The aims of this group are:

1- Build a clear picture of the HBP work happening in Bihar and Jharkhand - Till now each one of us has been individually or at a chapter level been following up with HBP coordinators in the region. But, in the absence of a common platform betwen all of us we are unable to get a whole picutre of the work happening in the area. This cell will aim to stay in touch with HBP contacts in the region and try and do a better job by keeping the TN experience in mind.

2- Cell Members to develop relations with NGO partners and actively seek new groups (not necessarily to fund them) by making visits in the area on their trips to India and being in touch through phone calls/ net/mail etc.

3- Increase AID's presence in Bihar - Though AID has made its presence in Bihar felt through HBP, we need to do more research on other groups and organisations we can partner with. Bihar is one of the BIMARU states and much work needs to be done in Bihar & Jharkhand. However, not too many AID resources have been channelised towards this region. If we work with clarity and special focus and are able to show some progress we are likely to create a great impact.

4- Act as a resource group for the rest of AID and also for those working in Bihar and Jharkhand.

5- Having lecture tours related to developmental issues of this regionIdentifying speakers (academics, social workers and activists) who have a base in Bihar or have studied the problems of Bihar. We must remeber that Bihar is unique in that even after scoring lowest on most of the HDI (Human Development Indices) it has one of the most politically and socially conscious people. T be able to make succesful intervention in the area we need to build our own understanding and speakers can be one good way of doing this. We could enlist support from Univ chapters to ensure we donot eat into door funds for building this understanding.

6- Documentation :a) Ensure that all the reports related to HBP Bihar and Jharkhand are put together in one web space (can be the twiki for the time being)
b) Have extensive reading material/ reading list to build our understanding of the region.

7- Have a web presence through a website.

8- Develop an ability to respond to emergencies and prepare in advance for them - eg the floods in Bihar are an annual occurrence, right now we respond with emergency relief. But, we need to understand this annual phenomena and help our partner NGOs to go beyond this emergency relief paradigm. However, for this we need to come up with creative solutions by learning along with our partners and using the already available thoughts on the issue of floods in Bihar.

9- Struggle Based Issues Document and increase involvement in issues such as 'Jadugoda mining' and local ongoing sangharsh work.