A group of social scientists, educationists and administrators met one of the days in July, 1972 at Bhopal (India) and urged themselves to work for the advancement of social sciences research and planning for development, specially in a State where research culture was a forbidden fruit for non-governmental institutions. A series of further meetings gave form to ideas and defined the scope and objectives of a non-profit making body. The Institute of Regional Analysis (IRA) was, thus, informally born and formally announced its birth with the registration under the M.P. Firms and Societies Act, on October 10, 1972. The first signatories became members and a Governing Body with three national level professionals and four founders was elected with Late Prof. V.S. Krishnan, Vice-Chancellor of the Bhopal University as the first Chairman and Dr. Davendra K. Sharma as the first Honorary Executive Director. The scope of the areas to be covered swept across a very wide horizon of a multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary landscape. The desire to paint on such a wide canvas since its inception egged us on and eventually bore result that have laid shades of colors in harmony all these years. The funds for such a task in a state like M.P. were always a problem and establishing operational and non-profit making body was an uphill task which appeared impossible to achieve at the initiation stage. In September, 1976 the Ford Foundation released an Institutional Development Grant of dollar 100 thousand for a period of 3 years. This was to be supplemented by generating internal resources after the expiry of the first initial phase. Luckily and, more so, helped by a devoted team of the first Core Faculty, though employed on short duration contracts due to lack of a continuous flow of funds, the IRA has been able to generate internal resources through projects from Union and State Governments, autonomous Institutions and International Organizations like the UNICEF to the extent of 70 percent in its third year.

Founder’s Views Dr. D K Sharma WE DO NOT SAY WE HAVE DONE ANYTHING THE POOR HAVE FUELED US FOR ENERGY WE WILL WALK WITH THEM, NOT RUN. WE DESIRE YOUR GOOD WILL EVEN CONTEMPT IS WORTH WHILE, BUT NOT INDIFFERENCE! GIVE US YOUR SMILE AND WE GIVE YOU OUR HAND.

Ford support was thus a critical one. The second phase started with the Ford Grant for fiscal years 1981-83 of dollar 160 thousand, the major portion going for the development of Rural Development Action Research Cum-Demonstration Cell for identifying and testing unconventional strategies for rural development, training of grass-root level social scientists and workers who might be least literate but could be better suited for interior rural scene in their acceptability and reliability by the village community ultimately. The major emphasis is on the improvement in the quality of life of the rural community through rural women, made aware, equipped better, capable of generating additional sources of income for their households and improving the child who is an important agent for community’s future.

For bringing small innovations and insignificant looking changes/adaptations of technology, or methods or tools and implements, the role of cheap demonstration units has to be encouraged. The IRA has agreed to take up the challenge and has accepted to actively collaborate and associate with Satpura Integrated Rural Development Institution (SIRDI) a voluntary agency involved in such rural development strategies through the Child, the Woman, the Household/Family, the Village Community and the Rural Society finally. The frictions, both visible and invisible in the community have to be reduced; the poorest and the smallest have to be helped to walk along instead of trudging alone; sharing of resources to be demonstrably encouraged; and once such a stage is reached, leave them to grow further and farther. The speed of 2 Kms. an hour can only be improved to 2.3 or 3 Kms. and not 5Kms. Or in such proportion. development will take time to match even small ‘moped’ speeds in such steeped-in tradition society.

The rural community is not human beings alone the hills, forests, streams, rivers, foot-paths, cart-tracks, ponds and marshes, birds and animals, the land and soils all have to be there for that enchanting landscape which always attracts the aesthetic but has lost its enchantment with the onslaught of industrial and commercial civilization. The restructuring of this painting in its harmonious hues is a task not for one but hundreds and thousands of groups, as the IRA or SIRDI are, in a country of our dimensions, both spatially and culturally.

Eminent Board Members (1972-2008), who filled the IRA to move on with commitment for the objective initiated and strengthed ever after.