115 Copyright © 2017, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Chapter 10 DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-1880-8.ch010 ABSTRACT The reach of open universities in any society can be gauged by how well their practitioners are able to sense the information needs of their prospective clientele and put in place responsive information and guidance systems. The Open Universities in developing countries face a challenging situation to create such information services because their prospective clientele are too vulnerable, live mostly in geographi- cally inaccessible areas and are nearly cut of from traditional systems of information dissemination. It’s due to this reason that the Indian open universities have long been trying to explore innovative ways of community sensitization. India ofers a challenging situation primarily due to its diverse socioeconomic and cultural settings. Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), having jurisdiction over the entire country, has to face this heterogeneity while planning out its programmes and policies. During three decades of its existence, IGNOU has been using variety of strategies to sensitize the people, enroll them and provide support services right at their doorsteps. However despite the overwhelming response from urban areas, the participation of disadvantaged communities living in deep rural interiors is still a major cause of concern in the university. This chapter critically reviews the issues involved in com- munity sensitization and seeks to evolve a roadmap to reach communities, cut of from the mainstream. The need for information and guidance services has been described in detail. The author’s engagements with socioeconomically disadvantaged communities of Madhya Pradesh (India) have been described. The analysis presented here helps to evolve new paradigms for involvement of local actors and gives the recommendations for successful implementation of outreach programmes. Lessons learnt out of such experimentations will be crucially important to implement India’s ambitious University’s Outreach Programme called “Unnat Bharat Abhiyaan”. Strategizing the Role of Local Actors to Enhance Outreach Umesh Chandra Pandey Indira Gandhi National Open University IGNOU, Jabalpur, India