Making to understand Panchayat

Course Brief

Abstract

How does a Gram Panchayat—the fundamental unit of democratic self-governance, and closest to the people—plan, build, maintain and sustain infrastructures of and for its public? In this course we will explore this question in the context of water infrastructures within the Aluru gram panchayat area. We will do this through intense, collaborative and in-situ making.

We have been mapping the public water infrastructures of Aluru Panchayat in close collaboration with the members of the Village Water and Sanitation Committee. It includes the various check-dams of Sowparnika Lift Irrigation Scheme, the water tanks and pipelines of Jal Jivan Mission, public open wells and rainwater harvesting ponds, ponds constructed via the MNREGA schemes, etc. Key provocations that emerged are:

1. What are and could be the static and dynamic forms of information linked to water systems that could support ongoing practices of local self-governance of water?

2. In what ways static & dynamic information can be added to, annotated and analysed by the local communities and stakeholders across departments?

3. What forms a public dashboard could take to help local communities and stakeholders across departments navigate and negotiate with their different matters of concerns of water governance?

We invite you to respond to these provocations through a scaffolded learning over a three-day, 30 hours make-a-thon. You will be facilitated to work in teams to firstly engage with participatory mapping to gather layers of rich information about public water infrastructures of Aluru. Following which you will explore the possibilities of a diverse set of stakeholders and community members to engage with such information through mocking up public speculative dashboards. Engaging the diverse communities of the place with the mock-ups, in digital, physical, spatial forms, will make visible for us the historic, current and possible practices of local self-governance of public water infrastructure.

Key words

Rural Public Infrastructure, Gram Panchayat System, Local Self-Governance, Mapping, Making Visible, Water Infrastructure, Water Governance, Speculative Making.

Objective of the course

Since 2023, we have been working in the Kundapura regions, with seven Gram Panchayats—Aluru, Chitturu, Iduru Kunjadi, Keradi, Hakladi, Hemmadi, and Vandse—with the focus of setting a ground to shift from welfare model to care-based model of local self-governance. Through a place-based, practice-driven approach, we have learned much about how a gram panchayat works. We believe that a world of possibilities exist for systems to support the ongoing practices of decision making and local self-governance at this most fundamental level. We have structured this course, as a part of a larger series, with a central objective of learning how a gram panchayat works: how are decisions made and how does participatory self-governance comes to be in practice?

In this offering we ground this intent in the specific context of how water as a public commons and its infrastructure is governed within Aluru Panchayat. Water as a public commons, encompasses infrastructures for not only irrigation and domestic usage, but also for fishing and feeding of other lifeforms, both domesticated and wild. How are these infrastructures planned, built and maintained? Who is involved in the decision making and at what stages? We will explore these questions through intense, collaborative and speculative making of public dashboards. The key objectives driving the learning in the course are:

• Understand what constitutes public water infrastructure in rural areas and the role of the gram panchayat and its various actors in planning, building and maintaining the infrastructure.

• Engage with collaborative mapping and speculative making as an approach to learn about both, local self-governance of public water infrastructure and the role of systems that support local participatory decision making.

Learning Outcomes

• Learning to map with multiple media, the water infrastructures within a panchayat area to gather and organise public information connecting the infrastructure to the panchayat related processes of water governance.

• Learning to collaboratively make speculative information dashboards as learning artifacts to engage with a diverse set of stakeholders and members of the public.

• Reflecting through the mapping and making process to understand the nuances of water governance within a Panchayat and the role of systems supporting local participatory decision making.

What you bring?

This course does not require any prior training or technical background. What matters most is your orientation:

• Curiosity to learn about participatory local self-governance and the role of public information.

• Willingness to making artifacts and working with multiple forms of media: writing, sketching, photography, sound, video, mapping, etc.

• Willingness to walk, map, listen, observe and learn collectively while working long hours in groups in a make-a-thon format.

• Openness to sharing the artifacts made and the learning reflections with the public of the place inviting critique and co-learning.

• Learners who have a background in public policy, creative practices across media, open street mapping, information and database work, or any related practices are encouraged to apply to this course.

What will you make?

At the end of the make-a-thon you will be making a specific digital-physical-spatial form of a public information dashboard about the water infrastructures of Aluru Panchayat. While some of the information will be gathered from the place and other secondary sources, some will be speculative. The visualisation of the information will be oriented to evoke a diverse set of stakeholders of the place to share nuances of how the water infrastructure is governed in practice, thereby making visible the nuances practices of local self-governance. The making will be in group and will be facilitated through a series of scaffolding sessions and resources.

Beyond the make-a-thon, there will be a possibility for you to continue to work in collaboration with the Aluru Panchayat and Living Labs Institute towards realising your idea to support participatory local self-governance practices.

Learning modes

The primary mode of learning will be making, structured as a in-place make-a-thon. Making will happen in groups, and in response to specific provocations mentioned in the brief, which will be fleshed out through the following specific learning modes:

• Walking, drawing, sketching, mapping and annotating physically, in place.

• Guided Conversations with key collaborators from the Village Water and Sanitation Committee, Aluru Panchayat elected members, members of the public, engineers of irrigation department, etc.

• Learning cases of speculative dashboards and critical making.

• Public engagement via exhibition.

Course Fee

Fee Summary

Our course fees vary based on the total Notional Learning Hours (NLH). When you view a course description, you'll see a transparent breakdown of costs which reflects the unique structure and requirements of that particular learning experience. The published cost calculation below gives you clarity on what's included in your fees. As more learners join a course, we may adjust the per-person cost accordingly. We track all expenditures carefully against our initial estimates to ensure resources are used effectively for your learning journey. For more information please look at FAQ page.

Course fees includes:

1. Facilitator compensation - Rs. 4800

2. Accommodation (Shared room) - Rs. 3120

3. Food & Local travel - Rs. 1680

4. Materials and Supplies - Rs. 2400

5. Support and Sustenance - Rs. 2400

6. GST @ 18% - Rs. 2592

Total Fee per learner is Rs.17000 (Rupees Seventeen Thousand Only). Fee to be paid only on receiving the invitation to join the course cohort.

- In make-A-thon 100% of the NLH is compensated for our Fellow course facilitators co-designing, facilitating and managing the entire course.
- Shared accommodation will be organised. At the time of onboarding we will ask you for preferences. In make-A-thon the making space will be in the same vicinity as the accommodation to enable long duration of making, which will be a key consideration for accommodation.
- All meal costs are included in the fees. All local commute(shared autos) commonly organised is covered in the Fees. There might be additional cost that the learner should factor in for any fieldwork expenses.
- Cost towards any materials and supplies required during the coursework sessions. Please see the coursework (will be shared one week before the start of the make-a-thon) for full list of materials covered in the cost.
- Support & Sustenance: This amount will be utilised for extending financial support to learners who seek support (details are available in the application form). Any surplus will be added to the corpus for the sustenance of LLI.
- Our fiscal host for Trimester 01 is Aruvu LLP. As per the IT rules a GST of 18% will be charged on the fee collected for the course.

Fee does not include

• Travel cost to Kundapura and return is not covered in the fees.

• Cost of any equipment or other specific materials relevant to Learner’s practice. We recommend the learners to carry any specialised equipments or materials with them to Kundapura.