Atmashakti Trust - Progress Report Dec 2011

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T H E A T M A SH A K T I T I M E S

DATE: DECEMB ER 2 4 , 2 0 1 1

Hope your christmas was joyous and full of festive fervor !! Wishing you a happy new year

and praying that you are blessed with peace and prosperity around the year.

We at Atmashakti are happy to share with you that in the last quarter, the entire

Atmashakti team has worked very hard to bring a smile on the faces of our less fortunate

brothers and sisters in Orissa (now Odisha) who were faced first with shortage of rainfall

and then had to battle with floods!

STATUS UPDATE

The last quarter was a hectic one with travel to 8

of the 10 districts where we are working.

Unfortunately all is not well in the state of Odisha

and when we reflect on our field observations the

situation appears rather grim. Some of the major

issues identified are

1. The primary unit for implementation of

MGNREGA is the gram(village) panchayat but practically all of the panchayat offices

remain locked most of the time opening

for a couple of days on a completely ad hoc

basis.

2. A change in the job demand system makes

it mandatory for individuals to fill

something called a ‘C-1 form’. The total

availability of these forms is only about

20% of the total number we need for our

limited intervention!

3. The panchayat/block work plans for the

current year are well short of the

estimated demand as we expect that more

than 300,000 families will apply for work

by December ‘11.

4. Delayed payments continue to be widespread leading to profound disinterest in

taking MGNREGA work even though the alternatives in local areas provide wages

LOCKED PANCHAYAT



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which are 40% less than the MGNREGA wage of Rs. 125/- per day. Unfortunately

many villages and remote hamlets continue to be left out of coverage of ICDS and do

not have schools. So we have to go miles before we sleep.

ACTION TAKEN

1) We are focusing a great deal of

our energies in intensively

engaging with government

officials starting with the very

top(Panchayati Raj Secretary

cum Commisioner) to the District

collectors, Block Development

Officers(BDO’s) and Panchayat level functionaries. The response

has been mixed and despite

assurances the impact at the

ground level is still to be felt.

2) We have taken a decision to

print/photocopy the C1 forms

and recover the cost from

families who are interested in

work.

3) In some areas orders have been issued for the panchayat offices to be opened at

least two days a week.

4) We have run an intensive campaign to clear all pending payments done in the period

till June, and have met with considerable success on this score.

5) We have provided over 300 panchayats with estimates of the labour budget

required for the current fiscal

year so that sufficient work can

be planned/provided.

6) We have put up wall

paintings in over 2000 villages

highlighting the provisions of

MGNREGA with emphasis onthe potential to earn Rs.

12,500/- by March 31st ’12.

On the issue of Food Security

and inclusion in the BPL list,

many successful rallies were

conducted by peoples’

THE WRITING ON THE WALL

OUR JANSATHIS



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organizations in many blocks with the highlight being the huge rally at Nayagarh on the

issue of inclusion in the BPL list and addressing irregularities in PDS.

We are planning to step up the campaign on food security with a number of public events

and advocacy initiatives being planned in the next quarter to make sure that people’s

voices are heard while the Food Security Bill is introduced in the parliament as well aswhen the poor of the country are counted again ! We are aiming not only to get near

universal coverage to the poor under the Public Distribution System in Orissa but also

increase the items that are available under PDS to include nutritious food like pulses.

OUR COVERAGE

We are happy to share that work has started in many blocks where Atmashakti has a

presence but at this stage this is the veritable tip of the iceberg in terms of where we should

be!

We now have around 115 jansathis in place in the field and expect to gradually increase

this number to around 150 by March’12.We are not adding any new districts this year but

expanding into new areas within the districts we are already covering.

On a happy note, I would like to share with you that we have found a capacious office cum

guest house in Bhubaneshwar at a very reasonable rent of Rs. 10,000/- p.m. We have also

recruited two young and enthusiastic Programme Executives to be based in Odisha taking

our strength to three. We would like to welcome Alip Oliver Pradhan and Bishwajeet Dash

in to the Atmashakti fold. We hope that they contribute and grow our work and are also

enriched in the process!

FINANCES

Against a total expenditure of just over Rs. 52 lakhs (5.2 million) last year, the first half of

this year has seen an expenditure in excess of Rs. 45 lakhs. The second half will be higher

on account of increased number of Jansathis, our personnel and an increase in

honorariums from Oct 1st ’11.

On the resource mobilization front, Oxfam India has disbursed Rs.20 lakhs and we have

been pledged support amounting to a little over Rs.8 lakhs from HDFC. Caring Friends

(Mumbai) have been extremely generous and have bailed us out on more than one occasionwhen our bank balances were close to zero! As is obvious we continue to depend on your

generous contribution and support as our needs are growing with expansion of both our

work and our team.



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AS ALWAYS

Funds continue to be a problem and unfortunately, the situation doesn’t seem to be getting

any better. Once again thanks for your invaluable support and now that we’ve got some

numbers to display please try and garner support from your friends and associates.

We look forward to your continuing support, as also spreading the word and assisting us in

garnering additional resources for this venture. Donation details are outlined at the end of

the report.

With best wishes,

M.M. (Koko) Singh

APPEAL FOR DONATIONS

You are requested to support one or more such workers each of whom will cost only

Rs.6,000/- per month.

We will provide regular updates that fully account for your donations and detail the

work that has been executed through various means such as the website, emails,

social networks etc.

Cheques can be made out to “Atmashakti Trust” Please pass this on to friends who may be interested in supporting us.

Donations enjoy exemption under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act

CONTACT DETAILS

Koko Singh

The Atmashakti Trust

101A Friends Colony

New Delhi – 110065

Ph.: +91-11-41627576Email: [email protected]

Web: www.atmashaktitrust.com

mailto:[email protected]



http://www.atmashaktitrust.com/





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Atmashakti Trust - Progress Report Dec 2011