PAALAM Youth Network

Objective

Paalam, meaning “bridge” in Tamil, is a project initiated by Auroville and established in collaboration with the Bioregional Coordination Group and Youth Link instills unity between Auroville and the local villages. It supports socially-active youths, both men and women, from 18 settlements around Auroville to represent their village in various development initiatives.

Activities

Youth leadership classes, capacity building and sustainable development training, and exposure visits are activities offered in the Paalam program.

During the pandemic, Paalam joined hands with other service-minded groups in the communities to assist AVAG in education and relief operations. Without the support of Paalam, AVAG could not have managed to carry out its elaborate pandemic initiatives.

Our Testimonial

I am Shrini, Filmmaker, Artist and founder of the film production unit ‘Yatra Foundation’. I was born and brought up in a village of Aurovilles’ bioregion and have been a member of PAALAM for a long time. PAALAM serves as a tool to foster harmony and to integrate villages with Auroville through various developmental activities and capacity-building programs. AVAG started this project by selecting youth from the villages demonstrating leadership qualities and various skills, genuinely they nurtured our inner talents and gave us the opportunity to bloom and utilize our knowledge for the development and benefit of our communities. I have been given the opportunity to prepare many films for the programs organized by AVAG and I am very proud to be a member of PAALAM and for my association with AVAG.

- Shrinivasan, Director, Yatra Arts Foundation, Auroville

I am a simple village man, living with my family in the village. I am educated up to B.Sc. I have started with AVAG as a gram panchayat member from 1996 to 2001 and have continued to work with AVAG as a PAALAM member. Paalam means bridge in Tamil, and now I am a bridge between my village and Auroville through AVAG. AVAG conducts seminars for GP members and local leaders to know more about various government schemes allotted to villages through the Gram panchayat. These seminars are very useful to us while working for the village development. I am very happy to work with AVAG as a PAALAM member.

- Tamilarasan, Ex-Vice President, Gram panchayat, Endayanchavadi