It is 630pm on 4th March 2012
And as Indians prepare to celebrate the spring festival of Holi on 8th March, my thoughts are converging on how this wonderful festival of colours that unites communities in celebrations can be used innovatively by political parties and government agencies to communicate the relevance and the need for civil society to strengthen and support democratic institutions. For instance:
(a) Can Indians celebrate the day by sending a token Rs. 5 cheque to the editor of their daily newspaper or news channel as an appreciation of the excellent work that the fourth estate is doing; the amounts collected by the newspaper and channels may be used to fund journalism scholarships to meritorious candidates.
(b) Can political parties celebrate the day by arranging for the top twenty-five of their senior leaders to camp for the day in select rural constituencies, and celebrate the day through interactions with rural youth on how employment and investments can flow into their rural communities. It would be better if political parties across the spectrum can join in this initiative.
I am sure there are many more ways of using the great community bonding during Holi to foster public-private, government-NGO partnerships, which can help close the great rural-urban divide. Can you share with me some of your ideas on this?
Wishing you a great week ahead.
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