Pragati (the erstwhile Integrated Rural Health and Development Project) is a field action project of the Centre for Health and Mental Health, School of Social Work. Late Prof. Dr. Vimla Nadkarni Past President of International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) initiated the Integrated Rural Health and Development Project (IRHDP) in 1986, in the remote tribal areas in Shahapur Taluka, Thane district. The project works on the three pillars of health, livelihood, and education with an overall aim of people-centered development. The project celebrated founders day in honour of Dr. Vimla Nadkarni on 18th and 19th December 2023. Prof.Ashabanu Soletti (current project director) highlighted the importance of celebration to remember the legacy of Dr. Nadkarni, appreciate the people who supported the project and express gratitude to the community whose participation has sustained the work of Pragati for over three decades.
On 18 December the project had a one-day Expert consultation workshop on ‘Co-creating spaces and empowering tribal communities’ aimed to promote cooperation and knowledge exchange among organizations who engaged in the sphere of education, health, and livelihood. The consultation was led by Dr. Smitha Nair (Faculty advisor) and Mr. Pravin Yadav (Project Co-ordinator). The organisations working with tribal communities had a brainstorming session, discussion, and recommendations for way forward to engage with tribal communities. The session was a grand success with the organisations agreeing to form a network to work together. Pragati, also released its training manual for skill development on the same day. The manual is the first step towards creating contextually relevant material for skill development of school children.
19th December 2023 saw the coming together of over 800 community members from all the padas where Pragati worked/works, government officials, social workers, fieldwork supervisors and students who were involved with the project. The chief guest for the programme was Mr. Vithal Nadkarni. He is the senior consultant with the Times of India group and the spouse of Dr. Vimla Nadkarni. Prof. Bipin Jojo, Dean, School of Social Work also graced the occasion. The faculty of the Centre for Health and Mental Health were also present to show their support and solidarity for the project. The celebration included dance and music by the members of the community. Click here for photos : Images of Celebrating Pragati-IRHDP founders day!
Know more about Pragati’s work:
Nair, S. S., Soletti, A., & Yadav, P. (2023). Pragati: Sculpting a Social Model of Health in a Resource-Poor Context. The International Journal of Community and Social Development, 5(3), 324-336. https://doi.org/10.1177/25166026231187497
Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/25166026231187497
