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Information

 

February 8, 1992

   With the advancement of the society, the masses come to achieve what only a pioneer could in earlier times.  Civilisation is defined by the population taking up the duties of the government and the organised institutions.  Even today one can see in the culturally advanced sections of population families executing the duties to the children which in backward sections are done by the school. In the last two decades the world has created an enormous INFORMATION which it finds lies unused. Should the information reach those sections of population, be it the scholars or masses, great good will flow out of it.

   The aim of this paper is to spotlight two facts and the effect on the individual and society when they combine. They are:

            1) The population is more receptive to the impact of knowledge and information now than before and would initiate themselves into a movement of progress if the necessary  information reaches them in a usable form.                   

            2) The quantity of such information is ever-increasing day by day.

One fact which is observable is that at all levels there is the absence of relevant information in a substantial way. E.g.

            --  A retired officer in Madras corporation has not known for several years the news that his aged mother is eligible for family pension.

            --  In the seventies we have met several entrepreneurs who have not heard of the bank schemes for them.

            --  One who was promoting enterprises and himself trying to produce an export commodity had not heard of the letter of credit arrangement.

            --  A judge could not believe that in Private Limited Companies the Managing Director -- who literally owns it -- is paid a salary.

            --  A president of a cooperative society could not believe that his own society could offer agricultural term loans to his members. He knew of the crop loan only.

            --  Not all travelers by plane know their tickets could be booked at Pondicherry itself. Passengers by train do go to Madras to reserve their tickets to North India, not knowing it can be done in Pondicherry.

These illustrate that a gap exists between the man and the information, but this is not the information we are alluding to. Our interest is only in the information that can move either the Individual or Society when it reaches them to move towards a better life.

Some such information:

1) Glenn Doman has demonstrated that young babies can learn a lot of information and by the age of six speak 3 languages and complete the entire school curriculum. After his books have sold up to 2 million copies in the last 40 years no one in India has heard of it. Even in Philadelphia where his Institute is, many have not heard of him.

2)  Horticulture yields 5 to 10 times normal cultivation.

3)  Fish culture yields twice that of horticulture.

4)  Water need not at all be scarce if the aquifer is recharged.

5)  Per acre coconut income is 4 times the paddy yield.

6)  Per acre cashew income equals coconut and excels it often.

7)  In spite of the fact that a Nobel Prize is awarded 10 years ago to one who proved that industrialisation of a country follows agriculture surplus, Govt of India is not aware of that and is trying to create jobs in industry at a cost of 2 to 3 lakhs while jobs in agriculture can be created for 10,000 rupees.

Programme:  For Pondicherry, being a self-contained area with a higher rate of literacy and several special advantages to its credit, it is proposed that this approach of initiating the population into progress through dissemination of readily usable INFORMATION be tried here and its success assessed.

Ingredients of the Scheme:

            1)  An insulated area of, say working women, or college students, or unemployed graduates is surveyed for the relevant information they now possess with respect to their possible progress.

            2)  After analysing the results of the survey, the team converts the existing information into a usable form and transmits it to them.

            3)  After a gap, the results are resurveyed.

If the results of this pilot scheme are encouraging, i.e. the response is more than a percentage considered substantial --  whether it is 15% or 50% -- in view of the effort that went into it, it can be decided whether to extend it to other sectors, and if so to which sectors.

IN PRINCIPLE ANY SECTION OF THE POPULATION CAN BE INITIATED INTO PROGRESS THIS WAY.

N.B.  The entire edifice depends on the surveyed facts and their veracity. One should be doubly sure that facts will come from the field and not from the surveyor's imagination.



story | by Dr. Radut