Empowering Villages in Rural India

Dear Friend,

Seva Mandir has always believed and worked towards empowering communities to take accountability of social transformation as the most sustainable way of moving ahead. Seva Mandir has nurtured its village development groups into spaces where people are able to actively participate in the decisions which directly affect their lives.

To further empower these village groups, the groups have been amalgamated into federations. These are multilayered, self-governing community institutions created by Seva Mandir to resolve larger-scale issues. The federations work on the social as well as financial issues of the region and liaise with various government as well as non-government agencies.

Rod ka Guda is a small village situated in the rocky area of Kumbhalgarh. This village consists of around 100 households with a population of 700. The village people have very few government services and have long had problems with drinking water. In addition to working on pastureland development and some soil and water conservation work, Seva Mandir has formed a Village Development Committee (VDC) as well as two women’s Self-Help Groups in the village. Seva Mandir spent INR 429,000 (just over USD 6,000) on construction of a water tank and pipeline for the villagers under the supervision of the VDC members. The VDC then negotiated with the village panchayat (local Government body), successfully securing INR 100,000 (nearly USD 1,500) towards the purchase of a pump to help them lift water to the tank.

Now the VDC is taking primary responsibility for its management and maintenance.  They have devised rules, fixed a token amount of INR 200 (just under USD 3) which each household must pay per month towards water service charges, and appointed a point person to operate the machine twice a day. The amount paid by households is being used for payment of the point person, electricity charges and other maintenance.

This case is notable for the collective effort and contribution of the VDC and also because they were able to persuade the panchayat (local government body) to play a positive role in their development.

We would like to thank you for letting us meet our commitments in the field. All this has been possible due to your consistent support and trust in us.

Our whole team wishes you a lot of joy and happiness during this holiday season. May the upcoming year bring new achievements and happiness to you and your family. Happy New Year.

Best Wishes

Atul Lekhra & the Seva Mandir Team

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