Events

The Centre launched the District Fellowship Program in Maharashtra. The Program aimed to identify and train high school/college students in districts of Maharashtra, and then offered them a fellowship to discover and document cultural attributes of their own districts. This was, in a way, an ambitious program which allowed a significant amount of local cultural information to be collected, through inspiring a range of young people, transforming them into what we call as guardians of local cultures.

This program is now becoming a cornerstone of CKA's Chronicle Project, where we source knowledge from the natives themselves. This is the most honest description of India in so many ways.

The Program attracted 580 applications from the entire state, with a significant number of applications coming from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya. After two rounds of applications, around 1-2 Fellows were selected from each district of Maharashtra. The Fellowship ran from April-July. More details can be found in the brochure and the Fellowship report.

The Fellows were invited to FLAME University Campus for a 3-day training program during 8-10 May. During the training, participants received comprehensive instruction on various aspects of cultural documentation. They were trained in data collection techniques, which included developing and using survey tools tailored to capture the nuances of local traditions, practices, and histories. The training also covered effective communication and writing skills, ensuring that the stories collected would be both engaging and informative. The fellows were introduced to data management for social science research, alongside emerging technological tools that could aid in their documentation efforts.

The Schedule of the Training Program can be found here.

The Fellowship Training Program was inaugurated by Dr. Dilip Balsekar (Executive Editor and Secretary, Gazetteers Department, Govt. of MH).