Messages

 Chairman NRSP Message

The National Rural Support Programme(NRSP) is the largest Rural Support Programme(RSP) in the country. The RSPs have an accumulated body of knowledge pertainig to Rural Development spread over quarter of a century.Many a time foreign scholars commented after visiting RSPs the potential for converting this practical experience into a graduate course on the lines of Harvard Business School,making maximum use of the case studies and practical examples from the field.RSPs are spread over 93 districts and 2 Agencies of Pakistan covering 2 million rural households living in 2850 union councils.

 Most of the current degree courses in Rural Development being imparted by the universities in Pakistan do not equip the graduates for the practical implementation of the knowledge.Most RSPs,who recruited such graduates,had to arrange for an in house orientation and training course,often over a year,to equip these graduates with the knowledge and practice needed to undertake rural development.In fact,NRSP over a decade ago had to establish an Institute of Rural Management to meet this need of RSPs.

 I was ,therefore,delighted when International Islamic University expressed an interest in offering an M.Sc. leading to M.Phil. in Rural Development in collaboration with NRSP-IRM.This would be a unique course in this field and would be of immense value not only to the students persuing the studies but also to RSPs in recruiting suitable candidates undertaking rural development practised by RSPs alongwith research

Shoaib Sultan Khan

  NRSP CEO Message

The philosophy proposed for the working of NRSP was extracted from the experience of countries with flourishing small holder agricultural sectors. These are the principles of Raiffeissen used with success in the institutionally based development of German agriculture. In Pakistan, these ideas were first made the basis of a rural development effort by Dr. Akhter Hameed Khan, when he initiated the Comilla project in 1959, in what is now Bangladesh. These ideas have further been tested and proved to be successful by the implementation of integrated development through a participatory approach by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) in the Northern Areas, under the leadership of Mr. Shoaib Sultan Khan during the eighties. 

The NRSP model is a Non-Profit, like a 501C3, rather than a NGO, that then receives a seed capital ‘grant’ that is put into an endowment. Thus, the work of the entity is not influenced by the government. Thus an organization is created that has the flexibility of the Not for profit, with the systems of a corporate body and the credibility of the Government.

 The core assumption of NRSP’s philosophy is that there is a tremendous willingness amongst the people to help themselves. However, people cannot harness this willingness on their own. There is a need to mobilize it. To achieve this, a support mechanism is required that can ensure the provision of social guidance to the people. Social guidance initiates a process wherein the communities learn to organize into socially viable groups, enhance their skills, expand their collective and individual resource base and optimally utilize their available resources. Experience has taught NRSP that in the process of social guidance, the availability of an honest local level activist is vital. 

The idea behind the process of social guidance is to find out what people really want to do themselves and to assess whether whatever they want to do is possible while keeping in view the resource constraints. If it seems that the identified activity is practical, then NRSP assists the community in arranging the desired resources which may be credit, technical assistance, or specialized skill training for overcoming those constraints.

 Achieving Rural Development in Pakistan and responding to global changes will require trained professionals with a wide range of relevant expertise. These are needed to work in Government, Semi Government, Donor Agencies, Non Government Organizations, Private Sector and Rural Support Programmes in Pakistan. There is a great need of those graduates who can formulate appropriate policies and plans, design and implement development projects, disseminate appropriate technology, and information to community organizations and small- scale entrepreneurs in rural areas. Recognizing the growing needs of and requirements for trained professionals in Rural Development National Rural Support Programme has decided to launch MSc Leading to M.Phil in Rural Development in collaboration with International Islamic university Islamabad. MRD will be blend of theory and practice and I hope practioners and students from different backgrounds will avail this opportunity.

Dr. Rashid Bajwa