Título: Akhtar Hameed Khan
Seção: Comilla Cooperative Pilot Project
Background: Khan was born on 15 July 1914 in Agra. He was among the four sons and three daughters of Khansaahib Ameer Ahmed Khan and Mehmoodah Begum. His father, a police inspector, was inspired by the reformist thinking of Syed Ahmed Khan. In his early age, Khan's mother introduced him to the poetry of Maulana Hali and Muhammad Iqbal, the sermons of Abul Kalam Azad, and the Sufist philosophy of Rumi.

Conteúdo: The Comilla Model (1959) was Khan's initiative in response to the failure of a Village Agricultural and Industrial Development (V-AID) programme that was launched in 1953 in East and West Pakistan with technical assistance from the US government. V-AID remained a government-level attempt to promote citizen participation in the sphere of rural development. Khan launched the project in 1959 on his return from Michigan, and developed a methodology of implementation in the areas of agricultural and rural development on the principle of grassroots-level participation. Initially, the aim was to provide a development model of programmes and institutions that could be replicated across the country. Advisory support in this respect was provided by experts from Harvard and Michigan State Universities, the Ford Foundation, and USAID. Practical help was also sought from Japan to improve the local farming techniques.  Comilla Model simultaneously addressed the problems that were caused by the inadequacy of both local infrastructure and institutions through a range of integrated programmes. The initiatives included the establishment of: a training and development centre; a road-drainage embankment works programme; a decentralized, small scale irrigation programme; and, a two-tiered cooperative system with primary cooperatives operating in the villages, and federations operating at sub-district level.  After Khan's departure from Comilla, the cooperative's model failed in independent Bangla

user: what was the goal of the comilla cooperative pilot project?

assistant: The Comilla Model (1959) was Khan's initiative in response to the failure of a Village Agricultural and Industrial Development (V-AID) programme

user: what were V-AID's failures?

assistant: V-AID remained a government-level attempt to promote citizen participation in the sphere of rural development.

user: how was the comilla model different?

assistant: developed a methodology of implementation in the areas of agricultural and rural development on the principle of grassroots-level participation.

user: what were the major aims of the citizens that participated?

assistant: Initially, the aim was to provide a development model of programmes and institutions that could be replicated across the country.

user: but was the ultimate goal to improve economic conditions for farmers?

assistant: Advisory support in this respect was provided by experts from Harvard and Michigan State Universities, the Ford Foundation, and USAID.

user: did the comilla project succeed?

assistant: Comilla Model simultaneously addressed the problems that were caused by the inadequacy of both local infrastructure and institutions through a range of integrated programmes.

user: do you have any examples of what these problems were?

assistant: The initiatives included the establishment of: a training and development centre; a road-drainage embankment works programme;