Though in the 1960s, many science movements came into existence, it is only in the 1970s that some of them began to transform themselves into what was later to be called People’s Science Movements. Under the leadership of MP and other like-minded people, a number of such initiatives committed to the use of science for promoting sustainable development and participative democracy were brought together under a loose coalition called the All India People’s Science Network (AIPSN) in 1988. MP saw in such movements, the possibility of forging unity among people, which would eventually push the social and political order towards change. By the late 1980s, there was wide recognition of the need for initiating mass action for bringing about change in the social order through efforts in literacy. KSSP’s massive literacy campaign (1989) in the district of Ernakulam in Kerala, in collaboration with the district administration that reached out to every village of the district, validated this approach in achieving total literacy. The Ernakulam experiment proved to be an impetus to initiate similar mass action for achieving literacy across the country.

Class in session in a Gyan Vigyan Vidyalay

The National Literacy Mission (NLM) set up in 1988 did not have a clear strategy for action and for ensuring people’s participation in the literacy movement. On seeing the substantial response to the efforts of KSSP, the government of India decided to adopt this model to propagate literacy at the national level. At the request of the government, AIPSN decided to form the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS) in 1989 with the primary objective of creating an environment conducive to literacy. Subsequently, the state and district level units of BGVS were formed in many places. During the initial phase, BGVS was involved in large-scale mobilizations for literacy through the powerful medium of kala jathas. The central slogan of BGVS, ‘science and technology for national integration and self reliance’ is reflected in its strategy of mobilization leading to empowerment. BGVS believes that non-literacy outcomes of the campaign would in turn become instruments of larger struggles.

Since 1994, BGVS has been focusing on linking literacy to broader aspects of development such as health, women’s empowerment, livelihood and natural resource management. Learning from its experiences especially in the northern states where literacy could not be sustained, it realized the need to focus on the process of continuing education and a decentralized approach towards literacy. A sharp increase in the national literacy rate by 12 per cent, from 52.2 per cent in 1991 to 64.6 per cent could be attributed to BGVS’ intervention in the Total Literacy Campaigns (TLC) during the early 1990s.1 One of the most significant outcomes of the literacy campaign has been the formation of Samata, a campaign under which a large number of community-based women’s organizations have come together to collectively address issues related to women and to transform it into a women’s movement. By the late 1990s, BGVS went through a process of transformation in the backdrop of differences of opinion on the strategy of implementation with the government. With the decline of governmental funding, BGVS decided to focus on the neediest villages within districts and to explore donor funding.

The Trust entered into a partnership with BGVS in 2002 and in April 2004 sanctioned a substantial grant of Rs. 100 million over a three year period. The grant is being utilized by BGVS to carry on its agenda of mass mobilization for empowerment and development. The SDTT grant is particularly focusing on training and capacity building of BGVS personnel across 20 states in India , developing strong volunteer cadres at the village level and strengthening intervention strategies on key development issues such as basic education, Samata, continuing education and campaigns. Today, BGVS has units in 22 states and union territories and plays an active role in supporting the TLCs in more than 250 districts. The Trust’s support has helped BGVS in carrying out their intervention in all aspects of mass action-training, creation of an enabling environment, co-ordination, mobilization, material development, networking, etc. SDTT support may provide a thrust to the transformative potential of people’s movements that have an impact on varied areas of human development. MP firmly believes that the BGVS movement has a long way to go. The achievements of BGVS are far too insignificant for a country with a population of 1,200 million confronted by a multitude of developmental problems. He feels that the challenge before BGVS is to build strong people’s organizations at the local level which are able to mobilize and empower millions of men and women through critical mass action.

Advocacy efforts by BGVS