On 27 January 2016, PRIA organized a media meet in the conference hall of Hotel Mayura in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, to exchange views on successful implementation of and contribution of media towards Swachch Bharat Mission (SBM). Dr. Rajesh Tandon, President and Mr. Manoj Rai, Director of PRIA presided. Ten media persons from both electronic and print media attended the meet.
The press was briefed about PRIA's work over three decades in promoting ‘participation as empowerment’, capacity building of community organizations, and people’s participation in governance. PRIA's initiatives are undertaken in the overall perspective of ‘making democracy work for all’ – in the political system; democratic culture in families, communities, and society; and participatory democracy with active citizenship.
PRIA's work in Chhattisgarh has been ongoing for nearly two decades. "Technically our work in Chhattisgarh may have begun when the state was formed in 2000, but practically PRIA has been involved since the last 34 years when Chhattisgarh was part of Madhya Pradesh," said Manoj Rai, Director, PRIA. "Currently we are working on the issue of sanitation behaviour change in Ambikapur and Raipur districts along with Water Aid and State Public Health Engineering Department. Together we are stimulating people’s participation and community led actions for effective functioning of District Planning Committees to improve water and sanitation planning at the local level."
Dr Tandon pointed out how media campaigns can be effective and what an important and proactive role media can play a in bringing about the necessary behaviour change.
The gathered media was also briefed about the
state level consultation with academia that was scheduled to be held the next day.
