GUWAHATI, Oct 31 ? About three decades ago, the north-eastern region lacked NGOs and voluntary agencies having experts in the field of overall exhaustive development of women and children. This attracted the attention of the higher authorities culminating in the setting up of the Guwahati Regional Centre (GRC) of the National Institute of Public Cooperation & Child Development (NIPCCD) on the Children?s Day, 1978.
Since then this centre has been rendering yeoman?s service to the cause of overall all-round development of women and children over an extensively wide area covering the entire eastern region of the country. The centre is just one of the four such regional centers of the autonomous institution under the Department of Women and Child Development of the Ministry of Human Resources Development of the Union Government.
It was definitely a right decision to set up this centre in the region as the Central government found that properly-trained human resources and institutions. NGOs, voluntary agencies were almost non-existent in the region in the field of development of children and women. Entrusted with the responsibility of 10 States under its jurisdiction this centre conducts scores of programmes including orientation workshops, sensitization workshops, capacity-building, NGOs? facilitation among others, consultations on different topics including child abuse, status of girl child, strategies for prevention and management of AIDS, property rights and inheritance amongst women etc.
?Our vision is to achieve the status of a centre of excellence and knowledge in the field of women and child development. We also envision ourselves as an umbrella organization for facilitating a meaningful exchange between field expertise and academic research?, said PK Bhattacharyya, regional director of the centre recently in an informal conversation.
Besides, the prime objectives of the institute is develop and promote voluntary action in social development, develop and promote programmes on the lines of the National Child Policy, evolve a smooth framework and perspective for organising children?s programmes through government and voluntary activities as well as promote measures for cooordination of governmental and voluntary action in social development.
Situated in a sprawling campus at Jawaharnagar in Khanapara of Guwahati, the institute has managed to prepare several thousands of personnel for taking the lead in the movement of children and women?s welfare in a scientific, balanced manner.
NIPCCD is also the apex body for training of resources persons, trainers, government officials involved in the implementation of the ambitious project called Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) ? supposed to be the world?s largest public-funded child support system ? all over the country.
Further, the Guwahati centre has trained more than 800 policemen of various ranks under a very special and significant initiative called Project Aswash conceived by the Assam Police. The course included stress management, making the cops acquainted with various aspects of the Juvenile Act, handling of women?s issue, dealing with underage petty criminals etc. The project has proved a roaring success so far.
Besides, it also conducts several other important activities like running a Child Guidance Centre (CGC) at the institute premises as a practical case-study laboratory for the trainees, the 24-hour Childline service as the nodal agency with active involvement of the Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW). Significantly enough, this service received a total of more than 60,000 calls till January this year, the volume itself indicative of the growing popularity of the service, informed Bhattacharyya.
The CGC intensively carries out efforts for early identification, prevention and timely rehabilitative measures for children having behavioural, developmental or learning problems by its experts so that rehabilitation of such children can be taken up in a smooth manner, right from pre-school and school levels. This is quite an important activity as a NIPCCD publication claims that approximately 2.5 per cent of the country?s population today which translates into around three crores of them as India?s population has been calculated at about 103 crore.
Besides, realising the problem the NGOs and voluntary agencies in the region faced in tapping resources from national and international donor agencies, project preparation and implementation and management etc., an effective NGOs? facilitation centre is being run by NIPCCD. The underlying idea is to help NGOs and voluntary agencies? personnel who may not be having exposure to these facets of their work and thereby help them run their organisations in a better professional way.
Armed with a group of dedicated faculty members NIPCCD works in close coordination with other allied regional institutions, organisations, NGOs, and voluntary agencies like the ICCW. By its relentless efforts during the almost quarter century of its existence so far NIPCCD Guwahati centre has managed to prepare a broad base of properly-trained personnel for filling up the void for experts to work in the field of women and children?s all-round balanced welfare, nothing less.
This centre possesses good infrastructure with spacious and well-equipped office building, hostel and a library which has about 5,000 volumes and subscribes to quite a few important journals.
It is noteworthy that this centre is the first ever regional centre of the Institute and the other three RCs are, Indore, Bangalore and Lucknow with head offices at New Delhi.
Beginning its more than two-and-a-half decade-long fruitful journey virtually from the institute has been able to put up a commendable show with notable strides towards its set aims and goals over the years rendering immense benefit to the society as a whole. And it is poised for a better growth in the near future.
?We are optimistic that NIPCCD would be able to keep bettering its performances in the future also as time passes by and play the role of a catalyst in the uplift of the region?s women and children,? said Bhattacharyya.