Gramashrama -  Rural Programme

Gramashrama, CWC's Rural project was started in 1989 in order to address the issue of child labour comprehensively by stemming the trend of migration of rural children to urban centres in search of work. Gramashrama presently works in 80 villages located in four districts of Karnataka in order to evolve a child centred, comprehensive development for its villages in order to make villages child labour free. The task that CWC laid out for itself was to initiate a process to understand reasons why children migrate and explore possible strategies to stem the trend of migration of rural children to urban centres in search of work. The rural programme covers 9 Panchayats, in 4 districts. In addition to the 9 Panchayats we are working in, four other Panchayats, including Hathiangadi Panchayat will join the Toofan programme soon. CWC’s field programmes include both entry and exit strategies for each Panchayat.  

Gramashrama has two specific strategies to strengthen the role of civil society. One is the mobilisation and empowerment of children and all other marginalized  groups. The second is to create/re-design/re-vitalise the mainstream decision making structures so that the most marginalized groups have a say in decision-making processes. Gramashrama facilitates the formation of Bhima Sanghas, School Children’s Organisations, Namma Sabhas, Namma Gumpus (A collective of artisans working in similar occupations)  and Mahila Sanghas (Women’s groups) in all Panchayats. It also facilitates the setting up of Makkala Panchayats and Task Forces (at the Village and the Taluk levels) for effective interfacing between children and adult members of the community and with government officials and elected representatives.

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