About Loktantrashala - School For Democracy in Badi Ka Badiya, Post Office Thana, Bhim

Loktantrashala - School For Democracy

In a pluralistic society there is bound to be asymmetrical and disparate perceptions and aspirations for change. However in a democracy these differences have to be balanced by a need to look for commonalities and connections, in a manner in which none of the constituent parts loses its integrity and strength. This call for the creation of an unorthodox learning process appropriate for adults of all ages, gender, class, caste and background engage in reflecting on political processes that affect their lives. This transfer and sharing should also mould different modes and methods, apart from providing space for filling the gaps in understanding issues.

That is why the place of democratic learning is a “shala” or a “school” in the best possible definition of the term. Placing it in the context of democracy provides the widest range of choices for every group that wants to learn about political processes affecting them and society. The school will therefore also have to provide space for developing and using effective tools of political education, along with a focus on defining a meaningful manifestation of participatory democracy.

The School For Democracy will look at democratic education in the context of the constitution and its constituent parts. It will broadly cover political, socio-economic, and cultural aspects of a working democracy. The indicative list and themes will be further defined by learner demands and the curricula will be drawn from this list. This could include socio, economic, political issues, governance, peoples control over the decision making and establishing accountability. The examination of the political system will not be confined to the electoral system of representative democratic process alone, but also study and understand the non-party political process inherited from pre and post independent India; Gandhi, JP and Vinobha. We will locate current movement politics in the context of these concerns. The role of culture and religion in a secular democracy will also be a central concern.

Funding and resources
The Loktantrashala currently has a corpus of rupees twenty lakhs which were donated by Arundhati Roy. With the help of donations we plan to increase the corpus so that it can help in the running costs of the School. Campus
The campus is situated four kilometres away from the town of Bhim, Rajasthan. Our campus includes a meeting hall, two training halls, an office, library, accommodation and a mess.

Faculty
The Loktantrashala will have a non-resident faculty of people from multiple disciplines and interests, and from different classes, gender and castes, from rural and urban India. They will volunteer time to Loktantrashala to facilitate a course on a topic of relevance to understanding democracy. Facilitators also have an option to participate as learners in other courses.

Campus Activities
Currently the Loktantrashala has been organising Charchas (informal discussions in towns and cities by youth on a topic of their choice), Jan-Sansad (People’s Parliament) and Vyakhyan (memorial lecture series). The Loktantrashala continues to hold trainings, orientations, workshops and hosts cultural events. These activities are both on and off campus.