Hyderabad: The National Council of Rural Institutes (NCRI) and University of Hyderabad (UoH) on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate in the broad areas of teaching-learning and research, as related to various aspects of rural India.
The cooperation as currently envisaged is between NCRI and the University’s School of Social Sciences, School of Economics, the Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication (Department of Communication and UNESCO Chair on Community Media) and the School of Management Studies.
Dr. W.G. Prasanna Kumar, Chairman, NCRI and Shri P. Sardar Singh, Registrar, University of Hyderabad signed the MoU in the presence of Prof. Appa Rao Podile, Vice-Chancellor, UoH; Deans of Schools of Social Sciences, Management Studies, Head of Communication department and Prof. Vinod Pavarala, the UNESCO Chair on Community Media.
The objectives of the MoU are as follows: To promote study of various dimensions of rural India – social, economic, political, and cultural – at the post-graduate level;
To encourage students and faculty to undertake/incorporate study of rural India as part of their curriculum as well as through projects and internships;
To support doctoral research and other allied academic activities (e.g. conferences/seminars/ workshops) focusing on issues related to rural India;
To enable students and faculty to take up community engagement activities and research in rural areas for the mutual benefit of rural areas as well participating members of the academic community; and, to build an eco-system for giving focused academic attention on issues related to rural society and economy, policies and programmes for rural development, and the role of communication for social change. (INN)