Be a Jagrik- Active and Responsible Citizenship

Wishing you a very Happy New Year!

We write to you today to share deep gratitude for being a part of the amazing ‘Be a Jagrik’ journey that we embarked upon three years ago. With your support, we have been able to make some great things possible, and we wanted to take this moment to just pause and celebrate this co-creation.  

Thanks to your  support and encouragement for our project which has tremendously enhances our ability to deepen the learning and leadership journey of 150000 Jagriks  and celebrate their  impact to make a case for youth leadership around the constitutional framework. 

There are many reasons to celebrate ‘Be a Jagrik’, and we just wanted to share a few with you: 

1. The Versatility

In 2016, we developed the first iteration of ‘Samvidhan LIVE! Be a Jagrik’, which we now call the ‘classic version', and since then have developed several iterations to address a range of issues and communities.  There is  a certain universality to the game which has made it exciting and relevant to rural, urban and tribal young people and its availability in Assamese, Bengali, English, Gujarati, Hindi and very in Ho, Santhali, Tamil, and Telugu make the potential of its reach even greater.

2. The Numbers

i) By 2020, we would have reached over 400 government and private schools and colleges across the country.  This has particularly been strengthened through the state collectivization process in Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.  Additionally, a lighter touch version of the game is going to an additional 100 Atal Tinkering Labs in government and private schools in different states. This has been made possible through our over 90 youth-engaging organizations in the national and state collectives. Additionally, another 40 youth-led and youth- engaging Change-loomer organizations are taking the ‘Be a Jagrik’ journey to their communities of youth.

ii) From over 2400 Jagriks in 2019, we would have nurtured over 24000 Jagriks who would have gone through the full journey, by the end of 2020. Over 15000 self and social-action projects have been done so far with the number slated to go up to almost 150000 self and social action projects.

iii) Through a partnership with Tata Steel, the game has been contextualized and will reach 20,000 tribal youth in Jharkhand and Odisha.

iv) By 2020, we would have engaged with 200000 light touch or ‘junior jagriks’, including 1 million that we have reached out to in Delhi alone through our work as part of the advisory design team to the Delhi Government Constitution@70 Campaign.

3. Institutional Partnerships

Be a Jagrik as an innovation has captured the imagination of many. We have had the good fortune of collaborating with UNICEF and UNFPA on taking these journeys to a large number of young people, in addition to DKA (Austria), MISEREOR who have supported this journey from the very beginning.

Other than the Delhi Government, we have been actively seeking institutional partnerships through the government. Our partnership with Niti Aayog, seeks to strengthen innovations for social change in ATLs, by taking the students through the ‘Be a Jagrik’ experience. The education department in Madhya Pradesh has issued an advisory for the game to be played in almost 50 schools.Additionally, government partnerships in several other states are being pursued.

By the coming year, we would have trained over 700 facilitators, including from UNV, NYKS, NSS, teachers from government and private schools and colleges, youth workers from CSOs, movements and private organizations, each having the potential to reach 100-200 adolescents and youth per year.

4. Geography and Diversity

Over the past 3 years, ‘Be a Jagrik’ has reached 15 states and we will soon be touching over 75 districts.  A real testament to its versatility has been the diversity of youth it has reached across geographies and contexts, mentioned above.

Before signing off, we would like to share with you a small story of change from one of our Jagriks:

“After undergoing the five week jagrik journey, Kehkasha, a Jagrik from The YP Foundation in Delhi has become a community leader in Nizamuddin. She often recalls the jagrik game task that changed her life and directed her towards thinking of ways to bring about change in her community. One of the gold tasks of the game was to understand the dream of a differently-abled person. Kehkasha spoke to Yasmin, a young girl who was paralyzed since birth. Yasmin said she wanted to become a teacher despite not ever having gone to school. Amazed at her resilience to do something for society that never gave her an equal chance, Kehkasha said Yasmin and her dream changed her life. After school hours, Kehkasha ensures she does her bit everyday inspiring more and more young people to give back to society. Whether it’s gender equality, prevention of violence or understanding constitutional rights, Kehkasha is leading the way to change.”

You can catch more stories like this on our microsite, www.commutiny.in/jagrik, a virtual space that is aggregating these experiences, outreach and impact straight from Jagriks and their facilitators.

Creating empowering spaces through which young people are nurtured into aware, and awakened, active citizens - Be a Jagrik, is no longer just a game, but has become a self perpetuating youth movement that puts young people at the front and centre of social renewal in our country.  This ‘Scoul’ (scale with soul) story has been made possible only as a result of your continued engagement and support over the years and we are deeply indebted to you for this love.   

Thank you so much again and it is indeed really touching to have someone like you to help us  succeed  in  our mission on nurturing wholesome youth leadership. It  is this deep connection that makes this a very intimate conversation for us and in this flow we also wish  to be part of your dream and vision for social change. Look forward to further collaborations and conversation on shared journeys.

Much love,

From all of us at ComMutiny and the Jagrik Community of young leaders

Links:

• Jagrik website