We are Back!

Continuing our endeavour towards promoting understanding among youth in Karnataka on the values of federalism, principles and structures of decentralised governance of the country along with confidence in Self and their ability to promote common good    and contribute to participatory governance- the Youth for Governance Fellowship, Mysuru edition is back for a second term.

This year after undergoing a rigorous selection procedure, 24 fellows from law, social work, public health, humanities and environmental engineering background out of a pool of around 100 applications from different colleges and universities of Mysuru have been selected.

The cohort’s orientation program was scheduled on the 12th and 13th of May, inaugurated by Anil Kumar Dixit from Dixit Arogya Dhaama, Mysuru, Dr. Basavaraju R. Shreshta, Executive Director GRAAM and Nikita Rakhyani, Lead, Youth Engagement at PRIA. In line with the fellowship’s objective the chief guests talked about social consciousness of the youth towards civic issues, social responsibility of the youth to preserve and protect democracy, importance of youth participation in democracy and everyday governance in their inaugural address.  Additionally, they were introduced to PRIA and GRAAM’s work and were provided with an overview of the fellowship that they would be immersed in for the coming nine months. Certain norms, dos and don'ts, that the fellows would be required to adhere to for the coming nine months, were laid out and discussed along with the timeline of the fellowship. It was decided that other than meeting face to face sporadically throughout the nine months, the fellows would be meeting virtually every Sunday morning for a two-hour session.

The two-day session was jam-packed with various icebreakers that helped the fellows get to know one another and form connections, team-building exercises that taught them how to work in and with a group, collaborate on a common goal, learn about group dynamics, handle conflict and share skills while working together.

The facilitator urged the fellows to inculcate the values and principles of decision-making, democratic leadership, and conflict.

resolution that underpinned each activity throughout the duration of the fellowship.

The "River of My Life" activity from the Self Module gave the fellows the opportunity to introspect, reflect, learn about themselves, and consider the obstacles they overcame in their life, significant events that shaped who they are as people, and values and qualities they would like to carry forward in their life.

The fellows also brainstormed and mapped out important civic issues related to waste management, deforestation, lakes, substance abuse that concerned them while also finding a solution to these problems.

As part of the second phase of the orientation program, fellows met again on the 21st of May for the face to face session on Gender, facilitated by the Martha Farrell Foundation. . The session aimed to develop a critical understanding of sex and gender among the fellows and the power dynamics that exists between the two concepts.

Through the session, dialogue on gender roles, gender stereotypes, gender expression, sexuality, privilege ensued.