Under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA), the directorate of higher education in Haryana has instructed all government colleges to identify and adopt at least five villages and one slum each in their respective areas. The move will support the sustainable development of rural communities in the state.
Though the UBA scheme has been in place since 2018, Haryana has only recently released instructions to execute it in the state.
In the circular that the state government issued on Thursday, the directorate instructed all institutions to include professors and students in identifying the problems with rural development and coming up with long-term remedies.
According to the plan, more than 150 colleges and over 250 National Service Scheme (NSS) units will adopt about 1,300 villages and send out students and professors to launch community-led initiatives in five thematic areas: sustainable agriculture, water resource management, artisans, industries and livelihood, basic amenities, and rural energy system.
For the successful implementation of the scheme, the government has reportedly created a goal-driven roadmap with the objective to form a thorough connection between rural communities and higher education institutions (HIEs) for their sustainable development.
The mission's general outline is completed, and the implementation schedule is currently in the developing phase. As per the issued plan, each NSS unit will first use money from the yearly capital outlay issued by the government, after which the programme can be expanded.
Moreover, at least one community-led activity will be conceptualized and carried out by each NSS unit every month.
Meanwhile, various rural areas lag behind in all development metrics because of a lack of information and understanding in the country, while this plan offers a way to bridge the gap. However, in order to do that, universities must have a full faculty, as well as more funding is required for research and development.
