NSHM SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

OBJECTIVES OF THE PRACTICE

NSHM was established with the express intent of catering to the growing needs of the rural community for decent technical education, development and growth. Towards the attainment of this cherished goal NSHM has been regularly launching programs that carry forward the onus of up liftmen of the neighboring rural community. Several programs regarding the banking awareness in the rural areas have been initiated by NSHM. Another intention of these activities is to inculcate in youth an honest concern for the delicately poised health, hygienic, social and economic conditions prevailing in rural Bengal. NSHM regularly promotes and arranges blood donation camps, health and hygiene camps in the campus to help the community.

CONTEXT

Engagement with community is one of the core values of NSHM. It is with this belief that the institute was established in a rural area on the outskirts of Durgapur, in Arrah village. The guiding principle of the institute is to ensure consonance and connect with a predominantly agrarian neighborhood. In accordance with the 12th plan guidelines of UGC, NSHM established a number of bodies, committees and cells to promote and sustain various extension activities. Such activities successfully organised by the students and faculty of NSHM promote distinct contribution to the development of knowledge in the field of social service, community engagement. They inculcate the spirit of social responsibility and prepare the youth for the new world citizenship. Every year the institute organises the following CSR activities:

• Book Donation
• Blood Donation
• Eye Check Up camp
• Health Check-up camp
• Swad O Pushti ( Mid-Day meal scheme)
• Cloth Donation
• Tree plantation
• Community meal for locals
• Employment of the locals

Apart from the above regular activities, the institute has also catered to the following CSR activities in the last couple of years: Development of roads, construction of bus stand, Swach Bharat Abhiyaan, ATM centre outside the campus. The institute also has a free eye check up lab for the locals all through out the year. The institute is also a member of the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan under MHRD, India.

THE PRACTICE

The major categories of programmes fall into

• Health and hygiene
• Youth training
• Environment (Clean and Green)
• Distribution/Donation of Equipment and commodities.

NSHM has organized training programs, health and hygiene camps, clean and green programmes and various categories of distribution of equipment and commodities over last five years. Apart from the above regular activities, the institute has also catered to the following CSR activities in the last couple of years: Development of roads, construction of bus stand, Swach Bharat Abhiyaan, ATM centre outside the campus. The institute also has a free eye check-up lab for the locals all throughout the year.

Health and hygiene is considered one of the three major problem areas that affect the rural population of our country. Despite major initiatives taken by successive Governments with growing participation of the NGOs, it still remains one of the biggest challenges before us. Starting in a small way with blood donation camps, NSHM gradually forayed into larger programmes like Eye camps, Health Care etc. which covered a greater number of villages.

NSHM also aimed at developing the employment of the local community if the Arrah, Shibtala region in order to improve the health and living standards of the locals and give them local employment.

From the experience and the knowledge gained about the inclinations of the clientele and the expertise in planning the deployment of resources we took up a much larger project to provide security and health to locals in nearby villages. The main aims of the project were to educate the local school cooks and train them on more nutritional food in the mid-day meals given by the government. The faculties of NSHM went not only to the locals but also to the different districts of west Bengal to enlarge the scope of their activities and benefit the children of west Bengal. A cyclic menu was also designed by them and recommended at the same cost which would give more choices of food with nutrition value.

The second most important area that NSHM paid attention to is the clean and green initiative popularized by the Central Government. Under this a series of plantation drives were taken up in the campus. Plant a Tree, Clean and Green campus are awareness programs highlighting the importance of certain plant species for providing balance in this universe. Also, the programmes highlighted the role played by greenery in controlling the temperature and delaying the global warming process.

NSHM conducted a series of academic and technical training programmes in collaboration with Government scheme under NSHM Skills like PMSKVY (Prime Minister Skill and Kaushal Vikas Yojna) and Non-Government Organisation such as Rotract Club. These included donate a book, donate clothes, Skill development to unemployed youth, Skill development for self-help groups, etc. The environmental friendly cutlery is being introduced so that the reusable plate and spoons can also be used thus avoiding the use of environmental unfriendly cups and plates. Eco-Diwali to control air pollution and sound pollution named “Alok Varsha” is being organised in the institute. Eco-friendly Holi using recycled material is also being organised in the institute.

EVIDENCE OF SUCCESS

The response to the various programs implemented over the years has been encouraging. In terms of participation there has been a marked increase in the participation of faculty and students. This translates into 4.16 lakh man hours spent in various service activities. This indicates a positive impact on student enthusiasm and interest and makes a good platform for wider participation and involvement in forth coming programs. The moral support of Health Department and Junior School teachers helped our students immensely in acclimatizing to the conditions. The smooth transfer of academic and experiential knowledge benefited them mutually. The community has developed in the local areas and they are more concerned towards education and better living. The biggest take away from the program is for the team members and students who were moved to learn that charity is not just a stack of clothes or a wad of notes but that it involves emotions like joy, gratitude and satisfaction.

PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED AND RESOURCED REQUIRED

A number of CSR activities were conducted by NSHM inside the campus as well as around the local areas and some other districts of west Bengal. However certain problems were recognised stated as below:

Lack of awareness among the community about various schemes and also the blind belief of the community in superstitions. General apathy and cynicism towards programmes. Time constraints for the community participants due to their work schedules. The busy academic schedule that limits the participation of students and faculty. Lack of consistent follow-up due to dearth of human resources. Lack of continuity to sustain the tempo of the standard practices introduced. Lack of experience and awareness among community workers. Huge participation lead to requirement of security.

To overcome these some of the required resources are:

Quality human resources Awareness and willingness to engage in such activities among the members of the community Medical equipment Partnerships which can ensure multi-fold increase and help extend from miniscule to macro level. Financial aid is crucial to meet various expenses such as

• Transport/conveyance
• Publicity
• Training and materials etc.

Human resources

• Experts to motivate, monitor and manifest
• Beneficiaries
• Students
• Partners etc.

United cooperation from community, other surrounding academic institutions and local administration. Pressing need for values and wholesome development among students. Government aided projects needs to be initiated for procurement of funds and initiation of projects.

NOTE

The miniscule efforts of the students and faculty of NSHM have attained commendable success. However, to extend the same to other areas on a larger scale it is imperative to prepare a macro level action plan roping in other academic institutions in the neighbourhood. Such extended practice is essential to facilitate the larger vision of empowerment through convergence and involvement of various teams, groups, individuals and departments such as members of other academic institutions, community participants, panchayat members, Central/State Government representatives, NGOs, philanthropic groups and private volunteers. It requires detailed planning of the identified programs to be initiated with all stake-holders forming into groups and zonal committees. Regular interactions at various levels and timely supervision, guidance and convergence of the various projects would certainly contribute to the realization of the prime objective. The authorities on their part should string together the individual successes and elicit larger and sustained contributions from them in future. Only such meaningful engagement brings benefits to rural communities and continuous enrichment to academic activities in institution.

ICT applications to academic and administrative functions

Objectives of the Practice

These two factors combined derive numerous activities in educational process in which ICT is or can be implemented. In order to streamline them and to try to identify some common points and shared resources, it is proposed to group them in three sets of objectives

(i) To facilitate Independent as well as Interactive teaching and learning.

(ii) To enhance effective knowledge transfer in classroom with various electronic gadgets.

(iii) To implement a reliable, secure and user friendly business solution in order to improve productivity, increase efficiency, decrease cost and streamline processes.

Context

Integrating ICT in Education is a relatively new concept and education leaders across the globe are trying to find the right balance for necessary optimization. Self-paced learning has taken a different dimension. The process of using ICT in everyday education is very complicated. The opportunities provided by ICT to support teaching and learning are not problem-free. The barriers may be classified into two major categories of extrinsic and intrinsic barriers. Extrinsic barriers are first-order and cited access time, support, resources and training and intrinsic barriers as second-order and cited attitudes, beliefs, practices and resistance. However the above challenges were skilfully met and ICT was implemented in NSHM Knowledge Campus.

Practice

Higher education in India is experiencing a major transformation in terms of access and quality. The same is highly influenced by swift development of ICT. Other relevant parameters viz. Management, Efficiency, Pedagogy and Quality are also transforming equally. ICT is an umbrella of terms that includes any communication device or application including but not limited to Radio, TV, Cell Phone, Computer, Network, Hardware, Software etc. E-learning, Blended Learning and Distance Learning have emerged as key categories of Education and Training.

The use of ICT at NSHM is evident from the following activities:

Hardware Infrastructure

Network and Security Infrastructure

Fortigate300D UTM is in place which ensures filtered bandwidth for students as well as team members.

Extreme Core Switch X460G2 controls all the distribution switches which are also responsible for managing VLAN in the campus.

All the PCs are protected with Kaspersky Endpoint security.

Wi-fi Infrastructure

Selected Wi-fi facilities are available in –

1.NSHM Front Office 2.NSHM Conference Room 3.NSHM Seminar Hall 4.NSHM Mind Tree 5.NSHM Central Library 6.NBS Staff Room 7.OLD NFET Ground Floor 8.OLD NFET Staff Room1 9.OLD NFET Staff Room3 10.OLD NFET Second Floor 11.NEW NFET Ground Floor 12.NEW NFET First Floor

Brief description of IT facilities:

1.Centralized Computer labs with 24X7 internet facility

2.Domain login facility [active directory]

3.Virtual data storage facility (individual)

4.Common virtual storage facility to share data among themselves

5.Central web filtering facility

6.Centralized Antivirus

7.Bandwidth management facility

8.Centralized ONLINE UPS system (power backup)

9.Central Windows update facility

10.Cloud based ERP (TCSiON)

11.Pocket based WiFi facility since 2007 , updated in 2017

E-governance: E-governance through TCS iON ERP system has been implemented for most of the modules. The details are stated below

The iON Digital Campus Solution comprises of a suite of offerings, starting from Enquiry by a prospective candidate till his / her exit from the campus. It also provides support services which facilitate Digital Campus.

The key features of Digital Campus Solution are stated below

Academic Master Setup

Create Programs and Batches under which students will be admitted. Creation of Fee Structure for the respective programs and batches so as to enable the system to collect right fees.

Admission

Filling up of Enquiry form in order to capture basic details of a prospective candidate. Filling up of Application form for capturing further necessary details of the candidates willing to take admission. Manual Counselling and assignment of a candidate to a batch.

Library Management

Maintaining updated list of Catalogues and Holdings through the system. Maintaining library transaction records for students.

Letter Generation Generation of Bank Challan for each and every student.

Money Receipt post payment of fees

Hostel Management

Registration of students in Hostel. Leave application of students from Hostel as and when required duly approved by Hostel Warden

Learning Management System

Digital Learning platform integrates Learning Management System (LMS), Collaboration and Communication to facilitate experiential learning for improved learner outcomes.

The platform architecture of Digital Learning supports a collaborative pedagogical model to enrich participatory learning by offering course delivery, assessment, reports and other learning opportunities in a secure, community delivery mode. This module works as a platform which enables students as well as faculties to interact, share thoughts, share write-ups and videos as well as assignments as and when required. Quiz, Survey, Debate can also be handled by the same platform.

Communication between various stakeholder

Students and parents can login in the system and view the relevant details regarding Fees, Subjects, Hostel

Allocation, Library Transaction, and Attendance.

Evidence of Success: Classes have become more interactive due to impact of ICT. It has become convenient for the faculties to mark the attendance digitally in the class which is helpful for faster reporting as well as faster resolution of other related issues. Communication with the students has become much more convenient. Transparency in all relevant departments has improved significantly. In order to achieve faster communication, each and every student has been provided with an email from the institution. Furthermore, through a feature called Self Service, students can access certain relevant information on their own. Students are more inclined towards self-learning through digital media. Students are able to connect to distant teaching tools and researchers through ICT. Inclination towards research has also developed throughout the institute.

Problems Encountered and Resources Required

1. Adaption was a challenge in some of the areas. This was overcome by repetitive training and workshops.
2. Proper training methods for students and teachers.
3. Teachers suffer from a lack of time to prepare ICT materials for lessons. To overcome this additional time required was given to use ICT tools appropriately in order to successfully integrate technologies into the classroom.
4. ICT maintenance was also a problem faced with was controlled by internal quality control and efficient technicians.
5. Make the students aware of ICT and inspire them to use it.