#evaluation techniques

In line with this, the Department of Science & Technology through its Ministry of Science of Technology has released the Scientific Social Responsibility Guidelines. This is a framework to facilitate the integration of science and technology into society. These guidelines emphasize the moral obligation of the scientific community to share the fruits of knowledge with various stakeholders and play an active role in the equitable distribution of knowledge.

Once upon a time, in a sprawling metropolis – a liftman (resident of a slum) had severe cough from weeks and went on taking medicines from local doctors or quacks. Scared of losing his job, he didn’t tell about it to anyone. As he was on medication under local doctor without proper diagnosis, his undiagnosed TB turned into MDR (Multi-drug resistant) TB. Later, this Tuberculosis spread among the people who used to use the lift that he operated. One undiagnosed case led to many others. This is not a tale out of any story book; but the reality that exists across urban areas in our country.

Recently I got an opportunity to visit Jharkhand, which made me nostalgic for my school days. The state is known for its exclusive reservoir of mineral resources, picturesque landscape, and of course home to a high concentration of tribal population. Though industrialization started in this area even before independence and contributed to the economy of the nation, the tribal population of Jharkhand remained untouched by the industrial revolution. Resulting in unequal distribution of resources, poverty, and low literacy rates. Even after being carved out as a separate state in the year 2000, it remains far behind in the literacy rate and women are the hardest hit due to a lack of educational opportunities in remote areas, naxalism, trafficking, and early marriage.  If we look into the statistics the national average for female literacy was 68.4%, whereas, for the state of Jharkhand, it was 59%, only slightly higher than Bihar and Rajasthan. The percentage of women having 10 or more years of schooling has also been at its lowest, i.e., 28.7%.

DevInsights (DI) is celebrating its seventh (7th) birthday on December 4, 2022. The journey of DI started in a small corner of our living room, with a desk and chair sponsored by my father, furnishings, and stationaries supported by my wife (also one of the co-founders of DI), and lots of blessings from my mother. We started with a dream to become a credible source of evidence creation for effective decision-making in the social development sector, contributing to changing the lives of people. The second and equally important mission is of creating leaders of tomorrow, thereby generating wisdom in the field of research, monitoring, and evaluation [Refer to the Mission Statement of DevInsights: https://devinsights.co.in/overview/].