CSSC : Brochure of Centre For The Study Of Social Change
CSSC….WIN
Centre for the Study of Social Change (CSSC) is an NGO with a difference.
It essentially works for integrated human development by bridging the gap between knowledge and activity.
In Indian context first step for development has to be liberation of women who are in bondage for centuries. Yet, as is aptly described by VRamlingaswamy, “Millions of women neither have the knowledge nor the means nor the freedom to act in their own or their children v best interests “.
This situation can be improved only if we change our attitude to women drastically.
As Mr. Amartya Sen has said “Women should no longer be seen merely as the beneficiaries of development but must themselves become the agents of change “.
Our 40 years’ experience of working with socio-culturally backward women in slums of Mumbai has taught us that given proper knowledge and opportunities , they could well become Agents of Social Change.
Therefore, CSSC have undertaken the Project WIN (Women India Network) Mumbai.
WIN will be a model of interventions in a modular format for integrated human development of slumdwellers using Health as an entry point.
It will be first tried in Bandra East slums and taken to scale all over Mumbai and then possibly for replication on a national scale.
WIN Central in CSSC’s M.N.Roy campus acts as a referral, management, training and research backup support for 20 satellite centres in and around the slums in Bandra East. Each WIN Satellite Station will function as the centre of Women’s Development in a population of 5000 each.
We feel that Health is an effective entry point in backward community units based on WHO definition of Health in which Mental and Social Health are crucial factors in addition to Curative Health for the poor, illiterate people of India.
The promotive aspect of curative health means making the whole society aware of its own health problems and giving people them confidence that they could solve the same with their own efforts. For this massive programme of health education would be needed.
Main aim of WIN Project is to empower women so that they could be agents of social change. For this purpose following activities are being undertaken under WIN Project by CSSC:
Non-tonal education touching all aspects of Woman’s life which would help her to be a free human being
(2) Teaching why and how of Family Planning so that she could control her reproduction leading to good health ,both, her own and that of her children thereby giving her plenty of time to develop herself.
(3) Training in Income generation as a means of self reliance and improving her self confidence.
(4) Inculcating into her the Decision making Power making her a truly free human being, enabling her to take all important decisions and actions, on her own, for herself and the community.
These programmes would be implemented through the medium of Integrated Health Workers who will be women within the community, appropriately trained and motivated to act as nucleii of social change.
CSSC will develop Self Help Groups (SHGs) with their assistance so that after a period ranging from 5 to 10 years the groups will take over the management of the integrated development of their own community.
As infrastructural and logistical support to WIN Central, CSSC will also be organising activities and programmes which would motivate the cross section of the community to participate in our activities.
These are:
(1) A Central Library and a Documentation Centre for the intellegentsia with a sizable component of the a library for common men, women and children.
(2) Non-formal Education Display Gallery for the community with special stress on informative communications for children and adolescents in different aspects of free, full and healthy life as enlightened citizens of the future.
Establishing Eco Health Centres with active participation of the community with innovations to improve their surroundings including local sanitation and clean water supply.
(4) Vocational Training centre for men, women and children for improving their skills giving them better income generation capabilities.
As the programme develops it will be possible to add on many more programmes in view of the available space.
While, fortunately, we have space enough for all these ideas, paucity of funds restrains us from going full steam ahead.
We hope to overcome our difficulties with the help of well wishers like you.
Centre for the Study of Social Change (CSSC)
CSSC establishes and supports institutions devoted to the promotion of Humanism to achieve a modern, humane and free society. CSSC proposes to bridge the gap between knowledge and practice; between intellectuals and grass root activists; between planners and implementers, through action-oriented interdisciplinary research and service programmes.
CSSC has now established the M.N. Roy Human Development Campus to conduct all activities of the Center and to promote a Humanist approach to Human Development.
M. N. Roy Human Development Campus
This Human Development Campus named after the Radical Humanist M.N. Roy (1887 – 1954) will be a permanent living memorial to the unique life and thought of one who transcended geographical and ideological identities and devoted his life for the cause of Human Freedom and Rational Thought. A revolutionary, a thinker of world renown, and a man of extraordinary accomplishments, M.N. Roy laid the foundations of the modern Humanist movement in
In practical terms the Campus aims at people’s empowerment through development of men, women and children in an integrated manner, and to bring about a change in themselves, with particular focus on
The 2.6 acre (1.06 hectares) M. N. Roy Campus in Bandra East, located near the airports and behind Bombay University Kalina Campus, is designed and constructed in the form of an inwardly facing unique campus – like Nalanda University of India’s past. The Campus complex covers an area of 160,000 sq.ft.
The Campus aims to achieve the spread of Humanism through Education, Environmental Awareness and Activism, Human Rights Training, Women’s Empowerment Activities using Service Oriented programmes and Research, using Health as the entry point into deprived communities.
The Centre for study of Social Change was founded in 1971 by Prof. G. D. Parikh, Tarkateerth Laxmanshastri Joshi, Prof. A. 8. Shah. Shri Govind ralwafkar, Prof. Sovani and others.
ORGANISED HUMANISM
CENTRE – CSSC-IRHA-IHEU
The Indian Radical Humanist Association (IRHA) provides a platform for individuals and groups working in the area of Humanism and Human Rights to come together at periodic intervals to share findings, evolution of ideology and research. It is an umbrella under which individuals with a strong humanist orientation can take shelter against the onslaught of conservative thought. Historically IRHA and its leaders like Justice Tarkunde played a major part in shaping the modern Human Rights movement in
IRHA is a founder member of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), the apex body for humanist organizations across the world, which regroups over a hundred Humanist, secular and rationalist organisations from nearly forty countries. IHEU campaigns the world over for the Separation of Religion and State as a condition for the guarantee of the freedom of conscience of people of all and of no faiths, works against religious privilege, and advocates the modernisation of societies and the globalisation of human values. IHEU fosters and the growth of the organised Humanist movement all over the world.
In the Third World, in particular in
Whether they label themselves as Humanists or not, many groups and organizations are working hard in this situation, to help uplift of the individual through education, awareness, income generation, and other mechanisms oriented towards individual empowerment. All these organizations need support and assistance, and the Campus is uniquely placed to offer this help to kindred organisations to achieve common goals.
By promoting a Humanist approach to development, by advocating a secular solution to modern day problems, by fighting superstition, by spreading the scientific temper, by laying the foundation for a modern functional democracy, and by triggering the impulse for Freedom and Human Rights amongst the vast masses, the Campus aims to be the fountainhead of Humanist activism in the third world and in particular in South Asia. It has the place, the infrastructure, the location, and most important, the right combination of human resources to become the nodal point for all humanist organizations and for Human Rights interventions in this part of the world.
The Campus already houses one of the largest collection of books on Humanism outside of the University, and intends to develop a documentation centre to provide research facilities to scholars_ A succession of activities round the year ensures that there is a healthy interaction across humanist, rationalist, atheist and secularist groups. Two publications, The Radical Humanist of the Indian Renaissance Institute and The Secularist, of the Indian Secular Society have further given impetus to the humanist movement originating from the Campus.
The
WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT & HEALTH
CSSC…. WIN
Dr_ Indumati Parikh’s 40 years’ experience in STREEHITKARINI of working with socio-culturally backward women in slums of Mumbai has shown that given proper knowledge and the opportunities; women could well become Agents of Social Change.
CSSC have undertaken the Project WIN (Women India Network ) Mumbai with this purpose_ WIN is a model of interventions in a modular format for integrated human development of slum dwellers using Health as an entry point. WIN is a unique concept of integration, untried yet on a major scale and could provide :
a) A national model of Woman empowerment through no formal education (without activism) using modular health clinics as entry points in community.
b) A viable urban slum human health and development infrastructure model for use in deprived urban slums.
c) A practicable model to make women, agents of social change instead of just being the beneficiaries of welfare programmes.
d) There is a built in element of sustainability through community participation involving marginal financial commitment so as to be easily replicable anywhere in
CSSC will develop and assist Self Help Groups (SHGs) so that after a period ranging from 5 to 10 years the groups will take over the management of the integrated development of their own community.
WIN project is a replicable model for scaling up the concept of a “Free, Full and Healthy life for Woman” in Bandra East and the city of Mumbai initially and later a on nationally (MEGAWIN). CSSC’s partners in planning, implementation and funding in this project are International Foundation for Population Development,
Women’s Development & Vocational Centre
Short Courses for women with 7 to 10 years of schooling are conducted with a view to develop their personality as well as income generation.
This will have appropriate attached facilities for a day care centre.
RESEARCH
CSSC-MRC EEU
CSSC-MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL ENVIROMENTAL EPIDEMIOLOGY UNIT, SOUTHAMPTON
The CSSC-MRC collaboration started in 1996 and is continued till date on “Developmental Origins of Adult Disease”.
Mumbai Maternal Nutrition Project (MMNP) is the current research activity of this collaboration.
This project was conceived by the end of 2001 and launched fully from April 2002. It can be described as :
“Food based intervation in preconceptual and pregnancy period with an aim to assess increase in the birth wt of the baby and other outcomes.”
CSSC and
a regular supplement to normal diet before and during pregnancy increase the birth weight of newborn baby significantly.
The programme has the following sequential components:
Developing the skills of workforce of female health workers employed by CSSC and SHK.
Through them, conducting scientifically rigorous studies of food supplements, starting with a randomized controlled trial of micronutrient-dense foods (green leafy vegetables (GLVs), fruit and milk), given before and throughout pregnancy.
Developing a manufacturing base in Bandra East, employing local women to process these foods from raw product to cooked foods.
If the trial is successful, empowering the women to a) disseminate the knowledge within their community and b) develop control of the entire production chain as a commercially viable enterprise.
Disseminating successful interventions nationally and internationally.
This project is funded by ICICI Mumbai, Parthenon Trust,
CSSC-MRC-SNEHA PROJECT
Society for Natal Effects on Healthy Adulthood (SNEHA) is an organization of Indian Scientists working on Developmental Origins of Adult Diseases. Its office is in CSSC.
The research projects at various centers in Pune,
CSSC-ANTENNA TECHNOLOGIE-VOLKART FOUNDATION
A trial of “SPIRULINA” in childhood malnutrition is being conducted under this project.
EDUCATION