The Hindu : Ford to strive for uplift of `disadvantaged groups'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 07, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Ford to strive for uplift of `disadvantaged groups'
By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, MARCH 6. The Ford Foundation in India is committing substantial funds to disadvantaged groups such as Adivasis, Dalits and women.

As part of marking its 50th anniversary in the country, the Foundation is launching a new Rs. 220 crore funding programme that would broaden the geographical reach of development beyond the urban centres.

Addressing a press conference, the foundation's India representative, Gowher Rizvi, said the focus on disadvantaged groups would help the bottom 20 per cent of the population who have not fully benefitted from the affirmative action of the Indian government since Independence.

Traditionally, the Foundation focused on agriculture, rural development and education. The funds would now be directed towards the underprivileged who were far away from the centres of power, knowledge and opportunities.

Asked if the shift in focus was prompted by the inequalities caused by the Indian government's economic policies of globalisation and liberalisation, he said there was no question of getting away from globalisation but it had brought some concern also. The projects would, therefore, act as a corrective measure to offset the adverse impact of uncontrolled market forces.

While admitting that several of the voluntary organisations benefitting from the funding programme could be in confrontation with the government when they were working on issues such as welfare of Adivasis, he said the Foundation did not believe in conflict with the government. The attempt was to complement and cooperate with the efforts of the government.

In any case, the Foundation was only a funding agency, and did not implement the projects directly. There was thus no scope for confrontation with the government. The foundation was totally apolitical. ``We do not work at cross-purpose,'' he said.

While the Foundation, as a charitable trust, could not do any lobbying with the government, it was carrying out public education programmes which could influence government policy.

The Foundation adopted a detailed monitoring of the projects. There was an agreed set of indicators of success. Also, in some cases, external evaluators were brought in to assess the success of a project. Besides, the programme staff also monitored the projects.

According to Dr. Rizvi, the foundation did not believe in spreading its resources thinly. It would concentrate on the focused areas. In Tamil Nadu, the foundation provided funding for the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Dakshina Chitra, and Madurai Kamaraj University.

Key projects benefitting from the 50th anniversary grant involved the DHAN Foundation (which is in the field of building institutions that enable poor communities to undertake their own development) and the Media Development Foundation (which is dedicated to providing journalism education and training relevant to the specific needs of developing countries of Asia).

The 50th anniversary fund would also set up a South Asian fund for Women, a new fund for the Dalit groups, a centre for Dalit studies and 23 endowed chairs in different institutions of higher education, research institutes and NGOs.

Another activity planned is the publication of ten thematic monographs by Indian experts in the fields of work that Ford has been involved in.

The foundation will launch a year-long series of workshops, exhibitions and celebrations at different centres around the country namely Chennai, Mumbai and in the North-East immediately after the anniversary celebrations in New Delhi.

This will include the launch of the Bharat Ratna C. Subramaniam Fellowships for Community Leadership and Sustainable Livelihoods by the National Foundation for India (a partner of the foundation).

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