July 2014
On 31 July, Sam Sharpe – outgoing Country Head of DFID India – came to the PACS office in New Delhi to say his farewells before moving back to London. He shared with the team some of his reflections on working with PACS and some of his hopes for the future.
Reflections
“I want to say how much I have enjoyed my interactions with PACS.”
“I remember talking about what you’d done on land rights, on manual scavenging, on RSBY [a health insurance scheme], on right to education, on right to information, on right to shelter. What a huge range of issues you have dealt with. It’s been great to see that.”
“PACS is a very good name, it’s got a very good set of achievements, it’s got a very good set of values, it’s very widely respected.”
Highlights
“Some of the things that I particularly remember… I’ve seen some of the really interesting work that you’ve done around MGNREGA [a government employment scheme] – helping people apply for MGNREGA work, helping officials to get good work programmes together. Really practical, really helpful.”
“I’ve also been to some meetings about RSBY [a government health insurance scheme]. I think it’s great that you have gone in to provide practical help to people getting access to these schemes.”
“And then the Community Correspondents project. I think that’s really interesting – helping people to document for themselves [on video] some of the issues that we need to raise awareness of.”
Hopes for the future
“I hope that over the next couple of years PACS is going to be really building on these successes.”
“For me, the combination of practical help that you’re giving people to access rights and entitlements whilst at the same time trying to hold service providers to account through communities. That’s an incredibly powerful combination of work.”
“Our dream would be that PACS becomes an ongoing institution, drawing its resources from a range of sources.”
“I will continue to be an ambassador for all the good things that PACS is doing in India and I hope that if I come back in 2020, I shall find PACS alive and well and continuing to be very influential in all sorts of different ways.”