About GRI

Objectives of the Practice

GRI, one of the fourteen rural institutes to be established by the GoI in 1956 to take higher education to rural India, aims at empowering the rural masses through instruction, training and employment. It aims at nurturing and promoting skill development initiatives among its students that would help them be gainfully employed and thus serve the rural community and the nation. In tune with Gandhi’s Nai Talim system of education, it has established DDU-Kaushal Kendra to “empower Youth through Skill Development.” Its vision is to empower graduates with employability potential which is in tune with the Skill India initiative and the Atmanirbhar Bharat programme of GoI.

The Context

The colonial educational model failed to produce skilful personnel who could be gainfully employed for the development of the nation. Realising this lacuna, the Govt. of India established fourteen rural institutes across the country in 1956 to provide rural India with skilled manpower. GRI is one of the two surviving institutes. It has incorporated skill development in all its academic programmes.

As per the Skill-Gap Study conducted by the National Skill Development Corporation, the nation required 109.73 million additional skilled manpower by 2022 in 24 key sectors. The same study revealed that only 4.69% of the total workforce in India has undergone formal skill training as compared to 80% in Japan and 96% in South Korea. To meet this national need and in tune with the directives of the Govt. of India, the Institute has started B.Voc. and D.Voc. programmes under the DDU-Kaushal Kendra Scheme following the National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF).

The Practice

The Gandhigram Rural Institute, true to its name, founding principles, vision and mission, has been at the forefront of upskilling the youth of the nation, especially those from the marginalised, disadvantaged and rural communities. Even before the launch of NEP 2020, Skill Enhancement Courses and Ability Enhancement Courses were incorporated in all undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in addition to multi-disciplinary courses that promote skill development.

The Institute promotes rural industries through training programmes in bakery and confectionery, value addition of edible products through preservation, production of vegetable oils, mushroom cultivation, vermicomposting, etc. The Language departments train students in communication and soft skills, while Science and Technology departments train the students in laboratory skills, software development and coding.

Besides all these programmes, responding to the nation’s call of skilling India, the Institute has started eight B.Voc. programmes and two D.Voc. programmes under the Deen Dayal Upadhyay-Kaushal Kendra (DDU-KK) scheme. During the assessment period, 1576 students, including 416 women, enrolled in these programmes. These programmes meet the specific need for skilled labour in farm and electronic equipment, footwear, renewable energy, multimedia, food production, two-wheeler mechanism and maintenance, textile technology and agriculture. All these programmes comply with the NSQF framework.

Industry partners in this national mission

Institutions providing hands-on training

The Institute visualises this model to be developed into a School of Vocational Studies with support from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Textiles, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship for providing the necessary infrastructure and permanent faculty.

Evidence of Success

During the assessment period, 947 students graduated from DDU-KK. The programmes cited above have good placement and entrepreneurship records. During 2019–2024, 40.18% of students from these programmes were appointed in various companies/establishments and 31.3% are pursuing higher studies.

B.Voc. graduates placed at

Students preferring to proceed for higher education have secured admission to institutions of national and international repute including California Orange Coast College, USA and University of East London, UK. Students of B.Voc. Food Processing have been recognised as Tamil Nadu Student Innovators 2020 with a cash prize of Rs. One lakh. A B.Voc. Dairy Production Technology student has been placed as Dairy Technologist at Almarai Dairy, Saudi Arabia.

Problems Encountered and Resources Required

Situated in a backward district, with not many industries in its vicinity, the Institute faces genuine difficulties in getting experts for giving hands-on training to the students. Agriculture-related programmes face difficulties due to frequent monsoon failure and inadequate cultivable fields. The DDU-KK was started with a non-recurring, one-time grant from the Govt. of India. Due to lack of sanctioned permanent positions and recurring grant, the DDU-KK programmes are run as self-supported programmes with guest faculty only. Due to lack of financial support, the necessary basic infrastructure could not be added and hence the programmes are being managed in temporary buildings with only basic facilities.

The Institute also faces the challenge of arranging campus placements for its successful candidates. Internships, industry visits, hands-on training and field placements for almost all the students of the Institute bridge this gap sufficiently. The alumni of GRI also help in creating placement opportunities.

Objectives of the Practice

With its mooring in the grassroots development programmes of the Gandhian movement, the Gandhigram Rural Institute has followed a three-pronged educational system, namely instruction, research and extension, for the holistic development of its students right from its inception. To enable students to understand social realities better, initiate appropriate action plans to resolve problems and translate research outcomes into practice, the Institute undertakes extension programmes. In fact, these programmes serve as vehicles that carry the instruction and research components to the marginalised and disadvantaged sections of society, with a view to bridging the rural–urban divide.

The Context

India being primarily a land of villages, industrialisation and urbanisation have had a positive as well as a negative impact on it. Positively, the country has emerged as a developing country with significant growth in per capita income, improved standards of living, infrastructure development, improved access to education, employment, modern healthcare and better connectivity. On the contrary, there exist income disparity, wealth imbalance, social inequality, an ever-increasing cost of living, unemployment, underemployment, loss of green cover and poor waste management.

The Institute strives to bridge the gap through a multitude of extension activities, including Village Placement Programmes (VPP) where students stay in remote villages for a specified period of time to understand rural realities and eventually become transformative change agents. The strategy adopted has been: think globally, act locally — to link micro realities with macro perspectives.

The Practice

The extension activities of the Institute are carried out through five major

Village Placement Programme

The Village Placement Programme (VPP) is the flagship extension programme of the Institute and is rural-centric and action-oriented. During their rural stay, the students:

• undertake surveys that aid in identifying and resolving issues;
• create awareness on social issues like waste management, environmental degradation, drug abuse, illiteracy, gender discrimination and government schemes; and
• provide knowledge support, including the use of science and technology for resolving issues.

During the assessment period, the Institute organised:

Regular follow-up actions are undertaken by the departments through periodic visits to service villages.

Research-based extension

Research at GRI has sustained the Institute’s connection with rural realities identified through extension. During the period under report, 48 extension-based research projects to the tune of Rs. 4.66 crores have been carried out, focusing on rural issues such as water and energy conservation, value addition of food products and nutrition, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

NSS and Shanti Sena

GRI has 19 units of the National Service Scheme (NSS), with 1900 volunteers. During 2019–2024, the NSS units of GRI organised more than 150 programmes, including rallies, capacity-building programmes, blood donation camps, exposure visits and career guidance for school children, tree plantation programmes, awareness programmes, observances of days of national importance, polio vaccination drives and eye camps. 35 special camps, involving 1750 volunteers, were organised during the assessment period. The Shanti Sena of the Institute has organised 24 programmes in villages promoting peace and harmony.

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan

The Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, an initiative of the Government of India, is aimed at the active participation of universities and colleges to address local needs, promote sustainable practices and apply academic research to real-world problems through societal participation. In fact, UBA is a validation of the GRI model of extension followed since 1956.

GRI is a Regional Coordinating Institution (RCI) of UBA, coordinating the activities of 159 participating institutions, including four universities, covering 11 districts in South Tamil Nadu. As a Participating Institution of the UBA, the Institute has conducted more than 50 programmes in partnership with the KVK and the rural development departments of both Central and State governments, focusing on the thrust areas of UBA.

Krishi Vigyan Kendra

The Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) unit of GRI has organised more than 600 programmes during the assessment period, benefiting 16432 farmers. 216 field-level demonstrations have been carried out and 5 Kisan Melas have been organised. Nearly 850 soil health cards have been distributed to farmers.

Evidence of Success

The rural connect of GRI is quite strong and has been emulated by other institutions. The Institute’s pioneering extension work has attracted national attention through the formulation of a mandatory course on Community Engagement — a UGC initiative with expertise drawn from GRI. The Ministry of Education, GoI, has recognised GRI as a Regional Coordinating Institution and one of the four institutions identified for UBA-related training programmes.

The Ministries of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Jal Shakti have recognised the Institute as a National Level Monitor (NLM) for monitoring rural development programmes across eight states:

NSS volunteers of GRI have received awards in national camps, including Republic Day camps. The KVK at GRI has won six awards for its agricultural extension programmes during the assessment period.

An analysis of the extension programmes carried out by different departments clearly indicates an enhanced concern for the community, improved nutritional status and habits among pre-school children, awareness among the rural masses about Government welfare schemes, better employment opportunities for the rural youth and the desire to adopt organic farming.

GRI truly cares for the rural populace.

Problems Encountered and Resources Required

1. Inadequate financial support from governmental agencies and lack of interest from non-governmental agencies and the corporate sector have forced the Institute to depend on internal resources to conduct rural extension programmes. Separate funding for research on rural-related issues is an immediate necessity.
2. Students participating in rural extension programmes experience practical problems during their rural stay. However, this helps them understand the realities of rural life in a better manner.
3. The major expectations of the villagers are financial in nature and cannot be fulfilled by the Institute. Hence, there is a decline in the participation of villagers in certain pockets in the extension activities of the Institute, and this demotivates the students and the faculty.
4. The growing awareness regarding the need to connect with the rural masses has pushed mainstream institutions to compete for the same space with GRI.

Mandate

The Gandhigram Rural Institute, started in 1956 to bring higher education to the villages, is fulfilling its mandate through the provision of quality education to the rural populace, by undertaking society-based action research projects and rural-oriented extension programmes, standing shoulder to shoulder with governmental and non-governmental agencies.

The Institute became a Deemed to be University in 1976 in recognition of its excellent contribution to rural India through its holistic, rural-oriented, three-pronged strategy of education. National leaders have acknowledged the Institute’s role in nation building through rural empowerment.

Unique, rural-oriented programmes

While the Institute embarked on extension activities from its inception, the UGC included extension as the third component only in 1976. The various departments and programmes have been structured largely on the rural reconstruction programmes of Mahatma Gandhi. Departments and Centres that are unique in demonstrating the Institute’s commitment to rural transformation include:

Twenty-nine of the sixty-two academic programmes, including Diploma and Certificate programmes, are rural-oriented and unique, and many of them, being the first of their kind, aim at rural empowerment. The Institute works to empower the rural masses through courses on sustainable farming practices, better rural health and sanitation, decentralised governance, rural housing, appropriate rural technology and renewable energy sources, among others. Its DDU-Kaushal Kendra offers skill training for rural empowerment through its eight B.Voc. and two D.Voc. programmes.

Students and alumni

During the assessment period, 5770 students graduated from the Institute. More than 85 per cent of these graduates are from rural areas; nearly 55 per cent of them are first-generation graduates and 58% are women. In fact, 25,477 graduates have emerged from the portals of this institution since it became a Deemed to be University, and the alumni of GRI occupy pivotal positions both in India and abroad. The alumni have contributed to national development by serving as:

Research on rural issues

The research projects undertaken by the faculty and their scholars highlight rural social issues and offer viable solutions. During the assessment period, 147 research scholars received their Ph.D.s for research on rural issues and faculty members carried out 51 research projects focusing on rural issues with a financial outlay of Rs. 13.91 crores. As many as 217 research articles, 42 books and 173 book chapters contributed by the faculty and research scholars focus on rural empowerment.

Role in policy making

The Institute plays a major role in policy making of the Govt. of India. It was a nodal agency for the training of World Bank officials under the Village Immersion Programme (VIP), and for the training of elected Panchayat-level leaders and water and sanitation personnel. The Institute worked in tandem with the Central and State Governments in implementing projects such as:

Currently, faculty members of the Institute serve on the Task Force for drafting the New National Cooperation Policy, the National Executive Committee of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, and the expert committee on Supplementation of Weaning Foods of ICDS, Tamil Nadu.

National roles

• Nodal Agency for Unnat Bharat Abhiyan — the Institute’s key role in rural development has earned it this status from the Govt. of India. Under Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, it supervises 159 institutions across South Tamil Nadu by organising programmes impacting rural lives.
• National Level Monitor — recognised for monitoring the implementation of government-sponsored rural development programmes of the Ministries of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, and Drinking Water and Sanitation across various states.

Krishi Vigyan Kendra

The Institute has a Krishi Vigyan Kendra which advises farmers on new farming practices. Since its inception, it has reached out to nearly 85,000 farmers:

It has won prestigious awards for cluster-level frontline demonstration on oil seeds, for training programmes, and for documenting the success stories of farmers.

Inclusion and lifelong learning

The Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy takes up issues pertaining to the disadvantaged sections of society and makes efforts to mainstream them. Significant contributions include the creation of a district-level database of transgender persons and a report on the health status of manual scavengers and cremation workers.

To facilitate lifelong learning, the Institute offers avenues for school drop-outs to complete their school education through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), of which GRI is a nodal centre. During the assessment period, 378 rural students benefitted from NIOS.

Villages, partnerships and awards

Through its 32 adopted villages and 14 Balwadis, the Institute has worked closely with villagers in implementing the National Literacy Mission and has been honoured with the NLM-UNESCO award for adult literacy.

Through collaboration with national and international organisations, the Institute has conducted collaborative research, training and outreach activities empowering villagers in the districts of Madurai, Theni and Dindigul.

• Best Suryamitra Skill Development Institute award, for training 217 village youth.
• NIWE-IREDA Best Institute of Higher Learning in Wind Energy, with a cash award of Rs. 1.0 lakh.
• Empanelled for the implementation of the GIZ-funded iRISE Upskilling Training Programme.