August Activity – Rise and Speak

1. To understand how different groups of people raise their concerns regarding a situation which potentially affects everyone.   
2. To learn the importance of people engagement and participation for success of democracy. 

Critical thinking, Problem-solving, Active participation 

Empathy, Responsibility, Teamwork 

1. Ask President and Vice President to write down the Situation on a page, given by the teacher from Annexure 1 and put on Desh Apnayen Wall.
2. The teacher will divide the class into six groups and assign one stakeholder each. The stakeholder groups are – Environmentalist, Contractor Company, Farmers, Workers, Media & Public. Tell the groups to prepare 2-3 dialogues presenting their stakeholder's group viewpoint about highway construction. 
3. Groups can decide if they want 2-3 representatives to present or entire group to present their stakeholder group viewpoint in creative manner. They can ask Office bearers to provide the guiding points given if required. (Students can use local language, bring fun elements while making dialogues keeping in mind the respect of class.)
4. Inform the President and Vice President to ensure that the pre activity preparation is to be completed atleast one day before the main activity. 

Estimated Time: 30 minutes. 

1. Today we are going to know about importance of people participation in democracy with help of roleplay. 

2. Teacher will invite different stakeholder groups to present their roleplay one by one. The objective of presentation is the interest of their group is heard and considered in the decision-making process. 

3. Ask the following questions after all groups have presented their roleplay. 

• What did you observe in the roleplay about views shared by different stakeholders (groups of people)? 
• Should everyone’s view be taken into consideration while making decision? 
• Why is it important that different groups of people (Stakeholders) for an issue/decision that impact them get chance to share their views? What impact does it have on democracy? 
• What are some of examples that you remember where such participation is observed in our country?

NOTE - If time permits, teacher can give Office Bearer opportunity to conclude the activity as mentioned below. In case if time is short, invite the office bearer to ask the students – What did they learn from the activity?  

Office Bearer will conclude the session by asking everyone to discuss in pairs the viewpoints each stakeholder has about building of the Highway. How is it affecting each group and basis that decide the stand on the issue.  The stand can be For/neutral or (raise questions to government, seek alterations, etc) 

Office Bearer will need to create on Board tally of vote. (Teacher to guide/support throughout the process) 

 Teacher will summarize key learnings:  

• In roleplay, we had different groups sharing different opinions based on how they saw the situation, and how their concerns are considered when discussing a crucial issue like highway construction, or public issues of this manner, etc.  
• People engagement, i.e. opportunity to present their view is important, and the participation i.e. play a part in shaping decisions that impact their lives and communities is important to make democracy successful. 

For this activity, the following can be updated by office bearers on the wall.

• Key learning takeaways of the activity. (encourage different students to write on notebook page their learnings)
• Script of the roleplay presentation

• Avoid lot of preparation for role play like 5-6 practice sessions. Office bearer can give script beforehand and limit practice to 1-2 times.
• Script can be localized into local language for ease of execution for students but keep the essence of message similar.

For activity photos to be shared to engagement officers, please share clear pictures of 

• Students doing the Roleplay (2 photos)
• Office Bearer Conclude the activity (2 photos)
• Desh Apnayen Wall (2 photos)

WhatApp Chat Bot

1) Which Grade activity feedback you want to give in this call?

Press 1 – for Grade 6

Press 2 – for Grade 7

Press 3 – for Grade 8

Press 4 – for Grade 9

2) How was the overall July activity experience in the class?

Press 1 – for Good

Press 2 – for Average

Press 3 – for Needs Improvement

3) How many students of your class participated in the activity?

Press 1 for 1-10

Press 2 for 11-20

Press 3 for 21-30

Press 4 for 31-40

Press 5 for 41-50

Press 6 for more than 50

4) Have you submitted this activity’s pictures/videos to the respective engagement officer?

Press 1 - for Yes

Press 2 – for No

5) Do you want to give feedback for any other grade?

Press 1 - Yes, repeat the process from Question 1-5

Press 2 – No.

Your feedback is valuable. Thank you for your time, your submission is recorded successfully.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf0DpwKmqY5xfgTg9xn9P7x3EsHGYrCZP2GBS7H3DxDhWgRkg/viewform?usp=sf_link

​​Annexure 1 – Role play Scripts​

There is no need to practice together, every group comes and plays their part. 

Situation/Case –

Office Bearer will copy the Case and put on Desh Apnayen Wall. 

Nirmapur is a town located on the borders of its state. The government of the State has been directed by the Central Government to build a state highway that connects Nirmapur with the nearby State. This will then lead to further connectivity with National Highway. The Central and State government has directed the local government authorities to begin the process for construction.

The government officials following due procedures identified a contractor agency. The Contractor agency has done the survey, consultation with few experts, and necessary groundwork, etc. to draw a plan. The highlights of this plan are as follows:

• It will be a state of art infrastructure, dream project for Nirmapur tourism and become a great attraction place.
• Provide direct connectivity to neighbouring state and in future enable connectivity to national Highway.
• Provide economic growth & development for the region.
• People whose land will get acquired will get compensation as per the Law. (Land Acquisition Act 2015)
• The chosen route covers forest areas, farmland as well as residential areas. This will lead to cutting down of trees, displacement of fields, people, loss of greenery, loss of biodiversity of plants and animals in the area, etc.
• Traffic route diversions to be planned for the duration of construction. 

The local government authorities released these key highlights, plan details showing the blueprint of highway construction and have invited suggestions from the different stakeholders. 

Six Stakeholder Groups are -- Each group will can prepare 2–3-minute role play presentation come forward in form of Roleplay to put forward their view. 

1. Environmental Based NGO/ Environmentalist
2. Contractor Company
3. Farmers
4. Workers
5. Media People (Print/TV – all)
6. Larger Public (General public/citizens apart from above mentioned groups)

Guiding points for Different groups about building a new highway to help create role play dialogues:

1. Environmentalists: They are worried about cutting down trees, causing pollution, and affecting animals and plants in the area. They want the project to follow all environmental rules to protect nature.
2. Contractors: They see the highway as good for the region, creating jobs and helping the economy. They need to manage costs well and use good materials for protecting environment & durability.
3. Farmers: They are concerned about losing their land and crops. They want fair compensation and worry about the impact on farming.
4. Workers/Labourers: They are happy to get work building the highway but are worried about their health and the quality of materials used.
5. Media: They see the highway to connect cities but want to make sure it's done right, with rules followed and everyone's concerns heard.
6. Public: People living nearby think the highway will make travel easier and benefit local businesses, but they also worry about noise, pollution, and having to move their homes.

Or

Narrator – (Office bearer) Let us hear the environmentalists view on this highway construction.

Environmentalist 1: The cutting down of trees for this highway project is concerning. It not only contributes to pollution but also disrupts the habitats of many animals and plants.

Environmentalist 2: Though, it will be good for the people around if measures to protect nature are followed. We insist that construction should only begin if all the steps to protect nature are implemented beforehand.

Narrator – (Office bearer) The environmentalist's group is concerned about nature let us hear what the contractor group has to say.

Contractor 1: We believe that this highway will create numerous jobs and boost our local economy. 

Contractor 2: We are committed to using sustainable materials and practices to minimize the environmental impact.

Narrator (Office bearer) let us hear the views of farmer on the Highway construction.

Farmer 1: We are going to lose our farms because of highway construction. It is not just our land; it is our way of life.

Farmer 2: We should get our compensation on time as it is our livelihood. We also wonder how this less growth of crops will impact the needs of the people around. 

Narrator – (Office bearer) The farmers have raised some important concerns, let’s hear what the workers have to share.

Worker 1: Most of us are happy as this job will bring money for the family. 

Worker 2: But the construction work can affect our health and create pollution if the quality of materials used is not good.

Narrator – (Office bearer) The worker group is happy about the job opportunity along with it are very much aware of the alternatives for safety. Let us hear from the media group what they want to share.

Media 1: The highway could connect cities and foster growth, but we need to ensure that everyone’s concerns are addressed adequately. 

Media 2: Transparency is key, and regular updates on different stakeholder’s considerations to be shared by gover. If environmental impact, farmer’s concerns and worker safety issues are addressed, we can support this project.

Narrator – (Office bearer) Indeed, and let’s hear what the citizen group’s views about the highway construction.

Public 1: I believe the highway will make travel easier and could help our local businesses thrive. This highway will be very beneficial for us.

Public 2: But like many others here, I have some worries about increased noise and pollution, and whether some of us might have to evacuate our homes.

Reference Links:

This video is good example of citizen’s engagement–https://youtu.be/u6EB6lNiJ3M  (This is a video in Marathi with English subtitles.)

https://morth.nic.in/land-acquisition

https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2020/12/09/centre-versus-state/