PART 4 Partnerships: Renegotiating Knowledge and Society ∵ Sarita Anand - 9789004459076 Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 01:04:48PM via free access Sarita Anand - 9789004459076 Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 01:04:48PM via free access chapter 16 Tagore, Social Responsibility and Higher Education in India Sarita Anand Abstract Visva-Bharati, the Higher Education Institution established by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore embodies social responsibility and fosters sustainable practices in and around the campus, working with nearby communities and civil society to pro- mote a more livable environment, using resource-efficient indigenous practices. Work- ing together with the community is the key principle for the progressive development of society. Keywords social responsibility – higher education – Tagore and Santiniketan (Visva-Bharati) 1 Introduction Turn a tree into a lag and it will burn for you, but it will never bear living flower and fruit. (Rabindranath Tagore) Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are centres of knowledge, intelligent tal- ent, teaching and research. Their ways of functioning and, indeed, their entire existence has both a direct and indirect relationship of responsibility with society, because they are the place where the future workforce is nurtured. Traditionally, HEIs were expected only to perform their core duties of teach- ing, research and extension activities; however, the scenario has now changed. They are now expected to also exhibit their societal importance through these three functions, by taking their knowledge to nearby communities, as a form of social responsibility. HEIs are, thus, not only a place where theoretical knowledge is imparted and degrees are awarded to students – they are also © Sarita Anand, 2021 | DOI: 10.1163/9789004459076_017 This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 License. Sarita Anand - 9789004459076 Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 01:04:48PM via free access 204 Anand responsible for educating and creating knowledge which can be used for and with the larger society. 2 Need and Significance ‘Sustainable practices’ refer to actions taken, directly or indirectly, by HEIs to serve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is the social responsibil- ity of HEIs to promote and facilitate sustainable practices in and around the campus. Working with the community to make it better is not only good for the community, but also for the academic functioniong of the HEI. HEIs like Visva-Bharati,1 Santiniketan, founded by the first Indian Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, are torchbearers for sustainable practices and the promotion of sustainable development. Tagore’s experiments with the Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IRR, established in 1922) and Sikha Satra (a school established by Tagore in 1924) stand as examples of how HEIs can be socially responsible towards nearby communities. 3 Tagore’s Original Framing of Social Responsibility in HEIs If a true school is to be founded in India, the school must be from the begin- ning group. The school will make use of the best methods in agriculture, the breeding of livestock and development of village crafts. The teachers, students and people of the surrounding countryside will be related to each other with the strong and intimate ties of livelihood. They shall coop- erate to produce all the necessities of their own existence. (Rabindranath Tagore) The poet, writer, novelist, artist, naturalist and environmentalist Rabindranath Tagore took social responsibility very seriously. In 1906, he released a 15 point Village Reconstruction Charter in Pabna (Bangladesh), which illustrated his vision of autonomous and self-reliant villages, which were not isolated, but remained connected to each other. He stressed the importance of indigenously made goods in the charter, focussing on the training of housewives in local trades to make them self-dependent and add to the family income. In 1922, Tagore established IRR, now called Palli-Samgathana Vibhaga (PSV), with the main objective of bringing life back into the nearby villages by making them self-reliant and encouraging the revival of village arts and crafts. He suc- cessfully implemented a community engagement programme which promoted Sarita Anand - 9789004459076 Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 01:04:48PM via free access Tagore, Social Responsibility and Higher Education in India 205 the local, indigenous culture and traditions. Leonard Elmhirst, an Englishman who had studied agricultural economics at Cornell University, USA, helped him build IRR. Tagore also emphasised the practice of local music, agriculture, health and hygiene to connect villagers to their roots, ensuring that people from the nearby villages and communities would acquire the proper training and competency to put modern resources to efficient use in order to improve their physical, intellectural and economic conditions. The Rural Extension Centre (REC), Department of Adult, Continuing Edu- cation and Extension, is one of the oldest departments of PSV, actively working towards improving the conditions of nearby communities and villages. They have formed village development societies, brati (youth) organisations, mahila samitis (women’s groups) and self-help groups in local communities. REC has been working with more than 48 villages under 8 gram panchayats (village governing institutes). More than 40 Village Development Societies (VDS) have been formed to organise the reconstruction activities of these villages. – More than 5 mahila samitis have been formed and are presently running in the 5 REC villages. Empowerment and awareness raising training pro- grammes are conducted frequently with the women, along with workshops on health, hygiene, sanitation, child marriage, motherhood, childcare, etc. – REC has also formed self-help groups, with the objective of empowering the women of the community and engaging the community with HEIs. These groups promote habits of savings, develop cooperation among the commu- nity and encourage self-employment, in order to make the villagers more self-reliant. – Youth organisations, called brati dal, have been organised, which include boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 14 years. These organisations serve to develop the spirit of community service, active leadership and physical exercise among the youth. They also serve to raise awareness on issues such as the environment and nature. REC has also set up rural libraries and mobile literacy services, donating books to these entities. These entities are run by the VDOs, and more than 35 rural libraries have been set up in the nearby villages. One mobile library is also operational, which serves the needs of those villages which do not have ade- quate library services. Following Tagore’s ideals of promoting agriculture and farming as a social responsibility initiative of HEIs, Visva-Bharti established Palli-Siksha Bhavana Institute of Agriculture in 1963, imparting knowledge in agricultural sciences. Apart from teaching and research, this institute is also engaged in extension activities in agriculture in the surrounding villages. Rural Awareness Work Sarita Anand - 9789004459076 Downloaded from Brill.com10/07/2021 01:04:48PM via free access 206 Anand Experience (RAWE) and experiential learning are mandatory, and a part of the academic curriculum. Other academic units, such as the agricultural farm, horticultural farm, dairy and poultry farm, soil testing laboratory, library, and the Rathindra Center for Agricultural Sciences continuoustly support and help the surrounding community, as needed. Presently, this department is check- ing if new crops can be grown locally, by testing the soil and demonstrating their work to the local farmers. This department is also trying to promote mod- ern animal husbandry, in order to support local income. The university has adopted more than 48 villages and is working towards their welfare, providing them access to local fairs as a platform to showcase their handicrafts. Silpa Sadan is a Centre of Rural Craft Technology and Design, another department of PSV, which works towards the promotion of rural crafts like tie & dye, batik, paper pulp craft, ceramics and others. This centre engages stu- dents with local artisans and villagrs. Students and faculty of the Deparment of Social Work engage with the com- munities on various issues, including disabilities, health and hygiene, help- ing senior citizens, awareness of fatal disases and vaccinations. They work to ensure that no child marriages occur in these communities. They also promote the use of kitchen gardens and pits for bio-fertilisers. The Master of Education curriculum at Visva-Bharati has a practicum on community engagement and social responsibility. For one semester, students learn through hands-on practice by organising awareness programmes on various issues. The students also teach children in the village schools, holding classes on various subjects. Sustainable practices have been built into the co- curricular activities at the Department of Education – students are assigned to various duties such as campus cleaning, composting, bird feeding and tree plantation. Visva-Bharati tries to balance the modern educational practices of compe- tition in its academic endeavours, while also abiding by Tagore’s ideals. The latter includes organising different cultural festivals and fairs. Recently, more than 200,000 people visited Santiniketan on the occasions of Basant utsav (fes- tival of colours)