Gender:: Male
More Details: VAAGDHARA: A Brief Profile
Voluntary Association for Agricultural General Development,
Health and Reconstruction Alliance (society)
Vaagdhara (Voluntary Association for Agricultural General Development, Health and Reconstruction Alliance ) is a non-for-profit non government organization committed to the empowerment of most deprived and vulnerable groups of the society, in particular the indigenous population of South Rajasthan, an already exploited and excluded group, which has been further marginalized over the past fifteen year when market economy has started pervading all spheres of governance and civic life.
Located in Banswara town of Rajasthan, Vaagdhara focuses its efforts in the district of Banswara, Dungarpur, Udaipur, Pratapgarh and Chhittorgarh. Vaagdhara aims at promoting and facilitating development processes in water and resources scarce region through investing in human and technological development and augmentation of natural resources towards long term well being of its partner communities, i.e. women, children, peasants and deprived tribal population.
Vaagdhara is registered under Rajasthan Societies Registration Act, FCRA and all other relevant laws of the land
VISION
Vaagdhara visualizes a socially just, technologically improved and democratic society, free from ignorance, hunger, fear and exploitation where poor and marginalized have equal opportunity and rightful share of resources, information and development process.
MISSION
To catalyze and facilitate development processes in a “rights framework” by investing in both organizing local communities and engaging with governance apparatus and creating synergy between traditional knowledge and technological advancement for securing long term well being of people in tribal south (Rajasthan).
Although Vaagdhara looks at itself primarily as a grassroots development agency, it also engages itself in the processes taking place at state and national levels, as it believes that in this era the local developments issues can not be addressed in isolation of meso and macro level processes.
OBJECTIVES
The major objectives of the organisation as enshrined in its MoA are:
To address issues relating to equitable natural resource management and livelihoods, with a focus on hunger and food sovereignty, access to water and forest produce
Organizing and supporting activities towards promotion of bio-diversity, ecology and environmental protection and conservation
Action research and undertaking pilots on specific issues which could be lead to knowledge and skill building on the issues including education, health and gender
To promote networking and policy advocacy around the issues which have a wide ramification, and as such require interventions at meso and macro levels.
GENESIS OF VAAGDHARA
Vaagdhara was formed in 1986-87 as a result of efforts of number of individuals including health professional, academics, farmers and social workers. The immediate goal was to provide relief of farmers who have become victims of successive droughts in Ghantol Tehsil of Banswara region. The humble endeavor included providing direct relief in the form of seeds and basic provisions for sustenance. However, this only proved a precursor to the response that Vaagdhara would take later on to address the variety of needs and demands of the people and high expectations from such efforts. Vaagdhara could not ignore the felt needs and acute requirements of the region and was drawn into a long drawn struggle for sustainable development, social justice, and human dignity. In terms of practical programmes, this meant a variety of interventions, however, supporting people’s livelihoods and restoring their entitlements was the central strategy.
VAAGDHARA THEN AND NOW
Starting with delivery of agriculture inputs such as seed and fertilizer distribution for 15 farm families, the scope and work area of Vaagdhara has expanded exponentially. With the aim of augmenting livelihood sources and options through improving traditional agricultural practices among the tribal population and other marginalized groups, the organization has undertaken a variety of activities. These included capacity building on irrigation management and use of appropriate fertilizers, seed production, on-farm training, vermin composting, seed and medicinal plant production. All these activities are the key to the food security and livelihoods promotion for the local population which predominantly comprises of tribals, the indigenous people. The interventions in primary education and health services, women empowerment and income generation were only logical corollary to the efforts to improve life and living standard of rural people.
Now, having worked extensively and intensively with farmers, tribal population, women and children over 20 years and having organized capacity building opportunities for more than 15,000 farmers, Vaagdhara, along with other activities, is engaged in a unique venture of training the farmers in STEVIA- a method of extracting necessary sugar from crops for diabetics. The core area of intervention in the area is natural resource management with a watershed management approach. Today, Vaagdhara covers over sixty villages and caters to the needs of more than 10682 households with its services. Empowerment of the rural community is the underlying theme of all the development activities in the villages which are mainly carried out through community based institution known as Village Development Associations (Gramin Vikas mandals) and women’s groups (Mahila Mandals).
Vaagdhara is associated with a number of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and networks at the state, national and international levels. It is a member of Development Coordination Network Committee (DCNC), Rajasthan Social Forum at the state level and CIVICUS at the international level. It also partners with UN WFP, Save the children fund (BC), IGSSS, NABARD, CAPART, Indraprastha Public Affairs Centre (IPAC), PAIRVI, Cecoedecon, Global Week of Action, and UN Millennium Development Goals; and has participated in World Social Forums and Make Trade Fair, Campaign. Vaagdhara has forged effective partnerships with different stakeholders such as media, government officials, and academia.
GEOGRAPHICAL COVERAGE
The mission pf Vaagdhara mandates it to work in 5 districts of southern Rajasthan, i.e. Banswara, Dungarpur, Udaipur, Pratapgarh and Chittorgarh. The entire region put together is known as Vaagar. These districts are not only water and natural resources scarce, but also face various other deprivations in terms of human development endeavors. The area is predominantly inhabited by tribal communities. The main sources of sustenance of these communities have been primitive agriculture and minor forest produce. However, most of the tribal people are now deprived of their lands, and live off animal husbandry, lumbering and providing manual labour to agricultural farms. Vaagar region in Rajasthan stands quite low in term of human development indicators and lack basic infrastructural facilities critical to the development of area.
Within Vaagar region, Banswara district, the core working area of Vaagdhara is one of the predominant tribal districts of southern Rajasthan. Having an area of 506, 279 hectares it has a population of 1,500,420 (2001 census) and population density of 298 persons per sq. km. the district is inhabited by Bhils, Bhilmeenas, Damor, Charpotas and Ninamas tribes. As already mentioned these tribals make out their living by engaging in primitive agriculture and cultivate maize, wheat, cotton and gram. These ethnic groups mainly live in small one room house known as “Tapras”, which lie scattered all over the area. Other major constituents of the social composition in Banswara are Patels, Rajputs, Brahmins, Mahajans and Muslims. The dialect spoken is called Vaagri which is a mixture of Gujarati and Mewari.
Due to inhospitable terrain, the farmers face great hardships in agriculture. Some parts of the region are precariously dependent of rain water and highly prone to drought. Wherever, the water scarcity is not so acute, the irresponsible and ineffective water management practices have led to significant contributions to successive famine in the area. Thirteen out of last 25 years have faced severe famine. The vulnerability to famine in this area can be gauged by the fact that almost 85% of the population is dependant on the rains. Mahi dam, which was supposed to be the lifeline for agriculture in this region, irrigates only 15% of the arable lend of the region. Though there exists a good potential to harvest water and thereby increase local agricultural productivity, however, proper water management practices are scarce, which affects all farmers, in particular the tribals, whose land holdings are small and marginal.
The region also lacks basic infrastructure facilities for communication and transport. There are no rail transport facilities and only 2% of the roads of Rajasthan lie in the state. Out of total 1431 villages 1319 have been officially electrified but power supply is irregular and unreliable. The region has also been a classic case of state apathy and basic services are also non-existent in the region. More than half of the population is still illiterate. Literacy rate of the district is 44.2% and women’s literacy is still worse at 27 percent.
THRUST AREAS OF VAAGDHARA
Vaagdhara believes that development is a process of change in which the use of resources, the direction of investment, the orientation of technological development and institutional change are in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations. Vaagdhara is committed to rural work based on the appreciation of many positive features of rural life and society. Vaagdhara has taken upon the challenge of revitalization of the rural economy whilst strengthening its ecological base. Vaagdhara is actively involved in wide range of development activities aimed at addressing problems faced by general and tribal population in Banswara district.
Poverty is an overriding concern.
Although Vaagdhara undertakes a variety of development interventions depending on the needs and issues underlined by the partner communities, the abject poverty that majority of the people in this area face is the overriding concern for Vaagdhara. This poverty gets reflected in various forms – extreme deprivation, marginalization, perennial vulnerability to various kinds of challenges and high degree of exclusion. To address these forms of poverty, Vaagdhara has been involved in the organisation and empowerment of local communities, complemented by project interventions in the area of agriculture, ecology and environment through sustainable natural resource management, community health and facilitating empowerment of tribal groups. The specific programmatic interventions are determined by the existing needs (and demands) of the communities, availability of resources, and the status of human rights. Community organization, gender development and networking and advocacy are used as important strategies to accomplish the goals of our programmes.
Natural Resource Management – agriculture, ecology and environment,
The livelihood of tribal people in South Rajasthan is directly dependent on the veracity and productivity of local natural resources. Consequently, when these resources come under stress so does the quality of life of the people dependent on them, and obviously, when their productivity is enhanced in a sustainable way, local communities benefit. Therefore, since its inception, issues concerning natural resources and livelihoods have been a core concern of Vaagdhara addressed under different projects.
The efforts continue towards sustainable management and augmentation of natural resources to ensure livelihoods security of local people and environmental regeneration in the long run. The major projects under this programme include agricultural development including seed and fertilizer management, watershed and water resources management and organic farming. The efforts are also on to harness clean energy and save environment and natural resources from depredation.
Check Dams: In order to tackle the problem of high run off which causes high soil erosion and water scarcity, Vaagdhara has helped construct 6 check dams over the past few years. Check Dams are concrete structures built across natural channels, designed to harvest water that flows during the rainy season. These structures help to raise the water table, increasing both quantity and quality of water available to local farmers. The water so stopped could also be used for drinking purpose for cattle as well as for human beings with some treatment. In addition, it reduces the velocity of surface runoff and checks soil erosion.
Promotion of Lift Irrigation: There are few perennial streams in Banswara area, but the rugged and impregnable geography along with lack of proper infrastructure makes the irrigation possibilities very difficult. Therefore, the organisation with the help of the State government, especially the TAD department, has set up three lift irrigation units in the region, which contributed to a substantial increase in the agricultural productivity of the user beneficiaries.
Community health and education services
The aim is to bridge the gap between the demand and the institutional supply and availability of such services. The efforts are aimed at improving the health seeking behavior of people so that there is not only a demand generation for health and medical facilities but also an optimum use of the existing facilities. Vaagdhara believes that education is the stepping stone to realization of a number of rights and empowers most. Thus it also uses education as an entry point to villages, community and families to provide them other services.
Tribal Development
Since Vaagdhara’s operational area is mainly inhabited by tribals, a special emphasis is placed on tribal development, and the first step in this strategy is to create spaces for participation of tribals at the local level as well as in the development discourse at large. In practical terms it means organizing tribal communities into their self managed action groups, building the capacity building of tribal population in their traditional agricultural practices, and support for alternative livelihoods. In view of the changed socio-economic scenario Vaagdhara believes that it is important for tribal and indigenous populations to supplement their meager earnings with new earned skills and incomes derived therefrom. Vaagdhara continues to play a key role in developing innovative approaches for development of the socio-economically marginalized community.
Gender Development
The strategies of community organization and gender development initiatives are based on the belief that improved gender relations are central to the overall development of a community. “Gender” is all pervading theme at Vaagdhara, and as such gender concerns are reflected in the organizational issues as well as in its programme interventions – both as a special activity and as cross cutting perspective. Needs of the women addressed as a priority serve as a stepping stone to the empowerment of the community. The efforts have endowed the women with literacy and numeric skills and organized them into Mahila mandals leading to formation of SHGs linked to banks and availing credit facilities for their enterprises. Micro level interventions have translated into empowerment of women to some extent manifested in their coming out of veil and their increased participation in decision making within and outside their families.
Interface with Panchayat Raj Institutions:
From the very beginning of its existence, Vaagdhara has emphasized the need for creating and strengthening people institutions at different levels. On one hand, this has meant organizing village action groups, women’s self help groups at the community level; on the other hand it meant working actively with Panchayat Raj Institutions, both by directly working with the representatives of PRIs and through enhanced interface between PRIs and VAGs organized by Vaagdhara. The organisation believes that ultimately it is the responsibility of PRIs to implement and take up the development work in the long term. However, PRIs face several challenges, lack of requisite awareness about the powers and responsibilities, non-cooperative attitude of bureaucracy, non- devolution of powers as per the constitutional amendments are some of the examples. Hence, the organisation decided to do collaborative work with the PRIs in a sustained manner.
The PRI system is a complex system, and as mentioned above, the new elected members were not aware about their rights and responsibilities. Though the Government tried to give short-term trainings to the PRIs members but they were insufficient in providing them with adequate knowledge and a sense of empowerment. Vaagdhara through its training programmes not only provided inputs on the rights and responsibilities of PRIs but also provided trainings on social audit especially for NREGS which is a unique examples PRIs empowerment in Banswara district. Another point of concern is that even in non-state interventions, undertaken by NGOs, PRIs institutions are ignored or deliberately bypassed, partly because in the past there is no strong history of partnerships between PRIs and NGOs leading to a wide communication gap, and partly because of vested interests on both sides. Vaagdhara has tried to bridge this gap between two important players and stakeholder in the development of the people at the local level.
Orientation Meeting of Village Action Groups and PRIs members: As explained earlier that realizing the relevance and importance of working with PRIs, the organisation works effectively with both the VAGs and PRIs. To operationalise such a process, it organizes orientation meetings of both the PRIs and VAG members to share information of the project undertaken by Vaagdhara, its objectives, and the strategic interventions. This sharing not only has improves the effectiveness of functioning but also helps in avoiding the duplication of efforts and resources, and facilitates to mutual trust among these institutions.
Joint training of the PBOs and PRI members: In future, the organization intends provide joint trainings to the VAG members and local PRI members. These trainings will focus on ‘leadership development’ and ‘social engineering’. This would also facilitate information sharing on the Panchayat Raj, its schemes, the specific roles and responsibilities of the members. As the panchayats have been assigned greater powers (the 11th schedule of the constitution) it is important to undertake such training, which would not only build the capacities of the members of these institutions but also help them to mobilize resources and services for the development of the village collectively.
Food for Human Development through Women Self Help Groups:
A special project that Vaagdhara has undertaken is “Food for Human Development” in Banswara district. Supported by UN World Food Programme, the project aimed to contribute towards building a replicable model of human security using food as a resource and creating meaningful work/employment that builds on human capacity and ingenuity of the poor, to build, link, develop social community assets to strengthen local institutions to ensure better livelihood, and most importantly to empower women to become equal agents to contribute in community capacity building.
The project activities included activating adequate number of Women Self Help Groups (WSHGs) in all the project villages, capacity building of these groups and engaging members of WSHGs for improving service delivery of Anganwadi centres (AWCs), primary schools in the village and local governance through strengthening Gram Sabha. As a result of such initiatives, Vaagdhara now works with 300 Women Self Help Groups in about 150 villages spread over three districts in South Rajasthan.
Networking and Advocacy:
Networking and advocacy seeks to provide a synergy between the efforts of voluntary and non-government organizations for optimizing the impact of their work for regional and community development by bringing the relevant issues of the area on the larger fora, coordinate the non-institutional efforts and seek the redressal of genuine needs and demands of the region from the administrative machinery. Vaagdhara has also had the opportunity of presenting the concern and problems of the area on the larger platform like World social Forum and World trade Organization.
The organizational structure of Vaagdhara is a dynamic phenomenon, whereby it keeps adapting itself to the new challenges in the external environment as well as developments within the organization, which at times are very significant. The external challenges also emanate from the global processes on the one hand and development governance in the country on the other hand.
In the organizational structures, first comes the Executive Committee of Vaagdhara, which consists of members. On behalf of the committee, the Secretary acts as a Chief Functionary and is responsible for administration, finances, legal matters, liaisoning, and public relations. The Secretary is supported by two part-time advisors and a team of committed development professionals and grassroots workers.
Future Strategies
1. Multiple strategies
Realizing the increasing constraints in effective development process at the local level, the organization has stared using multiple strategies to accomplish its mission and programme goals. This means Vaagdhara, in addition to grass roots development action has been trying to link it’s work in a broader context requiring actions at different levels meso and macro, towards building programme coalitions and policy influencing. This strategy would be scaled up in the future.
2. Gender Mainstreaming
Vaagdhara believes that specific attention to equality between women and men should pervade all it’s development policies, strategies and interventions; therefore, in the next phase of strategic planning it wishes to graduate from a situation where women do participate actively in the development process, however in the agenda not necessarily decided by them. Vaagdhara’s strategy of gender mainstreaming in the next phase aims to ensure that women as well as men are involved in setting goals and in planning, so that development meets the priorities and needs of both men and women.
3. Strengthening Learning Systems
This is one area which would get very high attention in Vaagdhara’s future work. The organization has been involved in some fairly innovative projects supported by the World Food Programme and the State government. The learnings from these projects would enrich our own insights and contribute to the development understanding of other actors in the field. Simultaneously, the organization also wants to learn from the experiences of others, especially in the areas like Rights Based Approach.
4. Partnerships
Vaagdhara believes that in this world where distances have shrunk because of IT revolution and economies have integrated with the international trade regime, the nature and complexities of the problems that marginalized communities face have changed and so has the requirement for enhanced collaboration and partnership. In future, Vaagdhara will qualitatively improve its partnership base at various levels–with other civil society organizations and networks, Panchayats bodies, lobby and advocacy groups at national level and relevant State agencies.
Contact:
Mr. Jayesh Joshi, Chief Functionary
Vaagdhara
Khandu Colony, Banswara, Rajasthan INDIA
Web: www.vaagdhara.org
