People's movements and environmental action - the Kerala experience

Abstract

1. The emergence of voluntary organisations. There has been a growing realisation among scientists and social workers in the country that science and scientific research in India, as presently taught and practised, has acquired an elitist character with little or no relevance to or concern for the needs of the people. This has led to the emergence of a number of voluntary organisations ranging from those explicitly oriented towards the "popularisation of science" to those which seek to inculcate among the masses a scientific approach to understanding society and social change as a necessary precondition for progressive social transformation. These groups, spread all over India, vary in size and scope ranging from small groups working on particular problems in a limited area to a mass movement like the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) with a wide range of activities spread over the entire state. A significant feature of these new activities is that they have begun to attract highly trained scientists and techno- logists who have become disenchanted with the relevance of what they have learnt and what they are doing in the "scientific establishments" to the needs of the people.