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centres the number of girls is
equal to the number of boys
and their parents are very
enthusiastically enrolling
them for jobs.
Q 4. Parvaaz has been re-
ceived by people very en-
thusiastically but as always
there are sceptics. What
would be your message to
these skeptics? I would tell them that they
have nothing to lose. It’s like
a priest telling you
that you should do
good deeds which
will help you enter
heaven but before
entering heaven you
will realise that you
have already created
a heaven for your-
self on earth and
have become a noble citizen.
Same is with Parvaaz, after
eleven months you will be
educated and skilled which
will enhance the possibilities
of a better living standard
and you have nothing to lose. Q 5. Do you see an initia-
tive like Parvaaz becoming
a scheme at national level? I believe Parvaaz has not
only the potential of becom-
ing a powerful tool in bring-
ing the minority youth in the
national mainstream but will
also serve as a model of pol-
icy making for other margin-
alized groups such as the
tribals in the Integrated Ac-
tion Plan (IAP) districts in
India.
Q 1. You saw potential in
the concept of Parvaaz and
gave it your full support.
What was it about Parvaaz
that excited you? When TIE Foundation shared
with us that they are working
for minority education in
rural areas, my point was that
minorities are placed at the
bottom of the economic
pyramid and they have little
stake in the mainstream eco-
nomic system of the
country. It is impor-
tant that they first
become part of the
mainstream and only
becoming will not
help. Times have
changed, today people
look for opportunities
to achieve economic
independence, to earn better
livelihood. Simple education
will not serve the purpose; it
has to be coupled with skills
and employment. Basic edu-
cation, followed by skills
development and finally
placement in the organized
sector is something that is
very exciting about this pro-
ject.
Q 2. Post-independence,
several schemes directed
towards minority develop-
ment have been introduced
but have not had the de-
sired impact, where are we
going wrong? Schemes introduced for mi-
nority community develop-
ment in the past have been
seen through social and reli-
gious prisms which made
them very complex to pro-
duce desired results. If you
look at Parvaaz, its Unique
Selling Preposition (USP) is
its simplicity. It aims at im-
parting basic education fol-
lowed by skills development
that helps these students gain
employment in organised
sectors where they get all the
benefits of provident fund,
paid leave, medical benefits
etc.
Q 3. During your tenure as
an IAS officer you have
had several opportunities
to work in minority
concentration areas; there
are many stereo-
types associated with the
community, any stereotype
that you saw happily shat-
tered?
There are a number of stereo-
types associated with differ-
ent communities including
the minority communities
but if you look at the kind of
impact media and telecom
revolution in India has had
on the population, these
stereotypes are constantly
shattering. One stereotype,
for example, is that Muslims
do not send their girls to
schools, and do not want to
work outside of their homes.
But at some of the Parvaaz
In conversation with Dr Arvind Mayaram
Inside this issue:
Interview 1
Parvaaz towards Assam 2
Student Bytes 3
Hardwork pays 3
Trust is the Key 4
NEWSLETTER January, 2012 Vol 1, Issue 8
I would tell them that
they have nothing to
lose. It’s like a priest
telling you that you
should do good deeds
which will help you
enter heaven but before
entering heaven you
will realise that you
have already created a
heaven for yourself on
earth and have become
a noble citizen.
Dr Arvind Mayaram,
AS & FA,
MoRD
With 12 centres up and
running in UP, Bihar and
Haryana and around 1700
students undergoing aca-
demic program, Parvaaz is
now paving its way into
Assam and West Bengal.
In a recent visit to 24 Par-
ganas districts of West
Bengal our team has vis-
ited a number of minority
institutions and assessed
their potential to be Par-
vaaz learning centres. Be-
sides identifying centres,
the team is also meeting
the community stake-
holders who play a vital
role in any such interven-
tion. The socio-economic
condition of the minority
community in West Ben-
gal is quite miserable.
Educationally also this
community has been at the
receiving end. However, a
number of minority insti-
tutions have been quite
active in these districts to
promote education in the
region. The community
leaders like Ms Atia
Mushtaq, Farah Khan and
Imran Zaki were quite
excited about the project
and are of the opinion that
there is a dire need for
projects like Parvaaz in
these areas. They assured
all support on ground for
the implementation of
Parvaaz.
On the other side, Assam
has seen violent phases of
ethnic clashes in the re-
cent past in which thou-
sands of members of the
minority community were
rendered homeless and
landless. This clash af-
fected community is now
socially, educationally and
politically at the bottom of
the pyramid. There are not
many job avenues avail-
able and the youth are just
wasting their ener-
gies. Various researches
have shown that the mi-
nority community in As-
sam has been through a
tough time and are treated
as immigrants. However,
the community has not
lost hope, and with the
introduction of Parvaaz,
the community is quite
happy to hear about it and
would like to take part in
the program. Abdus Sattar
and Javed Reza have been
hired as the state coordi-
nators for Assam and West
Bengal respectively. They
have been entrusted with
the responsibility of iden-
tifying the potential train-
ing partners and mobilisa-
tion of the community.
Page 2 NEWSLETTER
Parvaaz towards Assam and West Bengal
After leaving school I
had become very nega-
tive towards life and
was unable to plan my
future. However, since
the time I joined
Parvaaz, I feel very
positive and will surely
make use this
opportunity.
Anwar,
HP Inter College
“I come of a very poor
family and had no
avenues to continue
my studies but
Parvaaz has come as a
savior. I am
extremely happy to be
a part of Parvaaz and
I am putting in my best
to get a job at the end
of the program.”
Ghulam Jilani,
Bahadurganj
Such visits play a very
important role in checking and balancing the process
and systems laid down for
the implementation of the
programs.
31st Jan, 2012.
All the documents related
to the student enrolment
were verified by the team.
The library was also vis-
ited by the team which
houses around 200 books
drawn from publishers like
National Book Trust,
Pratham, Goodword, Chil-
dren Book trust, etc.
which include reference
books as well. The team
also interacted with the
trainees at the centre while
the academic classes were
The National Institute of
Rura l De ve lop ment
(NIRD) being the monitor-
ing agency of the Govt of
India monitors all govern-
ment schemes to ensure
that the schemes are prop-
erly implemented on
ground. As Parvaaz moves
into its IInd phase, it’s time
to see how well was the
first phase implemented
and to monitor the per-
formance of the Parvaaz
learning centres. A team
from NIRD visited Al-
Falah Senior Secondary
School, Bhadas, a Parvaaz
NIRD team visits Parvaaz Learning Centers
Maharwan Ali is a 21
year old young boy
from Guladiya village
of Amroha district,
Uttar Pradesh (U.P.)
with his parents and two
elder brothers. Unfortu-
nately, Maharwan Ali
could not continue his
education after eight
grade due to financial
constraints and prob-
lems from the teachers.
One of his teachers ex-
pected him to seek pri-
vate tuition from him
which was a huge pres-
sure on Maharwan and
his family who were
not strong enough fi-
nancially to support
even the basic needs.
Although Maharwan
wanted to go for further
education and wanted to
become a civil engineer
his circumstances did
not favour him. There-
fore, he left home and
kept wandering in dif-
ferent cities in search of
job for years so that he
could support his fam-
ily.
After continuous strug-
gle, he got a job in Am-
roha. Presently he
works as a helper with a
road roller driver. Be-
sides, he also earns a
small income by selling
ghee in the villages
when he gets spare
time. Meanwhile, he
came to know about
Parvaaz and could not
keep himself away from
this golden opportunity
to fulfil his and his fam-
ily’s dreams.
Through the interven-
tion of a centre counsel-
lor, two months before,
he was enrolled in the
H.P. Inter College in
Amroha. He now shows
keen interest in studies.
His participation in all
extra-curricular activi-
ties is being highly ap-
preciated at the centre.
He is the captain of
Khan Group and per-
forms his key responsi-
bilities well. Not only
has he taken interest in
books but has also been
a lively participant in co
-curricular activities. He
enjoys playing cricket
and badminton.
English is his favourite
subject but he also real-
izes that the gap in
schooling has brought
forth various difficulties
and challenges for him.
To cope up with these,
he takes out time from
his schedule and attends
English learning classes
in the vocational centre
near his place.
Johar Abbas who is an
English teacher in H.P.
Inter College said,
“Maharwan Ali is very
hard working and en-
thusiastic about his fu-
ture. It’s really a great
pleasure to guide such a
student like him.”
Hardwork pays
Page 3 NEWSLETTER
FACE OF THE MONTH
Convincing my parents
about Parvaaz was little
difficult but when Par-
vaaz team held meetings
in the village, my par-
ents were satisfies with
Parvaaz and now I am
happy to be attending
classes at Parvaaz
Learning center.
Saymeen,
Umar Inter College
“I had never thought
about returning to a
school. Though I will
not become an engineer
but I will still become
capable to earn a
livelihood to support
the family with dignity
and self respect.”
Maharwan,
HP Inter College
NIRD OFFICIAL at Al- Falah Sr. Sec. School, Bhadas
“Going back to school was beyond my
imagination but Parvaaz has inspired me
to take on education once again. The aim
now is to gain economic independence.”
Mumtaz Jehan
Umar Inter College,
Bilari
Trust is the key to successful intervention – Najmus Sakib
IL&FS EDUCATION 2nd Floor, NTBCL Building,
DND Flyway, Noida Toll Bridge,
Noida -201301
Phone: 0120-2459248
Email: [email protected]
www.parvaaz.in
tion with which I ap-
proached the community
at different levels, right
from primary stakeholders
to the secondary stake-
holders. I faced problems
as it was quite difficult to
convince people because
of their bad experiences
with other NGOs in past.
Initially people were not
even ready to listen to me
but I managed to gain the
confidence of the commu-
nity leaders and along
with them I organized fo-
cus group discussions. We
understood their problems
and explained Parvaaz in
detail and started mobiliz-
ing volunteers. When the
community started receiv-
ing our message we ar-
ranged trainings for the
volunteers and the other
community leaders. This
helped us spread the word
fast and we started getting
positive response from the
youngsters and also insti-
tutions to set up centers in
their villages. Pradhans
also showed interest in the
program.
The primary ingredient for
any social intervention is
trust. No community will
allow you to intervene
unless they trust you. But
I believe trust of the com-
munity is secondary; pri-
mary is your own trust in
the program that you go to
the community with. If
you do not have trust in
your own program, gain-
ing trust of the community
is almost impossible, be-
cause no matter what ap-
proach you adopt for in-
tervention, it will be de-
void of conviction. I
joined TIE Foundation
because I was convinced
with the kind of potential
Parvaaz had. At the same
time I was sure that we
will face problems on
ground as I was aware of
the community. The Mus-
lim community in Mewat
is quite religious but edu-
cationally backward.
Families do not take deci-
sions without consulting a
religious leader. So, when
we started our interven-
tion in Mewat my best
tool was my own convic-
While we mobilize, it is
very important for us to
target the main leaders
and well respected mem-
bers of the community. If
you are able to convince
them, half your job is
done. Their word is pow-
erful and when they be-
come your ambassadors, it
is easier for you to carry
the message across. It is
they who helped us set up
three centers in Mewat
where females in the age
bracket of 17-25 are nor-
mally married but we still
managed to convince par-
ents to send their daugh-
ters to Parvaaz centers.
We were not able to mobi-
lize many girls but we
managed to enroll few of
them. The Parvaaz experi-
ence till now has been
fulfilling and its strength
lies in its approach. Edu-
cation, skills and finally
employment, this is what
any youngster would want
and Parvaaz gives it all. I
am very happy to be a part
of such a wonderful pro-
ject.
I believe trust of
the community is
secondary; pri-
mary is your own
trust in the pro-
gram that you go
to the community
with.
Najmus Sakib,
State Coordinator,
Haryana
TIE Foundation
“I was wandering aimlessly but
parvaaz has given a direction to my life.
It feels great to be studying again and
progressing towards getting stable a
job.”
Imran
Alfalah, Nagina,
Mewat