GDi Partners: June Newsletter


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How we're doing!

We are Organising this International Conference on Rural Development

The World Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), two long-time strategic partners of the Ministry of Rural Development, have supported the India in chartering newer directions through investments, partnership development, evidence gathering, and knowledge support.

The three stakeholders are organising a conference titled 'Evolving India: Re-imagining Rural Development for Shared Prosperity', that will take place in New Delhi on June 6 & 7.

GDi is a knowledge partner of this prestigious conference and our team has helped curate the sessions that will bring forth brand new ideas in rural development. The conference will explore themes of digitisation, of strengthening the nexus of agri-food, climate change, nutrition & gender; of entrepreneurship and jobs for the rural youth, of financing, of reimagining collectives and that of rural-urban transition.

Together, we believe this is an appropriate time to chalk out a medium-term plan for 2024-2030 and a long term plan for 2024-2047 in order to do set the right direction for ~195 million households in rural India.

Conference live stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saALGv7KXjo
Conference website: https://www.gdipartners.in/evolving-india-conference

Where we're going!

GDi Signs MoU with Punjab for an Air Quality Project

Department of Science, Technology & Environment, Government of Punjab has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 18th May 2023 with GDi, the broad objective of which is improving air quality in the state. As a part of the MoU, GDi will set up a Strategic Support and Data Unit (SSDU) to assist the Department in key focus areas on air quality. The Government of Punjab has taken multiple initiatives over the last few years to curb pollution, especially air pollution. The government has already prepared a comprehensive action plan for tackling stubble burning in 2022 and has put in place a 24-point action plan to improve air and water quality and to put in place sustainable practices of waste management.

To enable the vision of the state government, GDi will provide support on strategy preparation and implementation on all aspects of air pollution such as stubble management, air pollution hotspot management, control of industrial pollution and proper monitoring of action plans, NCAP, EV Policy implementation. The SSDU will be incubated within the Department, to advise and provide strategic support, programme management, and technology and data support on the design and implementation of these initiatives for Punjab.

Our team has been stationed in Punjab for some months and has been continuously assisting the state government on tackling the crisis of air quality that looms large. We are now one firm step closer to solving for air!

Niti's EdTech Programme Takes off in Chandauli

We are delighted to share the formal launch of NITI Aayog’s Outcome based funding for improving learning outcomes program, in the aspirational district of Chandauli, UP. The program aims to improve learning outcomes of students in Grade 3-8 by linking payment of edtech provider to real outcomes. The inauguration in Chandauli was led by District Magistrate Nikhil Tikaram Funde and attended by officials including CTO, BSA, BEOs, Headmasters, Service Provider and the program management unit appointed by NITI Aayog.

In his address, the DM noted the excitement among students for the edtech product (tablet with PAL software) and motivated officials of the Basic Education Department and the Service Provider to work together for effective development of students.

Know our nation builders!

What is new at GDi?

Meet Anjali

Anjali Aggarwal has joined us after working as a Teach For India fellow, where she worked towards bridging the learning gap of students belonging to low income communities. She holds a degree in B.A. (Hons.) Economics from Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, University of Delhi.

At Teach For India, Anjali applied her academic learnings and on-ground experience to create sustainable and scalable solutions. One year into the fellowship, she co-founded Project Aarohan, an initiative to develop a one stop portal to help educators understand their classrooms’ academic and mental health data. While working on Aarohan, she assumed various cross-functional roles and led the formulation of various strategic initiatives.

She believes that GDi provides her with an opportunity to leverage her past experiences and pursue her future ambition of delivering a nationwide impact across the development sector.

In her free time, when Anjali enjoys craft-making. She likes making things from macrame and clay and loves exploring new places and binge watching shows and movies.

Meet Mrinalini

Mrinalinee Sharma joins GDi after completing the two-year Teach For India Fellowship. She worked with students of grades 7, 8, 9 and 10 in government schools of Delhi, teaching English, Social Studies and Value Education.

During the fellowship, she founded a communication initiative called “Pehli Baat” to open robust communication channels between adolescents and their parents in underserved communities of Delhi. She also ran a community centre called “Khoj Basti” in southeast Delhi as a skill development space for children and women from low-income households. She holds a bachelor’s degree in History from Hindu College, University of Delhi and a diploma in French from Alliance Française Delhi.

Outside of work, Mrinalinee likes to read and watch films. She enjoys visiting museums and monuments around the city. She also likes to cook for friends and family. Motivated to bring transformational change in the country, Mrinalinee believes that strong government systems lay the foundation of nation building. She wants to work with the government towards creating a just, free and equal society for all.

Come Join Us!

What we're thinking!

Sharing our recent learnings, thoughts and conversations through blogs, events and more!

Our CEO goes 'Off the Field'

Ankur Bansal, CEO and founder of GDi, has embarked on a new innings on LinkedIn, with a regular column titled 'Off the Field'. Through this, he will bind his foray into the heart of governance along with his undying love for the sport of cricket. The two passions are tied to India's dreams. In the first column, he's talked about the data century that can make India win the game of development and take home the trophy of change! Read on to know more!

GDi & Niti Aayog Co-author an OpEd on 'Outcome-Based Financing'

To chronicle Niti Aayog's experiment with the concept of 'outcome-based financing', our co-founder Mohit Bahri co-authored an OpEd with Lt Col Updesh Kumar Sharma, who serves as a Joint Advisor at NITI Aayog. The piece on Niti's new public procurement strategy appeared in the Deccan Chronicle on May 17. There is already a mandate within the central government to implement EdTech solutions under the 'Samagra Shiksha' and the 'National Education Policy (NEP) 2020'. Additionally, various states like Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana have implemented interesting EdTech programmes to support teaching and learning.

However, the crux of the argument here is that there is minimal evidence to justify the use of public funds towards EdTech, as the usage of ICT infrastructure continues to remain abysmally low in public schools, with the complete absence of any study that measures the direct impact of such massive spending on student’s learning levels in public schools. While public investment creates ICT labs in schools, no defined channel exists to measure the return on EdTech investments in improving learning outcome in the children who will be the future of India.

In the spirit of transparency, competence and accountability towards outcomes, this is a welcome step.

What we're learning!

Puma's Re:Gen Reports

Nine out of 10 young women and teenage girls in the world’s poorest countries have no access to the internet, a UNICEF report says. The colossal disparity in internet access poses a serious risk that women will be left behind economically in an increasingly digitally connected world. The report has found that adolescent girls and young women have a significantly lower prevalence of digital skills than their male counterparts. Implementing solutions to this problem is core to GDi's work.

Report on AI

Capgemini Research Institute’s new report, ‘Future ready education: Empowering secondary school students with digital skills’, found that overall, over half (56%) of secondary school teachers agreed that curriculums and assessments needed to be adapted to account for student use of AI-generated content, and a similar proportion (52%) believe AI tools will change the teaching profession for the better. Despite concerns about the negative impact of generative AI tools on student learning outcomes, including the perception that the value of writing as a skill will be diminished (66%) and that the tool will limit student creativity (66%), half of secondary school teachers globally say that the potential of generative AI outweighs the risks.

GDi Partners

E-334, Upper Ground Floor,

East of Kailash, New Delhi-110065

admin@gdipartners.in

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