenery is fulfilled, the alarming problem of pollution and global warming will still remain there, so long as we dauntlessly adhere in an inert manner to the transportation-biased lifestyle of today. This lifestyle has almost broken the fabric of the many-faceted relationship prevailing in the society. The proposed SSGS under this movement is mainly concerned with both nature-based activities and, of course, relationship making, which alone can make a change in fatal lifestyle mentioned earlier. This movement can give birth to a sustainable human chain in place of often-made symbolic human chains performed hither and thither for a few minutes only. Though this movement is limited to a local action-plan, but it could play the role of a torch-bearer to a wider sphere perhaps, to the whole civilization. Particularly, this sustainable human chain can reduce the danger of isolation of individual in the context of globalization of trade. This isolation has so far been apt to make man aggressive over nature and other fellow beings, which is one of the most noteworthy causes of todays crisis and can also be considered as the root of the causes of terrorism prevailing all over the world. In the midst of such an unprecedented crisis, I beg leave to request you to consider whether you may kindly explore the possibilities of involving the N.S.S. of colleges and universities to run an awareness programme as a regular NSS activity by taking this concept for making a new movement of this kind. Secondly, I would request you to make it as an applied research programme, initially in any University or wherever you may find suitability, with the guidance of a high power expert committee to co-ordinate and co-relate all the activities of NSS with a vision. I am happy to inform you that the Higher Education Dept. of West Bengal has recently accepted our proposal and instructed all the state Universities to explore and experiment it in a befitting manner with the help of a regular activity of the NSS in each institution. Other social organisations are coming up to make a vibrant movement based on our idea and taking it as a curriculum of community -- both degree and doctoral -- programmes. Few documents are enclosed. I would like to earnestly request you to consider whether you may kindly make an arrangement for

exploring and developing our idea as a tribute to one of the greatest and finest souls the world has ever seen Rabindranath Tagore, in his 150th birth anniversary. Our idea has emerged from the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore, who must be most relevant in the resurrection of 21 st century rural India, if taken combined. I am ready to give further clarifications if you may please ask for. With sincere regards, Thanking you, Yours truly, (Jyotirmoy Goswami) Enclosure:(i) Letter from Higher Education Dept. WB dt. 06/12/2010 (ii) Letter from Vivek Umrao Glendenning, Co-ordinator, Local Governance & Decentralised Economy Social Group. Copy to: The Program Coordinator, NSS cell, The Himachal State University.