AGA KHAN RURAL SUPPORT PROGRAMME INDIA - APR 2014-15

ANNUAL REPORT 2014

A PROGRAMME OF THE AGA KHAN DEVELOPMENT NETWORK

वछताही वथ जीवन का अाघार

Gujarat

Rajasthan Uttarpradesh

Delhi

Chhattisgarh

Jharkhand

Madhya Pradesh

Bihar

Maharashtra

AhmedabadBhopal

Patna

I N D I A

THIS IS AN INDICATIVE MAP /ARTIST’S REPRESENTATION - NOT TO SCALE

PROGRAMME AREAS OF AKRSP (INDIA)

GUJARATBHARUCH, SURAT, NARMADA, TAPI, NAVSARI and DANG districts are some of the poorest areas in the state of Gujarat. A very poor tribal community lives on undulating and degraded land that was once heavily forested. Primitive Tribal Groups, largely landless, eke out a livelihood through labour and bamboo work.

JUNAGADH, PORBANDAR, JAMNAGAR, GIR SOMNATH and DEVBHOOMI DWARKA districts face problems of groundwater depletion and salinity ingress on the coast; these adversely affects livelihoods and health with poor drinking water quality. Multi-caste and multi-religious communities are struggling to sustain their livelihoods.

SURENDRANAGAR, RAJKOT and MORBI districts are amongst the most drought-prone districts of Gujarat. Most of the villages in these districts face an acute scarcity of water.

MADHYA PRADESHKHANDWA, BARWANI, BURHANPUR, KHARGONE and DHAR districts in Madhya Pradesh are home to marginalized tribal populations who live in poverty despite the rich natural resource base.

BIHARMUZAFFARPUR and SAMASTIPUR districts in flood-prone Bihar are low in Human Development Indices (HDI), have very low literacy rates. Migration to the urban areas is a key source of livelihood.

VISION MISSION VALUES“AKRSP (India) can contribute in

India to the creation of an enabling

environment in which rural people

can identify their needs and

priorities and with professional

support, organize themselves to

improve the quality of their lives”

- His Highness the Aga Khan

AKRSP (India) exists to enable the

empowerment of rural communities

and groups, particularly the under-

privileged and women, to take

control over their lives and manage

their environment, to create a

better and more equitable society

• Empowerment

• Equity

• Transparency

• Collaboration

• Professional Excellence

• Responsive to Change

GOVERNANCE

Nasser M Munjee ChairpersonAshish Merchant Director Bakul Virani Director Isher J Ahluwalia Director Kasim Ali F Merchant Director Madhu Sarin DirectorPradip Khandwalla Director S B Ravi Pandit DirectorVenu Srinivasan Director Wajahat Habibullah DirectorTom Austin Ex-officio DirectorApoorva Oza Secretary

Ashish Merchant ChairmanBakul Virani MemberBhupinder Gupta MemberApoorva Oza MemberAlok Krishna Secretary

State Bank of India, Navrangpura Branch, AhmedabadState Bank of India, Vadaj Branch, AhmedabadAxis Bank, C.G.Road, Ahmedabad

Statutory Auditors M/s Haribhakti & Co MumbaiInternal Auditors M/s Talati & Talati Ahmedabad Todi Tulsyan & Co. (For Bihar)

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

AUDIT COMMITTEE

BANKERS

AUDITORS

PARTNERS IN OUR ENDEAVOUR IN 2014

• Aga Khan Foundation • American Indian Foundation• Arghyam Trust • Axis Bank Foundation• British Maritime Technology (BMT)• Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) • CottonConnect• Department for International Development (DFID)• European Union• Ford Foundation• Hilton Foundation • Hivos• HUVF • IIT, Mumbai• Marshall Foundation• Microsoft Corporation• NABARD (Gujarat ,Madhya Pradesh and Bihar) • Quest Alliance• Tata Trusts• United Phosphorous Limited • Water Aid • World Bank• Tata Chemical Society For Rural Development• WGWLO• CiNi• CSPC• Departments/ Units of the Government of Gujarat*,

Madhya Pradesh and Bihar•Tribal Development •Rural Development Department •Water and Sanitation Management Organisation

(WASMO)• Irrigation Department •Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation•Sardar Sarovar Nigam Limited(SSNL) •Gujarat Green Revolution Company•Gujarat Livelihood Promotion Company (The

Gujarat unit of the National Rural Livelihood Mission)

•Agriculture Department•Forest Department•Tourism Department

• Ministry of Non Conventional And Energy Sources

(MNES) • Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC)• South Asia Pro-Poor Livestock Promotion

Programme(SAPPLPP)(an NDDB-FAO initiative)

*Most government funding is from Government of India schemes which are co funded by the state government

• Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad • Centre for Integrated Development (CFID) • Development Support Centre (DSC) • Global Fund for Community Foundations, South

Africa • Gujarat Institute of Development Research (GIDR)• Indian Natural Resource Economics Management

Foundation (INREM)• Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) • International Water Management Institute (IWMI) • Livelihood School, Basix • Research in Rain Fed Areas, RRA Network• Seva Mandir, Udaipur • TERI University • Watersheds Services and Support Network

(WASSAN)

• Aga Khan Development Network• Sajjata Sangh • Pravah• Working Group For Women and Land Ownership• Coastal Salinity Prevention Cell (CSPC)• Gujarat Biodiversity Board

• Charkha

Research Partners

Network Partners

Communication Partner

Women SHGs in Dangs programme area have garnered much support from the community

FOREWORD

Over the years, the development agenda in India has remained largely untouched; the tools at our disposal to tackle this agenda have changed immeasurably. It is discouraging to see that, while much progress has been made in a number of States; other States remain in an appalling state of neglect from the point of view of even basic services. Large parts of India remain untouched by any systematic development interventions. It is common to find vast swathes of territory that are homes to millions of citizen who lack access to even rudimentary health care and schooling, extremely high levels of female illiteracy, uncertain incomes and poor governance.

India has achieved a level of economic development where these conditions, experienced by millions of her citizen, have no place. The accumulation of private wealth through the emergence of financial and services sector, the large Indian transnational corporations, the development of IT prowess, the innovations in small systems that can have huge impact, energy innovations, networks that permit distance learning and diagnostics, water

purification technologies, using computers for skill enhancement, and the emergence of an army of young, energetic and caring Indians all demonstrate that the manner in which the development agenda needs to be tackled has changed. Expecting dramatic change by doing things in traditional ways is not necessarily the answer. There are endless possibilities afforded by completely new ways of impacting old problems.

AKRSP(India) has been addressing the development agenda over thirty years. Our annual reports are a testament to what we have been able to achieve through constant improvement in the way we do things and our ability to constantly reinvent ourselves in tune with the problems faced by our constituents – the rural poor. We are now in a phase of using new tools to address old problems with a strong underlying theme: Speed and Scale. India can no longer afford to have a sizable population untouched by development leaving them unserved with respect to basic services as well as opportunities of participating productively in a meaningful livelihood activity. How will this be achieved in the next decade? Surely prevailing

conditions cannot be permitted to continue beyond the next decade?

In order to succeed, we will need to harness our collective resources and apply them intelligently to the problem at hand. This will, by definition, mean that not only will we have to think differently but do things differently. The definition of madness according to Einstein was to expect change by doing the same things. What, therefore, would we change? At AKRSP(India) we are currently debating these issues given the vast experience and data we have gathered experientially over quarter of a century. The answer lies in the manner we can construct partnerships with Government, Innovators, Technology Providers, Academic Institutions, the Corporate Sector, the non-government sector and the very constituents we would like to impact.

Traditional wisdom, enhanced by modern technique, sensitive to local conditions might provide the germ of a new idea. We are working on it and invite other to do the same.

Nasser Munjee(Chairman)

CONTENTS

CEO’s DESK.............................................................................10

DEVELOPMENT APPROACH OF AKRSP (INDIA)....................14

STATISTICAL ABSTRACT..........................................................15

STATE REPORTS•GUJARAT............................................................................16•MADHYA PRADESH............................................................18•BIHAR ................................................................................20

SPECIAL FEATURE – INNOVATIONS•CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE...........................................22•PASHU SAKHI MODEL – FOR GOAT REARING......................24

FIELD IMPLEMENTATION•EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES............................................26•CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION...........................................32•AGRICULTURE................................................................... .36•WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT.....................................39•ANIMAL HUSBANDRY.........................................................43•SKILL DEVELOPMENT...........................................................45•ALTERNATE ENERGY............................................................47•WATSAN............................................................................48•EDUCATION.......................................................................50•FORESTRY .... ......................................................................52

REACHING OUT ......................................................................53

VADVAI...................................................................................56

FINANCIAL SUMMARY............................................................58

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT......................................59

STAFF LIST...............................................................................62

ADDRESSES............................................................................65

THE YEARTHAT WAS The year 2014 was a year of change as two major changes took place in the external environment; a new Government at the Centre and the introduction of the CSR Act in April 2014. While it is too soon to comment on the implications of these major changes for AKRSP (India)’s Mission, the one area of work which has gained is the sanitation sector. The new Government has initiated and scaled up the “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan” (Clean India campaign) to promote sanitation and cleanliness throughout the country and many corporates are making it part of their CSR priorities.

The monsoon continued to be erratic for the Indian farmers with unseasonal rain and hail storms damaging crops in Madhya Pradesh and Saurashtra and drought like condition in Bihar.

• AKRSP (India) received the JSW – Times of India Earthcare Award for excellence in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaption for its work on Integrated Natural Resources & Management in south Gujarat

• The project ‘Dangi Vikas’ – which covers work in Dangs district, has been awarded “Grass-root CSR Impact Award 2014” by the NGOBOX

• The Bamboo Furniture Unit at Visdaliya was awarded the “First Project For Contemporary and Marketable Products” in furniture segment by the Navasari Agriculture University in a workshop on “Bamboo for Rural Farmers”

Recognition:

Team AKRSP (India) receiving the JSW - Times of India Earth Care Award at a felicitation ceremony in Mumbai

10 AKRSPI(India) Annual Report 2014 / CEO’s Desk

In 2014, AKRSP (India) consolidated its work in new geographies in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. AKRSP (India) continued to promote cross-pollination of ideas / interventions across the field units, while ensuring that the context specific solutions were evolved. During the year, AKRSP (India) started work in 162 new villages / hamlets and covered 35,000 new households through its various interventions. Some of these interventions, like solar lights, had low investment while others had more intensive support.

AKRSP (India) continued its work on water availability to improve agriculture productivity by piloting new approaches to ensure support irrigation for rain-fed farmers. Group wells in Bihar, shallow farm ponds in Jamnagar, mini-lift irrigation in Dangs etc. were some

During the year, 2,086 new CBO’s (Community Based Organizations) were promoted, which included Self-Help Groups, Farmers Interest Group, Irrigation User Groups and Drinking Water Management Committees. Collaboration with

Field Facilitation

Agriculture Based LivelihoodsCommunity Institutions

village panchayats became stronger this year, especially in planning of MGNREGA work and drinking water & sanitation interventions. Bank linkages for the Self-Help Groups improved in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

AKRSP (India) also continued to provide support to the older community institutions which are independently registered but do need guidance and support occasionally.

of the new technologies tried and scaled up in 2014. In many locations, repairs of old structures is a cost-effective way to provide irrigation, and hence check dam repairs and well-deepening was taken up on scale. Work on Participatory Irrigation Management continued in South Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

In 2014, the focus was on improving soil health through piloting conservation agriculture1 in all geographies. These pilots were amongst the most exciting experiments happening for AKRSP (India) staff and the farmers concerned, as traditional paradigms of doing agriculture were challenged.

In addition, bio-fertilizers (vermin-compost, Amrit-Khad etc.) were promoted on a large scale.

1 Conservation agriculture is an approach where no tilling is done, and through mulching etc. the soil health is improved.

Group irrigation, initiated in Bihar during 2014, has been welcomed by farmers

The soil and moisture conservation work expanded in the tribal regions of Dangs and Madhya Pradesh as more than 1,500 hectares of land was treated.

Work on Root Intensification continued with various crops (in addition to rice and wheat) like chick pea, gram, pigeon-pea, soyabean etc.

Micro Irrigation for cotton growing farmers reduced the water foot-print as well as improved productivity. In many cases, micro-irrigation helped farmers survive the erratic monsoon effectively. Overall, more than 10,000 farmers took up sustainable agriculture practices during the year.

AKRSP (India) partnered with the Government Programme on skill building (DDU-GKY) to provide subsidised skill building to targeted (BPL) rural youth in Gujarat. 100 per cent of the students trained under this project were placed. In Bihar, the programme on tailoring skills for adolescent girls proved to be a boon with many girls becoming home based entrepreneurs. In Madhya Pradesh also, tailoring has been emerging as a viable option.

While the work on providing cattle to landless / poor farmers through a Government funded programme continues in South Gujarat; goatery

Progress on the village drinking water system in Gujarat slowed down slightly because of elections etc. but in Bihar the mini drinking water scheme found high acceptance from politicians and Panchayat representatives and was scaled up. 2,000 water samples were tested in the four water testing laboratories of Gujarat and Bihar, ensuring that communities were aware of the linkage between water quality and health.

3,255 sanitation units were completed this year as AKRSP (India) staff acquired expertise in motivating communities.

The education program in Gujarat expanded with School Management Committees of 100 schools becoming active. An informal federation of all SMC’s has been proving to be active for learning and sharing with the Education Department. In Bihar, work on Early Childhood Development (ECD) continued and the School Improvement Programme found great acceptance at the school and block level.

Thanks to collaboration with IIT Mumbai, more than 35,000 solar lamps were accessed by school children in Madhya Pradesh. In Bihar more than 8,000 lamps were sold by entrepreneurs and women Self-Help Groups.

Vadvai, the Training & Capacity building unit was asked by many corporates to support their CSR

Animal Husbandry

Water & Sanitation

Primary Education

Domestic Lighting

Reaching Out

Skill Building And Placement

programme stabilized in Madhya Pradesh with the introduction of Pashu-Sakhi (Women para-vet). The Pashu-Sakhis work on immunisation and disease management, which has substantially reduced mortality; and as goatery becomes viable, the villagers proudly call them (Pashu Sakhis) ‘doctors’.

SRI (System of Root Intensification) has continued to result in better production and more and more farmers are adopting the technique

12 AKRSPI(India) Annual Report 2014 / CEO’s Desk

AKRSP (India) continued to work on the operationalization of MGNREGA scheme and PIM Act in Gujarat, participating in

With increasing growth and diversification, AKRSP (India) decided to strengthen its senior management team with the appointment of a Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Technical Officer (CTO) as well as strategic management training for its senior management team. The structure is being re-aligned to address the emerging challenges.

Policy influence

Organisation Management

work. Support took many forms from field orientation of senior corporate managers to deputing staff for the CSR work to ongoing trainings for newly formed CSR Teams.

The training of Government staff in Irrigation & Watershed Programme continued.

meeting with senior Government officials. Both of these policies have huge potential to change rural livelihoods, if well operationalised.

In Bihar, AKRSP (India) hosted an NGO workshop on Water & Sanitation where it shared its lessons. Efforts were also initiated by a group of NGO’s to influence the WatSan policy and programme in Bihar.

The Madhya Pradesh team also presented its field learning in a workshop with Government Agriculture Department officials to promote sustainable agriculture practices in Government extension

systems and develop plans for the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).

IWRM partners on an exposure visit (in Bihar) during the workshop on water and sanitation

AKRSP (INDIA)'SDEVELOPMENT APPROACH

AKRSP (India)’s development approach has two main goals. They are, organising people for collective action, & addressing rural inequities. Keeping these goals in mind, it undertakes the following interventions & activities:

Alternate Energy

• Biogas• Windmills• Solar Lighting Systems• Acrylic sheets

Savings and Credit Groups

• Self Help Groups• Community Based

Savings Groups

Non-Farm Livelihoods

• Animal husbandry• Bamboo crafts• Skill building &

Placement (Yuva Junction)

• Tailoring Centers

AKRSPI(India) Annual Report 2014

Forestry

• Joint Forest Management

• Farm ForestryAgriculture

• Promotion of Biopesticides and Organic compost

• Horticulture • Creeper vegetable

cultivation• Input supply• System of Root

Intensification (SRI )• Vermicompost• Crop Protection Tower• Group wire fencing

Water Resource Management

• Lift Irrigation• Small & Large Water

Harvesting Structures• Micro Irrigation

Systems• Group wells• Participatory Irrigation

Management• River Basin

Management

Soil and Water Conservation

• Land Levelling• Contour Bunding• Deep Ploughing

Education

• Early Childhood Development Centers(ECD)

• Learning Support Centers (LSC)

• Family Literacy• Learning Enhancement

Programme (LEP)

Vadvai

• Capacity Building• Exposure Visits• Advisory Services• Deputing Staff

Research and Communication

• Studies on Field Implementation

• Research• Radio and audio visuals• Documentation and

dissemination

Promoting self-reliant com

mun

ity organizations which address

rura

l in

equi

ties.

EnhancingIncomes

SustainableEnvironment

Reducingdrudgery and

improved healthfor women

Access toeducation and

technology

14

STATISTICALOVERVIEW: 2014

DETAILS ACHIEVEMENT IN 2014 CUMULATIVE TILL 2014

1. COVERAGE

Villages/Tolas (no.) 162 1887

Households (no.) 35173 192251

Village Institutions (no.) 2086 8801

Women’s Institutions (no.) 1212 5207

2. SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Amrit Pani & Amrit Khaad (hh) 4765 8166

Vermi Compost (hh) 4658 7158

System of Root Intensification (hh) 3834 22584

Agri Input Supply (hh) 3934 46139

Agri Equipments (hh) 1659 8952

3. PRIVATE LAND DEVELOPEMENT

Soil and Water Conservation (ha.) 1840 48301

Agro Forestry/Horticulture (hh) 1226 17064

Vegetable Cultivation (hh) 8040 26993

Well Irrigation/Homestead Land Development (no.) 176 912

4. WATER MANAGEMENT

Canal Irrigation Societies (no.) 8 139

Lift Irrigation Devices (no.) 13 958

Check Dams and Irrigation Tanks (no.) 22 1340

Farm Pond/Sunken Pond/Bori Bandh (no.) 232 1754

Water Use Efficiency Devices (ha.) 770 12203

5. COMMON LAND DEVELOPMENT

Joint Forest Management (no. of villages) 12 80

6. NON FARM ACTIVITY

Dairy (hh) 721 4320

Goat Rearing [new goats & veternary servises] (hh) 1500 2143

Livestock Housing Improvement (hh) 372 666

7. DRUDGERY REDUCTION

Alternative Energy Devices (no.) 32148 54527

Roof Rain Water Harvesting Structures (no.) 145 10250

Drinking Water Supply Schemes (Village/ Hamlet) 48 244

Sanitation Units (hh) 3255 7216

8. EDUCATION

Children in 3-6 age group (ECD) 2176 10677

Children in 6-11 age group (LSC) 1508 15533

RFC Centre 82 122

RTE Awareness Villages 120 120

LEP Villages/Children 15/479 15/509

9. SKILL DEVELOPMENT

No. of youth trained 1480 26502

No. of youth placed 614 3354

GUJARAT

AKRSPI(India) Annual Report 2014 / State Report

G u j a r a t

Porbandar

Dev Bhumi Dwarka

Morbi

Surendranagar

Bharuch

Narmada

Surat

TapiNavsari

Rajkot

Junagadh

Arabian Sea Maharashtra

MadhyaPradesh

Rajasthan

Jamnagar

Gir Somnath Dangs

477 new community institutions (including 301 SHGs and 71 pani samitis) have been formed involving more and more beneficiaries in the village development process. On the agriculture front, vegetable cultivation has been scaled up with 3,147 farmers, horticulture with 816 households and vermin compost with 4,465 households. Further, agri input supply has been provided to 3,934 households and agri demonstrations have been undertaken with 1,719 households.

Providing for potable drinking water and hygiene facility through sanitation units has been scaled up

through construction of 22 DWSS (Drinking Water Supply Schemes), 148 RRWHS (Rain Roof Water Harvesting Structures) and 2,084 sanitation units.

Initiatives like SRI (System of Root Intensification), Amrit Krishi and goatery which were initiated in Gujarat in 2013 gained momentum during 2014 with 3,674 households adopting SRI technique, 429 households experimenting amrit krishi and 56 poor households undertaking with goatery. Further, domestic convenience technique of providing acrylic sheets to replace a roof tile and allow natural light

to enlighten the homes in Dangs had been scaled up with 2,303 households. In Surendranagar Programme Area, education programme gained momentum with 180 students availing benefits of seasonal hostels and 479 students enrolled in Learning Enrichment Programme.

During the year, Yuva Junction Centres trained 724 rural youth on computer, soft skills, and various trades. 147 rural youth availed placement services provided by the Centres.

16

Related Information Needs of Rural Youth was organized at Ahmedabad Management Association (Ahmedabad). During the event, Yuva Junction Helpline (toll-free) was launched to provide career counselling and guidance to rural youth

(from left to right) Mr Vahora (L&T), Mr Apoorva Oza (AKRSP(I)), Mr Dinesh Avasthi (EDI), Prof Sunil Parekh,Manju Dhasmana (Microsoft India) unveiling the Yuva Junction Helpline number

Three major events were organized in Gujarat

• A consultation workshop was organized at Centre for Environment Education (Ahmedabad) to understand the complexity of providing safe and sufficient drinking water to tribal households, and to draw lessons for policy makers and practitioners. The workshop was attended by senior officials and representatives from various NGOs, government verticals and academicians amongst others

• A state level SRI experience sharing workshop was organized at Gujarat Vidhyapeeth (Ahmedabad) in presence of Dr. S. R. Chaudhary (Director, Dept. of Agriculture & Co-operation, Government of Gujarat) and Mr. R.V. Sharma (GM, NABARD)

• A panel discussion on Education and Employment

In Tribal South Gujarat, several senior functionaries from NABARD, Axis Bank Foundation, CINI, Hindustan Lever Foundation, United Phosphorous Limited (UPL), GWRDC and various departments of Government of Gujarat visited the project villages. In Coastal Gujarat, staff from Microsoft, Quest Alliance, Sir Ratan Tata Trust, Hilton Foundation and Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) visited the project areas.

Event Update

The Visitors’ Diary

During 2014, AKRSP (India) scaled up its work in Gujarat by covering 106 new villages and reaching 20,399 new households. WATSAN (water and sanitation), agriculture and watershed interventions have been key focus areas. Substantial work has been done in the areas of forestry, skill development and alternate energy (especially techniques for domestic convenience).

MADHYA PRADESH

In 2014, AKRSP (India) expanded its work to Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh. During the year, 40 new villages (nearly 3,090 households) were covered through various interventions. The key focus areas of work have been enhancement of agricultural livelihoods for landed and goatery for the landless. The other major work areas have been forestry, alternate energy and watershed.

Nearly 250,000 saplings have been distributed to promote farm forestry and 18 new nurseries have been established. Promotion of Amrit Krishi strengthened during the year reaching nearly 4,143 households, and substantially reducing their cost of cultivation. Vegetable cultivation

was promoted with 3,397 farmers, horticulture with 360 farmers and 1,574 were covered under agri / crop demonstrations.

More and more people have been involved in the village development process by getting them involved in community institutions. 201 new women’s Self Help Groups and 197 new Farmer Interest Groups have been formed.

As a part of the watershed approach, the forestry work was increased and community protection was facilitated. During the year, nearly 405 hectares of land was covered under watershed interventions. 15 check dams, 72 gabions/ nalla bandhs, 86 wells

were deepened, and 61 farm ponds have been constructed to benefit the poorest farmers.

Skill development, though on a small scale, did show good results with an increased focus on job placements. In 2014, 428 people got placements. Focus was laid on reducing the mortality among goats by improving the nutrition and vaccination, primary healthcare and breed improvement.

Barwani

Dhar

KhargoneKandwa

BurhanpurMaharashtra

M a d h y a P r a d e s h

RajasthanUttar Pradesh

Chhattisgarh

AKRSPI(India) Annual Report 2014 / State Report18

Three major events were organized in Madhya Pradesh

• A loan mela was organized in association with Narmada Jabhua Gramin Bank (NJGB) to distribute loans to SHG members. The mela was attended by District Collector and Chairman of NJGB, officials from AKRSP (India) and community members

• A workshop was organized in Khaknar to discuss the holistic approaches for MGNREGA planning in rain-fed areas. Mr Sureshwar Singh (CEO, Zila Panchayat, Burhanpur), officials from various departments and PRI members attended the workshop. The dignitaries also had an interaction with members of Women’s Federation and visited the Stitching Centre at Dedtalai to motivate women members.

• A Kissan Sammelan was organized to provide a platform for experience sharing amongst

During the year, several dignitaries from various renowned bodies visited the programme area to evaluate, review and study the various programs being implemented. The field was abuzz with guests from various government departments, elected representatives and other NGOs visiting the field areas. This included Mr Sanjay Bhoos Reddy (Joint Secretary, Dept. of Animal Husbandry, Government of India), Mr. Peter Kenymore (Director, FAO, India and SAPPLPP Personnel), Mansingh Bahediya (CEO, Zilla Panchayat, Barwani), Dr Amir Kassam (renowned Conservation Agriculture expert).

Event Update

The Visitor’s Diary

farmers and SHG federation. The Sammelan was attended by Dr Anupam Mishra (zonal project director, KVK) and Mrs J P Irene Cynthia (District Collector, Burhanpur, Dedtalai)

Mr Sanjay Bhoosreddy (Joint Secretary, Dept. of Animal Husbandry, Government of India) visiting a goat shed - platforms andfeed supply for goat have been focused during 2014

The key focus areas of work have been enhancement of agricultural livelihoods for landed and goatery for the landless. The other major work areas have been watershed, forestry and alternate energy

BIHAR

Uttar Pradesh

Jharkhand

West bengal

Muzaffarpur

Samastipur

B i h a r

During 2014, AKRSP (India) extended its presence in Bihar by reaching 16 new villages / hamlets and positively influencing lives of 11,684 new households.

The major share of activities involves water and sanitation, alternate energy and community institutions. Leveraging on the appreciation (from Government) and success of the initiative in 2013, 26 new Drinking Water Supply Schemes have been established. To promote health and prevent diseases, AKRSP (India) constructed 130 platforms around hand pumps to drain away the excess water, tested 947 water samples at the mini water testing laboratory, and constructed 1,171 sanitation units. 8,200 households have been illuminated with solar lights and 1,210 new community institutions (of different types) have been formed during the year.

Yuva Junction – the skill development Centres continued shaping dreams by imparting training to 583 youth. Agriculture interventions included scaling up of vegetable cultivation with more than 1,496 farmers, promoting amrit pani – amrit khad with 193 farmers and System of Root Intensification (SRI) with 160 farmers.

Three major events were organized in Bihar

• 12 Community Owned Mini Drinking Water Supply Schemes (COMDWSS) in Pusa and Sakra were inaugurated by Mr. Mahachandra Prasad Singh (PHED Minister). These schemes are estimated to benefit nearly

Event Update

AKRSPI(India) Annual Report 2014 / State Report

1,500 households with access to safe drinking water.

• A Kissan Mela was organized in Pusa to provide a platform for experience sharing amongst farmers. It was inaugurated by Mr R.K. Mittal (Vice Chancellor, Rajendra Agriculture University), who in his inaugural address shared views on ‘role of NGOs in agriculture development and extension services in Bihar.

• Indian Partners of European Union - Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) visited AKRSP (India) field area and participated in a brain storming workshop held at Patna

20

During the year, various dignitaries from state and central government, and donor agencies (Including Nabard, Central Bank of India, State Bank of India, Uttar Bihar Grameen Bank) visited the field areas.

The Visitors’ Diary

During 2014, AKRSP (India) extended its presence in Bihar by reaching 16 new villages / hamlets and positively influencing lives of 11,684 new households.

Mr R.K. Mittal (Vice Chancellor, Rajendra Agriculture University giving the inaugural address to a congregation of farmers at Kissan Mela held in Pusa

NEW INTERVENTIONS:CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE“Conservation Agriculture (CA) is a combination of soil management practices that includes minimum soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and crop diversity. CA has proven potential to improve crop yields, while ensuring environmental and financial sustainability of farming.”

Conservation agriculture has retained the green cover while reducing the water foot print and maintaining the soil health

AKRSPI(India) Annual Report 2014 / Special Feature22

of soil, discouraging soil tillage. It leads to regeneration of earth worm habitat in the soil along with reduction in soil erosion due to various reasons

• Continuous coverage of soil through crop cover and/or mulching through biomass. This reduces water evaporation from soil along with feeding mechanism for earth worms

• Practicing crop rotation in such a way that it helps in natural regeneration soil nutrients, penetration of roots in deep soil and not allowing any pest attack patterns in the farms

In the limited numbers of pilot farms it has been observed that majority of the farmers have started benefitting from CA from year one itself. Some of the visible benefits are

• Increased water conservation due to the layer of organic matter on top soil

• Some of the plots have regenerated earth worms in soil making soil porous and light. Better root penetration is observed in many fields

• Reduced weeds in the CA farms due to heavy mulch on the soil

• Better fruit quality observed in plots where vegetables were grown through CA practice

• CA practice reduced cost of cultivation in all farms. Generally there has been no decrease in production levels even it has increased in many farms

Managing soil health is critical to sustainability of agriculture and ensuring food security of the nation. There is rapid decrease in the quantity and quality of soil required for crop production due to various reasons. Some of the common reasons for decreasing soil quality are

• Excessive usage of tillage machinery leading to destruction of natural habitat of soil friendly earth worms in the fields. Earth worms in soil helps in creation of proper soil structure particularly making it porous which can absorb water and permit infiltration of water in the earth

• Soil is continuously exposed to sun light leading to loss of soil moisture and erosion of soil when the intensity of rain is very high

• Excessive practice of mono-cropping not allowing natural regeneration micro-nutrients in the soil making it heavily dependent on externally provided nutrients in the form of fertilizers. Excessive use of chemical fertilizers to maintain production levels is leading to hardening of top soil not allowing crop roots and water to penetrate deep in the soil

AKRSP (India) has started piloting of conservation agriculture in the states of Bihar and Madhya Pradesh last year. Conservation agriculture is based on three basic principles

• Zero or minimum disturbance

To convince farmers who have been told that tilling is the only way to farm, getting them to do no tilling and mulching is a challenge. However, presence of earth worms and increased soil moisture are visible indicators in one season

NEW INTERVENTIONS: PASHU SAKHIStrengthening Preventive Healthcare System for Goats through Pashu Sakhis“Pashu Sakhis means friends of animals, a cadre of rural women developed for providing knowledge and preventive healthcare services to goat rearing households in remote and poor areas not having adequate infrastructure for these services”

Pashu Sakhi giving a vaccination shot to a goat during a local vaccination camp in Madhya Pradesh

AKRSPI(India) Annual Report 2014 / Special Feature24

Goat Rearing is generally practiced by poor households in the country. Goat Rearing families have several constraints in rural areas which limits the income potential of this activity. Baselines prepared by AKRSP (India) reveals that there are exorbitantly high mortality rates in goats due to

• Lack of adequate knowledge among community regarding best practices relating to feeding, housing, breeding and veterinary care

• Service infrastructure for regular de-worming and vaccinations is inadequate in rural areas that too often focused on large animals

In order to overcome above mentioned constraints AKRSP (India) has created a cadre of over 50 female para-veterinarians known as Pashu Sakhis with the help of The Goat Trust. Pashu Sakhis generally have the following role

• Providing regular de-worming and vaccination services as per the recommended calendar for goats. Pashu Sakhis get vaccines from government veterinary hospitals at block level and administer it at village level charging some nominal service fee

• Providing regular knowledge support to goat rearing households

• Facilitating goat rearing

households in getting benefits of government schemes

Within a year of its launch, Pashu Sakhi cadre reached to over 1000 households having over 5000 goats with various services. Initial results are highly encouraging to support the scaling up of this model at large scale and its adoption in policies. One of the major indicators of success is mortality rates which have come down to about 5% from over 30% at the start of pilot. There is substantial improvement observed in the knowledgebase of the community and the income earned from goatery. Goat shelters, funded by MGNREGA, are also becoming popular ad leading to improved mortality.

EMPOWERINGCOMMUNITIESEmpowerment is a continuous process and is best understood by the actions of those empowered. AKRSP (India) seeks to empower rural communities through collectivization as well as promotion of individual enterprise. Leadership development is a key component of this process. AKRSP (India) has found that Collectives which have been empowered to manage a component of their lives; whether it is financial services or drinking water or agriculture development, gradually apply the knowledge to resolve other problems they face, whether it is education or government entitlements. On the other hand, overloading community organizations with the objectives of the promoter at the initial stages reduces their effectiveness and self-confidence. The key is to start slowly, and surely, and then provide space to them to grow faster.

If empowerment is the “WHAT” of AKRSP (India)’s mission, building capacities of community institutions is the “HOW” of it. Community institutions are essential in ensuring that communities are able to analyse the causes of their situation of poverty / their problem and envisage and plan for positive solutions. AKRSP

(India)’s approaches promote communities’ ownership on processes of change, ensure better management of resources and ensuring sustainability after AKRSP (India)’s support phases out. Building self-reliance is at the heart of the organization’s approach, and this is achieved through various kinds of inputs - training, exposure,

handholding support, encouraging institutions to linkage with other institutions and government departments.

Institutions promoted by AKRSP (India) generally fall into two broad categories:

A all women members SHG with special focus on savings and credit in Madhya Pradesh programme area

AKRSPI(India) Annual Report 2014 / Field Implementation26

AKRSP (India) APPROACHCivil Society Development & Governance

1- Mobilization- Group formation- Saving - Credits- Bank Linkages- Reduced Dependence On Money Lenders

Fin

anci

alSe

curi

ty

Live

liho

od

Enh

ance

men

t

2

- Agricultural and allied livelihoods- Agri Inputs- Petty trades & Micro Enterprises

Wo

men

Emp

ow

erm

ent

3

- Collective Action- Improved governance - Enhanced identity of women - Enhanced social standing - Accessing Rights & Entitlements

• Institutions such as the Village Development Committee (VDC), river basin core group that have “public” functions at community level and are meant to represent the interests of the entire village or regions’ population, and

• Self Help Groups (SHGs) that have “private” functions, and represent the personal interests of their members. Examples of the latter are Producer Company, Users’ Group and Lift Irrigation Society amongst others

The institutions are further divided by two other categories:

• membership based institutions • representative based

institutions

All institutions which have public

functions are representative based, wherein leaders provide their time voluntarily, solely to do some good work for the society. While, institutions with private functions are membership based. Herein leaders and members, both get benefits. They start with one activity (savings and credit) and as they mature, they start addressing different issues concerning members. Sometimes, institutions like SHGs also get opportunities from external environment (like government) and hence, they continue functioning even after AKRSP (India) withdraws its direct support.

Types of village institutions formed by AKRSP (India):

No Organization Description Coverage Location

1GVM ( Gram Vikas Mandal)

Membership-based organisation aimed at enrolling 100 per cent households; has both, male and female members; initially takes up project related activities

GVM committee has 10 to 15 members representing all hamlets of the village

Gujarat

2Village Development Committee, Tola Vikas Committee

A forum wherein each organisation in a village / tola is represented; a common platform in which various organisations promoted by AKRSP (India) come together; Actively involved in project implementation

12 to 15 members Bihar

3

Canal Irrigation Society (CIS); Lift Irrigation Society (LIS); Group Well Users, Check Dam User Group

Each one is confined to a narrow group of users; involved in management of the resource, its repair and maintenance

Membership depends on the size of CIS and LIS – more than 1,000 members; 25 to 50 members in GWU\CDU

Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh

4

Savings & Credit- Self Help Groups (SHGs), Community Based Savings Groups (CBSGs)

Consists of homogenous small groups; membership can be male and female (mixed), women only, poorest, particular social group, etc.; activities are centred on savings and credit

Groups consist of 10 to 20 members

Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar

5 Pani Samitis

A representative body headed by Sarpanch; Considered as Subcommittee of Panchayat; Formed for delivery of drinking water at village level

Covers whole village; Samiti has 12 to 15 members

Gujarat

6

Apex level institution - Mahila Manch, Mahasangh

Takes up larger social issues; Mahila Manch represents women from across various villages; Mahasangh is a group of regional leaders

Mahila Manch covers 1,000 - 2,000 members, Mahasangh covers a region


7Kissan Vikas Samiti / Kissan Club

Consists of farmers, takes up agriculture related activities

10 to 20 farmers Gujarat, Bihar

8 Producer Company Formed around agriculture producesMore than 1,000 members


9School Management Committee

Representative based institution, manages education related programs

10 to 12 members Gujarat

Types of village institutions formed by AKRSP (India):

Sector Institutions Number of institutions

promoted in 2014 Accumulative

numbers

Water recharge and development

Canal Irrigation Society, Lift Irrigation Society, Users groups , Watershed Committees

201 1931

Agriculture Kissan Club, Kissan Vikas Committee, FIG, Producer Company

208 369

Women’s empowerment SHG, Women’s federation 605 2973

Drinking water Pani samiti 61 69

Education School Management Committees (SMCs) , Federation of SMCs

120 121

Sector wise institutions


A meeting of a lift irrigation society in coastal gujarat programme area to discuss optimum water supply to every user

Working with Panchayats

In 2014, AKRSP (India) has promoted federation of SMCs which is a newer form of institution. The federation provides support to the SMCs which are a village level institution.

AKRSP (India) has worked with panchayats in various ways in 2014. Pani samiti are a part of panchayat and once project gets over, repair and maintenance is done by Panchayats. In Madhya Pradesh, the large scale work under

MGNREGA scheme is done through Panchayat. Further, the organization has started to strengthen gram panchayats Gramin Sushashan Pariyojana – a project supported by European Union. The organization

encourages villagers to attend gram sabhas and also motivates them to put their problems in front of panchayat. AKRSP (India) also facilitates process of micro plan at panchayat level

MICROFINANCE

“Micro-finance programme of AKRSP(India) revolves around women Self Help Groups (SHGs), which focuses on broader objective of women empowerment in addition to ensuring financial security of the households. SHGs are encouraged to mobilize maximum savings and internal rotation of savings before linking groups to banks for credit facilities. Stable and matured groups plans and execute various livelihood activities for income enhancement.”There have been remarkable results achieved through women SHGs over the period of time. SHGs are proving to be important critical platform for achieving

• Women empowerment• Financial security• Livelihood enhancement • Improvement in rural

governance

At the end of year 2014 AKRSP(India)’s Micro-finance programme has the following status

• During the year 862 new SHGs were promoted across all geographies taking the total numbers of SHGs promoted to 4,867 with cumulative membership of 63,639 women

• Out of 4,867 groups, over 2,000 women SHGs have been operating in self-reliant mode and most of the services required by these groups are provided by their federations

• Total savings of 2,867 groups, which are currently facilitated through AKRSP(India) is INR 320 lakhs

• Total outstanding loan of groups is INR 313 lakhs

• Outstanding bank loan is INR 149 lakhs while during the year total loan extended by banks was INR 290 lakhs

• Revolving fund support received from National Rural Livelihoods Mission during the year was INR 21.6 lakhs

In Bihar, AKRSP(India) promoted Community Based Savings Groups (CBSGs) with innovative approach of flexible savings, annual share out and simple book of accounts. Later this experience of CBSGs, helped AKRSP (India) to develop a hybrid model, which merged the advantages of CBSGs and SHGs, now called SHG+. In Madhya Pradesh, AKRSP(India) is engaged in the process of promoting SHGs for ensuring financial inclusion among tribal women. It has already been resulting in an integrated approach of promoting livelihood and financial inclusion. Similarly SHG Program in Dangs, Gujarat has also been targeting to mobilize tribal women for enabling their access to institutional finance.

Micro-finance programme enabled women to start various livelihood activities like tailoring units, paper plate making, goat rearing and dairy. Many women benefitted from other petty trade activities started through availed loans from SHGs. Some of the SHGs are now moving towards forming agriculture producers companies to access competitive markets for agricultural inputs and farm output.


Monthly meeting of a SHG (in Madhya Pradesh) in progress. Women contribute their savings, do loan recovery, allot new loans if anyand discuss of social concerns in such gatherings

AKRSPI(India) Annual Report 2014 / Field Implementation

Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) understands civil society in the broadest sense of civic institutions working for the public good. There are two types of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) promoted / supported by AKRSP (India):

1. CSO’s owned by community members: Many apex level institutions (also known as Federations) promoted by AKRSP (India) are working to provide services to the villagers which are not members of the institutions & have now grown into independent civil society organisations with their own identity

“Civil society [is] a realm of activity which is neither governmental nor commercial, institutions designed to advance the public good, but powered by private energies” - His Highness the Aga Khan, Enabling Environment Conference, Afghanistan, June 2007

2. CSO’s owned by NGOs: Along with other organisations, AKRSP (India) has promoted new networks or NGO’s to address public needs not addressed so far, or which it cannot address alone. It also actively supports NGO networks which provide services to NGO’s and CBO’s

[A] Federations of community organisations:

For the last few years, AKRSP (India) has been withdrawing its support in terms of financial and day-to-day hand holding from the various

CIVIL SOCIETYORGANIZATION

women’s federations as well as area- based federations (like salinity and river basin federations). Initially, these federations were working for members only but as they grew and matured, they started addressing issues with larger societal concern. There have been instances when the federations have fought issues, which are not within the purview of AKRSP (India). Nonetheless, they have been active in formation and training of Self Help Groups (SHGs).

Three stages of an AKRSP (India) promoted federation becoming an independent CSO:

STAGE 1Replacing roles played

by AKRSP (India)

STAGE 2Taking up activities for members which were not done by AKRSP

(India)

STAGE 3Taking up activities for non-members and larger society and influencing

programmes at block/district level

32

STAGE 1Replacing roles played by AKRSP (India)

For the last couple of years AKRSP (India) has been withdrawing its support from apex level institutions. Many women’s institutions have taken up these roles, which were earlier helmed by AKRSP (India). It includes:

• Conducting SHG meetings, review of para workers, forming new groups and providing training to the groups. In 2014, women’s federations have formed 17 new groups, reactivated three old groups and increased savings rates

• Liasoning with government agencies without support of AKRSP (India): The Salinity Federation has mobilized government funds of INR 0.4

million to undertake canal repairing. They have been taking the help of media to create mass awareness about their work. They have been meeting the political leaders and have also carved an independent identity of the federation among various government departments

• Celebrating women’s day: On the eve of International Women Day, SHG Mahilla Samelan had been organized wherein 1,400 women (of 125 SHGs) from across 20 villages had participated

STAGE 2Taking up activities for members, which were not done by AKRSP (India)

There are some interventions which AKRSP (India) did not implement in all locations, but which are now

effectively taken up by federations to meet the changing requirements of its members. These include:

• Agri-input supply: Women’s federation of Sagbara has been selling agriculture seeds and cattle feed to its members

• Accessing government funds for members: Several federations have been able to secure revolving fund from the government’s National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) programme for their groups. In collaboration with District Industries Promotion Committee (DIPC), 50 beneficiaries have been covered under the income generation activities. Also, funds for cattle purchase have been sourced by few

• Accessing funds for sanitation• Providing loans for small

enterprises

AKRSP (India) APPROACHStep-by-step empowerment of communities

SAVINGS

ENTITLEMENTS

ASSETS

FORMINGFEDERATIONS


A swabhoomi kendra has been inaugurated in Sagbara to facilitate women’s land ownership rights

34

STAGE 3Interventions to benefit larger society (non-members and members)

• Linking with government agencies to provide benefits to all villagers and influence programmes. For example, Sagbara Federation has formed seven groups of women farmers under ATMA project and one of the leader of women’s federation had been on the governing body of ATMA’s district level committee

• Many women’s federations work to provide entitlements to widows and old age people. More than a thousand households have benefitted

• Sagbara Federation has started ‘swabhomi’ centre in 2014, which is actively working on women’s land rights with inputs. In 2014, more than 150 applications for land ownership have been submitted.

• The women’s federation in Maliya learned through sharing of different members that there is a persistent problem of domestic violence. With the objective of helping these women, the federation decided to come up with a

structure to address the cases of domestic violence and other conflicts through formation of a Social Justice Committee. Both parties involved in the conflict are informed by notice to be present in the meeting. The Committee listens to the story of both the sides and then tries to create a mutual understanding between the parties and resolve the conflicts. The social justice function has developed a reputation for fair mediation and as of today cases from far-off places come to the federation

• Some federations have been actively supporting the formation of Farmer Producer Companies to ensure better access to input and output marketing

[B] Promotion of new CSO’s:

AKRSP (India), along with other organisations has promoted the Coastal Salinity Prevention Cell (CSPC), which works on research, policy and scaling up of interventions to address coastal salinity. In 2014, CSPC scaled up its water and sanitation work in

collaboration with government and other NGO’s. CSPC plays a role of partnership with government and research agencies, which local NGO’s cannot play and therefore can work along the entire coastal region.

AKRSP (India) had also ideated and along with other NGO’s, formed the Working Group of Women and Land Ownership (WGWLO), which works for access to land ownership for village women. In India, while 60 per cent of the agriculture work is done by women, they own less than 3 per cent of the land. WGWLO works with other NGO’s, women’s federations and local governance structures to change this at field and policy levelIn addition, AKRSP (India) supports NGO networks (promoted by other NGOs) working on agriculture (Sajjata Sangh), media advocacy (Charkha) and Drinking water (Pravah).

In 2014, partnerships with these CSOs are continued and many have scaled up their operations, and are held as models for other states. All these organisations support many smaller NGO’s and community federations.

AGRICULTUREAs agriculture has been the main source of livelihood in the programme areas of AKRSP (India), and hence, interventions were aimed at strengthening the same and enhancing income from the activity. In the early years, the focus was more towards soil and water conservation work, investing in protective irrigation infrastructures and agriculture development. To make the interventions environmentally and institutionally sustainable, they were carried out of village institutions. Gradually, the emphasis has been shifted towards reduction of external inputs like inorganic fertilizers, pesticides, water as well as reducing of vulnerability through promotion of diversified cropping such as fruit and vegetable crops. Also, critical farm implements and tools are facilitated for resource poor. In a nutshell, agriculture development at AKRSP (India) has three major goals:

• enhanced food and nutrition security

• enhanced and sustained agriculture incomes

• reduced risks for farmers who battle weather, pest, animal (grazing by wild ungulates) and price risks


During the year, SRI (System of Root Intensification) was scaled-up in paddy cultivation. Despite unfavorable weather conditions, nearly 3,540 farmers have practiced SRI to achieve higher yields. To facilitate them, cono-weeders have been distributed (in a group of five farmers each). Intercropping promoted in 2013, gained momentum in 2014. 909 farmers did intercropping of pigeon pea and soyabean and increased their incomes through multiple crops.

With three-fold objective of enhancing income, inclusion of nutritional products in the diet and reduction in vulnerability, vegetable cultivation and horticulture has been promoted with small and marginal farmers. Within vegetable cultivation, need based variety of interventions have been designed to reach larger number of beneficiaries. 204 farmers took up commercial vegetable cultivation for income generation is the year. 2281 families cultivated vegetables for domestic consumption through kitchen vegetable gardens and landless gardens.

36

Along with vegetable cultivation, horticulture has also gained momentum in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The intervention has been scaled up with nearly 1,226 new small and marginal farmers. Input supply including grafts, organic fertilizers and bamboo sticks for support were ensured.

The bio-pesticide repellant, Amrit Pani and improved compost Amrit Khad are amongst the newest innovations by AKRSP (India). Since past two years, they have been replacing chemical pesticides and fertilizers amongst the beneficiaries and are fuelling AKRSP (India)’s drive to promote

| Root intensification | Non pesticide managem

ent (NPM

) | Inter-cropping | Vegetable and fruit cultivation | Agro forestry | Suitable mec

ha

nizat

ions

| M

icro

Irrig

atio

n sy

stem

s (D

rip Ir

rigat

ion

Sprin

klers)

AKRSP (India) APPROACHCommunity Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM)

Impact

Building on Foundation

StrengtheningFoundation

| S

ustai

nability & Ecological Security

| Food and nutrition security

| In

com

e En

hanc

emen

t

| Soil conservation | Soil health managem

ent | Bio-diversity | W

ater conservation and harvesting |

Commun

ity In

stitu

tion

& F

arm

ers’

col

lect

ives

| E

co e

ntrep

reneurs

Promotion of Conservation Agriculture

In Madhya Pradesh, conservation agriculture has been introduced wherein agricultural practices adopted improve the soil quality through organic content. 10 beneficiaries have adopted the practice in its pilot phase.

sustainable agriculture. During the year, demonstrations for these bio-pesticides have been a constant activity. The impact of its use on the produce has been encouraging. Nearly 4,765 new farmers have adopted Amrit Pani – Amrit Khad in 2014. The USP (Unique Selling Point) of the product is it can be easily made at home with handy ingredients. It has also provided an entrepreneurship opportunity to 40 village entrepreneurs in Madhya Pradesh programme area, who have had an additional income by selling these products.


Further, the activity of vermin compost has also been continued. Over 4,658 new beneficiaries have adopted the practice in the year gone by. They have been provided input supply in form of vermin bags and worms.

For optimum yield, along with resources, knowledge of appropriate farming techniques is a pre-requisite. Hence, knowledge sharing through agricultural demonstrations is a perpetual practice at AKRSP (India). The demonstrations are need-based. In Dangs, chickpea cultivation was demonstrated to 208 farmers (stressing on proper spacing) and safed musli crop to 55 farmers. In coastal Gujarat, 310 demonstrations were conducted to showcase the use of integrated pest and nutrient management. While in Saurashtra, the demonstrations were focused on mulching techniques, intercrop, castor cake and groundnut cultivation. Women farmers are also involved in these demonstrations.

To provide comprehensive facilitation, agri-input supply and marketing support interventions are also undertaken. During the year, agri-input supply has been provided to 3,934 farmers. To reduce the cost of cultivation, use of latest technology agriculture equipments like multipurpose trifan, spray pump, seed grader, drip and sprinkler method of irrigation have been promoted with farmers of Madhya Pradesh Programme Area. Agriculture equipments like multi crop weeders were introduced on pilot basis for wheat crop. Trifan and garden tools were given to farmers involved in horticulture activities. Further, collective marketing has been initiated with seven villages of Dangs to ensure good value for vegetables and agricultural products. In this process, 850 Kgs of ladies finger, 91 Kgs of cluster beans and 40 Kgs of brinjal has been collectively sold at the cooperative in Vansada. 50 farmers earned an additional income of INR 18,600.

Village Information Centre

Village Information Centres (VICs) are being setup in coastal Gujarat to provide various agriculture extension services at the farmers’ doorsteps. The Centre has various information and education collateral for dominant crops in a particular area. An Extension Volunteer (EV), trained in crop management, handles the VIC and advices farmers on critical stages of the crops. The major objectives of the VIC are:

• To timely disseminate critical information during various stages of crop cycle

• To address queries and direct it to agriculture expert and staff for amelioration

• To collect input demands for crop cultivation and timely supply the same with support of respective producer company

• To organize meetings and trainings on need and recommended basis

Farmers who have adopted Amrit Krishi have noticed better green cover and substantial increase in returns. They are motivating other farmers to go the natural way

38

Better CottonInitiative (BCI)

Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) has been designed to enable the farmers to adopt better cultivation practices to increase profitability by reducing usage of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation water, improving health & safety aspects of cotton growing farmers & preventing child laborers involved in cotton harvesting. As on 31st September 2014, the project is being implemented with 4,000 (including 16 per cent women farmers) cotton farmers who belong to 120 farmers’ learning groups (LG) in 41 villages of Wankaner. Nearly, 7,460 hectares of is being benefited through the project.

Promotion of Amrit Krishi

In Bihar, sustainable agriculture as a comprehensive package called Amrit Krishi including “Amrit Pani (pest repellant and growth promoter prepared from indigenous material) Amrit Khaad (compost), in systems of root intensification and systems of crop intensification” has been piloted. Training on preparation and farm demonstration has been done with 165 farmers; out of which, 86 farmers have adopted it in their fields.

WATER RESOURCEDEVELOPMENT

61 per cent of the net sown area in India is rain fed and 84 per cent of the rural poor live in India’s rain fed areas. The reality of an Indian rain fed farmer’s life is characterized by marginal soils, undulating terrain, remote locations, uncertain rains and high dependence on multiple sources of livelihoods. Substantial public investment has been made in irrigation. However, this investment has gone into promoting intensive use of fertilizers, seeds and other inputs and price support systems. Further, these have also resulted in falling ground water levels, declining soil productivity, degradation of commons and increasing costs of inputs which have in turn led to stagnant incomes and entrenched poverty in rain fed areas. AKRSP (India)’s interventions focus on both the aspects: recharging of ground water and managing the surface water.Watershed activities in Madhya Pradesh programme area have facilitated farmers in the dry region with

irrigation facilities and thereby enhanced incomes

Depending on the geographies, variety of interventions are undertaken to ensure soil and moisture conservation. In coastal Gujarat, 315 hectares of farm bunds have been made to prevent water logging and top soil from turning saline. In Madhya Pradesh, an integrated watershed approach is being executed comprising of structures like farm bund, farm pond, gabion, boulder check and nalla plug amongst others to improve the soil quality and ultimately augment the productivity. Collectively, nearly 1521 hectares of land has been treated during 2014 to curb soil erosion, augment ground water recharge, and conserve moisture in the fields.

Apart from physical execution of structures, several trainings, workshops, video shows have been organized to ensure capacity building on topics of Soil and Water Conservation. A farmers’ workshop on soil testing and report sharing has been highly appreciated.

To supplement irrigation, variety of interventions including bori bandhs, well deepening / widening, recharge bore wells, farm ponds, sunken ponds and check dams are undertaken. Figuratively, 65 bori bandhs, 533 recharge bores, two check dams, two earthern dams, and 85 farm ponds have been made. 228 wells have also been deepened. Collectively, water availability through these interventions

AKRSP (India) APPROACHWater Resource Development

Canals Micro IrrigationLift Irrigation

SustainableGroundWaterManagement

GroupWells

GroupBore Wells

Surface Irrigation Management

IMPACT

Food SecurityIncrease inIncomes

OUTPUT

Increase inIrrigation areaEfficient useof waterSustainablemanagement of water resources


have motivated farmers to do inter cropping as well as take more crop cycles per year and hence, have increased their agricultural incomes.The promotion of protective irrigation devices like sprinkler sets have been a boon for farmers in water scarce areas. More than 170 sprinkler sets have been provided in 2014. The Drip Pool project, launched in Sayla and Chotila blocks of Surendranagar and Jasdan block of Rajkot district in 2011, for improving the productivity of cotton crop by reducing water footprint further reached 1,049 acres of land (belonging to 352 cotton growing farmers from 103 villages) during 2014.

40

Spreading Canal

Spreading canal helps rain water spread in a wider area and thereby augment the recharge rate as well as water level. The canals have collective impact on water table in the area and provide support irrigation. With Mahasangh’s initiative, de-silting and excavation work is being done by the Salinity Ingress Prevention Cell (SIPC) along the spreading canal. During the reporting period, work has been completed on the seven kilometer stretch between Mekhadi to Shil.

Recharge bores are amongst key interventions in coastal gujarat programme area to enhance the fresh water tables

Success Story: Sathani farmer Viraji bhai’s Experience of Drip Irrigation

Viraji bhai is a small sathani farmer in Shirvania village of Sayla taluka. He is a progressive farmer though has no formal education. He got 1.6 hectare of land under the Sathani scheme. AKRSP (India) previously had helped him to develop his land during 2010-2012. In 2013, he participated in a village meeting and decided to adopt drip irrigation system in one hectare of land. The organization provided INR 28,963/- as loan from drip pool fund, INR 73,626/- was provided as subsidy by GGRC and remaining INR 10,000/- was his cash contribution. After installation of drip in June 2013, he cultivated cotton in 1 hectare of land along with maize as mixed crop. He also cultivated cotton in 0.5 hectare through flood irrigation method in a controlled plot. The following table shows the comparison of benefits of drip irrigation Vs flood method in control plot.

PARTICULARS DRIP METHOD FLOOD METHOD REMARKS

Area 1 hectare 0.56 hectare

Crop Cotton Cotton

Cost of seed 3 bags 2 bags1 bag of cotton seed reduced per 1 ha in drip irrigation which costs Rs.1000

Gap filling Not needed Additional requirement of 0.25 kg of cotton seeds

Weeding Done in once by family members Done twice by family members

Fertilizer

APS 250kg 125kg 7 bags of Urea saved in 1 ha under drip irrigationUrea 150kg 450kg

Labour Require-ment for irrigation 10-15 time @ 1 hrs

Three days were required for one irrigation and total 10 irrigation @ 3 days so total days 30 days

Total production of raw cotton 55 quintal 20 quintal

3 quintal more cotton is harvested. If we assume Rs.5000 market price then Rs.15000/- is earned more from drip plot

A reverse canal in Chachlana village of Bhatiya cluster has siltation problem. If this canal is enlarged, it has potential to provide irrigational support to a large group of farmers. Hence, along with SIPC, AKRSP (India) has mobilized the community to get clear the shrub cover on the sides of the canal. So far, six meters of shrub has been cleared on both sides of the 1,263 meters canal, which will provide irrigational support to 88 farmers in over 490 acres of land.

Medha Creek Reverse Canal


ANIMALHUSBANDRYThe intervention was designed with special focus largely on the marginalized and landless tribal, though it has had targeted approach for poorest households in Coastal Gujarat, also. Though neither dairy nor goatery has the potential to be the primary source of income; it has been a source of additional income and nutrition for underprivileged communities of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. From knowledge sharing, capacity building, veterinary services to infrastructural support for goats, efforts have been made to touch the entire eco system.

Dairy promotion activities are largely promoted in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh wherein cattle (over 720 milch cattle in 2014) have been provided to small and marginal farmers. To ensure capacity building of the cattle rearers, an animal husbandry workshop had been organized and demonstrations for fodder, juar and African corn were also conducted.

A Cattle Development Centre (CDC) is set-up in Bhatiya cluster to provide comprehensive cattle development services. The Centre will facilitate:

• Awareness generation among rural farmers about the socio-economic benefits of improving the local cattle and buffaloes;

• Production of improved cattle and buffaloes out of the local non-descript/crossbred low productive animals;

• Income Generation for rural families through milk production and marketing

Over 720 milch cattle have been given in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh programme areas to facilitate households with an additional source of income

While goat rearing is a major activity under animal husbandry portfolio in Madhya Pradesh, cattle, poultry, fishery development and allied fields have also been initiated for beneficiaries with small land holding. During the year, the intervention reached over 1,000 households.

Formation of Goat Rearer Groups at village level has been promoted to facilitate knowledge sharing. 15 such Goat Rearer Groups are active. As for infrastructural support, new wooden floors have been made for 34 existing goat sheds and five new goat rearing units have been established in Pandhana cluster. In 2014, major focus was laid on the health of the goats. 59 goat rearers have been covered under the feed improvement scheme while veterinary services have

Firstly, groups of landless and marginalized farmers are formed….

INPUT AREAS

Knowledge SharingTrainingCapacity buildingExposure Visits

Preventive Healthcare ServicesThrough Pashu Sakhis(deworming and vaccination)

Feed Improvement

Goat Shelters

Access To Credit

IMPACT

Reduced Mortality RateIncreased Incomes

Goatry Eco System

been provided to goats of 177 beneficiaries. 230 goats were vaccinated and 717 goats were ensured de-worming. To make the treatment facilities more affordable, accessible and effective, para vets as well as pashu sakhis have worked simultaneously. Refreshers’ training had been organized for pashu sakhis.

Further, five new poultry units have been set-up in Dedtalai. A new initiative of improving the feed by introducing azola cultivation has been initiated in Zhirniya and 59 beneficiary families are presently involved in the activity. During the year, 55 trainings have been organized in different topics of livestock management and several veterinary camps have also been organized.


New initiative of azola cultivation to improvethe feed has been piloted in Madhya Pradesh

44

SKILLDEVELOPMENTSkill development and computer training interventions are undertaken with a focus to improve the economic and social standing of landless population and ensure them with a means of non farm livelihood as well as rural youth who ardently want to shift from agriculture to other sectors of the economy. Comprehensive efforts are made at various levels to adequately train these aspiring rural youth with significantly different and specialized skill set so that they can be the answer for severe paucity of trained and quality labour.

Yuva Junction centres have continued to train rural youth on basic computers, life skills, personality development and providing support with job placements. Life skill has been an integrated part of every training programme enabling students to gain proficiency in English language and personality development. In 2014, 2,744 rural youth have been trained and 1,110 have availed Placement services.

To reach rural youth in remote and faraway villages and provide

Yuva Junction

them with career counselling services, a free IVRS-based helpline was launched in 2014. Herein, rural youth can record their queries and an expert calls them back with detailed solution / guideline. Emphasis was laid on Communication Connect and Social Mobilizing all through the year.

In 2014, standardization and formalization of seven Yuva Junction Centres (under DDU GKY programme of the government) has been done by installing biometric systems, fire extinguishers, CCTV

cameras, water dispensers, and projectors amongst other necessary equipment. The students have been provided with uniform and a certified curriculum has been introduced. Moreover, cleanliness modules have also been established.

Collectively, all these efforts have culminated into Centres being successful in roping-in more girl / female students. The Yuva Junction Centre, Sagbara has recorded nearly 46 per cent girl / female student ratio.

Yuva Junction has been shaping dreams of several rural youth by providing computer, spoken english and soft skills training

Vinan has continued to facilitate the Kotwaliya artisans with entire value-chain, right from sourcing bamboo to marketing the final products in the urban markets. During the year, newer designs have been introduced in both, bamboo furniture and crafts. The Brand is slowly gaining popularity.

The products have been showcased and marketed in five trade fairs and exhibitions during the year. Besides earning their own livelihood, the artisans are so well groomed that they have trained 15 tribal youth in Dangs area for making bamboo products. After an initial positive response, plans are afoot to continue these trainings and

Vinan - Bamboo Crafts

increase product development in Dangs, too.

Apart from these, a series of training were conducted in Dangs to polish the latent skills of tribal youth. These included:

• Two-day training cum exposure visit at Common Facility Centre in Netrang to give 26 women participants a hands-on training for crafting four products

• Two-day training to make paper bags by an external Mumbai-based consultant. The participating 19 women made 50 bags of different designs. The Collector of Dangs encouraged such livelihood

enhancing activities by allotting a shop to these women during Dangs’ summer festival for selling their products

• Training on making Nagli (Ragi) papads, which benefited 26 members

• Training on tailoring female outfits. 17 enthusiastic participants attended the first batch and are now taking up tailoring activities as entrepreneurs or assistants to tailors

The Placement activities have continued to improve job readiness amongst rural youth, increase their livelihood options and help them adjust in the economy. During the year six job fairs have been

organized and 1,331 youth have been placed with companies like Café Coffee Day, Jubilant Foods and Vodafone amongst others. A consortium of NGOs was formed wherein collective efforts are being

made to identify common problems and derive at their common solutions regarding easy settling of rural youth in semi-urban and urban cities (when they take up jobs).


Prime Minister of Bhutan visiting vinan stall at an exhibition

46

ALTERNATEENERGYThe main objective of AKRSP (India)’s work in renewable energy has been to reduce energy deficit in rural areas through interventions that have the potential to reduce drudgery of women and children (from collection of fuel wood and dung), provide pollution free environment, and provide domestic light; thus, having an overall impact on the quality of life.

During the year, interventions have been scaled-up in both, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. A dedicated effort has been made to shift from fully subsidized to zero / low subsidized model. It was observed that the lack of community ownership in full subsidized model has had an adverse impact on the programme outcome. Hence, the approach has been redesigned wherein AKRSP (India) plays the role of a facilitator. The village youth has been trained to assemble / repair the solar products and women groups are motivated to market

these products. The approach has created a scope for additional income generation for youth and women groups. It has also increased the buyers’ convenience as it is locally available and repairs are handy.

The new zero / low subsidy approach has inspired several youth to turn entrepreneurs. To make the products pocket friendly, they have introduced an installment system for poor and ultra poor. During 2014, a total of 31,757 households have been illuminated through solar

lanterns and women and children in 385 households have benefitted through installation of smokeless chulhas and smoke vents.

Along with several other factors, unavailability of electric supply has been a major reason for low levels of literacy in rural India. In a novel effort, 35,000 solar lanterns have been distributed amongst school children in Madhya Pradesh to help them study during the dark hours.

Solar lights have provided an opportunity to rural students in Bihar to pursue their studies


WATER& SANITATIONThe main objective of the Water and Sanitation (WATSAN) interventions is to ensure sustainable access to the rural population that does not have access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation facilities. Efforts are made to educate people, reduce water contamination, cease unsafe hygiene practices, increase accessibility to safe drinking water and thereby reduce drudgery. To ensure sustainability of these interventions, the organization encourages community ownership, an entrepreneurial approach and government linkages.

Drinking Water

To increase accessibility of drinking water, infrastructural support is being provided to communities. In Dangs, Drinking Water Supply Schemes and hand pump repairs have been ongoing to ensure water management and distribution; whereas in Coastal Gujarat and Saurashtra, RRWHS (Roof Rain Water Harvesting Structures) and community water tanks are being promoted to provide non-saline, potable drinking water. In Bihar, the concept of COMDWSS (Community Owned Mini Drinking Water Supply Structures) has gained momentum. It has been appreciated by Government, as well. During the year, 196 structures have been constructed to augment

accessibility of drinking water in programme areas.

Along with accessibility, emphasis is laid on the ‘quality’ of water as well. The quality check is ensured at the source as well as the consumption level. During the year, water samples from 1,303 households (615 in Gujarat and 688 in Bihar) have been tested along with 15 samples from common drinking water sources. The same source / sample is tested at specific intervals over a period of time to ensure that proper preventive / curative measures are being undertaken. The test reports have been shared and necessary measures have been discussed

with the families. In Gujarat, chlorine tablets were distributed and chlorination process was demonstrated with 326 households in 10 villages. Consistent mass awareness activities have brought about a behavior change wherein people themselves get their water samples to the laboratories for testing (on chemical as well as bacteriological parameters). Also, people are ensuring preventive measures. This increase in awareness amongst people is apparent from the decrease in number of unfit samples (as shown in figure below) over a period of time.

56 441st QTR

44 602nd QTR 32 68

3rd QTR

Unsuitable For Drinking

suitable For Drinking

30

40

50

60

70

80

1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr

48

Sanitation interventions have equal weightage. And the programme is designed to be community oriented – planned and driven by them. Topical PRAs (Participatory Rural Appraisals) have been conducted across 51 villages to ensure community involvement. Sanitation Maps have also been made in 34 villages. Community Institutions are formed to promote hygiene practices of people. A total of 3,255 sanitation units have been constructed during the year. Nonetheless awareness generation has been a continuous activity.

Further, awareness generation activities have made people realize the direct correlation between quality of drinking water and their health costs. To ensure that the water testing activity is sustained, they have started paying a nominal amount of INR 35 per sample (as part of community contribution).

Community Institutions have been formed and their capacity building has been ensured through trainings and exposure visits. Mass awareness activities (including rallies, wall paintings, video shows, group discussions etc) have been done to simultaneously reach villagers, teachers, school students as well as government officials.

The nucleus of all the sanitation activities has been the concept of ‘hygiene promotion’ – which, mainly constitute of training and orientation activities directed

Drinking Water Structures 196

Water Samples Tested 1303

Sanitation Units 3255

Sanitation

to improve hygiene practices, promote safe hygiene behavior, and ultimately improve human health. As part of hygiene promotion programme, Gram Safais have been done (on regular – monthly basis) in 34 villages. The community acceptance of sanitation programme is reflected from the fact that nine villages (in Gujarat Programme Area) have been declared ‘open defecation free’ by village Community Institution (Pani Samiti / WATSAN Committee).

1- Community awareness- Water testing and follow-up measures - Behaviour Change CommunicationEd

uca

tio

n

Infr

astr

uct

ure

2- Toilets - Community Owned Drinking Water Supply Scheme- Roof Rain Water Harvesting Structure (RRWHS) - Hand pump platforms and repairs - Drainage Systems

Inst

itu

tio

ns

3- Pani Samitis - WATSAN Committee- Panchayats

AKRSP (India) APPROACHWater and Sanitation (WATSAN)

56 441st QTR

44 602nd QTR 32 68

3rd QTR

Unsuitable For Drinking

suitable For Drinking

30

40

50

60

70

80

1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr


EDUCATION AKRSP (India) believes education is the backbone of society. One of the key reasons for inter-generational poverty is the fact that children of poor (and asset-less) parents receive poor or incomplete education, which disables them from reaching their true intellectual and educational potential, leaving them with less livelihood options. In Bihar, the education programme is now five years old, and has a recognized interface with the government education system. The scope of interventions includes pre-primary and primary education for the underprivileged, promotion of family literacy and reading for children through informal libraries. In Gujarat, the programme is in its second year, with interventions to capacitate the School Management Committees and enhance learning levels of children who are not doing well in the class. Overall, the geographical coverage of education interventions includes Samastipur and Muzaffarpur districts in Bihar and Surendranagar and Wankaner Districts in Saurashtra, Gujarat.

This programme is being run in Surendranagar since October 2013 to address basic literacy and numeracy gaps of children (between 6-14 years age group) of migrant families. The RTE (Right To Education) campaign aims at raising awareness and engage the community in school governance process.

At the beginning LEP (Learning Enhancement Programme) classes, in 2012, a baseline exercise was

Learning And MigrationProgramme (LAMP)

conducted to measure the existing level of command over Gujarati language and Mathematics. In January 2014, another midline exercise was conducted among the same set of children to measure the effectiveness of the LEP classes. The result of the midline exercise shows that there has been significant increase in the knowledge levels.

In addition, various activities like formation of SMC (School Management Committee)

A mathematics session in progress at an LEP class in Surendranagar programme area

Federation in Wankaner, preparation of School Development Plans (SDP), trainings for village volunteers, balmitras, LEP coordinators, awareness Campaigns, Bal Melas, Bal Setu, RTE awareness camps, Praveshotsav programme, end line test for math and Guajarati language, preparation of Teaching and Learning Material (TLM) and Children’s Festival etc have been undertaken during the reporting period.

50

Bal MelaBal mela is an important medium to bring children closer to the school, promote their internal strength and establish linkages with schools. Different activities were conducted to make it more effective. School children, SMC members and parents participated in the bal melas. Such active participation by parents and SMC members has also widened their understanding about the importance of education.

Bal SetuIt was organized at Throyali village to motivate irregular students to attend school regularly as well as make parents’ understand the importance of education. The event had different activities.

Training of Bal Mitras on TLM It was done to orient Bal Mitras on means of conducting classes and to maintain a uniformity among all classes conducted. The Bal Mitras were given training on the use of new Maths workbook by students. They were given the understanding of specific topics like number line, addition and subtractions. Also, a new language TLM has been designed which was shared with the Bal Mitras. It was in a way, training of the trainers.

Children’s Festival at Bhimora A children’s festival was organized at Bhimora village for students of LEP Classes from seven villages of Chotila taluka. Each class had prepared a unique activity. The objectives of this festival were to get students together, help them overcome their fear of public speaking, perform group activities, learn new things, get friendly with each other, make best things from waste, learn new games, etc through different activities.

In Bihar, the objective is three-fold:

• to capacitate children & bridge the learning gap vis-à-vis age

• motivate the community to accept the government schools

• encourage the government schools to adopt the teaching-learning methods practiced by AKRSP (India).

LSCs play a catalytic role of providing quality education through advanced mode of Teaching-Learning Materials (TLMs) in fundamental subjects of Maths, Science and Languages. During the year, nearly 57 per cent of total children who availed the benefit of the methodology were girls. For right quality education, it is equally important to frequently undertake capacity building of the community teachers. Nine trainings had been organized to help community teachers with different topics. 18 meetings were organized with community teachers to ascertain the levels of knowledge gained through trainings, as well as design and practice the new TLMs.

ECDs are designed to facilitate cognitive, physical, social and emotional development for children in the tender age group of three to six years. A common evaluation meeting has been organized every month to identify the gaps and thereby improve the quality of ECDs. Various trainings and workshops were organized for capacity building of mother teachers. Workshops were also organized to help mother teachers with new ideas for TLM development, its practice, and new methodologies to evaluate child’s all-round development.

The Tola Siksha Sabha (TSS) – comprising of community members

Learning Support Centers (LSCs) and Early Childhood Development Centers (ECDs) for Underprivileged

and parents - had been playing a vital role in smooth functioning of these centers. Also, the Tola Siksha Samitis (TSSs) took a lead role in monitoring, problem identifying and solving, motivating parents to send children at the centers, as well as getting community contribution for repairing and maintenance of the centers.

Family Literacy Programme (FLP) and Reading For Children (RFC)Under FLP, mothers with minimal or low literacy levels are identified and facilitated to garner their reading and writing skills. The idea is to educate the mother to help her support her children for gaining quality education. Two hours of interactive sessions are delivered by community volunteers on every alternate day. Enrolled mothers can also taken pictorial reading material home to share with other members of the family, especially children. Here, FLP intensifies RFC programme, which believes that families are the primary agents for ensuring young children’s well being. FLP approach is effective in helping neo-literates retain, improve and have fun using their skills, as well as building young children’s opportunity to use and enjoy books. In the year gone by, 40 FLP centers with almost 800 women have been functional in two districts of Bihar.

FORESTRYDegradation of common lands, both forest and revenue waste lands has not only led to soil erosion and an imbalanced ecology but also adversely impacted rural livelihoods. The main objective of AKRSP (India)’s interventions is to reignite the traditions of community protection of common lands, which have come under pressure due to lack of entitlement and population growth. While tribal communities in Narmada district continue to protect common lands, new interventions in Dangs (Gujarat) and Madhya Pradesh have led to increased tree cover. Farm forestry on private lands also helps in enhancing tree cover.

As a culmination of its concentrated efforts during 2014, AKRSP (India) has been able to:

• 183,000 sapling are planted on farm borders of over 2000 farmers in Madhya Pradesh

• Promoted nurseries in Dangs and Madhya Pradesh with plant survival rate of over 90 per cent (9,100 / 10,000 saplings planted)

• Bring additional 250 hectares of land under protection in Dangs

• 7 hectares of degraded wasteland is regenerated in Madhya Pradesh

• Increase incomes of tribal through promotion of Non Timber Forest Product (NTFP) linkages

Under farm forestry, this year too, canopy development has been promoted in Dangs. The Forest Department is largely planting teak through Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMC) and hence, AKRSP (India) focused more on depleting species like Azadirachta Indica (Neem), Moringa Oleifera (Drumstick), Annona diversifolia Saff (Custard apple), Laucaena leucocephala (Subabul), Guava and Bamboo across 31 villages in four

clusters. Over 1,350 farmers have planted nearly 18,260 stumps on their farm bunds. While in Madhya Pradesh, over 183,000 saplings of various species (including guava, lemon, gliricidiya, pomegranate, drumstick, papaya, subabool and khamer) have been planted to meet requirements of family nutrition, fuel wood and fodder. All the saplings were produced by members of women Self Help Groups (SHGs).Capacity building of Gram Vikas Mandals (GVMs) has been ensured. 150 GVM members have been taken on an exposure visit to immersion sites in Netrang. Post which, additional 250 hectares of land has been brought under protection in six villages. Further, in Madhya Pradesh, nearly seven hectares of land ranging in three villages has been covered under common land plantation. Village youths are being motivated to do patrolling of the forest area.Along with increasing the green cover, income generation activities are also being promoted. To encourage collection of NTFPs, poly sheets of 20 ft X 12 ft were given to 60 members to help collect Mahuva flowers without dust and dirt. This facilitation has served 136 members with average income generation of INR 1,723. Also, efforts are being made to create linkages with the forest department for collective selling of such NTFPs.


REACHING OUT In 2014, sharing of learning through several research studies, research papers’ presentation at National and International workshops/seminars, capacity building workshops, documentation and dissemination of good practices via print collaterals and documentary films as well as concurrent monitoring of projects were taken up and completed across all three regions. A large number of young interns doing graduate and post graduate courses in Rural Management, social work, forest management, agricultural engineering etc. were supported to carry out documentation and survey related projects. All of these contributed to improve organisational learning, informing and improving project implementation and sharing of experiences both within as well as outside the organisation. AKRSP (India) also forged new partnerships during the year with institutions including State Bank of India’s Youth Fellowship program, Gujarat Biodiversity Board, Gandhinagar, Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad, Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, TERI University, New Delhi, Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneshwar, Vasudha Vikas Sansthan, Dhar, Madhya Pradesh and Vishakha Jilla Nav Nirman Samiti, Vishakhapatnam.

Whilst some of the good practice documentation focused on results of AKRSP (India)’s own work on water testing through establishment of mini water testing laboratories in Bihar, groundwater management through promotion of micro irrigation devices like drips for cotton growing farmers, low cost decentralised mini drinking water supply system in Bihar; the learning from work done

Research, Documentation and Dissemination

by other practitioners including documentation of good practices in promotion of decentralised drinking water and sanitation in the central Indian Tribal belt was done. The findings were then shared in an experience sharing workshop with relevant stakeholders.

During 2014, outreach work also included completing a variety of communication activities including

content creation, undertaking audio visual productions, strategy development, communication roll-out for events, industry liaison as well as networking. Thus brochures on System of root intensification in paddy, films on process of making Amrit pani and Amrit Khaad were disseminated. Further, the Unit represented the organization at several important events like National Consultation


for Community Radio in India (West Zone) and Sustainable CSR Round Table Conference at IIM-A amongst others. A communication training module too has been developed. Trainings on effective communication and photography were conducted. Some of the key learning from the research on status of de jure and de facto status of common lands in Tribal belt of south-western Madhya Pradesh was the following:

Quality of village commons has greatly deteriorated leading to local extinction of fodder species, increasing dependence and use of neighbouring forest lands for fodder collection by all and fuelwood collection by landless, small and marginal farmers. Reserve forests are becoming the de facto commons. Access to reserve forests too is being curtailed every year. b) Encroachments on revenue wastelands is increasing

with the view to getting it legalized with time. c) Reduction in livestock holdings especially larger ruminants and preference for smaller ruminants especially goats indicating deterioration in land quality again. d) Governance issues such as lack of powers to Gram sabha and Panchayat and weak Implementation of land laws such as the MP land revenue code and FRA and indeed gauchar/grazing land being reduced to 2% from the earlier 5% of common lands leading to a lack of incentives for conserving commons.The research on de Jure and De facto status of common lands in Madhya Pradesh helped feed into a best practice sharing workshop organised by the Indian Institute of Forest Management at Bhopal. Furthermore, another research Paper on MP MGNREGS Experience was presented at the International Conference on NREGA held at Indira Gandhi

Mr. Apoorva Oza (CEO, AKRSP (India)), Dr A.P.Singh, IFS (Member Secretary, GBB, Gandhinagar) andDr. Aeshita Mukherjee Wilske (State Project Coordinator, GBB, Gandhinaga

Institute of Development Research, Mumbai.Staff from the Research and Monitoring team also participated and provided inputs the in National Workshop on Defining M&E Indicators for IWMP projects conducted by MORD, at Ahmedabad and the National Workshop on developing Results based montoring systems organized by World Bank at New Delhi.

AKRSP (India)’s products were also shared with the Xavier Institute of Management at Bhubaneshwar to form part of an online repository called “Livelihoods Manthan” hosted by them to serve as a one-stop window to rural development knowledge and experiences. It is a consortium of 8 institutions, that have been working on putting together an online searchable knowledge repository on Livelihoods. The Livelihoods MANTHAN Online Knowledge Repository is an open portal to

54

AKRSP (India) collaborated with various national and international academic institutions and invited students to conduct research on the development issues faced by the

Support for young internsIn another significant initiative, AKRSP (India) partnered with State Bank of India’s youth for India fellowship programme which is initiated, funded and managed by the State Bank of India in partnership with a select group of NGOs. It provides a framework

SBI Youth for India fellowship programme:

share training materials, research reports and other resources to aid livelihoods promotion in India. It offers a unique platform to access available knowledge resources on livelihoods issues, cutting across themes and regions. The repository seeks to strengthen collaboration among practitioners, academics and policy makers, built on submissions by these stakeholders towards building a community of knowledge and practice on livelihoods. The repository currently hosts close to 500 resources and directs users to respective websites for details and downloading.

AKRSP (India) in partnership with Gujarat

Biodiversity Board, Gandhinagar organized

a capacity building workshop for NGOs of

Gujarat on the Biodiversity Act in August

at Ahmedabad. This was organized for

relevant development agencies of Gujarat

to explain better the biodiversity act

and its provisions. Further, the purpose

was also to help raise awareness so as

to strengthen the implementation of

this act and to establish a formal linkage

of the Gujarat Biodiversity Board [GBB]

with Gujarat’s development agencies for

future collaborations to implement the

Biodiversity Act, involving promoting and

strengthening village level Biodiversity

management committees.

organisation. This year, sixty (60) students were trained by AKRSP (India). Under this arrangement, the students get a first-hand feel and sensitization of a range of rural development issues while AKRSP (India) got some insights into the results of its own efforts and feedback to improve its work. A young Volunteer Graduate from University of Pennsylvania too supported AKRSP (India)’s education program in Gujarat.

for India’s best young minds to join hands with rural communities, empathise with their struggles and connect with their aspirations. The Programme seeks to help India secure an equitable and sustainable growth path by a) providing educated Indian youth with an opportunity to touch lives and create positive change at the grass root level in rural India b) providing NGOs working on development projects in rural India with educated manpower whose skill sets can be used to catalyze rural development and c) promoting a forum for the Programme alumni to share ideas and contribute to rural development throughout their professional life. A total of twenty fellows participated in this program taking up various projects across AKRSP (India)’s three programme states and regions.

AKRSPI(India) Annual Report 2014 / Vadvai

VADVAI

Vadvai is the services’ unit of AKRSP (India) set up with a four-fold objective of:

• Enabling organizations for effective and better implementation of programs by incorporating grassroots learning (of AKRSP (India))

• Disseminating lessons learnt through field demonstrations

• Building capacities and providing handholding support to other development organizations

• Influencing government policy through advisory services and capacity building

The unit has been on a self-sustenance mode by recovering

all administrative and operational costs. It trained over 4,100 people (including community members, government officials, fellow colleagues from development sector etc.). Along with government assignments, Vadvai has had steadfast association with various Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) units.

Vadvai has been recognized as State and National Level Resource Organization for Integrated Watershed Management Programs in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) in all NRLM states

Training participants interact with a Community Resource Person during a field visit

56

• The major training programs organized were related to Integrated Watershed Management Programs (IWMP), under which Vadvai provides training to five districts. During 2014, new training programmes like effective communication skills and IEC, advanced training for trainers, technical trainings for watershed planning, convergence for watershed, agriculture production system etc have been introduced

• Exposure visits were organized for Reliance Foundation, Rajasthan and Action for Social Advancement, Madhya Pradesh

• PIM trainings for new members of WUA and leadership training for existing WUA have been organized in partnership with WALMI for South Gujarat Zone

• SHG training for DEEP and Microfinance training for groups of world vision were organized by Tribal Livelihood Research Centre, Netrang

• Training programme for land based livelihood opportunities for FRA beneficiaries were organized in partnership with Tribal Research and Training Institute, Ahmedabad and Tribal Department, Gandhinagar

• Several internal training programmes were organized like – Drinking water interventions for AKRSP (India), Dang; Livelihood interventions for AKRSP (India) Bihar; Orientation programmes for youth fellows supported by SBI; Gender Training of Trainers for field team from Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh; technical training for engineers from Dang and Madhya Pradesh

Capacity Building

An exclusive 5-day training cum rural orientation had been organized for the staff members of Escort Tractors as a part of their Customer Empathy Programme. The training was jointly facilitated by a trainer from ESCORT and Vadvai team. It included experiential learning through different on-field tasks and staying with host farmers’ family to experience their lives.

A stakeholder consultation based on “study and documentation experiences of interventions for drinking water in central tribal states” had been done during March 2014. The consultation was attended by representatives of government, donor agencies, academicians, CSR and field NGOs. Many critical policy level suggestions came up as part of the process.

The work with CSR unit of Coastal Gujarat Power Ltd (Tata Power’s subsidiary) for the SAGARBANDHU project has now entered into phase-III. Till date, Vadvai has formed five SHGs and provided them revolving fund; have developed infrastructure for fisheries based livelihood interventions and have been supporting the VDAC for taking lead role in village development process. Vadvai shall now support technical interventions for improved fisheries’ practices mainly aqua-culture fishing as an alternative.

New Initiative

Advisory Services

Direct Field Support

1. Tata Power 2. John Deere3. Escorts4. WALMI 5. Ambuja Cement Foundation 6. Gujarat Industries Power

Company Limited7. Kamalnayan Jamnalal Bajaj

Foundation

Clientele Of

Utilization Headwise 2014

Particulars In Millions

Admin Cost 35.96

Programme Cost 392.36

Capital Cost 8.43

Outreach Cost 2.79

Total 439.55

Utilization Locationwise 2014

Utilization Sourcewise 2014


Ahmedabad 35.96

Saurastra 135.21

Tribal South Gujarat 100.39

Madhya Pradesh 88.94

Bihar 79.04

Total 439.55


External Donor 122.29

Corporate Donor/Indian Donor 52.28

Govt 126.13

Comm. Contri. 76.72

His Highness 12.32

Other Donors 12.53

Corpus InterestIncome 37.27

Total 439.55

1%02% 08%

89%

08%

31%

28%

12%

29%

17%

03%03%

23%

20%

18%

FINANCIALSUMMARY


HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENTFor any organization the biggest asset is its human resource. As AKRSP (India) is expanding geographically as well as adding to its programme interventions, there is a constant need for able human resource to meet new challenges of work and also for scaling-up. During 2014, 123 new members have been recruited making total staff strength reach 337.

Training and capacity building of staff members is a concurrent activity at AKRSP (India). The organization has developed a training module in-line with concepts of Management. It has also announced a Management Development Programme (MDP) - for staff across categories - to achieve strategic goals like development of “management” as one of its core competencies; facilitation of analysis for various activities within the organization through the common language of management and empowerment of staff and community leaders with management tools to ensure a better future.

During the year, various structured trainings (including in-house as well as external trainings) have been organized. While majority of them were in-house trainings like orientation (for new joinees) and subject-specific trainings for middle management, following four-trainings have garnered much enthusiasm from the participants.

• A one day training on Motivation and Financial Analysis, facilitated by the CEO, had been organized at the Central Office for the Field-level Middle Management (Gujarat)

Training

CO: 10

Sayla: 07

Gadu: 14

Netrang: 11

Dang: 17

MP: 24

Bihar-Patna: 03

Bihar field : 14

Location Wise Staff Strength (in percentage)


AKRSP (India) has two regional offices in Gujarat, one in Madhya Pradesh and two in Bihar. In Gujarat, the organization is structured into two regions – the Coastal and Semi Arid Saurashtra Region and the Tribal South Gujarat Region. Similarly, Madhya Pradesh has become a region. Each region is headed by Regional Manager and a team of Programme Specialists and Cluster Managers report to the Regional Manager.

Netrang (Bharuch), Gadu (Junagadh) and Sayla (Surendranagar) have established campuses and the offices in Dangs, Khandwa, Pusa, Sakra and Tajpur are on rental basis. These are known as Spear Head Teams (SHTs).

Due to the geographical distance between Ahmedabad and Bihar, Bihar has a small Central Office (in Patna) to support its field offices. The SHTs in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh implement programmes through the Cluster and Project offices, which are located near to the community. In Bihar, there are no Cluster Offices.

The organization implements its programmes through field professionals designated as Development Organizers (DOs). They work in the field teams known as Clusters. We have 22 such field teams (18 in Gujarat and five in Madhya Pradesh). DOs are meant to organize communities in various village institutions and provide

technical inputs. These teams are led by Cluster Managers. In Gujarat, there are many large government–funded projects whose mandate is beyond a cluster or whose focus is on a particular underprivileged community. Separate Project Teams, headed by a Project Manager, have been set up to implement such projects.

The Skill building and Placement unit work with the rural youths under a division called ‘Yuva Junction’. A separate structure has been set which is integrated at the field level. The unit has three centers in TSG, four in Saurashtra, one in Madhya Pradesh and five in Bihar. Each of these centers is managed by trainers with different

• A one day training on Motivation and Financial Analysis, facilitated by the CEO & Sr. Manager (HR), had been conducted at the Central Office for the Finance Team

• A-four-day training to Enhance Capabilities of Middle Management (Programme Specialists and Cluster

Managers of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh), facilitated by the CEO, COO, Sr. Manager (HR) & Ms. Madhavi Mehta, had been organized at Dr. Kamala Chaudhary Training Centre, Sayla

• A-four-day training for Middle Management (all locations) had been organized at IRMA

Organizational Structure

with special focus on subjects like Project Management, Finance Management, Proposal Management and Leadership. It had been facilitated by the CEO, COO, Sr. Manager (HR), CEO (AKF) & Mr. Hitesh Bhatt

60

skill sets. The IT Trainer focuses on imparting technical IT skills, Spoken English Trainer imparts training on Spoken English and the Life Skills Trainer induces confidence through role plays and ensures job readiness.

There are 13 IT Trainers, five Spoken English Trainers and four Life Skills Trainers. Further, there are six regional Team Leaders for centers in various regions, who are supported by Placement Officers. And the entire skill development and placement activity of Yuva Junction is managed by two member team based at Central Office (Ahmedabad).

In addition, there are specialized

units which have an enterprise support or are based on cost-recovery model. In Surendranagar, the Water testing laboratory has separate staffing structure. In Netrang, a separate team supports “Vinan” - the Bamboo Craft enterprise of the Kotwaliyas.

The set up in Bihar has a different structure. The Bihar Head Office is located in Patna. It is led by a General Manager and has a team of Managers who provide support to the Field Offices.

Outreach activities have a separate staffing structure. Vadvai - the training and capacity building unit - has six full-time staff stationed at the two training centers (in Sayla

and Netrang) and Ahmedabad office. In addition, there is a full-time Communications Manager at Ahmedabad.

Development work from the Central Office at Ahmedabad is carried out by Directors/Senior Managers/Managers, who work as ‘thematic leaders’ responsible for different sectorial and sub-sectorial activities. The Central Office also hosts a Research and Monitoring Unit led by a Senior Manager. A Chief Executive Officer (CEO), appointed for a fixed tenure, heads the organization.

Training has been

an important role

of human resource

development at AKRSP

(India). (on the left)

A memoir from the

Management (all

locations) training held

at IRMA in 2014

CENTRAL OFFICE

CEOApoorva Oza

Programme staffAshok VyasFalguni LokhilFrederic SebastianHasmukh PatelJohn P InchakkalodyNaveen PatidaarNupur MarathePramod SahuRaman PatelShiji AbrahamUmesh Desai

Human Resource ManagementM.S.VahoraBhavini Goswami

Research, Monitoring and Communications UnitNiraj JoshiJanmejaya MishraVaidehi Chokshi

Administration, Accounts and ITAlok KrishnaAmit ShahPrahlad SinhGautam Goyani*Remya NairSunil Balolkar Jaimin Chauhan

Support StaffAmita BhatnagarAruna Nair*Dhulsinh ChauhanNimisha ModiParbatsinh PawarPayal JagadPriti ChristiRashmikant LimbachiaSajjansinghVijaysinh Rathod

Coastal Saurashtra RegionJunagadh District

SHT programme staffPankaj Dave Bharat Daki*Bhayabhai PatatChunilal AmhedaHetal DodiaKirit FuletraManish Chauhan*Mayur Ram*Nagedra Bhadoria*Ramesh MakawanaSanjay DodiaSarang DakiVaishali Popat

Mangrol Cluster StaffGurpreet SinghKetan JoshiLalit Koradiya Mansinh KherMayur SolankiSudha Rathod Vejanand Jogal

Madhavpur Cluster StaffGatur SolankiLaxman ValaRavji Chavda

Bhatia Cluster StaffDivyarajsinh VanarLavji ParmarMeraman Dangar

Khambhalia Cluster StaffDushyant JoshiGovind ChavdaJayantilal DholakiyaKanabhai Garchar*Mahesh BorichaNakkum VajesinhShailesh Mehta

Yuva Junction StaffAnita BhardaDipak Dave

STAFFLIST

Ghanshaym SolankiHardika CharadavaIrfan Kabirani* Jagdish VajaJitendra DayatarJitendra MakkaPunita Oza*Rekha ManekRushita ChanderaSandeep GamitSangita SagarSapana VajaSonal ChudasamaVijay Kamani

Administration and AccountsPraful DamodaraShailesh BarotVishal Goswami

Support staffBakul JoshiShantilal Bamania

Research & Monitoring StaffRajesh Kumar

Surendranagar District

SHT Programme StaffMansukh GadhiaAshish Rawal*Hitesh UpadhyayManojitsinh GohilNatwar KhavaidaPrakash GhodakiyaRanabhai BhammarVipul Chauhan

Administration and AccountsDilip Bayal*Mayur PatelSwati Sitapara*

Support StaffPola Ghanghal Sukhdev Chudasama


Chotila Cluster StaffSurekha PatelVithal Kakania

Rajkot District

Wakaner Cluster StaffNatvar Virani Aslam KhorajiyaHiren ValaMeena Vora*Shivram GondaliyaSomabhai DhoriyaVeena JadavYogesh Jani

South Gujarat Tribal RegionBharuch District

SHT Programme StaffSajan PrajapatiHasmukh M. Patel Subodh KumarVijay VasavaVinit Kumar

Dediapada Cluster StaffDashrath ValandAnila P Vasava*Jignesh Bhatti *Parth Patel*Prabhav Tandel

Sagbara Cluster StaffMahendra MakwanaMeena Solanki*Parsottam N Vankar

Tilakwada Cluster StaffHasmukh Vankar*

Surat District

PTG Project Mandvi and MahuvaAnil PatelAruna PatelMehul Parekh*Suresh Chaudhary

Suresh J PatelVipul Chaudhari *

Umarpada Cluster StaffAmarsing VasavaDharmesh VasavaPravin ChamarRatilal Patel

Vankal Cluster Staff Harpalsinh Gharia Manjulaben Chauhan*Niteshkumar Rathod

Yuvajunction Staff Ranabhai MakwanaBhavnaben Vasava* Deepika Vasva Dharmendra Vasava Ganpath VasavaJagdish Gaekwad*Kusum VasavaLaxmi NaikPriyanka VasavaRajesh VasavaSegabhai VasavaShailesh VasavaSunilkumar VasavaVandana Parmar*

Administration and AccountsDeepika VasavaPrabhakarsinh ZalaPriyakant Panchal

Support StaffAfzalkhan PathanPragji Makwana

Dangs District StaffShubha KhadkeChintan Patel*Kantilal MakwanaLoveleena Gavli*Mihir BhavsarNayna Upadhyay*Nilesh Moradiya*Pritesh VaidyaSantosh HegdeShailesh PatelSuresh G. Patel

Thakarshi DawraTulsibhai KharadiYogesh Bhatt*

Ahwa Cluster StaffDhaneshwar PandyaAmrut BabariaArvind S PatelMaganbhai MakwanaMaheshwari PatelMukesh Ganvit*Ramesh Cahudhari*Rekha B AlhatSamir ChauryaSanjay Thalkar Snehal GavitSonal ValviSumitra Gaekwad Suresh GangordaSuresh J Patel**Taruben Kotavaliya

Waghai Cluster StaffPravinsinh Jadav Anil ThoratBhagyavan SolankiHitesh PatelJagdish Vamja Kalawatiben GamitKamlesh PatelPoonam BhoyeYogendra Patel

Subir Cluster StaffNeetaben Patel Anand GangodaAshish Bhoye Bhavana Patel*Chitra Sukla*Haresh Patel Hemant GavliJatin MahalaKantubhai JadavNaresh MahalaNilesh Bhivsan* Nilesh Ganvit*Rajesh Bhoye*Sheela ChaudhariVijay KapdiyaVimal ChaudhariVinuben Chaudhary

Shamgahan Cluster StaffAnand BhoyeChirag PatelDharasing VasavaJayesh Thorat*Jigneshkumar PatelKiran ChauryaMachchhindra Bhoye*Nehal Chauhan Niruben GanvitRaju PatelRibka GamitShashiram GangordaYogesh Mahala

Navsari District

Vansda Cluster StaffJaymatiben Desai Ishwer ChaudharyKalpesh PatelKamlesh Chaudhari*Naresh PatelParth Shah*Pritiben Patel

Research & Monitoring StaffR. Sukumar

Vadvai StaffAhmedabadGovind DesaiSayla - Training Centre StaffDeepak JargelaGhohabhai Faga

Netrang - Training Centre StaffNarendrasinh YadavMayursinh Bodana*Trupti Chaudhari

Other Location - KutchImran Khan BelinJignesh Anjani

MADHYA PRADESH

SHT Programme Staff

Sunil MalviyaSunita MoweVineet Malakar

Burhanpur District

Dedtalai Cluster StaffAnil YadavBhagirath ChouhanDeepmala JachpureDilip ShakyaJitendra PrajapatiPankaj BodoleRakesh GolkarSanjeev TiwariSawan PatidarShivkaran GolkarSwati Soni

Barwani District

Niwali Cluster StaffShantanu Sidharth DubeyAjay KumabatGenda SolankiGurudatt MagloriyaHemant KhernarLokesh Verma Magantilal ChouhanUsha Mukati*Vijendra PrajapatYogita Barbe

Balwadi Cluster StaffSwadeque EKAnil ChouhanFiroz KhanLokesh Khantwa* Raghvendra Sharma*Rahul Gangrade Sachin MalviyaSunil Kumar Yadav

Khargone District

Zhirniya ClusterKamlesh PancholeAnil ShrivasAnupam PandeyBabi KhanDurgesh RathoreGovind ChouhanKirti Karma

Manoj Bagdi*Nandram PendareNilesh PatelRahul YavitkarRatan Ghanghoriya*Sangeelal Narve*Vijay MishraVijay RathordVinod Mandloi*

Dhar District

Bagbaniya ClusterAmit Kumar ChandelDeepak TripathiGhanshyam PatelSanjay Kumar Prajapati

Yuva Junction CenterMahipat AgrawatVivek Maheshwari

BIHAR

Bihar Central OfficeManju JhaAmit KumarAmit Kumar*Dinesh YadavIqbal AsifKari LokanathManish Kumar Mani*Mukesh ChandraPankaj KumarRakesh Kumar Singh*Santosh KumarSweta Sonbhadra Singh*Ujjwal Kumar*

Research & MonitoringNiraj Pathak

Pusa Cluster StaffSunil PandeyAjay KumarAjit ChaudharyAnanyat AnsariAnita VishwakarmaBasant KumarBhagwan PrasadChiranjeevJai Kumar GuptaJitendra KumarKundan Kumar*

Madhumita NandiNarendraNeeraj KumarNeha Kumari Nekram OjhaNika Kumar Pankaj ChandravanshiRupesh Kumar Sadiya JabeenSaumit Das Shrimi KumariShyam KishoreSimmi MishraSurabhi KumariUpesh DubeyWakil Pandit

Sakra Cluster StaffAbhinav Kumar

Ajay SinghAmbrish kumar* Amit Anand KumarAnil KumarAnurag AshtanaAnurag Kamal Archana DiwediArvind KumarEdwinFarhat JahanKanhaiya PathakManoj Kumar Singh*Neetu Verma Rahul Kumar Rajib RanjanRatan ChaudharyShishupal KumarSuraj Kumar TiwariVirendra Chaudhary*Yashwant Kumar *

Bharat MogareAlok Dung DungAmarendra KumarAnanya Pan*Anil Kumar Singh BagelBhaskar MitraJitendra SinghManoj Kumar SinghNilesh PatelRamkrishna MahajanSachin YadavSandeep KumarSandeep VishwakarmaSourabh ParasharSumit DubeySunayana Ingle*Supreet Bhatia

Administration and AccountsGovind Singh GautamSandeep JoshiSurendra Sharma

Khandwa District

Pandhana Cluster StaffChandrarekha MalviyaDeepak YadavDilip PatelGirdharee MoreGurprit BhatiyaJati Patel*Mukesh PatidarNitesh Hingole*Ravi SirvaiyaRoshni GuptaVipin Patel

Khalwa Cluster StaffSandeep BaghelAbhilash Bordia*AnitaArjun VishwakarmaArpit KadamBhamar singh MohareBheemashankar Kushwah*Devram YadavNitesh Jamre*Pawan DevdaRanjna Gangrade*Rohit TawarSatish Yadav*


ADDRESSES

© AKRSP (India). 2015Design & layout: www.threedotdesigns.com | Printing: Print Vision

9th – 10th Floor, Corporate House, Opp. Dinesh Hall, Off. Ashram Road, Ahmedabad-380 009Tel: 079-66312451/61, 27541678Fax: 079-66312471

CENTRAL OFFICE AGA KHAN RURAL SUPPORT PROGRAMME (INDIA)

• Sayla(Surendranagar)• Netrang(Bharuch) • Gadu(Junagadh)• Ahwa(Dangs)

OTHER OFFICES IN GUJARAT

HIG-7, Scholar Den School Road,Dindayalpuram Colony Khandwa(M.P) – 450001Tel-Fax: 0733-2249292Email: [email protected]

MADHYA PRADESH FIELD OFFICE AGA KHAN RURAL SUPPORT PROGRAMME (INDIA)

• Niwali (Badwani)• Balwadi(Badwani)• Khalwa(Khandwa)• Pandhana(Khandwa)• Dedtalai(Burhanpur)• Zirniya (Khargone)

OTHER OFFICES IN MADHYA PRADESH

254, Patliputra,Behind CARE Office,Patna – 800 013Tel: 0612 2270262

BIHAR - CENTRAL OFFICEAGA KHAN RURAL SUPPORT PROGRAMME (INDIA)

• Tajpur• Sakra• Pusa

OTHER OFFICES IN BIHAR

Documents

AGA KHAN RURAL SUPPORT PROGRAMME INDIA - APR 2014-15