Department of Social Work of St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata (SXUK) organised a rural camp from January 15 to 24, 2024 in collaboration with the Child in Need Institute (CINI) at Baikunthapur village.

The camp was organised to make students understand various dimensions of rural life and role of NGOs in riverine villages of the Sundarbans in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.

A total of 55 students along with faculty members participated in the camp. An orientation programme was organized by CINI at Pailan for the students. They visited panchayat, health centres and anganwadi centres. Interactive sessions were organized for the students in Chetna Resource Centre on the role of Panchayati Raj Institutions and Rural Public Health Structure.

Students also met Upa-Pradhan, Officer-in-Charge, and Block Development Officer in Baikunthapur and learnt about the village administration and Panchayat governance. As a part of their course curriculum, students also visited multipurpose cyclone shelter (flood centre) and interacted with tiger widows.

Faculty members helped the students to conduct community survey and generate awareness about the drowning project started by CINI, and social resource mapping. They also visited an NGO to understand their role and responsibilities.

Dr. Rupa Biswas