Unnat Bharat Abhiyan Unit

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA), a flagship programme of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Govt. of India, is an opportunity to enable faculty and students of higher educational institutions to work with the people of rural India in identifying development challenges and evolving appropriate solutions for accelerating sustainable growth of villages.
It aims to create a virtuous cycle between society and an inclusive academic system by providing knowledge and practices for emerging professions and to upgrade the capabilities of both the public and the private sectors in responding to the development needs of rural India.
Assam Don Bosco University registered as a Participating Institution in the year 2018 and works in 5 villages, namely, Ural Basti, Arabari, Mahilapara, Azara and Joypur under Kamrup Metropolitan District. The objective/s of the project:

• To engage the faculty and students of Higher Educational Institutions in understanding rural realities.
• To identify & select existing innovative technologies, enable customisation of technologies, or devise implementation methods for innovative solutions, as per the local needs.
• To leverage the knowledge base of the institutions to devise processes for effective implementation of various government programmes.

Through the unit we’ve conducted awareness programmes: Street plays, group discussions, recycling waste through arts and crafts session; Webinars: Handling Boredom and Workload during Lockdown, Being Financially Prudent as a Youth, Careers in Indian Army, and Para Military Forces after Graduation, and Entrepreneurship Opportunities in Agricultural Sector; Skill Development: Training on Mushroom Cultivation, and the making of cloth bags and response to COVID-19: Document on preventive measures related to Covid-19, CoVID-19 Awareness Video, Taking Care of Mental Health During COVID-19 lockdown, all are in the local language and distributing sanitary napkins. The following were the impact of the project since 2018:

• 176 people were given awareness on the negative impact of plastics through various programmes like street plays, group discussions, recycling waste through arts and crafts sessions.
• 164 students were made aware of maintaining proper hygiene practices through the Wash Programme conducted in LP School.
• 22 women were given skill training on cloth bag makings to say no to plastic and creating their bags from old clothes without any cost.
• 119 boys and girls were given theatre sessions by the NSS volunteers to enhance qualitative drama skills of the students and to encourage them to express their opinion.
• 20 Lower Primary School Teachers participated in a capacity building programme conducted in collaboration with the Education Department to enhance the teaching skills thereby promoting quality education.
• 145 students were engaging with the university students to understand the basic concepts of science subject through science exhibition and quiz which was carried out in collaboration with the Physics Department.
• 15 women were given awareness on the nutritional value of mushroom cultivation and 10 women were trained in mushroom cultivation in collaboration with the Department of Biosciences (it has also trained another 20 women previously)
• 3,187 (views as on 18th October 2020) people have access the CoVID-19 Awareness Video in the Assamese language at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN_y4GsfAgY in collaboration with the Psychology Department.
• A document on preventive measures related to Covid-19 was prepared by the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan Unit of the University based on WHO guidelines in the Assamese language, the common language for the residents of the villages. Each preventive measure was illustrated with child-friendly pictorial representation to ensure clarity in communication across all sections of the target audience.
• Promoting mental health and wellbeing amidst COVID-19 outbreak: 40 youths attended the Online Session on Handling Boredom and Workload during Lockdown, 350 indeginous people had watch the video “Taking Care of Mental Health During COVID-19 lockdown” on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-96ImKuYWaM in collaboration with the Psychology Department.
• Over 100 youths participated in a webinar on “Being Financially Prudent as a Youth” organized in collaboration with NSS Unit (19 June 2020).
• 189 people registered for the webinar on “Careers in Indian Army and Para Military Forces after Graduation” organized in collaboration with NSS Unit (26 June 2020).
• 80 sanitary napkins were distributed to the women working as daily labourers.
• Over 100 people registered for the Webinar on "Entrepreneurship Opportunity through Agriculture" on 31st October 2020

The outcome of the unit in the adopted villages were:

• Imparting Mushroom Cultivation Skills to women in the rural areas to enhance their economic and health statuses.
• Empowering school students to express their opinions on matters which affect them through theatrical skills.
• In our joint efforts to meet the SDGs, women, and children, and the community as a whole are encouraged to say NO to Plastics, and embrace environment-friendly ‘bags-for-life’ through discussions, street plays, and workshops.
• Promotion of mental health status through webinars, posters, and videos which were produced in the local language
• Bridging the gap between Schools and Higher Education.
• Improved the health status of the children, and women through awareness programmes on hygiene, promoting the use of sanitary napkins, and document and video on preventive measures related to Covid-19.
• Enhancing the life skills of the youths through career guidance, and teaching them about financial management.