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Bilaspur. In collaboration with UNICEF India, Guru Ghasidas University (Central University) established the country’s first behavioural club. The three-day workshop on the rollout of the Communication for Social and Behavior Change (CSBC) Module concluded on January 11, 2023. The program’s chief guest was Bilaspur Collector Saurabh Kumar (IAS), and the special guest was Siddharth Shrestha, Chief of SBC, UNICEF India. Professor Alok Kumar Chakrawal, the university’s honourable vice chancellor, presided over the event.
Bilaspur Collector Saurabh Kumar (IAS), the program’s Chief Guest, congratulated UNICEF and Guru Ghasidas University on the successful organisation of the workshop and stated that the energy of the youth should be invested in such enterprises that would bring positive changes in their behaviour.
Presiding over the program, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Alok Kumar Chakrawal, thanked the District Collector, Saurabh Kumar (IAS), and Siddharth Shrestha, Chief of SBC, UNICEF India, for visiting the university for the programme organised after the workshop. He stressed that it is the quality of integrating all things that makes one excel. He added that we all must inculcate the quality of sharing resources to benefit the individual and society.
Prof. Chakrawal, the Vice-Chancellor, noted that there is a distinction between dividing and sharing and that understanding this distinction is critical for collaborative efforts. Prof. Chakrawal also demonstrated the point by stating that the seed of the banyan tree is tiny, but it contains enormous potential. Similarly, he added, we should harness the smallest potential within the youth and make it flourish.
Siddharth Shrestha, Chief of SBC UNICEF India, present as a special guest in the program, lauded Prof. Chakrawal’s leadership ability and said that it is creditable that participants from 12 universities have participated in this workshop. He praised the establishment of the country’s first UNICEF Behavioral Club at Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya. He explained that the workshop aims to initiate behaviour change among the youth, and that awareness of cleanliness, nutrition, and so on should be accompanied by a flow of positive energy that should reach others as well.
Earlier, Sanjay Singh, an SBC expert from UNICEF Delhi, said that this workshop of UNICEF talks about personal change as well as social change. UNICEF is constantly striving to achieve this goal. He added that it is with this aim that UNICEF has prepared various modules in collaboration with nine prestigious universities in the country.
Establishment of the country’s first behavioural club
The nation’s first behavioural club was established in room 55 of the B wing of Central University’s UTD building in collaboration with UNICEF. This club has 50 young students serving as volunteers. Youth energy will get channelled into positive and creative activities through the club. Young students will gain awareness and participate in activities related to cleanliness, stress relief, creative expression, and innovation through this club.
Consider including the CSBC module in a value-added course.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Chakrawal, stated in his address that the plan to include the Communication for Social and Behavior Change (CSBC) module in the curriculum as a value-added course is being positively considered for implementation beginning with the next session.
Chhattisgarh is being discussed all over the world.
Siddharth Shrestha, Head of SBC, UNICEF India, said that two case studies of community engagement from Bastar and Dantewada were discussed among over 1600 participants from 180 countries at the UNICEF convention held in Morocco and impressed everyone.
The special guests, Sanjay Singh, SBC specialist of UNICEF Delhi, and Abhishek Singh, SBC specialist of UNICEF Chhattisgarh, along with Registrar of the University Prof. Manish Shrivastava, Convener of the Workshop, Prof. VS Rathore, and Co-Convener Prof. Pratibha J. Mishra, attended the closing ceremony of the three-day workshop.
