Resources

This is a brief manual on PRA aimed at rural development workers/facilitators. Issues related to participation - its ideological basis and differences, and our understanding of participation based on our experience of the recent past - are discussed in the fist section of the manual. Discussion on PRA methods and techniques is dealt with in the second section of the manual. PRA methods most commonly in use such as mapping, time lines, wealth ranking etc. are discussed on a topic by topic basis with the use of pictures/charts wherever possible.

This is a workshop report in Hindi, which discusses the use of PRA methods with Dalits and women in India, focusing on three major themes. The first is the need to involve the people who are the 'target' of PRA approaches. Despite the emphasis on 'bottom-up' approaches, this has not been the reality, hence the call to revise and refocus on people. Secondly, PRA practitioners are urged to re-examine their roles and change themselves as part of returning to the roots of PRA. They need to become more helpers and facilitators and less teachers and leaders of PRA projects. Finally, literature on PRA should be in a range of local languages to be more accessible