Strengthening Lives, Shifting Behaviour

The Unique Model of ‘Lok Prasar Prakalpa’

Abstract

Lok Prasar Prakalpa (LPP) is a flagship programme implemented by the Government of West Bengal in India to promote folk forms in the state and improve socio-economic conditions of folk artists. Its uniqueness lies in the innovative design of strengthening and involving a critical mass of folk artists enrolled in this programme to give key messages on development issues and promote behaviour change at the community level through Entertainment-Education (EE). These folk artists play a crucial role in reaching out to different communities with customised, language-dialect sensitive and context-specifc social and behavioural change communication (SBCC) messages, including people in underserved areas and also people with low literacy levels. Within three years of implementation, the programme has yielded encouraging results. Certain programme features like monthly fees for enlisted folk artists, regular and quality-based enrolment, frequent capacity building, and appropriate socio-economic support have largely contributed to the success of the programme. UNICEF has also collaborated by extending technical support to the programme in certain areas like training of master trainers, content management, strategic and convergent planning and development of tools for monitoring and documentation. A major advantage of this model is that it is sustainable and easily replicable in other geographic areas with certain minimal necessary adaptations.