Mitraniketan
Mitraniketan "Vishwavidyapeetam for Open Learning & Total Development" is a Non-Governmental organization located at Vellanad, which is 25 km away from Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala state in South India. It is a 500-member community, including a staff of 100 men and women. Mitraniketan works in the fields of innovation, training and extension in community development, environment, science, education and appropriate technology. The project was begun with a view to offering education and training in a holistic spirit to primarily socially underprivileged children and youngsters. The organization focuses on alternative education mode for development. History. Mitraniketan was founded  by Padmashri K.Viswanathan in 1956 in his native village. He graduated from Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan (W.B.), studied educational development in USA and Scandinavia, and in the process was inspired to launch the Mitraniketan project, "The Home of Friends", in Sanskrit the word 'Mitra' means Friends 'Niketan' means Home. In 1950s Vellanad was a remote village and there was only one government institution at Vellanad that was Government High School. He started his work by providing supplementary education for the students of nearby schools after school hours. Those class were very informal since he aimed for a total development in  children. As it became a huge success he converted it into a Malayalam medium school. Now it known as the Mitraniketan Vikas Bhavan School (Primary & Secondary). The greatest challenge he faced at that time was the scarcity of students for a regular schooling. Parents of neighboring children were not ready to send their children for an experiment. but Viswanathan was not ready to loose is faith, he moved some northern districts of Kerala where there are huge number of tribal population. He met them, talked with them, stayed with them.. at last they came forward to send their children with  him. Mitraniketan Vikasbhavan school is not a regular school, it aims for developing active citizenship among the students by developing their innate potentials. Location. Main campus of Mitraniketan is situated near Vellanad, Thiruvananthapuram district, state of Kerala, South India. City Center a liaison office, situated at West Fort near Thiruvananthapuram City, Kerala. Education Extension Center situated at Wayanad district of Kerala State. About Mitraniketan. Mitraniketan is a 500-member community, including a staff of about 100 men and women. It operates on a 60-acre campus in architecturally untraditional buildings with classrooms dotted around in a hilly green palm forest . There is a children's hostel, a students' college and hostel, a gym and sports field, a guest house, vocational training workshops, small art and grocery shops, a small but exquisite bakery, a pottery, offices etc. Architecturally noteworthy are especially the open assembly hall and the modest but beautiful home of Viswanathan and his wife, Sethu Viswanathan, at the centre of the settlement. About Founder. Padmashri K.Viswanathan (b. 1928, d. April 28, 2014) graduated from Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan (W.B.), studied educational development in United States and Scandinavia, and in the process was inspired to launch the Mitraniketan project, "The  Home of Friends" in 1956. His endeavours over these more than 50 years have established the place as an internationally reputed institution for learning and development. Activities. Development Education Programmes. This largely residential educational community supports the academic and practical training needs of Socio-economically backward groups. All programs involve integrated education aimed at the total development of each participant. Krishi Vigyan Kendra (Farm Science Center). Mitraniketan KVK is an institutional project funded by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi established in 1979 at Mitraniketan to work on transfer of technology with the objective to bridge the gap  between technology and farmer. KVK works on the mandates of... Sections of Mitraniketan KVK. The KVK has six important sections to cater the needs of the farmers and other associated stakeholders who use land and water for their livelihood. A Training Associate heads each of the section with the duties of Technology transfer, refinement and training. Field days, campaigns and other extension activities are performed under the head of technology transfer on the concrete technologies of the National Agricultural Research System (NARS). Under the refinement mandate the sections perform the Front line Demonstrations (FLD) and On Farm Trails (OFT) are  conducted. The sections under the KVK are: 1. Agronomy : This section deals with technology transfer, refinement and training on the advanced crop production technologies with the main goals of raising the production and productivity of different commercial crops. Agronomy section of the KVK at present is taking the charge of disseminating advanced crop production techniques in the new crop introduced in Kerala Vanilla and other cash crops. The different training programmes under the agronomy section are as follows. Interested candidates can write to the Training Programmes Recycling of farm waste Organic farming Apiculture Vanilla cultivation Intercropping in coconut Homestead farming  Plant nursery management Scientific Rubber tapping. 2. Agricultural Engineering : The Agricultural Engineering section of the KVK is responsible towards the technology transfer, refinement and training activities for farmers and other target groups in effective utilization of the farm equipments and machineries. The section has developed a low cost paddy winnower and has been popularized in various parts of Kerala. Similarly the section has contributed to a greater extent in disseminating the bio gas technology and smokeless Chulah to various target groups of the district. The training programmes conducted under the section are Production of biogas from organic waste Rainwater harvesting  using ferrocement tanks Maintenance of smokeless chulah Improved smokeless chulah Solar equipments Drudgery reducing farm implements. 3. Agricultural Extension : This division carries out trainings for extension functionaries. The division trains different target groups on the sociological aspects of farming. The impact studies of the KVK activities, generation of reports, production of publications, documentation, coordinating the recreational activities of KVK, popularization of certain extension approaches and successful technologies of the KVK by this discipline. The quarterly newsletter and website of the KVK is administered by this division. The training programmes under the discipline are 4. Animal science : This division carries out : 5. Horticulture : The Horticulture division of the KVK deals with the advanced and low cost technology dissemination of fruits, vegetables and flowers. The KVK has a Tissue Culture (TC) lab producing TC banana, orchids and anthuriums. A four-month vocational training programme on aspects of plant propagation and nursery management is conducted for the benefit of the rural youth, farm women, tribals etc., A lab that produces quality mushroom spawn is fully functioning to meet the needs of the mushroom growers. Quality-planting materials of fruit trees and vegetable seeds are produced from the farm maintained by this division. The  training programmes under the division are: 6. Home science:The Home science division of the KVK deals with the post harvest technology for the fruits and vegetables. This division coordinates the women cell activities of the KVK. This section deals all women oriented programmes of the KVK with the aim of economic empowerment. The different training programmes conducted under the division are: 7. Fisheries: UK government's Department for International Development (DFID) is funding a project on Enabling Better Management of Fisheries Conflicts, which is coordinated by this division. The training on the subjects of inland fish farming and ornamental  fish culture is catered for the practicing fish farmers, rural youth and extension functionaries. The skill-oriented demonstration for the ornamental fish culture is provided with the ornamental fish culture tanks maintained at the KVK with different ornamental fishes. The division is serving as a center for social science research in fisheries. The division has a linkage with several NGOs and GOs working for fisheries development. Rural Technology Center (RTC). This center is a Production and Training center aimed at upgrading the livelihood skills of rural artisans and youth in the non-farm sector. This includes Pottery, Carpentry, Forging and  coir fibre product manufacturing. Research and Development in Appropriate Technology Research, development and technology transfer programs concentrate on water & sanitation, low-cost construction technology, development of artisan tools and machinery and natural dye. Mitraniketan has a Core-Support group of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), and the Technology Resource Center of CAPART. Mitraniketan Experimentarium for Energy-efficient Technologies (MEET). Mitraniketan Experimentarium for Energy-efficient Technologies (MEET in short) is an upcoming project of Mitraniketan. It is a hands-on science & technology museum with learning games for students focusing on the field of energy conservation, energy efficiency and sustainable  energy. It was started as a part of Eco-community Project of Mitraniketan, funded by CISU, Denmark.