It's Saturday night at London's Heathrow and readying for the overnight flight to Delhi and the rendezvous with colleagues. We were all set to see programmes for a couple of days before a meeting at the end of the week in Delhi. A quick stop in Delhi and then we flew on to Raipur in the state of Chhattisgarh, and after an overnight stop we travelled 260km and 6 hours on a bumpy road to our destination, the town of Bhawanipatnam in Kalahandi district - Odisha state.

Over the next 2 days we were to learn about a local project, meet the local partner and officials, and meet representatives from the hill and tribal communities to hear their account of the programme and how it improved their lives. Our meetings took place in the town given the restriction for foreign nationals to travel within the districts due to unrest in the state of Odisha with all participants having journeyed to share stories.

The project we were gathered to talk about is technically an internet based platform, but it is so much more than that. Essentially it gives a voice to many people who told us they weren't listened to before, and who, when they did get public services, were treated as if the services were a 'mercy', but now they can 'demand' their rights as citizens. If pregnant women are not getting the mosquito net they are entitled to, a nutrition centre isn't open, or medical services are not reaching a hill community, a simple SMS for a rupee, or a voice message, gets registered on the system, and the officials pick it up and work on the problem. The room was full of stories of people from isolated communities who previously had to travel for a day or more, or face expense they couldn't afford, or just do without health and medical services, food allowances or social benefit pay. But now they were being heard and the officials and the system was being called to account. What's more, at times officials now ask that they be given a chance to fix problems, before the complaint is registered. Accountability in action. As well as the practical and pressing problems being solved, you can see the dignity that is found in being heard. The programme is a way in which citizens and government can work together in a positive way. What's needed now is scale: to other districts, to state level, across states, so that citizens can be heard and government services can be accountable. 1 rupee gets a job done.

Some photos here:

https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A2Ju8EH6Jqar7U - India

This time I also took a day off and went to see some historical sights in Delhi, and travelled out to Agra. Photos here:

https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A2G4VTwGGTXVbD - Delhi

https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A2G0ehgLGGmnxz - Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri, Agra Fort