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Annual Conference 2016 Report ASSOCIATION FOR INDIA’S DEVELOPMENT ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2016 REPORT Location: University of Maryland, College Park Dates: May 28-30 Table of Contents Agenda .......................................................................................................................................................... 2 Saturday 28th May, 2016 .......................................................................................................................... 2 Sunday 29th May, 2016 ............................................................................................................................ 3 Monday 30th May, 2016 ........................................................................................................................... 4 My Experience: ............................................................................................................................................. 5 Speakers ........................................................................................................................................................ 6 1. Dr. Ravi Kuchimanchi ........................................................................................................................ 6 Topic: 10x AID ...................................................................................................................................... 6 2. Mr. Obalesh Bhemapa ........................................................................................................................ 7 Topic: Manual Scavengers.................................................................................................................... 7 3. Ms. Thenmozshi Soundararajan ....................................................................................................... 8 Topic: Caste Issues ............................................................................................................................... 8 4. Joint talk by Mr. Ashish Ranjan and Mrs. Kamayani Swami ........................................................ 10 Topic: How and why to organize workers for a democratic and secular India .................................. 10 5. Ms. Medha Patkar ........................................................................................................................... 12 Topic: Narmada Bachao Andolan ...................................................................................................... 12 6. Mr. Kiran Vissa ................................................................................................................................. 14 Topic: Agriculture and Farmers’ Issues ............................................................................................. 14 7. Dr. Balaji Sampath ........................................................................................................................... 16 Topic: Eureka! Kids and Homes ......................................................................................................... 16 Contacts ...................................................................................................................................................... 17 1 | P a g e Agenda Saturday 28th May, 2016 Time Session 8:30am – 9:00am Registration and Breakfast 9:00am – 9:20am Welcome, introductions Curtain Raiser — Skit: India’s Biggest Problem. Re-enactment of 1990s AID skit by 9:20am – 9:30am Balaji, Kiran, Aravinda, Malini, Shrinaath, Tulika, Ravi and others AID@25 and 10XAID: Sonali Tamhankar, 09:30am – 10:30am Ravi Kuchimanchi, Kiran Vissa 10:30am – 12:15pm Keynote Speaker: Obalesh Bhemapa 12:15pm – 1:30pm Lunch Workshop on Caste Issues: Thenmozhi 1:30pm – 3:15pm Soundararajan 10X AID: Ravi Kuchimanchi, Sonali and 3:30pm – 4:30pm team AID Annual report (presentation only) 4:30pm – 5:00 pm Nirveek, Rashim, Naga 5:00pm – 5:30 pm Chai MNREGA in Bihar- Struggles from the 5:30pm – 6:45pm Ground Kamayani Swami, Ashish Ranjan 7:00pm – 8:30pm AID Reunion Dinner Cultural Activity: Unsuni play based on 8:30pm – 9:00pm Harsh mander’s “Unheard Voices” 9:00pm – 9:45pm Ice breaker / Fire extinguisher (part1) 2 | P a g e Sunday 29th May, 2016 Time Session 8:00am – 8:45am Breakfast 9:00am – 9:45 am Bhopal Campaign Updates: Rachna Dhingra 10:00am – 11:45am Keynote Speaker Medha Patkar 11:45am – 1:00pm Lunch Development Coordinator presentations: 1:00pm – 2:15pm Aravinda Pillalamarri & Somnath Mukherji Panel on Reaffirming “Sangharsh” AID Campaign; Community Control of 2:30pm – 3:45pm Natural resources Kiran Vissa, Medha Patkar, S.R. Hiremath, Aravinda Pillalamari AID Mela (Parallel table sessions on EB teams, 4:00pm – 5:00pm DC team, 10X team, Young AIDers) 5:00pm – 5:30pm Chai An update on TN flood relief work : Balaji 5:30pm – 6:30pm Sampath (i) AID Communications & Volunteer engagement Portal 6:30pm- 7:30pm (ii) Rights based policy and the role of activists in contemporary India- Vinita Kusupati 7:30pm – 9:00pm Dinner, AID and Me 9:00pm – 9:45pm Ice breaker/Fire extinguisher Part 2 3 | P a g e Monday 30th May, 2016 Time Session 8:30am – 9:30 am Breakfast Sustainable Agriculture Initiatives in 9:30 am -10:45am Telangana and AP – Kiran Vissa 11:00am – 11:45pm TBD 12:00pm -12:15pm Thanks and closing comments 4 | P a g e My Experience: The AID Conference 2016 was held during May 28-30 in University of Maryland, College Park, Washington D.C. A number of topics covering all the fundamentals of AID were discussed in depth. Considering that AID was celebrating its Silver Jubilee anniversary, special attention was given to the need for re-organization of the core activities of AID. With this regard, Dr. Ravi Kuchimanchi presented “AID 10x”, an initiative to group various projects in the same field to streamline the overall working of AID. Listening to the opinions and suggestions that were discussed, it can be safely concluded that “AID 10x” is certainly a great path forward which optimizes the manner in which the activities were conducted till this point of time. The most significant section of the conference consisted of the talks given by many eminent personalities who have and are still making important contributions to uplift the socially challenged in India. They spoke in depth about their work, the obstacles in their paths, and the need for spreading awareness about their causes. While it would be morally incorrect to talk about a particular speaker as all the guests have made remarkable contributions, I found the talk given by Ms. Medha Patkar to be the highlight of the conference. The pitch of her voice increased as she proceeded with her talk, specifically when she spoke about the difficulties being created by the central and state governments; she was audible to the attendees sitting in the last rows, without the use of a mick. The high pitch of her voice can be considered as a measure of the innumerable oppressions faced by her, her realization of the pain of the affected people, and her never ending dedication. There were in total 7 guest speakers, and the details of their talks are given in the later part of the report. The organizers gave attention to minute details of the conference. The attendees were provided accommodation in a hotel which was at a few minutes walking distance from the venue. They were also requested to bring their own cutlery, to reduce waste, and those who couldn’t, were provided recyclable cutlery. The attendees were also provided authentic Indian meals twice a day (undoubtedly the best Indian food I have had so far in USA). The meal session also provided the attendees with an opportunity to interact with each other, to know about their respective chapters, projects, and possibly extend help or collaborate. The organizers were successful in conducting the conference with absolute perfection. To conclude, I would say that each AIDer must visit such annual AID conferences. They provide a great platform to get inspired, inter-chapter collaboration, and contribute to AID as a whole and not only via a certain chapter. 5 | P a g e Speakers 1. Dr. Ravi Kuchimanchi Topic: 10x AID 10x AID is the direction in which the activities for the next 25 years are supposed to be performed. It primarily focusses on grouping of projects with similar objectives and in the same field (agriculture, education, environment, social justice, health, relief and rehabilitation, and women’s empowerment) The following are the objectives: 1. Facilitate sharing of information between different chapters working on projects in the same field. 2. Encourage exchange of funds between chapters. 3. Collaboration between chapters to handle complex projects. 4. Simplified calculation of total sponsorship and expenditure in a particular field, which will help in identification of field(s) that lack/have excess funding. About Dr. Ravi Kuchimanchi While a graduate student at University of Maryland, Dr. Kuchimanchi founded the Association for India’s Development (AID) in 1991 with the vision “problems are interconnected, so must be the solution.” In 1998, after his postdoctoral work in theoretical particle physics at University of Virginia, Dr. Ravi Kuchimanchi with his wife Mrs. Aravinda Kuchimanchi focused on development issues in India such as dams versus people and environment, rural electrification and integrated development. Passionately interested in pursuing appropriate technology to benefit the underprivileged, Dr. Kuchimanchi with his colleagues recently adapted the traditional hay box for Indian villages. The “Easy Cooker” that is both made and
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