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seva mandir annual report

07-08 08

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Content

1. Organisation Overview ........................................................................ 3

2. The Year in Brief .................................................................................. 6

3. Village Institutions Programme ........................................................ 10

4. Natural Resource Development Programme ..................................... 15

5. Women’s Empowerment Programme ................................................ 24

6. Early Childhood Care and Education .................................................. 32

7. Education Programme ....................................................................... 36

8. Health Programme ............................................................................ 44

9. Kumbhalgarh ..................................................................................... 52

10. Urban Block ..................................................................................... 55

11. Delwara – Governance in Peri-urban Settlements .......................... 60

12. Child Representative Programme .................................................... 65

13. People’s Management School .......................................................... 68

14. Resource Mobilisation Cell .............................................................. 74

Organisation overview

Seva Mandir was established in 1968 by Dr Mohan Sinha Mehta, an educationist from Udaipur in

Rajasthan, India. The region, part of a Rajput kingdom known as Mewar, is characterized by its

predominantly tribal social composition, its low levels of annual rainfall, a rugged and hilly terrain, and a

degraded natural resource base. The local population continues to remain heavily dependent on the

natural resource base – particularly in terms of livestock and agriculture – for meeting its livelihood

needs. However, casual labour is increasingly becoming an essential means of making ends meet.

Beyond this, the local population fares poorly on a wide range of health and education indicators and

public services are typically of poor quality.

Many of the communities in Seva Mandir's work area are internally fragmented with increasing economic

pressures and the absence of vibrant institutions. Traditional institutions, such as the jati (caste)

panchayats, have proved to be neither capable nor willing to engage with genuine development

concerns, preferring to keep their ambit restricted to various social and cultural issues. Formal

institutions, such as the Panchayati Raj Institutions (as the local village government institutions are

known), have by and large failed to become responsive, democratic or accountable enough to become

effective drivers of local development. In many ways, traditional feudal patron–client relationships

continue to characterize the relationship between those with power and those without.

The absence of genuinely empowering institutions through which citizens can come together on an equal

basis—particularly women, youth-, children, and lower-caste groups—presents a major impediment to the

development process. Without appropriate structures in place at the village level, norms relating to the

management of common resources are abandoned, resulting in the degradation of the natural resource

base on which the people depend, and communities remain too unorganised to work together for their

common development. Coupled with inadequate service delivery from the government and the private

sector, which almost systematically fails to respond to local realities, this results in widespread

deprivation in terms of key factors critical to human well being, particularly in the areas of health and

education.

Seva Mandir began its work in the field of adult education, later expanding to encompass a wide variety

of interventions spanning natural resource management (NRM), primary and continuing education, health

systems, women’s empowerment, early child care and development (ECCD), alternative income-

generation activities (IGAs), and people’s institutions at the village level. Seva Mandir’s philosophy of

development is based on the Gandhian concept of constructive work, in which people are able to achieve

‘development’ or swaraj only through the very process of working for their own development. This places

communities at the centre of the development process, rather than merely as beneficiaries of externally

driven agendas. Thus, at the very core of Seva Mandir’s work is a participatory process that seeks to

bring people together in dialogue on the issues that affect them and to engage in collaborative efforts to

address them.

To achieve this goal, Seva Mandir works through an integrated approach to community development

supported by three interconnected domains:

• The work on Empowering Village Institutions centres on creating autonomous spaces at the

village level through which villagers are able to participate in an empowering process that

enables them to exercise responsible leadership and collective action in order to address their

development challenges. The village institutions supported and strengthened by Seva Mandir are

founded on the principles of participatory democracy, transparency, justice, and accountability,

and serve to promote an alternative paradigm of development. Through these village institutions,

communities are able to take ownership of, and thus manage, their own development process.

• Strengthening Sustainable Livelihoods involves working with rural communities and

individuals to enhance the various productive activities in which they are engaged. This includes

a variety of both traditional land-based activities and alternative Income Generation Activities

(IGAs). Land-based livelihoods are used to bind communities together and maximize the

productivity of available natural resources in a sustainable manner, while involving women in

alternative IGAs contributes directly to the process of women’s empowerment.

• By Building People’s Capabilities, particularly in terms of working with them to create

systems through which their health and education status can be enhanced and to transform

social relations, particularly gender relations, Seva Mandir seeks to support the evolution of a

society that is better placed to work for its own development. In addition to directly supporting

communities in providing services, this work includes creating spaces where dialogue around

critical issues can take place and through which all sections of society can take ownership of their

own development process, be it social, cultural, economic or political.

To carry out the various development activities, Seva Mandir’s work spans several key programmes,

including: (1) village institutions; (2) natural resource development; (3) women’s empowerment; (4)

early child care and development; (5) health; (6) education; and (7) the People’s Management School.

Seva Mandir is also involved in a number of additional initiatives for which separate organizational units

have been set up, as in the case of the work taken up as part of the District Poverty Initiatives

Programme (DPIP), the Delwara Development Project, and the unit established to coordinate the work

between Seva Mandir and Plan International after the introduction of a new funding relationship.

In terms of its structure, Seva Mandir’s Head Office houses all the programme units in addition to various

administrative departments, such as accounts, human resources, engineering, and estate. Seva Mandir’s

work (excluding the DPIP and Delwara projects) is implemented primarily across five blocks in Udaipur

district in southern Rajasthan. An office exists in each block to coordinate the overall development

process within the block and to ensure that appropriate linkages are maintained between the programme

units and the field. Each block is further divided into zones. Each zone has its own zone office and a local

team responsible for implementing Seva Mandir’s work at the field level and responding to the changing

needs of local communities.

The year in brief

This year, Seva Mandir completed its 40th year of empowering rural communities to address the problems

that affect them. Since its registration on 12th February 1968, Seva Mandir has undergone substantial

evolution in terms of both the breadth and depth of its work. From a small beginning with working on

issues of adult education, Seva Mandir has today made significant inroads in the fields of strengthening

sustainable livelihoods, enhancing human capabilities and building institutions of self-governance at the

community level. This work has enabled Seva Mandir to gain a deeper and more nuanced understanding

of both the complex nature of the systems it is engaging with and what it takes to engender change

within them.

The current Comprehensive Plan (CP) of Seva Mandir will finish in March 2009. Hence, in the second half

of this year, we put together a team (of external consultants and internal staff members), to start

working on the outline of the next phase. This was also an appropriate time to do so, since the NGO

sector in the country is going through a rapidly changing context. The Government’s role and presence

in the social sectors is changing, as also there seems an increasing bend towards market-based solutions

for most problems.

Coinciding with the preparation of its 6th Comprehensive Plan (2009-12), this year has provided an ideal

time for Seva Mandir to re-examine, reflect and think ahead. In line with the organization’s democratic

and participatory values, the process followed for the preparation of the 6th CP is deeply participatory –

involving both communities and staff from all levels of the organization, both old and new. Furthermore,

the scope has been defined comprehensively, covering not only the organization’s strategies for achieving

its vision, but also the organizational structure and, perhaps even more importantly, the organizational

culture that will make this work possible.

The work on organizational culture is influenced by an approach called 'Appreciative Inquiry', which is

concerned with discovering and cultivating an organization’s 'positive core' – that is to say the values and

principles that give meaning to the organization’s work and staff. A diverse work-group was formed to

explore this issue through internal dialogue and by holding conversations with staff from across the

organization. Based on the material that emerged through these conversations, the work-group will distil

the core values and principles and look at ways of cultivating them within the organization in a more

systematic manner.

In order to develop the organization’s strategies, consultations are being carried out at all levels with the

community, through the zone, block and programmes to the executive committee. All these

conversations have focused on exploring what has been achieved so far, distilling the lessons learned

from this experience, understanding the changing context and identifying the challenges. Based on this,

visions from the community were integrated and combined with visions and strategies evolved at the

block level and consolidated into the programmes. To support strategic decision-making, quantitative

data was also collected by the concerned programmes. Multiple opportunities are being provided for the

results of this strategy-making process to be questioned and refined by staff and communities from

across the organization’s work area.

Seva Mandir has a matrix organization structure. For years, we have found it to be a core factor in our

ability to remain transparent, just and respectful of diversity. There are also some limitations to a matrix

structure. The last review of the structure had been undertaken in 1998-99. We felt that given all the

external and internal changes, maybe the time was right to re-look at some of these organizational

issues. Two external consultants have, therefore, been requested to work on this aspect of our 6th

Comprehensive Plan.

In the context of all these discussions, the Mohan Sinha Mehta Memorial Lecture, given by Prof. Vinay Lal

(of University of California, Los Angeles), on 19th April, 2008, was most appropriate. He spoke on the

topic of “Gandhi, citizenship, and the idea of a good civil society”.

Some other significant visitors to Seva Mandir during this period included Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia,

Chairman, Planning Commission; Shri Shyam Benegal, Film Director; Smt. Sayeeda Hamid, Member

Planning Commission; Smt. Tavleen Singh, Journalist; and members of the Board of Brooking Institute,

Washington, and others. We considered these visits as opportunities for understanding the changing

context, through engaging with a cross section of perspectives.

According to the Gazette notification issued on 9th January 2008, the Government of India set up a

“Committee on State Agrarian Relations and the Unfinished Task in Land Reforms”. The Committee is

Chaired by the Minister of Rural Development. According to the notification – “Good governance in land

administration and effective management are important catalysts for poverty reduction and economic

development”. The detailed Terms of Reference includes issues of land ceiling, tenancy, common

property resources, alienation of tribal lands, governance issues, modernisation of land records, etc. It is

a 20-member committee, comprising of Government and Non-government representatives. Seva Mandir

has been included as one of the members, and also been made Convenor of the Sub-group working on –

Common Property Resources, and issues around minimization of conversion of agricultural land for non-

agriculture purposes. The Committee has to give its report to the National Council for Land Reforms,

chaired by the Prime Minister, by the end of 2008. Seva Mandir is very excited at this opportunity of

using its several years of experience on land issues, and trying to connect with the same at a national

level.

Some other new initiatives that got off the ground this year was the setting up of a “Dal Mill” (Pulse

Processing Unit). This is being done in one of the more remote tribal areas, with the support of the

Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Department of Science & Technology and the local villagers. Similarly, several

other villages also took a lead in collection and trading of food and forest products. We feel that these

interventions are likely to grow in the coming years.

This year also saw the start of some new partnerships – with Edukans, Netherlands (support for

disseminating the learnings from our education programme with NGOs in Orissa, Chattisgarh &

Jharkhand); ASHA, California (Support for education work in Badgaon Block); Monsoon Accessorise Trust

(support for immunization, plus support for a new pilot on preventing children’s migration). Another new

partnership initiated has been with Global Giving – an internet based giving organization with offices in

Washington D.C.. They are helping us reach new, unknown donors all over the world. While the amount

of money contributed by each person may be small, it does build a direct relationship. We are indeed

very grateful to all these new partnerships.

To help us be better prepared for dealing with these changes, and to improve our presentation and

communication, we are also extremely fortunate to have a very productive partnership with “Women on

Wings” – a group based in Netherlands. Ellen Tacoma and Maria van der Heijden, are the two women

leading this initiative. This year they also brought with them Henk Seelt (a graphics designer) and Paul

van’t Veld (a copywriter). Both Henk and Paul are highly respected advertising world figures in

Netherlands, and we were honoured to have them work with us. They worked hard over a week and

came up with a new corporate image / logo / colours / write-ups, etc. for us. On these same lines, we

were also very fortunate to have with us Mr. Aad van der Meer, of Meer Mens, who helped Seva Mandir

look within to find how best to present ourselves, to the outside world. ICCO, our longstanding partner,

has been very kind in helping us do all this, and thereby build our own capacities to raise funds.

And finally, a few words about staff morale. The last two years have seen a lot of upheaval in the NGO

sector due to extremely high salaries being offered by the corporate sector, and even by some donors

and research organizations. As a result, grassroots organizations such as ours have been loosing both

experienced and young staff. This had also started affecting the internal morale. However, thanks to the

support from Seva Mandir’s Board, and the efforts of senior colleagues, we close this year on a much-

improved internal climate.

This journey of the last 40 years has been a rich and fascinating one, and we look forward to the next 40

years with renewed zeal and commitment.

Village Institutions Programme

Strong, cohesive communities are better equipped to organise themselves in order to address their local

needs through a process based on dialogue and collective action than those which are not. In the areas

where Seva Mandir works, however, few communities have the qualities that are required to secure an

equitable and inclusive development process. Existing formal institutions of local governance fail to serve

as platforms through which communities can solve their problems. It is in this context that Seva Mandir

strives to create and nurture alternative and autonomous platforms through which citizens can become

responsible for their own development.

Composed of a general body of members and a democratically elected committee, the village institutions

hold regular meetings to discuss and take action on local development issues. A village development

fund, built up primarily through people’s own contributions, serves as a critical resource for bringing

people together and building their confidence to take action. Through the village institutions,

democratically elected committee members hold regular meetings with the community, monitor and

evaluate a variety of activities running in their village, identify possible uses of their village funds to

strengthen local livelihoods and work together to demand accountability from the government.

To date, Seva Mandir has supported the formation of 552 village funds across its work area, holding a

total of Rs.27,260,386. Four hundred and thirty-six of the village funds are being managed by

democratically elected village development committees, of whom 426 have been trained. Three hundred

and eleven of these trained committees are presently responsible for independently managing their

finances and other aspects of local development under the strengthening people’s initiatives scheme.

The Village Funds

Fund Usage

This year has also seen a considerable increase in the use of the village funds across all blocks. The total

amount used stands at Rs.15,93,501, of which Rs.12,76,241 (80%) was in the form of loans. Major uses

of the village fund have included:

• Repairing damaged common resources (including boundary walls for common pasturelands and

forest sites, community centres and anicuts);

• Purchasing of fodder, seeds, fertilizer, drinking water to meet local livelihood needs;

• Making payments to village level functionaries (such as school, NFE or Balwadi teachers and guards

for common pastures and forests);

• Covering costs involved in organizing community functions (e.g. inauguration of a new government

school), visits to government departments (e.g. to demand additional teachers in the local primary

school) and covering basic administrative costs (e.g. getting a letter-pad printed for the village

institution); and

• Loaning within the village to individuals, general groups and women’s Self Help Groups (e.g. for

purchasing of charkhas, improved seed varieties, buffaloes, a thresher and an electric motor)

This trend is a very encouraging sign and is, no doubt, pivotal in supporting the communities Seva Mandir

works with to become empowered, self-governing and autonomous. In particular, it is important to

acknowledge the important role that use of the funds plays in bringing the community together in

dialogue around local development issues. However, keeping accounts continues to present a challenge.

To address this, periodic skill-up-gradation trainings are organized and zone level 3-monthly record

checking is done.

Diversification of Fund Sources

Another important dimension of enhancing the sustainability of the village institutions supported by Seva

Mandir is ensuring the diversification of income sources. To date, the primary source has been the

contributions made by people during the implementation of physical activities. This year, however, has

seen Rs.7,000 coming in from NREGS, Rs.103,225 coming from community resources (e.g. from sale of

fodder and from charging people to harvest fodder on common pasture and forest sites) and Rs.36,375

from various user fees associated with village level activities. Interest earned on internal loans provided a

further income of Rs.19,500. In addition to this, further amounts have been received through various

other activities, ranging from selling wheat, to token fees for participation in various schemes. The total

income from the above-mentioned sources is Rs.178,655. While this is a relatively small amount, it

represents a very significant movement in the desired direction.

The Village Committees

Democratically elected village committees have the responsibility for providing leadership and managing a

variety of local development activities. This includes convening village meetings, monitoring and

evaluating on-going development works, making payments to village level paraworkers and facilitating

interaction with the formal government bodies. Although creating the desired space has proved

challenging, women’s leadership is actively encouraged, not only through a 50% reservation for women

leaders but also through the gender-sensitive facilitation provided by Seva Mandir’s field workers.

Training and Capacity Building

Seva Mandir provides a variety of capacity enhancement inputs in order to strengthen the elected village

development committees. These typically cover both theoretical and practical issues including responsible

leadership, values of citizenship, how to maintain records, make payments, monitor and facilitate

implementation of physical activities and handle group dynamics. Due to low turnout of participants in

trainings, largely because of the perceived opportunity cost to the villagers of participating, there has

been an increasing trend of organizing trainings at the zone and village levels. The table below

summarises trainings carried out this year.

GVC training for the year 2007-2008

Type of Training Number of

Trainings

Number of

GVCs

Number of Participants

Male Female Total

New GVC 13 47 235 137 372

Re-elect GVC 13 59 209 162 371

SPI first 12 104 294 130 424

SPI follow-up 13 156 337 167 504

Leadership 21 162 489 301 790

Accountant 3 66 65 1 66

Group strengthening 27 213 322 66 388

GVC women 19 114 5 332 337

Master training 1 13 13 1 14

PRI represent 3 31 171 136 307

Retraining government

schemes 1 33 31 2 33

TOTAL 126 998 2171 1435 3606

Elections

Conducting democratic elections of the village committee is central to the process of strengthening village

level institutions for local self-governance as it creates opportunity for rotation of leadership and

promotes accountability. In addition to providing the space for new leadership to come forward, these

elections, help to establish a sense of accountability amongst committee members towards the

community and a sense of community ownership of the village institution as a whole. This year a total of

111 elections were conducted, of which 61 were re-elections of existing village institutions and 50 were

for newly formed village institutions. One of the recurring challenges faced in organizing these elections is

sensitising existing leadership to create space for new leaders to come forward.

Making use of government schemes

Although the government has developed and made available a variety of schemes for poverty alleviation,

including various types of pension and social security scheme, many eligible villagers are not able to get

access to these benefits. This is due to a combination of limited awareness on the availability and

eligibility criteria of such schemes and also the difficulty in actually securing access to such a scheme.

Thus, one of the important functions played by the village development committees is ensuring that

those who are eligible for the various schemes are able to gain access to them. This year a total of 382

people have been linked to such schemes, enabling them to access a total of Rs.15,18,750.

Supporting People’s Initiatives

The idea of Supporting People’s Initiatives was introduced to strengthen efforts at securing greater

decentralization of the development process. Essentially, it involves working with the village development

committees and help to build local capabilities and transfer greater ownership, empowerment, and

accountability to the community. Under SPI, the community puts forward its proposal for all village level

activities – including the payment of paraworker stipends - for sanction by Seva Mandir. As a part of this

process, the sanctioning process itself has been decentralized from the head office to the block level. At

present 311 (71.3%) of GVCs are under SPI as compared to 162 (42.0%) last year.

Experiences this year have revealed a very encouraging increase in participation and community

monitoring of local activities. At the same time, difficulties abound and uptake of full responsibilities by

the SPI committees has proved slow. Furthermore, it became clear that in many cases only two or three

members from each committee are active and that many committees still have difficulty managing their

bank linkages. While this has somewhat increased the work burden on the zone level staff, such

emergent challenges are integral to the development process.

The new responsibilities that come with greater autonomy for the village committees have also entailed

additional costs, such as those associated with travel to and from meetings or banks. These have tended

to act as a disincentive to the committee members, who bear these costs themselves, to take on the

responsibilities. To address this, an amount of Rs.1000 to 2000 has been made available for each

committee to help cover such costs. This year, a total amount of Rs.3,63,700 was spent on this.

Empowerment of village committees

During the course of the last year, numerous examples have arisen of communities taking action to

address their local development issues through both independent action and by linking with formal

institutions of local self-governance. The various Seva Mandir-supported interventions at the village level

have provided many committees and communities with the opportunity to become more involved in local

development processes and to practice greater responsibility. In addition to this, the provisions of

trainings focusing on panchayat and government linkages appear to have contributed significantly to

changes in the relationships between communities and local government bodies. For example, a number

of communities have started both calling PRI representatives to their village meetings, and going to

panchayat meetings themselves. These efforts have also led to the increased community action on issues

related to the NREGA and the Right To Information Act. Some key examples of action taken are given

below:

• Taking corrective action to address poorly functioning Balwadi centres (Ranawada)

• Addressing issues of quality education – including number and attendance of teachers,

addressing issues in quality of construction of the Anganwadi/school building – by raising the

issue in village meetings and taking it to the relevant department in Udaipur (Ranawada, Demat,

Kharwas, Kharawada, Gaduniya) – and in one village purchasing extra land for the school

through community contribution (Bhagorpada)

• Getting the village registered as a revenue village and going to the relevant departments for this

(Kharwas)

• Voluntary labour to repair broken walls and resolving conflicts on common resources (Kharwas,

Rachha, Babri)

• Putting proposals forward to the panchayat under NREGA (Gatrali)

• Addressing quality issues under NREGA (Samlai Panwa, Bhatadiya, Gatarali, Rani, Retda) -

including quality of construction, payment issues.

• Voluntary community contribution to provide emergency assistance to a TBA who fell ill

• Resolving general conflicts in the community (Bhanwa, Nichla Magra)

The Future

While the progress this year clearly indicates that there has been success on many front, the work on

forming and strengthening village institutions faces continuing challenges.

With the recent expansion of policies such as the NREGA, NRHM, SSA, etc. the role of the panchayat as

an engine of local development has been strengthened. While this presents challenges because the

Panchayats are often driven by short term populistic thinking, and also riddled with corruption, it also

presents a great opportunity for Seva Mandir to work alongside the village institutions it supports to

enable them to harness the potential of the panchayat for a just and equitable form of development.

natural resource development

programme

Seva Mandir’s work on restoring and enhancing productivity of the natural resource base in its work area

dates back to the 1970s. Land, water and forests play a major role not only in strengthening sustainable

livelihoods but also in contributing to the development of social solidarity. Indeed, many of the strongest

village institutions that Seva Mandir works with are those that have collectively resolved conflicts over

their common lands. At present the work includes afforestation – on both private, common and forest

lands; developing water resources for agricultural, livestock and human needs; promoting sustainable

agricultural practices to improve crop productivity and diversity; and engaging in policy advocacy and

networking to share lessons and insights with the rest of the development sector.

An important development this year was the announcement of the Rules guiding the implementation of

the Forest Rights Act, 2006. This Act had been passed in Parliament and received the assent of the

President on 29th December, 2006. The Act recognizes and vests the forest rights and occupation in

forest land of forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers who have been

residing in the forests for generations but whose rights could not be recorded. A key provision under the

Rules framed under this Act is to regularize the encroachments for cultivation and residence in the forest

areas till 13th December, 2005. Our main concern around this Act has been that by bringing the date of

regularization up to December 2005, the Act would encourage further occupations of forestlands (apart

from the bonafide settlers). A more recent concern, after the release of the rules, has been the lack of

preparedness and hurry amidst which the implementation is being attempted. We have therefore, been

working on the proper dissemination, attending the Gram Sabhas, helping in the elections of the Forest

Rights committee, and most important, holding discussions with villagers on how to take decisions under

this Act, so that both justice and long term village sustainability are ensured.

Afforestation Programme

Much of the land in Seva Mandir’s work area is severely degraded. Widespread encroachment of the

commons, which constitute some 73% of the land in the region, has been made possible by the absence

of the required norms, management systems and institutions. The regeneration of these lands is central

to sustainable local development because of its positive ecological, economic and socio-political benefits.

Thus while Seva Mandir's initial interventions had focused on encouraging plantation on private

wastelands, as the work matured it shifted increasingly to the degraded commons – including both

pasture lands and forests.

Common pastures and private wastelands

To date, Seva Mandir has taken up work on some 162 common pasture lands amounting to a total of

almost 2,700 hectares. This year a total of 15 community pasture lands covering 244.33 hectares were

developed as against 5 private sites covering 40.35 hectares. A total of 73,470 saplings were planted

through this process and it is estimated that some 1,912 families will benefit from the increased

productivity generated through these lands. Preparation of sites to be treated in the following year has

also been initiated on 257.96 hectares of land across the 5 blocks. In addition to this, sanction was

received from the Panchayati Raj Department under the NREGA to take up work on 2 pasture lands

covering 46.47 hectares, for which advance action has been completed.

From time to time, regeneration work is required on old pasturelands. This year such work was carried

out on seven sites, for which a contribution of 50% of the total cost came from the community.

Joint Forest Management

Joint Forest Management provides a mechanism whereby communities are able to share control over

local forest resources with the government. Under this scheme, Seva Mandir has till date supported the

development of over 1,100 hectares. This year, however, it was only possible to start work on 3 sites

covering 150 hectares of forestland since proposals for treatment of a further six sites covering 452

hectares are still pending with the Forest Department. Both the Van Utthan Sangh and Seva Mandir are

actively following up these proposals and it is anticipated that they will be sanctioned next year.

Van Utthan Sangh

A critical contribution made by Seva Mandir in the field of forest management has been the formation and

strengthening of the Van Utthan Sangh, an independent federation of 101 Forest Protection Committees, based in

Jhadol block. The Van Utthan Sangh organises dialogue and provides guidance and technical support on a wide

range of forestry issues. With the recent introduction of the Forest Rights Act 2006, which permits the regularisation

of encroachments on common land, ensuring the effective protection and restoration of forestlands has become even

more challenging than before. One of the major activities of the VUS is to talk with villagers and forest protection

committees about the implications of this policy in order to motivate them to value and protect their forest resources.

The VUS has an office in Jhadol and conducts regular monthly meetings based at its Jhadol office. Key issues

discussed have included the idea of expanding the VUS to Kotra and Kherwara blocks (with 67 panchayats and 254

forest protection committees having been contacted) and the potential for taking up eco-development initiatives in

Kotra and Panerwa. Cluster level meetings were also organised, focusing on providing information about the Forest

Rights Act 2006 and the need for the community to only grant approval for valid claims for privatisation of the

commons. Other issues covered included JFM, NTFP, Social Fencing and grass collection.

In addition to the above, training was conducted for 7 groups of FPCs from 9 forest ranges with the objective of

strengthening grassroots leadership in the context of forest protection and management. These trainings have been

successful in both enhancing the relevant knowledge of the participants and bringing about attitudinal change that

will enable them to become more effective champions of local forestry.

Nurseries

To support the various activities carried out under the afforestation and watershed programmes, Seva

Mandir supports villagers in establishing yearly and half-yearly nurseries and annual rhizome nursery.

This year, a total of 265,258 saplings were raised and made available for plantation, re-plantation and

casualty replacement. In addition to this, 37 new nurseries were established to meet the plantation needs

of the following year.

Watershed Development

To date, Seva Mandir has taken up watershed development activities across 34 sites. This work entails

comprehensive soil and water conservation, developing water harvesting systems and direct seeding

work. A total of 520 hectares of land across 7 sites has been brought under watershed treatment this

year. In addition to this, a variety of activities have been taken up on 3 completed watershed sites,

including treatment of private wastelands, plantation and re-plantation and agricultural extension. The

process of developing a watershed entails careful and participatory planning and also active involvement

from the local Gram Vikas Committee. As such, watershed development activities serve not only to

strengthen local livelihoods but also to strengthen village institutions – both of which better enable

villagers to address their other developmental needs.

• In Chhali watershed – farmers have started cultivating chilli as a cash crop

• In most of the sites, the works have resulted in visible impacts in terms of increase in biomass

and there has also been an increase in water availability during the dry season, in wells and in

the soil through residual moisture

• 12 farmers in Kherwara have taken up BT cotton while others have been motivated to cultivate

moong and gram in addition to the second crop

• In Umaria and Karel, the net sown area has increased leading to increased food availability. The

construction of check dams in the valleys have also benefitted farmers doing rice cultivation

Water resource development

The scarcity of water in Seva Mandir’s work area puts a major dampener on the potential for enhancing

agricultural productivity. It even means that adequate drinking water for both people and livestock may

not be available, thereby exerting a strong influence on people’s livelihood security, health and dignity.

By storing rainwater received during the monsoons, establishing a variety of irrigation methods and more

recently exploring drinking water interventions, Seva Mandir has been working to help communities

address these concerns. To date, Seva Mandir has supported the construction of 69 anicuts (earthen

water harvesting structures), 46 talais and 44 irrigation systems.

Water Harvesting Structures

This year, repair work was carried out on 11 water-harvesting structures constructed in previous years

with a community contribution ranging from 20-30%. In addition to this, sanctions were received from

the State Government for the construction of two anicuts under the NREGA scheme. However, due to the

ceiling of 100 days of labour per family under this scheme, the work had to be stopped prematurely and

will be resumed in April. In March this year a further sanction was received from the Irrigation

Department for the construction of another water harvesting structure to be completed next year.

Beyond storing water, water-harvesting structures lead to the recharge of ground water and, therefore,

of the wells. They can also be used for irrigation through a gravity flow mechanism. In at least 5 villages,

farmers have started using such energy efficient irrigation systems to increase the total area of land

under cultivation, the variety of crops that they cultivate and the productivity they are able to secure

from their land. This has brought significant benefits in terms of household food security and the families'

ability to invest in their well being and children’s education or to take up further income generation

activities.

Lift Irrigation Systems

Although only one new lift irrigation system was installed this year, Seva Mandir has started working

more intensively with farmers linked to existing lift irrigation systems in order to enhance productivity of

both agricultural and non-agricultural lands. A study was also conducted to explore the present status of

lift irrigation systems supported by Seva Mandir and revealed that the 30 lift irrigation systems covered

are enabling 473 farmers to take at least a second crop and cultivate more than 650 bighas of land.

Drinking Water

Over the years, Seva Mandir has taken up a variety of activities to address the issue of clean drinking

water, such as the construction of parapet wells, repair of handpumps, water chlorination and awareness

campaigns. However, these interventions were never part of a systematic strategy to address rural

drinking water needs. This year, an action-research was undertaken in a recently completed watershed

village to comprehend the issue of drinking water in our villages and to evolve an integrated strategy to

address the problem. Comprehensive data collection was carried out through a variety of methods and

revealed that 70% of the community’s handpumps were broken, that 81% of households relied

exclusively upon unprotected water sources for drinking and that 50% of all tested sources in the villages

had levels of faecal coliform bacteria almost 180 times higher than the recommended levels.

A two-phase strategy has been developed to carry this work forward. The first will focus on protection

and restoration of existing community water sources and community education. The second will focus on

water purification and improving access to safe drinking water.

Agricultural Development

During the present phase a total of 2,378 farmers were involved in a variety of interventions under the

agricultural programme. These interventions cover training for improved farming practices, support for

horticulture plantation, vegetable cultivation, crop development through crop trials and taking up vermi-

composting.

Horticulture

This year, 506 farmers were supported in planting 11360 fruit saplings of which around 60% are aonla

(gooseberry) and the remaining 40% include mango, lemon and guava. These farmers are concentrated

primarily in those areas where water resource development and watershed activities have been carried

out. While saplings planted in previous years have started yielding fruits, horticulture presents challenges

for farmers in the short term, as they are no longer able to produce the same amount of crops, which

yield food grains for themselves and fodder for their livestock. However, there is a growing focus on

exploring marketing of fruit products so as to secure farmers greater returns on their horticultural

investments.

Vegetable Cultivation

348 farmers have newly started cultivating nurseries of chilly, tomato, eggplant, and onion and have also

started with direct seeding of cucurbits, radish, spinach and other similar vegetables. The idea behind this

intervention is to strengthen the capacity of these farmers to produce vegetables at the village level for

both self-consumption and income generation. As the results of these interventions having proved quite

promising, the introduction of new initiatives such as the use of drip irrigation systems and sprinklers are

being considered.

Vermi-culture

Over the course of the year, trained farmers have been providing technical inputs to help farmers take up

vermi-composting. Vermi-compost is an ecologically sound and cost-effective form of organic fertilizer

that boosts crop productivity and reduces dependence on chemical fertilizers. As a result of these efforts,

322 farmers took up vermi-composting this year. Some challenges continue to be faced in terms of

ensuring that farmers provide the required care but at the same time, some farmers have started

spreading the technology and are selling worms to other farmers so that they can produce their own

vermi-compost.

Crop Development

Given the relatively harsh agricultural conditions characterized by low levels of water availability and poor

soil quality, the introduction of more resistant and low-input seeds plays an important role in contributing

to local food and livelihood security. Studies conducted indicate that the new seed varieties have led to a

20-30% increase in productivity without the addition of any other inputs. In those areas where water

resources are available – such as those sites treated under water resources development initiatives –

results are even better. To support the distribution of seeds, 10 community managed seed banks have

been established this year. In Dhala village, farmers have resolved to deposit 1.5 times the number of

seeds they had taken after harvesting their crops.

Cattle Camps

In addition to this, 48 cattle camps were organized this year from which 1963 households and 18104

animals benefited. These camps play a critical role in reducing the spread of fatal diseases (such as foot

and mouth disease) in addition to addressing various minor ailments and fertility issues

Trainings

46 trainings involving 929 farmers were conducted to support the work carried out under each of the

different program areas (i.e. afforestation, water resources, etc.). A new training module has also been

developed to increase the effectiveness of the training program.

Policy Advocacy and Networking

This year Seva Mandir was appointed as the national anchor of the LAN Network, which focuses on

livestock-environment-livelihood (LEL) interactions. During the present period, 3 regional workshops were

organized through which 174 participants (including grassroots and community-based organizations, field

level facilitators of government line departments and elected members of PRIs) were sensitised to the

major issues in the context of LEL interactions, including a focus on the importance of protecting and

managing common lands. A promotional event was also organized in Udaipur in collaboration with the

Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and the Centre for Environmental Education, engaging

students, faculty, researchers and development practitioners to interact and learn from each other.

In addition to this Seva Mandir has participated in a wide variety of other platforms on issues of NRD

including:

• State Committee on Agrarian Reform and Unfinished Task on Land Reforms – to which Seva

Mandir has been invited to become a member and is also the convenor of the sub-group on

Common Property Resources.

• Council for Sustainable Development – Seva Mandir has been invited to participate in the

consultation on putting forward India’s stand on the CSD summit to be held shortly.

• Bio-diesel workshop, land-use, water and biodiversity, organized by SPWD

• Food Security and Water Programme, organized by ICCO – Seva Mandir has been part of the

programme development core group.

• Seva Mandir along with other EED partners in India was involved in the study on Food Security /

Food Sovereignty.

Research Studies

Numerous studies were conducted this year both by Seva Mandir staff and by interns. Studies focused

primarily on understanding various livestock management practices – both specifically within Seva

Mandir’s work area and also in Rajasthan. A study was also conducted to develop tools for measuring

food security in Seva Mandir’s work area. Other studies focused primarily on exploring the scope and

potential for developing various ways of diversifying and increasing the productivity of natural resources

and also exploring marketing linkages.

Other Initiatives

Livelihood Enhancement Initiatives

In the villages of Pargiapada and Som people have been supported in taking up a range of activities

including expansion of the lift irrigation system, vermi-compost pits and smokeless stoves. In addition

cattle camps and SHG trainings have been conducted in order to enhance income augmentation based on

the natural resource base that has been developed in these villages.

Productivity and market linkages

This year, Seva Mandir has also been active in trying to help villagers reap the benefits of enhanced

productivity and market linkages. Key activities have included:

• The promotion of agri-processing activities through training of 3 FPCs – Talai, Pargipada,

Shyampura – on processing of ginger for preparation of chutney, gravy, dried ginger and pickles.

• Conducting a study on marketing of turmeric and ginger by students from IRMA – now exploring

potential for organic certification

• Launching initiatives towards collection, storage and value addition of NTFPs (including mahua

flowers, berries, fodder and cassia tora) has also been carried out with the help of the local FPCs

(e.g. in the villages of Som, Jhabla, Dhadhawali and Matata).

Dal Mill

An innovative intervention was launched in the Medi cluster of Kotra block this year to take up processing of dal as a community-

based income generation activity. The initiative will involve farmers from around 5 neighbouring villages pooling their production of

various dals (pulses) and operating a dal mill that will allow them to supply processed dal on the market. Doing so will enable the

farmers to gain more negotiation power at the market, cut out middlemen in the value chain and, thereby, earn substantially higher

incomes.

A study was conducted to explore the feasibility of such an intervention and this revealed that there was considerable scope for

farmers to position themselves higher up the value chain. Both the quantity of dal and the appropriate technology required were

available. The initiative has been structured to enhance community ownership of and responsibility for the process. At the same

time, however, Seva Mandir must provide regular support to facilitate the acquisition of the required machinery, skills and

knowledge required to see the process successfully through from production to marketing.

Regular dialogue has been held with the concerned villagers along these lines. Despite considerable uncertainty, they have started

to take ownership over the initiative. An important step forward was the aggregation and trading of pulses, which helped the

farmers to secure better rates in the market, thereby boosting their confidence in the endeavour. While the process remains

complex as local political and community dynamics often obstruct decision-making, working alongside the community in this

endeavour presents a valuable opportunity to strengthen community cohesion through the shared purpose of the dal mill. It is

anticipated that, ultimately, some 1,500 farmers and their families will benefit from this dal mill, increasing their returns by as much

as 40-50%.

The Future

To take forward the work on Natural Resource Development, various elements of the programme will

need to be expanded and strengthened. In particular, with the operationalisation of the NREGA – through

which sizeable funds are available at the village level to support local development – there is a greater

need to improve the communities’ capacities to use these opportunities well. . Furthermore, there is a

great need to strengthen the productivity aspects across all components to maximise the contribution of

the created or regenerated natural resources to more secure livelihoods. One element of this will be to

ensure that follow-up work is carried out more systematically and rigorously, wherever natural resource

development activities have been carried out.

Women’s Empowerment Programme

Seva Mandir’s 25 years of work on women’s empowerment has enabled it to develop a deep

understanding of gender issues in the local context. This is reflected in the evolving strategies that are

more effective in transforming gender relations and enable women to gain greater control over their own

lives and to become agents of positive social change. Indeed, the recent years have shown evidence of

the achievements in the growing activeness of women’s leaders, groups and associations at various

levels, women's increasing activeness in local governance processes and growing influence in decision

making. Women have also started to gain recognition at the level of the caste panchayats, which are

traditionally very patriarchal institutions.

Social Empowerment

Women’s groups and cluster associations

This year, the number of women’s village level collectives has increase from 378 to 405 and the total

membership stands at 12,312. A number of these collectives have been federated into 29 Panchayat

Level Associations (PLAs). While these groups have varying levels of activeness, and require continued

support to deal with emerging challenges, considerable progress has been seen. Active associations have

raised and dealt with issues of domestic violence, witch accusation, NREGA, social security schemes.

They have also linked with government officials for sharing information and securing their collaboration.

In order to enable these groups to make a real difference, they need targeted capacity building support

and networking at the zone and block levels. This will enable these groups to take up action on issues

that are of interest to them at different levels with greater independence and a greater sense of

solidarity.

During the year, 5 PLAs were selected to participate in a program, in collaboration with CHETNA,

Ahmedabad, to develop their capacity to address issues at the government level. Through this program,

women have been educated and organized and have started taking up issues on women’s health and

rights by building relationships with key stakeholders and advocating at both the local and district levels.

This was supported by a three-day training programme that would enable the participants to train

women group leaders and elected representatives. 5 such trainings were organized during the year.

Women were provided with data on sub-centres, services, ASHAs, etc. and compared this with actual

situation in their own villages and then discussed the differences. Regular monitoring visits were made by

the women leaders. A wide variety of issues were raised revealing very poor performance of the sub-

centres and PHC in terms of service provision and a very low level of awareness at the level of women.

Based on the findings, advocacy was carried out with duty bearers at the panchayat and block levels.

Women’s resource centres

The idea of having an autonomous, independent space for women to address their issues was made real

in 2006 with the establishment of 7 Women’s Resource Centres. These centres are operated by local

women leaders who provide information, counselling and guidance to women who are victims of gender

discrimination and abuse. This year a number of cases registered in the previous year were followed up

and 48 new cases were taken up. The main categories of case included desertion by husband, domestic

violence, witch accusation and property disputes. Women leaders have settled around 18 of these cases

with a further four pending in court. In some instances women leaders have also negotiated with caste

panchayat leaders. These negotiations have had mixed results, with positive change in attitude in some

cases and resistance in others.

There has also been a very encouraging increase in the number of women coming to the centres. This

increase is evidence of the positive reputation of the centres, which has been driven by the just attitude,

and behaviour of the women leaders. Indeed, it has increased their credibility to the extent that people

beyond their own panchayat are also approaching them. This success, however, has not come easily and

the women leaders are facing stress, both socially and economically, having to give a great deal of extra

time. Some have also started charging a small amount of money as a token fee for the services they are

providing.

Bi-monthly capacity building and support workshops are being organized for the women leaders of both

the WRCs and PLAs. A three-day training, facilitated by Bare Foot Lawyers Academy, Jaipur, was

organized for 21 women leaders, reviewing cases that have come up and exploring how to handle them

through various methods, including role plays and small group discussions. 54 women leaders also went

on an exposure visit to the Nari Adalat in village Pai to understand how they operated. This inspired them

to make some changes in their own WRC, as in the introduction of a case registration form.

In addition to the above, the International Campaign to Stop Violence Against Women (25th Nov to 10th

Dec) was celebrated as a joint initiative by women’s group members and Seva Mandir staff. The foci of

the campaign included: witch accusation in Kherwara, domestic violence in Girwa and Jhadol and

desertion in Kotra. Youth, caste panchayat representatives, PLA leaders and many women were involved

in these activities.

Witch Accusation

Three years ago, the issue of witch accusations came to attention during a public hearing organised by Seva Mandir

in collaboration with the State Women’s Commission. To follow up this process, dialogues were initiated with bhopas

(tribal religious leaders) and caste panchayat leaders and also with members of the women’s groups. Gradually,

accused women and their families started gaining confidence to raise the issue on various platforms. Then, in

continuation of earlier efforts, a campaign was launched in Kherwara block, involving consultations with men and

women at all levels. Youth were also involved in preparing wall paintings and the process culminated in a two-day

event where 600 men and women deliberated on the issue in small groups. Five victims presented their cases,

women leaders from Anandi (an organisation focusing on women’s empowerment) provided support and the district

head was also present and made encouraging statements.

Based on this, it was decided that zone level committees would be formed to carry forward the efforts of stamping

out witch accusations. To date, such committees have been formed in two zones and have taken up cases in

Bicchiwara and Sagwara villages. One of the cases taken up concerns a woman called Hakari Devi who was beaten

by the son of her relative. When her daughter and daughter in law came to rescue her, they too were beaten. Hakari

Devi then lodged a complaint with the village development committee who told the attacker to mend his ways or

face police action. His response was to accuse Hakari Devi of being a witch. Following this incident, caste panchayat

leaders talked to both sides separately and found the man guilty of the beatings. However, they also tried to charge

a fine on Hakari Devi’s son without any clear grounds. Hakari Devi then shared her problem with the local women’s

group who challenged the decision and pressured the Caste Panchayat to withdraw the fine on Hakari Devi’s son.

Caste panchayats

Gender sensitization work has continued with caste panchayats and village level development committee

leaders. Meetings of 6 tribal caste panchayat choklas have been organized on a regular basis. Meghwal

caste panchayat leaders have approached Seva Mandir asking for help, since they lacked knowledge on a

wide range of laws and procedures. Accordingly, 4 trainings were conducted for 110 leaders with

support from Academy for Socio-Legal studies and the Bare Foot Lawyers Academy, Jaipur. A further 4

trainings were conducted focusing on geographically specific issues (i.e. witch accusation, desertion and

domestic violence).

Negotiating with the Caste Panchayats

In Dhar village Caste Panchayat leaders had imposed a ban on women’s mobility. This issue was discussed in the PLA

meeting. Although women were very reluctant to raise the issue, fearing dire consequences, a training of the leaders

of the caste panchayat was prepared very strategically in order to get a chance to discuss the issue. The 40 leaders

openly discussed their issues and concerns, recognized their biases and showed preparedness to look into their

norms.

Some major achievements in the work with caste panchayats include:

• Ishwal caste panchayat giving permission for tribal women to marry outside of their caste

(although this would mean not remaining a part of the community);

• Revised customary norms that are more gender sensitive were drafted and circulated to other

caste panchayats;

• Ishwal caste panchayat has opened a bank account and is now keeping track of the money

received as penalties;

• Leaders have stopped putting a heavy tax on the girl’s family (bringing sweets, alcohol, etc.) on

various occasions because it had a negative impact on the girls’ family’s livelihood. The custom

has now been limited to one coconut and pamphlets on the same have been widely circulated;

• Women’s participation in the caste panchayat meetings has been ensured, their opinion is being

sought and given recognition.

Furthermore, a two day event was organized on the 25th and 26th of March in which 125 men and

women leaders deliberated on many tribal practice like nata and dapa and explored their impacts on

women and tribal society more generally. Many stories were shared and discussed and a deeper

understanding of the issues was gained. Many tensions also surfaced during the discussions. Ultimately,

the leaders decided to meet more frequently on such a platform to work towards evolving common

norms that are more gender sensitive.

Adolescents

Working with adolescents on gender issues is critical to securing more just gender relations in society.

Accordingly, 7 trainings were conducted with 211 adolescent boys and girls from 4 blocks. A further 20

adolescent boys and 37 adolescent girls from Girwa participated in 2 trainings on gender based violence

and 94 girls from Girwa and Kotra participated in trainings on gender, gender based discrimination,

violence and reproductive health.

SRIJAN Network: Mobilizing Youth Leadership around Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights

As part of the SRIJAN (Rajasthan) network, which Seva Mandir is heading, 2 workshops were conducted with 57

young leaders of Chali and Dabaycha to initiate formation of youth forums in the respective villages. Youth were

oriented on the state and national youth policy, and the various provisions made by the government in the area of

health, education and livelihoods for young people. The youth from Chali village raised the issue of the lack of

teachers in their local school and the fact that the community was not paying attention. To address this, they went to

visit the Block District Officer in Gogunda – but there was still no satisfactory response. The youth decided to stage a

sit-in at the campus until a teacher was deputed. Later the youths’ parents also joined in and then 2 teachers were

sent to Chali. This struggle filled the group with enormous confidence and conviction that change is possible.

As of April, SM has been the State Facilitating Agency of SRIJAN network in collaboration with MAMTA (Delhi). As

part of this, a 2-day state level workshop was organized on policies and programmes for youth. The main objective

of this workshop was to enhance understanding of the network partners on issues, policies, and schemes related to

young people. 25 participants from 20 organizations attended and information was shared on various government

schemes. The Principal Secretary from the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs was also present and discussed policies

at length.

Another state level workshop on migration and HIV/AIDS was organized in February in Jaipur and was attended by

60 youth. Young leaders were very vocal on issues of ground realities and informed officials that things are not

happening as presented. They also offered their services to educate school children on HIV/AIDS and sexual health

issues. The event culminated in the celebration of National Youth Day and around 120 people participated in

activities organized by the youth themselves.

In the beginning of the year SM signed a contract with 20 state partners and disbursed to them Rs.480,000 for

conducting various activities. Partners have been working in accordance with the collectively agreed upon plans

including conducting meetings at various levels and sensitising PRIs. As State Facilitating Agency, SM has also

represented SRIJAN network at the state level. Seva Mandir staff members also participated in a variety of

workshops – including an exposure visit to Sweden.

Sustainability of the network has been a major issue of discussion as SIDA is not likely to continue funding and

Rajasthan partners will soon be meeting to discuss the implications. SM has offered to prepare a proposal to be

forwarded to other funding agencies. Partners are very proud of the work achieved by the Rajasthan Network and do

not feel that lack of funds should let it lose its momentum.

Economic Empowerment

Economic empowerment – in terms of expanding women’s capacity to have control over their own

economic circumstances – plays a critical albeit complex role in securing more just and equitable gender

relations in society. Seva Mandir works towards this primarily through the formation and strengthening of

women’s savings and credit groups and supporting women and their families in taking up alternative

income generation activities.

Self Help Groups

At present, Seva Mandir is supporting a total of 9,309 women across 546 SHGs. Systematic records are

being maintained for 472 of these SHGs in the internal MIS. The gap is due to the fact that a number of

groups have been newly formed and also because data sheets for some existing SHGs have not been

coming in regularly and there have been difficulties with some of the village level accountants.

89% of SHGs are holding regular meetings with an average attendance of 76% of the women members.

The lowest regularity was in Kotra block (68%) – although this is nonetheless an improvement over the

previous year. The total saving held by the 472 registered SHGs stands at Rs.9,277,579, up from

Rs.7,885,475 last year. 9.3% of the savings are presently being held as cash in hand with a further

45.6% being stored in the bank. The balance, 45.1% is being used for internal loaning for a variety of

purposes, including education, health, farm inputs and repaying loans from money lenders.

This year, 16 SHGs underwent the first grading under Swaran Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), of

which 3 SHGs received a revolving fund of Rs.60,000. 12 SHGs have undergone second grading, and

have received a loan of Rs.940,000, which they plan to use for various income generating activities. .

To help the women get the most out of their SHGs, 11 trainings were conducted for SHG leaders and

members in which a total of 315 women participated. Participation in the trainings was based on the

status of the group and ranged from basic inputs on the functioning of an SHG to support in taking up

and managing new Income Generation Activities.

One of the major changes introduced this year has been the decentralization of the MIS. This includes

the appointment and training of 86 Panchayat level accountants to replace the existing set up which was

not delivering the desired quality of results. Seva Mandir will share payment for these accountants with

the group members, initially paying Rs.50 while the group pays Rs.20. Over time, the cost of the

accountants will be transferred entirely to the groups as they gain strength. In addition to this the MIS

was updated and translated into Hindi and block-level data entry operators were appointed and given

computer training. The new MIS became operational just as this financial year drew to a close and so the

results will only become visible next year.

Income generation activities

Building on the work carried out with strengthening the women’s SHGs, and also through exploring

alternative groups and possibilities, Seva Mandir supports villagers, and particularly, women, in taking up

a variety of alternative income generation activities. Supporting these activities entails providing trainings,

securing access to loans and government schemes, facilitating access to required materials and providing

various forms of advice and business support. An outline of the key ongoing activities is provided below:

• Dairy – 21 new buffaloes were purchased by various SHG members in Girwa block. Owners of the

existing 109 buffaloes, purchased in previous years across the various blocks have continued earning

additional income through the sale of milk and milk products. Groups from Jhadol and Girwa

participated in a training to improve production and explore avenues for value addition.

• Goat rearing – 23 women from 2 SHGs purchased 129 goats and 2 bucks. Health check-ups were

conducted shortly after purchase but 15 of the goats died. Furthermore, a total of 30 kids were born

of which 50% of these kids have survived. This issue is being explored in greater depth and

strategies to reduce such loss will be taken up in the following year.

• Fisheries – 3 new sites were selected this year for fisheries in addition to the existing three sites

taken up in previous years. Trainings for these groups were conducted in collaboration with technical

experts from the Fisheries Department and expert fishermen (for netting). Good fish growth has been

reported in Nichla talab although weeds in the water-body are obstructing fishing. It has been

planned to introduce grass-eating varieties of fish to address this. In Talai the fishers earned

Rs.5,500 and used this to buy a new boat for fishing. Another group has taken up ornamental

fisheries. The women participating in this activity earned a stipend and sold fish to the local

university. At present, special tanks for these fish are being prepared with support from donors.

• Floriculture: in addition to existing 87 members involved in this activity, 100 more women from

Alsigarh have started this activity and earned a good return on their crop. Flowers are sold mainly for

use in temples.

• Aloe-vera: 46 farmers in Kherwara took up this activity and were able to sell 31,000 plants to

villagers in Kumbhalgarh and also for plantation in JFM and pasture sites, from which they earned

Rs.82,000. Although the original plan had been to sell the leaves (for processing), the buyer backed

out at the last minute and so the farmers got stuck with a loan of Rs.300,000. The bank is currently

processing a request to excuse them from this loan amount.

• Jatropha: under the government bio-fuels programme 85 women from 5 SHGs in Badgaon and 14

of one SHG in Kotra have planted Jetropha on 80 hectares of land leased for 20 years. The group

members will be selling their produce on rates decided by the government to authorized bio-fuel

companies.

In addition to the above activities, various skill building and enhancement activities were carried out.

These include:

• Pottery: an electric spinning wheel was introduced to potters in Kotra and Girwa to enhance their

production and ease the physical strain involved in pottery. Two ten-day trainings were provided to

develop relevant skills.

• Fabrics: a group of 30 young women are undergoing a training to work in a factory owned by

Rajasthan Synthetics. A team from Seva Mandir visited the factory and negotiated the terms and

conditions (including telephone calls, medical care, payment and access to a TV) before undertaking

this activity. Eligible women were approached through the WRCs and YRCs and factory officials

selected the candidates for the three-month training.

• Carpet weaving: A number of group members from three blocks had expressed interest in carpet

weaving by linking up with a private firm, Royal Rugs. However since only a few groups were able to

raise funds to buy the looms required the project was eventually dropped.

• Tailoring: SM received Rs.200,000 from DRDA to organize a month-long training on tailoring for

men and women in Kherwara. 40 women from various SHGs participated in the training and were

able to gain basic tailoring skills. The participants have requested an extension of training and, at

present, the possibility of linking with Sadhna is being explored.

• Insurance: Towards end of the financial year, SM entered into a MoU with Life Insurance Company

for involving rural women as agents for selling life insurance policies. Under this initiative, 50 agents

received a one-day training on features, sales and claims and other aspects. Overall, there has been

a good response, with agents selling a total of 284 policies to date. They will be paid commission for

their sales. In addition to this, 103 women in Badgaon block have been insured under the Raj

Rajeshwari insurance scheme.

The Future

Although the process of change in gender relations is beginning to gain its own momentum, the need to

invest in nurturing women’s leadership and supporting women-led initiatives is critical and struggles must

take place simultaneously on many fronts. For the women’s empowerment programme, there is a great

need to find a balance between social and economic development, to ensure mainstreaming of gender

across all programmes and to consolidate and strengthen the work in the area of micro-credit and income

generation.

Early Childhood Care and Education

The core of Seva Mandir’s work on ECCE is its centre-based pre-school (Balwadi) programme. Although

Seva Mandir has been running these centres since 1984, they have undergone a number of changes in

response to emerging community demands and lessons learned along the way. Today, Balwadi centres

are full-day pre-school centres being run by a trained local woman (known as a Sanchalika) for children

in the 1 to 5 year age group in remote rural areas. The Balwadi centres aim to provide a mechanism

through which communities can secure the holistic development of their young children without care-

givers having to compromise on a variety of other important responsibilities – such as earning a living

(for parents) or receiving an education (for elder siblings).

At the centres, children are provided with nutritional, health and learning inputs in a safe and secure,

nurturing environment. Democratically elected village committees have the responsibility of monitoring

and evaluating the centres and the work of the Sanchalika and paying the Sanchalika her monthly

stipend. Parents are also invited to participate in two-monthly parents meetings where they can interact

with Sanchalikas, learn about what happens in the centres and where the Sanchalika can talk about their

own responsibilities in looking after their children or supporting the centre.

Presently, Seva Mandir is supporting 174 community-run Balwadi centres, which are reaching out to a

total of 4065 children, of whom 53% are female. Every year, in July, an enrolment drive is organized to

link children passing out of the Balwadi centres to local primary schools or NFEs. This year, a total of

1168 children were enrolled into government schools (964) and NFEs (204), the majority of whom (67%)

were girls.

Capacity Building

The Sanchalikas have a critical role to play in meeting the objectives of the Balwadi programme. As such,

regular efforts are made to build their capacities and assist them in taking up the necessary roles and

responsibilities. To this, end bi-monthly meetings were conducted this year focusing on: securing parental

contributions (including monthly fees and other forms of assistance); using weekly activity planners;

designing and using monthly reports; collecting data on children's anaemia levels and weight for age

status; implications of transfer of their contracts from Seva Mandir to the local committee; redesign and

use of material request forms to ensure that Balwadis are properly stocked; and gaining a deeper

understanding of malnutrition and how the Sanchalikas can manage it in a more effective manner.

In addition to the above, a variety of trainings were organized for Sanchalikas, village development

committees, parents and the staff involved in the Balwadi programme. 62 participants participated in the

first training, which focused on creating a deeper understanding of how to be sensitive to children and

their developmental needs. A second training was organized involving youth from the Youth Resource

Centres with the objective of preparing a cadre of youth who could be involved in raising awareness at

the community level through drama. A third training was conducted to prepare the staff of the Balwadi

programme to become more effective trainers of sanchalikas, committees and parents themselves.

Strengthening Community Management

A further major component of the Balwadi programme has been the effort to develop improved

participatory communication, learning and action systems amongst village level stakeholders. This has

involved the introduction of regular bi-monthly parents meetings, which provide an opportunity for

parents and sanchalikas to interact. However, a number of challenges emerged since in a number of

instances parents’ attendance was found to be low and many sanchalikas do not yet have the capacity to

make the interactions engaging.

A critical intervention in this arena was launched this year in the form of a participatory action research to

improve the quality of low-performance Balwadi centres. Two centres were selected from each block and

an action plan was developed for each. Qualitative, behavioural indicators were developed for measuring

progress. The process and indicators were shared with all sanchalikas and concerned committees and

were also used during parent and samuh meetings to explain the purpose of the research and the

performance criteria that had been selected. Communities reported finding these indicators useful for

understanding what makes a good Balwadi centre.

Various activities (including exposure visits of the committees to the Balwadis and capacity building of the

sanchalikas at the centre, etc.) were conducted in the action-research centres and the resulting change

process was then monitored. It is also worth noting that a number of staff responded to situations with

innovative solutions, which have also proved effective. Some striking results were obtained through this

action research in a number of centres, as shown in the table below.

Sanchalikas Parents Committees

• Increased regularity in

attendance (both number of

days and timing) at the centre

• Increased recognition of the

importance of the centres

• Increased regularity of sending

• Increased understanding of (the

importance of) the Balwadi centre

• Increased clarity on their own role

• Increased quality of upkeep of

the centre

• Increased quality of activities

conducted within the centres

(e.g. regularity, variety,

engagement, etc.)

children to the centres (includes

taking their children to the

centre to ensure that they get

there safely)

• Increased payment of the

monthly shulk

• Increased contribution in terms

of non-financial assistance (e.g.

cleaning of the centre)

• Increased sharing of Balwadi

related issues with the village

development committee

in supporting the Balwadi centre

• Increased involvement in securing

payment of shulk by the parents

• Increased involvement in

motivating parents to send their

children to the centre

• Increased involvement in

monitoring and motivating the

Sanchalika (and holding her

accountable)

• Increased taking of responsibility

for managing the Balwadi centre

Monitoring and Evaluation systems

A further effort to strengthen the Balwadi programme has been the revision of the internal monitoring

and evaluation systems. Key changes have included centralizing the collection of growth-monitoring data

and introducing changes to the Sanchalika’s monthly reporting formats. Responsibility for the collection of

growth-monitoring data was handed over to the PME Cell to be collected twice a year since the earlier

efforts at having sanchalikas collect the data themselves had proved unsuccessful. The new system

would give an overall picture of the performance of the Balwadi centres in addressing malnutrition but

would not generate timely data to be used by the Sanchalikas. Thus it is planned to introduce new

interventions to enhance the Sanchalikas' capacity to identify children’s malnutrition status through other

means and to address these issues in a more responsive manner. The data collected most recently

revealed that 43% of children are falling in the malnourished category, with 5% being severely

malnourished.

A young boy in one of the Balwadi centres was so malnourished that his stomach was swollen and he could hardly

walk. However, thanks to the efforts of the Sanchalika, he has regained his health. He put on one and a half kilos in

the space of around 5 months, going from 7.7kg (at age 1 year and 6 months) to 9.2 kg (at age 2 years and one

month). Not only did the Sanchalika ensure that the child received extra nutrition and medicines during this time but

she also visited the mother of the child and told her to take more care of her child and feed him lighter food and in a

more regular quantity. In addition to this, she kept running the centre in a systematic manner.

In addition to this, Sanchalika’s monthly reports (which had previously focused on growth monitoring)

were reviewed through consultations with the Sanchalikas. They identified the following indicators as

being of most importance: (a) children’s attendance; (b) amount of community financial contribution; (c)

children’s health status; (d) parent’s meeting; (e) support from the committee; (f) visits to the centre by

staff and committee members; (g) activities carried out at the centre; (h) problems faced at the centre;

(i) support received from parents. New formats have been developed accordingly and are being

introduced.

Linking with External Stakeholders

During the present period, Seva Mandir has been exploring and developing linkages with two agencies:

the government’s Integrated Child Development Services and Mobile Creches – an organisation

specializing in early childcare and development. In its work with the ICDS, Seva Mandir has initiated

dialogue with concerned officials and explored possibilities of collaboration. Although a number of options

emerged, no concrete steps have yet been taken since the Balwadi team has been very engaged in

internal processes. However, the idea of seeking new forms of collaboration is being considered for the

forthcoming period. In addition to this, Member of the Planning Commission of India also made a visit to

Seva Mandir’s Balwadi centres and was very impressed. Mobile Creches have been responsible for

providing the various trainings elaborated earlier, all of which have proved to be a valuable source of

learning for the Balwadi programme.

The Way Forward

In the forthcoming months, the work on strengthening community management of Balwadi centres

through action-research will be expanded to cover a greater number of centres and involve more of the

concerned field level staff. Furthermore, new strategies and responses will be explored to improve the

performance of the centres in terms of children’s nutritional status. In addition to this, efforts will be

made to use the Balwadi centres and the conversations that take place around them in order to mobilise

the community around quality issues in the context of government Anganwadi centres.

Education Programme

Around 30% of 6 to 14 year-old children in Seva Mandir’s work area are out of school. This situation is

compounded by the general lack of interest or commitment shown by teachers in government schools

and rural communities’ lack of access to the kind of education that will empower them to lead more

fulfilling lives. Many children find themselves unable to read and write, even after spending a number of

years in a government school. Furthermore, large numbers of youth – and particularly female youth –

drop out of school at a young age. More often than not, these youth engage in seasonal migration.

Neither in the villages nor at their labour sites do they have adequate opportunity to continue their

personal and intellectual development in a constructive manner. Thus, disconnected from their rural

origins and ill-equipped for the challenges and risks of their time at the work sites, these youth tend to

lack a sense of purpose and are not prepared to take on the kinds of roles as leaders or responsible

citizens that are required to secure the healthy development of their villages.

In response to this situation, Seva Mandir’s education programme has evolved over the years and

presently focuses on three levels. The first level seeks to address the educational needs of the most

excluded children in its work area whilst simultaneously building an awareness of quality education within

the community. This is achieved through supporting community-run non-formal education centres and

organizing children’s residential learning camps. In addition to this, a variety of innovative approaches are

explored to strengthen and expand initiatives for children’s education. The second level targets youth and

seeks to engage them in a comprehensive manner in understanding themselves and their communities in

a changing context and to equip them with the mindset, life- and livelihood skills that they require to

become responsible citizens and agents of change. The third level is aimed at adults and takes the form

of supporting continuing education through the operation of community-run libraries.

Children’s Education

Non-Formal Education Centres

At present, Seva Mandir is supporting a total of 176 community-run Non-Formal Education centres

(NFEs), thereby securing quality education for 4977 students in the age group of 6 to 14. These NFEs are

run by local teachers, who, on average, have only studied up to class 8. However, carefully developed

training programmes for NFE instructors have enabled them to provide a quality of education for the

children which far exceeds that available in government schools. A major reason for this is the emphasis

that is placed on trying to cultivate a sense of trusteeship and mutual respect in the relationship between

teacher and students.

Yearly and half-yearly evaluations are conducted

to assess the progress of the children in specially

designed tests. This year, a total of 4645 children

from 172 NFEs participated. The graph below

shows the data for children who appeared in both

exams and clearly indicates the shift towards

higher levels that occurred as a result of children

attending the NFEs. Furthermore, a total of 791

children were enrolled from the NFEs into

government schools.

Collection of shulk (fees) in total stands at Rs.153,773 which is 81.7% of the expected amount. Fees

have been used for buying uniforms, tables, chairs, stools, sandals, tiffins, etc. In some instances parents

contributed extra fees so that uniforms could be purchased.

Parent-teacher meetings were planned to be held once in two months, with the basic purpose of

developing understanding and engagement amongst parents, teachers and children. Though the

meetings could not always be held very regularly, key issues discussed included children’s attendance,

hygiene, the teaching pattern, parents’ roles, fees and the ongoing research involving the diary and the

collage (in selected centres). These forums have also served to resolve issues that may crop up from

time to time.

As mentioned, teacher trainings play a critical role in ensuring a high quality of education. Three primary

forms of education carried out include the regular instructor trainings – 2 of which are conducted every 3

months; English language training; and a certification course conducted in collaboration with Vidya

Bhawan. Following the English language training, 51 teachers have started teaching English in their

respective NFE centres and some participants are serving as local trainers at the block level.

Action Research

In order to enhance the quality of the non-formal education centres, various action-research studies have

been conducted. These are outlined below:

Number of Children Attaining Various Learning Levels Across

Tests

0

200

400

600

800

1000

Level 0 Level 1 Level 2 Level 3Level (Result)

Test1Test2

Num

ber

of C

hild

ren

Camera Project: This initiative was launched in August 2003 to address teacher absenteeism in NFE

centres. Tamper-proof cameras were installed and teachers were required to take photographs of the

children at the beginning and end of the school day. They were then paid according to the number of

valid days (defined as those with more than 8 children attending and at least five hours spacing between

beginning and end photographs) that they were present. This led to a significant increase in teachers’

attendance and, as a result, more learning time for children and better results. Given the positive

outcome of the camera project, it has been decided to continue their use beyond the research. At

present, 38 centres continue to use the cameras.

Intrinsic motivation study: Two interventions, one involving a diary and the other a group collage,

were taken up in 2006 in order to explore whether intrinsic motivation could also reduce teacher

absenteeism and contribute to higher learning levels.

Diaries were given to each child attending an NFE. Each day the child would draw or write something in

the diary and get it signed by the teacher. At the end of the week the child would then get their diary

signed or stamped by their parents. It was felt that this would contribute to parents taking more interest

in their children’s education, giving the teacher a sense of accomplishment and enabling parents to see

how many days a week the teacher was actually present in the NFE. The diaries were applied in 103

centres. Overall it appears that the diaries have been well integrated into the daily teaching practice, that

it has contributed to the objective of brining together different stakeholders, that it aids children’s

learning and parental awareness of child’s progress and attendance. However, end-line data on

attendance and learning levels is yet to be analysed.

The collage is a one-time event that takes place in each NFE centre through which the parents and

children prepare a collage based on magazine cuttings that represents what education means to them.

Once they have done this, they then explain to the rest of the group why that photograph makes them

think of education. This creates a medium for communication between parents, instructors and children

on the importance of education. This activity saw enthusiastic participation – especially of women.

Instructors greatly appreciated the attention and recognition they received. Everyone treated the event

positively and took it seriously. Most pictures represented parents’ hopes and dreams for their children’s

education – most of which were very high. This was a one-time research intervention, carried out in 126

NFEs. The data on impact is presently being analysed.

Reducing Children’s Migration

Earlier this year, a pilot was launched in 2 villages to explore ways of keeping children in school rather

than migrating out of their villages for work. Essentially, this involves awarding scholarships to students

to offset economic pressures and making schools more attractive and meaningful for students. All

children studying in classes 3 through to 8 are eligible for a scholarship worth Rs.2,500 annually if they

attend school regularly. School level awards will also be given to schools meeting performance criteria.

This will be used to address such issues as adequacy of teaching-learning materials, teachers, textbooks,

etc. If 60% of the children in a village are regularly attending school then in addition to the individual

scholarships, the whole village will get a certificate and cash award that will be deposited in the GVK. This

last element has been kept to evoke community involvement and peer pressure.

It is hoped that this will motivate the committee and the samuh to take a more active interest in

education. Regular monitoring is required for the implementation of this system, including random checks

on the schools to measure attendance. Six activity centres were also opened in the various schools this

year and have been provided with required materials. Instructors have also been given the required

trainings. A total of 259 children out of an eligible 300 qualified for the scholarship. Despite the high

attendance cut-off of 80%, around 86% of children enrolled qualified for the scholarship and are

receiving it, suggesting that the intervention is having a strong and positive impact. This intervention has

had additional ripple effects in terms of increasing parents’ interest in their children’s education and a

reduction in non-school demands placed on the children by their families.

Children’s Learning Camps

This year, 3 learning camps were organized with the objective of enabling some of the most marginal,

out of school children in Seva Mandir’s work area to read and write independently. All camps were fully

residential and were organized at the Vidya Bhawan KVK campus, in Udaipur. All children come from very

poor backgrounds and many of the children have either never been to school or dropped out at a very

early age due to poverty, migration and family pressures.186 of 234 children from the first camp had

never even been to school.

A total of 515 children were covered across all three

camps, of whom 31 attended all three camps. After

the first camp, a total of 104 boys and 26 girls (out of

234 children) were enrolled in government schools

and 13 boys and 8 girls were enrolled in NFEs. The

second camp included a combination of children from

the first camp who were not getting an education and

new children. The graph (left) clearly shows the

progression of children who participated in all three

0

5

10

15

20

25

Level 0 Level 1 Level 2

Camp 1

Camp 2

Camp 3

camps. Across all the camps, a total of 125 children out of 434 attained functional literacy this year, and

130 children (out of 234 children tracked) who were otherwise out of school were enrolled in some school

facility.

This represents a great success since many of the children come from – and return to – backgrounds that

are difficult. Many of the children gained considerable self-confidence as a result of participating in these

camps and most have expressed a desire to continue studying. The camps also present a number of

challenges. For example, it was not possible to secure the desired gender balance and this needs to be

given greater attention in the future. Furthermore, we have found in our follow ups that while quite a few

join some school facility after the camps, there are also a few who don't. We need to improve our follow-

up with respect to these children.

Youth Resource Centres/Urja Ghar

Seva Mandir initiated comprehensive work with youth through Youth Resource Centres (YRCs), now

named Urja Ghar (Energy Home), in 2006 on a pilot basis. The centres are run by rural youth volunteers

employed by the local village development committee. The Urja Ghar centres provide a space for the

youth to interact with each other and to re-invent themselves as responsible citizens and social change

agents. This year has seen a doubling of the number of centres from 6 to 12 and a considerable

improvement in focus of the programme. The following activities have been carried out with the youth:

• Collective activities carried out with the youth include theatre, libraries, sports and cultural

events and a variety of non-competitive games. Theatre serves as a means of communication

with the community, schools and local government on critical issues such as sex ratio, migrant

youth living conditions, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence. Libraries have only been newly initiated and

associated activities include book reviews, reading workshops and literacy classes.

• 15 youth have been awarded youth fellowships to engage them in a process that will develop

their research and critical thinking skills, boost their confidence and their understanding of their

context. Fellowships entail assignments lasting from 10 to 15 days and assignments have

included interviewing elderly villagers, analysing women’s development, exploring village shared

spaces, assessing the reality of wages and working conditions of migrant labourers. Some youth

were also involved in exploring issues related to the NREGA and found that claims of wage

increases are greatly unsubstantiated and that working conditions are poor. They also identified

the positive aspects of the role of the meth (contractor) who facilitate the linking up of labour

with employers. Another youth, involved in identifying reasons for girls dropping out of school,

identified paternal pressure to do domestic work as the major reason after interviewing 100 girls.

The findings of this study will be published in the youth newsletter.

• Audio-visual documentation has also been an important new component during the present

period. Manoj Meghwal, a scheduled caste youth from Delwara YRC who learned videography

with support from the Seva Mandir-supported Citizen's Forum in Delwara, imparted ten days of

videography training to youth from other villages. He spent a total of 30 days with these youth,

resulting in the production of a documentary on Seva Mandir's work with youth. Manoj has been

responsible for preparing the whole storyline from start to finish.

• Youth have also been given the opportunity to participate in a variety of internal and external

exposure visits. Internal visits entail youth from one centre visiting a different centre –

important in connecting the youth together, building solidarity, helping them learn, understand

each other and themselves. External visits involve going to youth functions, conventions and

festivals. This year an external visit was made to Beawar for the ‘National Youth Convention on

the Right to Information and Democracy,’ in which some 1,000 youth from across India (and 43

from Seva Mandir) participated. The youth shared their experiences back in their own Urja Ghar

centres and some youth began to actively monitor NREGA work but local officials discouraged

them making them doubt this whole idea. Further discussion helped to conceptualise this

opposition and the youth have been able to think more deeply about what it takes to effect the

desired change.

• The scope for setting up youth SHGs for youth was explored and revealed that youth possess

the required interest and access to small amounts of cash to participate in this activity. Further it

appears that this activity can play a powerful role in helping the youth to acquire financial literacy

skills, to develop group cohesion and understand the basis of trust.

• In Delwara, a youth panchayat was formed, with regular meetings to discuss various village

issues. This served as a source of inspiration for other youth too. Although it has not been

sustained in its initial form, youth from many villages have started having regular interactions

with the panchayat and elected representatives and villagers to raise awareness on local issues

(e.g. poor quality of health services). Through these efforts, it was found that while youth lacked

awareness on the roles and responsibilities of local government, they held a very negative and

pessimistic view of it because of family and media influence. In a number of centres, dialogue

has been initiated to identify and assist people who can benefit from government schemes.

Central to the work with youth is the capacity building of the youth volunteers who run the centres. In

addition to regular meetings, a variety of carefully developed training modules are also used. This year,

trainings covered:

• Strengthening youth groups (48 youth) – with a focus on addressing the challenges this entails

(e.g. adults’ attitudes, gender issues, local politics);

• Gender training (63 youth) – to explore stereotypes and build the capacity of youth to handle

gender issues in their own personal lives – a group of youth from 4 of the Urja Ghars also

prepared a gender training module for other youth;

• Working with the local panchayat and the media (62 youth);

• Photography training;

• Enhancing employment options for youth through vocational trainings (52 youth), registering

migrant labourers and trying to put pressure for better wages and work site amenities;

• Development communication training – involving a series of workshops to familiarize youth with a

variety of communication media and engage them in preparing a variety of development

communication documents in different formats.

Working with youth presents a variety of challenges. Perhaps most evident is that of gender, since

traditional norms make it difficult for female youth to attend the youth resource centres. Furthermore,

there is a great need to enhance the capacity of the youth to enable them to work effectively with adults

and the panchayat as communication across age groups presents many difficulties. Finally, retaining

youth once they have been trained is particularly difficult since many of them are worried about their

livelihoods and face family pressure to earn – particularly the male youth.

Continuing Education

Seva Mandir supports 38 village libraries with the objectives of strengthening continuing education and

enabling information dissemination at the village level. These libraries are stocked with 500 to 2500

books and magazines (ordered according to interest and requirement) and also operate a mobile library

facility. Most libraries are also equipped with a variety of games and toys (cricket, football, carom and

some musical instruments) for children. A variety of other activities have been organized across these

centres including giving information on agriculture, distributing seeds and conducting cattle camps. As a

result, the libraries attract people of all ages.

To enhance the capacity of the librarians, regular meetings are organized, bolstered by one 7-day

training and three-monthly block level meetings. These meetings and trainings focus on how to conduct

story-telling activities with children, providing information on government schemes, story writing, essay

writing, drawing and maintaining records.

The Future

In the coming year, Seva Mandir will work to consolidate its work by systematising and strengthening

existing activities and also expanding and deepening its work on education. This will involve both

increasing the number of Youth and Non-Formal Education centres and introducing a variety of

innovative interventions. In the field of children’s education, the effort to deepen parents’ engagement

will continue as will the work on continuously evolving Seva Mandir’s model of NFE centres. This will

include introducing and mainstreaming various new subjects such as English and health into the NFE

curriculum. Efforts will also be made to use the work done to date to address quality issues in

government schools.

In addition to this, the village libraries will undergo an overhaul. The idea is to remodel them as learning

or knowledge centres that can be used to cultivate and promote a learning environment within the

community. Efforts will also be made to move towards increased integration within the programme, for

example by linking the Urja Ghar with the NFEs and the libraries wherever this is possible.

Health Programme

Udaipur district is amongst the worst districts in Rajasthan in terms of a wide variety of health indicators.

The rural and remote villages are characterized by high adult morbidity rates, health indicators for

women and children are more alarming. District Level Household Data shows that only 2.7% of women

received complete antenatal care (3 antenatal check-ups, at least one TT injection and 100 IFA tablets),

only 49% deliveries were conducted either at institutions or at home by trained persons. While DLHS

reports 26.2% complete immunization rate for children aged 12-35 months in the district, a survey

conducted during the same period by Seva Mandir and its research partner, the MIT-based J-PAL,

reported a much lower complete immunization rate of just 2.66% among children aged 0-5 years. While

poverty, gender relations and low demand for preventive health are some reasons for this poor health

status, a very much ill-equipped public health system is also responsible to some extent for the poor

health status. Absenteeism, lack of staff and infrastructure, corruption, characterise the public health

system.

Seva Mandir started its health programme in 1984. Since then it has gone through numerous changes in

response to emerging challenges and lessons learned. The core components of the health programme

today include maternal and child health, adolescent health, awareness generation and health services,

referral health services. Seva Mandir's health programme strives to work on changing people's health

care seeking behaviour, creating alternatives for better health and improving the health care system. All

components of the health programme cover one or more of these objectives and villagers, research

organizations and government are important partners in these efforts.

Maternal Health

Seva Mandir's maternal health programme is centred largely on the cadre of Traditional Birth Attendants

(TBAs) through which it has sought to ensure a safe and aseptic birthing experience for rural women

and, simultaneously, to help communities internalise the importance of maternal health. To support these

efforts, Seva Mandir has invested in enhancing the skills and practices of the TBAs, deepening their

knowledge and increasing their accountability to the women and communities with whom they work. The

TBAs, mostly women with low levels of literacy, are supported in their work by Parivar Sathis - village

level male workers. As on March 2008, there were 318 trained Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) and

172 Parivar Sathis (PSs).

Capacity Building

Capacity building this year has focused on training both new and existing TBAs and PSs. Thus in addition

to training 5 new TBAs and 4 Parivar Saathis from Girwa and Jhadol blocks, 4-day refresher trainings

were conducted for TBAs from the various blocks. The trainings were conducted in 4 batches and a total

of 186 TBAs participated. In addition to this, 13 block level 3-day review and planning meetings were

conducted to discuss and resolve the problems faced by the TBAs. To support the ongoing capacity

building efforts, the TBA trainings are being reviewed in order to make them more interesting and

relevant and it has also been planed to restart the certification program of the TBAs. As a start, in Jhadol

block, the TBAs were first grouped according to their performance and then trained accordingly.

In addition to this, Seva Mandir conducted a TBA Capacity building training for two other organizations

(IBTADA, Alwar and Kalyani Samagra Vikas Sansthan, Jhadol). A total of 28 TBAs in addition to

concerned programme staff from both organizations participated in the trainings.

Ensuring Safe Deliveries

During the reporting period 4433 pregnant women were registered by the TBAs. A total of 2993 deliveries

were facilitated by the TBAs against 4031 deliveries in the previous year. The reason for a lesser number

of deliveries this year than the previous year is because of the reduction in number of TBAs. However the

average number of deliveries per TBAs has been 14, which is slightly more than the target of 12

deliveries per TBA.

The number of referred cases for institutional delivery has improved significantly from the previous year.

Of the total deliveries during this reporting period, 834 were referred for institutional delivery and

accompanied by the TBAs against 489 in previous year. This huge jump seems to be because of Janani

Suraksha Yojna, a government scheme to promote institutional deliveries. The scheme provides a cash

incentive of Rs.1400 to the women for institutional delivery in addition to coverage for transportation

costs up to Rs.300. A closer look reveals that most of the increase in deliveries occurred in areas where a

functional health facility is more accessible.

Maternal Deaths

During this reporting period, 13 maternal deaths have been reported in our working area. Verbal

autopsies of 11 deaths were conducted to find out the causes of maternal deaths. Some of the key

findings of the verbal autopsy were as follows:

• Of the 11 deaths, one death occurred in the antenatal period while the remaining 10 deaths

occurred during the postnatal period. The most common reasons were postpartum hemorrhage

(46%); followed by eclampsia and shock/cardiac arrest. Other causes included puerperal sepsis

and pre-eclampsia.

• Of the 11 maternal deaths, 7 deliveries were conducted at home. Of these 7 home deliveries, 3

deaths occurred on the way to CHC when the women were taken there for treatment post

delivery. Four deaths occurred at home, care was sought from a private practitioner in two cases.

One death occurred at CHC and two deaths occurred at the district hospital, of which one case

was referred by CHC.

The verbal autopsies have revealed the criticality of deliveries assisted by trained persons as well as

delivery care, irrespective of the point of deliveries.

Another effort to secure access to emergency obstetric care has been through an insurance pilot, which is

being tried out in 9 villages of Kherwara block. This insurance product has been designed and piloted

with the help of IFMR, Chennai The insurance covers cashless care up to the coverage amount; delivery

care if utilized at hospital (which includes 75% of negotiated rates and transportation cost up to Rs.800);

2 ANC check-ups in networked facilities free of cost including medicines and diagnostics and free ANCs by

trained TBAs.

This year, 51 women bought the policy (sold at a rate of Rs.350 per woman). Of these, 26 women

availed the services, including 20 antenatal care services and 6 institutional deliveries, from an accredited

hospital. Internal review suggests that the insurance is effective in contributing to behaviour change and

it is planned to scale up the intervention to 11 new villages in Kherwara block. This insurance product

had been conceived of before the government launched the JSY scheme. Although the JSY does not

appear to have had any effect on the insurance product to date, this is only likely to become clear in the

coming year. Perhaps most encouragingly, the insurance product is encouraging women to demand

antenatal care, which is extremely positive.

Child Health

Immunisations

The action research on immunisation (for mothers and children) that Seva Mandir had been conducting in

collaboration with the MIT Poverty Action Lab came to a close this year. The research was being

conducted in collaboration with the government and entailed ensuring the regularity of the immunization

camps and providing incentives to parents for getting their children immunized. Incentives included 1 kg

of dal for each shot and a complete set of cooking utensils for full immunization. Although these

incentives are only given for children under the age of 2, the camps are open to children up to the age of

5. The action research indicated positive results and Seva Mandir has decided to continue the activities as

part of its mainstream health programme.

Through this activity, a total of 2,175 children have been registered of whom 50.5% have been fully

immunised. Furthermore, a total of 1,365 pregnant women have been registered of whom 71.4%

received both TT-1 and TT-2 shots. These women were also given investigations like haemoglobin, sugar,

BP, etc. During this time it was also discovered that many children suffered from minor ailments, which

could easily be addressed by the General Nurse Midwife (GNM) who goes to conduct the immunisation

camp. It is, therefore, planned to incorporate treatment for such ailments into the future camps. In the

coming year, Seva Mandir plans to scale up these interventions to a few other districts in the country to

see if similarly positive results will be obtained in other locations. To this end, partnerships with the

government and other NGOs and donor agencies are being explored.

Adolescent Health

Adolescent health presents a critical issue in Udaipur district as high levels of migration and low

awareness often leave youth in high risk situations. To help mitigate this risk, Seva Mandir organized 10

adolescent health camps reaching out to 339 adolescent girls and 305 adolescent boys. Sessions covered

extensive themes on reproductive and sexual health. A wide variety of communication mediums were

used to engage the youth and to encourage open dialogue. Each session concluded with discussions on

questions and issues raised by the youth. The camps serve as good platforms for clarifying myths and

reducing stigma related to reproductive health issues. In addition to this, 7 follow-up camps were

conducted. World AIDS Day was celebrated in the villages of Dhar and Munwas in collaboration with

children from the Youth Resource Centres and government schools. This involved a drama on AIDS

related issues and discussions on prevention in which teachers also participated.

One example of the achievements resulting from these interventions include a group of female youth

from villages in Badgaon block who learned how to make their own sanitary napkins from locally available

materials and have since started teaching their peers. Another is from Jhadol block where a youth named

Ramesh was able to solve his sister in-law’s delivery complication as a result of what he learned during

the training. He recognized the implications and contacted the local TBA who quickly ensured that his

sister-n-law had an institutional delivery.

General Health Services

In addition to their roles in extending maternal and child health care at the village level, village level

health workers (known as Pariwar Sathis) who have been trained to provide a range of general health

services. These include facilitating birth and death registration and providing first aid and referral health

facilities. This year, a total of 3,074 births, 272 infant deaths and 6 maternal deaths were registered by

the Pariwar Sathis. However, the government’s recently launched “Universal Birth Registration Campaign”

suggests that this particular role for the Pariwar Sathis may lose its relevance.

In terms of basic health care, 310 patients were provided with referral services across 5 blocks. Bi-

monthly meetings at the village level were also used for educating people about a range of illnesses,

including hygiene, prevention and control of malaria, tuberculosis, STD/HIV/AIDS, waterborne diseases

and family planning, etc. A total of 419 meetings were conducted by 172 Pariwar Sathis. Overall there

has been a reduction in services provided by the PS although referrals for institutional deliveries have

increased.

Referral Health Centres

Seva Mandir helps operate 2 Referral Health Centres, in Kochla (Jhadol block) and Kojawada (Kherwara

block). These RHCs provide both primary care and laboratory investigations. Kojawada hospital also has

beds for 11 in-patients. This year Kochla provided services to 5,375 patients this year (male, female and

children), a slight decrease over the previous year (5,805). 4,710 people were treated at the centre while

others were reached through camps for children, general diseases and vision problems. Lab

investigations were conducted for 91 people and 51 women came for ante- and post-natal check-ups.

Kojawada received 2,760 patients, mainly with problems of cough, cold, orthopaedics and skin infections.

Lab investigations were conducted for 612 patients. In addition to this, the center also reached out to

671 patients through various health camps. A total of 205 patients were referred to the hospital through

these camps of which 23 actually came for treatment.

Monitoring and Evaluation of Government Health Services

Under the auspices of the Rajasthan Voluntary Health Association (Jaipur), Seva Mandir conducted the

evaluation for the Udaipur district to assess the impact of the Village Contact Drive (VCD). The VCD is a

campaign launched by the Rajasthan Health Systems Development Project to increase people’s

awareness of and access to health services through targeted visits to the villages. The findings revealed

that while the overall effect of the VCD appears to have been positive, the gains accrued are not

commensurate with what was originally hoped for. For example, an average of 65% of the households in

a village were not aware either of the visits or their purpose and only 41% of respondents were aware

about the benefits of having a BPL card and 73% of respondents were unaware of the free facilities

available in the Community Health Centres. A sustained interaction stressing these elements might prove

to be more effective.

In addition to this, Seva Mandir undertook an evaluation of a recent capacity building initiative under the

NRHM for various stakeholder groups (ASHAs, panchayat members, block level officers and community

members) conducted by Calcutta-based consultancy, I-Land Informatics, under the NRHM. The

evaluation revealed varied levels of understanding across the different stakeholder groups. Some topics

appeared to have been given more attention (e.g. JSY and immunization) than others. Overall the ASHAs

seemed to be best informed (though this could be due to the fact that they had also participated in

previous trainings). Substantial information gaps were found amongst the key government functionaries

and these need to be addressed urgently.

Finally, Seva Mandir has been involved in facilitating community based monitoring of Government Health

Centres at all level as part of a PFI (secretariat) and PRAYAS (state nodal agency) initiative being carried

out across 9 states. The work was carried out across 15 villages of three PHCs in Kotra block (Mamer,

Bikarni, Mandwal). It began with the formation of village level health and sanitation committees and

training the committees on monitoring and dialogue at the PHC at block level. Seva Mandir’s own staff

also participated in a TOT on community monitoring to enhance their capacity to take this work forwards.

Action Research

Improving Reliability of Government Sub Centers

This intervention aimed at improving the reliability of availability of services at the government sub

centres. The objectives were to (a) ensure the availability of the ANMs at the selected sub centres, and

see its impact on the care seeking practices of the community; and (b) Assess the effect of care seeking

from a qualified provider on the health status of the communities.

The research was carried out from Dec'05 – Dec'07 in a randomised treatment-control design with 48 sub

centres serving as the treatment group, and 52 centres as control. A Memorandum of Understanding

(MOU) was signed between Seva Mandir and District Health Department to monitor the presence of the

Additional ANMs (placed at sub-centres in tribal areas since December 2004, as per order by the state

Government) at 48 sub centres, 3 days of the week; and capacity building of these ANMs through

periodic trainings. Ultimately, monitoring was only carried out at 41 sub-centres. Of these, the

Government had appointed an Additional ANM in only 16, which were monitored three days a week. The

remaining 25 sub-centres with single ANMs were monitored only on Mondays as the District Collector had

issued orders for all ANMs to be at their sub-centres on all Mondays. The presence of the ANMs was

monitored using specialized date and time stamps and random checks.

Monitoring Results – from Date & Time Stamps

The presence of the ANMs during the baseline study conducted between January 2002 and August 2003

was 44%. As the intervention started, it seemed that the presence was improving however soon enough

it plateaued and, some months later, it even fell. The presence in the additional ANM centres went as

low as 27% in some months. However, the absence days were also not increasing. A new category of

"exempt days" seemed to explain the non-increase in both presence and absence. Exempt days referred

to those days when the ANM was officially allowed to be away from the sub centre for other tasks like

monthly meetings, camps, visits for cases of sterilization etc. It is difficult to verify whether the ANM

actually went for these tasks/meetings. For example, verifying whether the ANM went for home visits or

not would not be possible even for the Medical Officer. Hence it is possible that the increase in exempt

days is due to both conflicting orders from the senior health authorities as well as collusion between the

ANM and her seniors.

Random checks were performed twice a month in the treatment sub-centres and once a month in control

sub-centres. The table below gives results from that.

Table –1: Random Check Results

Particulars Treatment Control

Total random checks performed 734 416

Average attendance in centres with 2 ANMs 49% 31%

Average attendance in centres with 1 ANM 41% 19%

Average number of patients found at the subcentre (per 100 visits) 40 patients 24 patients

As can be seen attendance in both categories is much lower than the expected. In control centres, it has

fallen down to 31% and 19%, much lower than the baseline attendance. Even in the single ANM

treatment centres, the attendance is lower than the baseline level. Only in the two ANM treatment

centres the attendance is marginally better.

Addressing Iron-Deficiency Anaemia through Fortification of Flour

Seva Mandir has been conducting another action research intervention to explore an innovative solution

to addressing the high levels of anaemia in its work area by enhancing dietary intake through village-level

iron-fortification of flour. Since most villagers get their grains milled at the local village miller (known as a

chakki), the introduction of a simple iron-rich compound to the flour at the time of milling could help to

increase consumption of iron. Mixing machines and a regular supply of iron-mix were provided to chakkis

in 68 treatment hamlets. 66 control hamlets were selected for comparison. Bimonthly meetings were

conducted with the selected chakki owners to orient them and monitor performance. The chakkis’

performance was reviewed and their honorarium adjusted accordingly.

A midline evaluation shows an average increase of 0.65gms/dl amongst the treatment group. The study

came to an end later in the year and chakkis were given the option of continuing with the fortification if

the were interested. 23 chakkis are still continuing in this mode. In Kherwara block, the research is still

ongoing and 30 chakkis are continuing with the fortification. The future strategy will depend on the end-

line results. During the present period, the scope of introducing pre-packaged, iron-fortified salt as an

alternative to fortification at the village chakki was also explored but due to issues in procurement, it was

not possible to take this endeavour forward.

The Future

During the present phase, the health programme has reviewed many of its existing activities in an effort

to understand exactly where and how it is making a contribution. In the coming year the focus of the

programme will be on expanding the range of activities that are being carried out to secure children’s

health. In particular, this will involve moving beyond immunisation to secure holistic child health care. In

addition to this, efforts will be made to strengthen and further systematise the work with TBAs and to

explore new ways of engaging with the bigger health system. Although this will undoubtedly present

many challenges, Seva Mandir feels that without intervention on this front it will not be possible to ensure

a good health status for the people in its work area. The process of fleshing out strategies for taking this

forward is presently underway.

Kumbhalgarh

In 2001, Seva Mandir started working in 67 villages of Kumbhalgarh block under the World Bank’s District

Poverty Initiatives Programme (DPIP). The DPIP aimed to strengthen local livelihoods by forming

Common Interest Groups and providing them with access to funds to take up various income generation

or livelihood-enhancing activities. The DPIP came to an end in December 07. During this period, 268

Common Interest Groups were formed to take up work on various projects. Over the years the number

reduced to 203 in which 1,968 men and women were involved. This reduction was due to various

problems such as delay in sanctions from the government people, villagers losing interest, migration and

lack of consensus on what projects to take up. A number of projects were also rejected by the DPIP.

Projects taken up under DPIP fall into 3 main categories: (1) Land-based; (2) Income Generation; and (3)

Infrastructure. The majority (127 out of 203) of activities were taken up under the land-based project

category. In the last year, 101 land-based activities, 29 income generation activities and 7 infrastructure

activities were completed. Due to the nature of the DPIP, considerable formalities were entailed in getting

projects approved and sanctioned. As a result of this, field workers had to spend a great deal of time in

the DPIP Rajsamand office getting files checked in different departments. Working with the government

presented considerable challenges since the government staff was generally overburdened and they

expected to receive some kind of individual benefit from doing the work. Seva Mandir had to approach

the District Collector to address this. Eventually, additional government staff was deputed to ensure that

the work could be finished on time. However, since they lacked awareness of DPIP norms, this led to

further complications and put a great deal of strain on the project.

Progress of the Activities

• Land based activities: Main activities carried out during the present period include the construction

of the boundary wall, plantation of income-generating plants (including mango, gooseberry and aloe

vera), deepening of wells and installation of diesel engines. A number of projects could not be

completed – either because CIGs refused to take up the work or because they felt that they would

not be able to complete the work within the specified time.

• Income generation activities:

• Dairying: 29 members of 4 CIGs purchased their first buffalo, 21 members from two other

groups purchased their second buffaloes while 39 members of 4 other groups purchased a total

of 74 buffaloes (both first and second buffaloes). In total, 89 people from across 10 groups

purchased a total of 124 buffaloes. Complications were faced due to both DPIP not releasing the

funds in a timely manner and people not being able to raise the required contribution. Trainings

in livestock management were conducted in which 55 men and women participated to sensitise

them to various traditional and modern techniques of livestock management, disease and

treatment, feeding and marketing of milk products.

• Goatery: This year 27 members of two groups purchased 448 goats. Care was taken at the time

of purchase, the goats were vaccinated at the time of arrival and timely care was given for

seasonal diseases. Nonetheless a number of goats died. Additional tasks such as the construction

of sheds for keeping the goats and getting them insured were also carried out in 22 of the 30

sanctioned projects. However, due to a variety of problems including villagers claiming that their

existing sheds be considered as newly constructed (thereby violating the DPIP norms), activities

with a number of groups were cancelled. Furthermore, it was found that most of these groups

did not have adequate space to keep 15 goats and 1 buck as made mandatory under the DPIP

project.

• Other activities: A variety of other income generation activities including welding groups, RCC

groups and tent houses are performing well. They have started taking contracts and are earning

income. Furthermore, the Swiss Cottage is also doing remarkably well and has been getting visits

from both foreign and Indian tourists – including government representatives.

• Infrastructure Development: Work on the construction of 6 community centres was completed

during the present reporting period. However, the work was completed with much difficulty since

many of the group members were not willing to work on a measurement basis as they felt that this

would not enable them to secure the desired income. It took a great deal of convincing before the

villagers recognized the importance of doing the work. A total of 22 projects have been completed

under this head to date and all have undergone physical verification by the DPIP technical staff. They

have also been officially handed over to the community and the Panchayat. Seva Mandir is presently

motivating the group members to sit with their fellow villagers to discuss the proper use and

maintenance of the centres.

In addition to this, Seva Mandir has been conducting various activities to strengthen the Self Help Groups

formed under the DPIP programme and to build community-centred institutions in selected villages.

• Savings and credit activities: This year efforts have been concentrated on assessing and building

the capacity of the SHGs formed over the course of the DPIP project. This has resulted in the

strengthening of a number of groups and the dissolution of others – many of which plan to start

afresh. As such, the total number of SHGs reduced this year from 45 to 31 with a present

membership of 326 and total savings of Rs.141,752. A three-day residential training was organized

for 12 of the groups focusing on objectives, rules and regulations, record and registers to be

maintained and forming linkages with financial institutions.

• Village institution building: The process of building village institutions was initiated in three

villages this year. Exposure visits were organized to Barawa and Talai villages in Seva Mandir’s work

area and a one-day orientation was conducted for each of community in collaboration with the Village

Institutions Programme. After conducting a series of meetings, the villagers decided that they would

launch a membership drive in their village and collect a contribution of Rs.50 per household as

membership fee to be deposited in the Gram Vikas Kosh. In one of the villages, membership has

reached 87% and elections have been held. In the other villages the membership drive is still in

process.

The Future

In addition to the specific activities detailed above, there have been many significant achievements in

Kumbhalgarh, particularly in overcoming some the mistrust that had been created between the project

team, the government and the villagers as a result of corrupt practices in earlier years. The work has also

moved beyond simply delivering projects within the framework of the DPIP to building community

cohesion, deepening the dialogue on development and associated values, addressing inter-caste

dynamics and gender issues and encouraging a community-centred approach to addressing local issues.

Furthermore, progress has been made in terms of the way that the villagers and groups associated with

the project are relating to the panchayat, learning how to navigate the government system and gaining

access to schemes for which they are eligible. Evidence of the success of the project can be seen through

the requests being made by villagers from nearby areas who have either seen or heard about the work

done and want to know how they can become involved.

With the DPIP project having come to an end, the concerned staff is presently involved in a variety of

exercises – including review of work to date, exposure visits, and discussions with the community – in

order to explore how to consolidate and take the work in Kumbhalgarh forward.

Urban Block

Seva Mandir has been working in the urban slum areas of Udaipur city since 2001. Those living in the

urban slums are predominantly migrants from Udaipur's rural hinterlands and further afield. Many of the

inhabitants are involved in informal labour work, typically earning low incomes and facing many

hardships. Furthermore, there is a lack of access to quality basic services and facilities – including safe

drinking water, a clean environment, health care and quality education - that are necessary for people to

live well. As the burden of the many problems facing slum dwellers are often borne most heavily by

women and children, Seva Mandir's interventions focus primarily on these sections of the population.

Women’s groups and SHGs

In order to empower women to address their concerns, Seva Mandir works with 47 women’s groups and

savings and credit groups. Of these groups, 13 groups comprising about 170 women are involved in

income generation activities in association with Sadhna. Almost all of the other groups are involved in

internal loaning and this year group members decided to increase the maximum loan size from Rs.5,000

to Rs.15,000. Internal loans are used to meet both consumption and production needs. Some major uses

this year have included covering children’s education, purchasing land, purchasing fodder for cattle,

repaying high interest debts to moneylenders and home construction amongst others. A number of loans

have also been taken to support diverse income generation activities including clothes shops,

convenience stores, spice grinding, and electrical repairs. To support the effective functioning of these

groups, trainings were organized for the SHG accountants.

In addition to this, women have been raising a variety of local issues, ranging from domestic violence to

the need for regular water supply, and taking action to address them. In cases where serious domestic

abuse is taking place, the concerned women are linked up with the Short Stay Home for women, housed

in Seva Mandir’s urban block office. To address issues of public services, the women organize themselves

and pay a collective visit to the concerned government department. In addition to this they make efforts

to secure access to a variety of government schemes – including pensions and other schemes for getting

assistance in supporting their young children. 51 women’s leaders from across the 47 groups participated

in legal aid trainings organized by the Academy for Socio-Legal Studies, Jaipur. These aimed to make

them aware about some of the existing laws related to women and the various legal procedures for

addressing violence and injustice.

Education programme

At present, 9 Bal Samuhs, reaching out to a total of 168 children, are operating in the city slums. Their

main objective is to help students from disadvantaged households in completing their homework and

improving their standard of education so that they don’t drop out because of lagging behind. The Bal

Samuhs are run for 2 hours every day in the evening by a volunteer. Saturdays are used for various

activities as per the children’s interest. Parents are charged a monthly fee of Rs.5-10 per child. This year,

a total fee of Rs.10,090 was collected and deposited in the respective neighbourhood development fund

and will be used for the children's benefit. Creative activities are also conducted during the summer, in

May and June, including mehendi (heena) classes, embroidery, singing, story telling, making the best out

of waste, dance workshops, etc. Furthermore, a mobile library service is also running with support from

Vidya Bhawan. Once in three months, a parent-teacher meeting is also organized.

Seva Mandir has also operated 2 Schools for child labourers as part of a project run under the auspices of

the Labour Ministry and Udaipur Child Labour Society. Each school had an enrolment of 50 children.

Besides the educational activities, importance was given to extracurricular activities – including sports,

cultural programmes and picnics. When the project came to a close on 30th September, a total of 80

children were linked to their local government schools. Children also received a stipend on the basis of

their attendance. The amount has been deposited in bank accounts in the children’s names and they

have been given the passbooks.

Recently, a new education centre has also been opened in one of the slum areas in response to the

closure of the Child Labour School. The idea behind this was to increase the chances that children from

these areas will be able to achieve certain basic elements of physical and psychological development that

will give them a better chance of succeeding in life and getting mainstreamed in government schools.

Balwadis

Since many households in Udaipur’s urban slum areas face difficult economic conditions, it is quite

common for both parents to be involved in some kind of labour work. In such a context, it is essential to

ensure a safe and stimulating environment for their children. To this end, Seva Mandir operates 4 day-

care centres in selected slum areas for children aged 1 to 5 years. In addition to providing these children

with important nutritional inputs, educational and recreational activities in the centre are designed to

contribute to the children’s overall development. Parents meetings are also conducted to share

information with parents about the condition of the children, to identify and solve problems related to the

running of the centre, to secure their contribution and to raise parents’ awareness about the children’s

needs. Trainings are also conducted for the women who run the centres to ensure that they are

continuously developing their capacity to run the centres and work with parents in a more effective

manner.

Short Stay Home for Women

The Short Stay Home for Women and Girls (known as SAMBAL) is a Central Social Welfare Board funded

project presently being run by Seva Mandir in Udaipur. Women in urban areas often face great difficulties

as a result of various forms of abuse. Sometimes the situation becomes so severe that the women need a

safe and secure place to stay to recuperate and to decide how to move forward. SAMBAL aims to provide

such a space to women and girls in need for a period ranging from six months to three years. Children

accompanying their mother or born in SAMBAL, are permitted to stay there.

SAMBAL also aims to build women’s awareness about their economic, social and legal rights. Other

services provided include: (1) casework and counseling services, (2) medical care and psychiatric

treatment, (3) occupational therapy, skill development training and rehabilitation services and (4)

educational, vocational and recreational activities. Follow up visits by counselors are also carried out to

ensure the well-being and safety of those women who have left SAMBAL. During the year, a total of 59

women were given shelter in SAMBAL.

The most common reason for women to seek shelter from SAMBAL is because of domestic abuse at

home. This is followed by problems following involvement in a love marriage or other issues of love

relationships. Having a husband who is either alcoholic or a husband who is involved in extra-marital

relationships is the next highest reason. Solutions to the problems are varied and range from achieving

successful resolution through dialogue with the husband and in-laws to relocating the concerned woman

back. In many cases, women also leave SAMBAL of their own accord while some also decide to secure

themselves an education or source of income.

During their stay, a variety of activities are carried out with the women to address their physical and

mental health needs and also to provide them with a source of entertainment and joy. At SAMBAL, the

women receive both monthly health check-ups and counseling from a specialist. In addition to this, the

women are taken on various excursions to sites around Udaipur, are shown films and celebrate various

festivals and cultural events. The women are also given a wide range of trainings – ranging from yoga to

the preparation of jams, jellies and sherbets.

CHILD LINE

CHILDLINE was established as a collaborative initiative of the Government of India’s Ministry for Woman

and Child Development and the CHILDLINE Foundation, Mumbai. CHILDLINE is India’s first 24-hour, free,

emergency phone service for children from 0-18 years in need of aid and assistance and can be

contacted by dialing 1098 toll-free. Beyond responding to emergencies, CHILDLINE also links children to

services for their long-term care and rehabilitation. Seva Mandir operates CHILDLINE Udapiur.

This year, a total of 723 cases were dealt with, which include medical, repatriation, shelter, sponsorship

requests and issues of missing children and parents asking for help in child-related matters or children

asking for various forms of emotional guidance.

In order to make CHILDLINE more accessible to all children a variety of outreach and awareness activities

are conducted. Key activities include organizing an open platform in each of the various slum areas to

share information about CHILDLINE and give the local communities the opportunity to ask questions,

share concerns and identify children’s problems and possible solutions. Children are also invited to speak

up, recite poems and sing songs. These activities help to establish a relationship of trust between the

children and CHILDLINE, increasing the likelihood that they will make use of the service if necessary in

the future. This year, a total of 9 such events were organized in which over 1,000 people participated.

Other outreach activities have included setting up stalls during festivals such as the Hariyali festival held

during the monsoon season in Udaipur each year; linking children from the child labour schools by

making regular visits, conducting activities and sharing information; organizing rallies against child labour

on Child Labour Day (in which 100 children participated, including children from the bal panchayat);

setting up a stall during the Deepawali-Dashera festival at City Hall (made possible by the support of the

concerned government officers), through which over 5000 child-line pamphlets were distributed. In

addition to this, stakeholder-specific outreach activities were conducted with the general public, auto-

rickshaw drivers, STD/PCO stalls, shopkeepers, teachers, students, police and hospital and Anganwadi

staff amongst others.

Building on the work with CHILDLINE, Seva Mandir has supported the formation of 10 Bal (Child)

Panchayats in selected slum areas for children in the age group 10 to 18. The purpose of these forums is

to give voice to the children and to help them develop their confidence and leadership skills. Through

these platforms, children learn about their rights and responsibilities, identify their problems and look for

solutions together. CHILDLINE staff participated in 2 trainings to prepare themselves for working

effectively with the Bal Panchayats. These Bal Panchayats have been involved in various activities

including plantation of trees as part of an effort to raise children’s awareness about environmental

protection and healthy living. This gave them the opportunity to interact with adults and local politicians

who were very encouraging of the children’s efforts.

Alongside such serious matters, fun and recreation are very important elements to incorporate while

working with children. Thus, every year, Bal Diwas is celebrated on the 14th of November in memory of

Nehru. This year, the event was celebrated in combination with the children from CHILDLINE, the Bal

Panchayat and also the women from the short stay home. During the course of the day, information

regarding important issues ranging from the importance of clean water and children’s rights was shared

alongside fun and games to keep the children entertained. The event included a hot meal with sweets.

Children were also awarded prizes for the various games in which they participated. Other events

celebrated included Kite Day, Independence Day and Christmas. A variety of other entertaining activities

were carried out, including a dance workshop.

A health camp for children was also conducted in order to extend free health services to poor children

from the slum areas. The camp was timed to coincide with the period when seasonal illnesses were at

their most severe. Preparation for this involved house-to-house awareness raising. A total of 128 children

received care through this camp.

During the course of the year, a study was also undertaken to understand the extent and predicament of

street children living in Udaipur. This study will be completed at the start of the following year and

various options for taking this work forward will be explored based on the results.

The Future

At present the work of the urban programme has consisted of diverse yet interconnected elements.

However, there remains considerable scope for seeking further integration of the work and exploring

opportunities for incorporating some of Seva Mandir’s core operating principles into the work here – for

example through strengthening local self-governance initiatives. Some headways has already been made

in this direction with the formation of Neighbourhood Development Committees. However, the

programme is presently reviewing its strategies as part of the preparation for the 6th Comprehensive Plan

and is thus in the process of deciding exactly how and in what areas such work may be taken forwards.

In other respects, continuous efforts will be made to strengthen and enhance the work that is already

being carried out with a particular focus on empowering children, youth and women.

Delwara – Governance in Peri-urban

Settlements

As of March 31st, 2008, Seva Mandir has seen the completion of four and a half years of its work on

promoting self-governance and responsible citizenship as a means to improving the quality of life in

Delwara, a peri-urban settlement located 30 km from Udaipur. In addition to facilitating a positive change

process on the ground, this initiative has had the specific objective of building up a critical body of

knowledge on participatory governance in the context of peri-urban settlements, which are typically

neglected by the mainstream development actors.

To date, there has been considerable progress in terms of implementing various development

interventions in the fields of health, education, youth, water, sanitation, solid waste management,

heritage and livelihoods, as elaborated in the sections below. However, what these accounts do not

reveal is the complex and challenging process of social change that accompanies these efforts: bringing

citizens together across social divides of religion, caste, gender and age and encouraging citizens to

recognize their own responsibility in bringing about change. The activities elaborated below have

provided opportunities for bringing citizens within and across communities together. It is through these

opportunities that the deeper social change processes, so central to enabling community self-governance,

have taken place.

Water and Sanitation

Three community water tanks have been installed in various neighbourhoods across Delwara, securing

access to water for the most marginal sections of the population and also those most vulnerable to water

shortages. Similarly, individual water tanks and rain-water harvesting structures have been installed and

constructed, with community participation, in those areas of Delwara that face the most serious problems

of water supply during times of drought. These interventions will serve to greatly reduce the burden on

women, who are typically given the responsibility of collecting water for household use. Finally, the

village’s primary source of water, Palera Talab, had its main feeder cleaned and repaired, ensuring that a

maximum amount of this year’s scant rainfall would be available for the people of Delwara. In addition to

this, three community sanitation systems have been completed, securing access to high quality sanitation

facilities for a total of 49 families. These sanitation systems are supported by community management

systems operated by empowered and organised mohalla level committees, to secure their sustainability.

Health

Since the local government hospital does not have a woman doctor, many women suffering from

reproductive health problems are unable to get treatment. In response to this, two women’s health

check-up and treatment camps were organized during the course of the year, with over 100 women

receiving treatment in the first and 89 receiving it in the second camp. In addition to this women from

across Delwara participated in awareness camps and trainings on reproductive health issues. Various

efforts were also made by both youth and adults to address various issues in the local government

hospital, including the absence of a woman doctor and the absence of adequate water facilities. Although

these efforts have not yet brought about results, they remain on the agenda and government officers

have informally indicated that a woman doctor will be made available at the hospital soon.

Solid Waste Management

Establishing a solid waste management system in Delwara has proved to be a complex and challenging

process. However, this year it has started to attain a level of regularity and quality that has earned it

recognition and appreciation from a growing section of the citizenry. In particular, the committed work

put in by the 11-person strong local cleaning team and their supervisor, the acquisition of a cycle-

rickshaw through which household waste is regularly collected, and the rigorous monitoring system that

has been put in place, have helped to gain Delwara – once a place of unsightly rubbish heaps – a

reputation for being a clean town. As a result of this and the ongoing efforts at strengthening mohalla

groups, monthly contributions for the cleaning system have started coming in. The Nagrik Vikas Manch

has been considering a decision to suspend cleaning in those areas where the monthly contribution is not

forthcoming. Due to various complications in land acquisition, the construction of the solid waste

management site, which will enable segregation of waste, vermi-composting and recycling, faced several

delays. As this year drew to a close, work was initiated on its preparation.

Youth & Livelihoods

Further progress has been seen in the work with youth, which, despite some internal staffing

complications has seen an intensification of activities oriented towards building the capacity of youth to

become agents of change. Much of this work is ‘soft’ work, oriented towards sensitising the youth

towards gender and communal issues, while at the same time helping them to build their self-confidence,

change themselves and come up with new frames of reference for understanding and engaging with the

society of which they are a part. In addition to this, through the activities of the Youth Resource Centre,

a total of 36 youth have been linked with a variety of vocational trainings – including mobile repairing,

driving, motor rewinding, screen printing and videography. Approximately 50% of these youth (all of

whom were previously unemployed) are currently employed.

Education

Besides the work with youth, two specific interventions in the field of education include running a non-

formal education centre for out-of-school children from the tribal community and operating an activity

centre in one of the government primary schools. While the non-formal education centre has been

running quite regularly and has generated enthusiasm and confidence (that the children can learn)

amongst both children and parents, the activity centre has proved more challenging. A number of issues

emerged in trying to set up the activity centre, which aims to enhance children’s interest in learning by

providing a stimulating and creative learning environment for children at the school, largely due to

mistrust. However, the centre is operational and relationships are becoming more cooperative.

Heritage

There has also been considerable progress in terms of the work on heritage. This particular area of works

seeks to restore the rich heritage of Delwara – both for its high tourism potential and also for its

significant role in cultivating a sense of pride and belonging amongst the local citizens. Thus, with

headway being made on the renovation of Tri-Mukhi Baori and the restoration of Kasheshwar Mahadev

and the preparation of the final draft of the Delwara Heritage booklet, the groundwork has been laid for

capitalising on the benefits of the work done so far.

Strengthening Community Organisations

Most notably, perhaps, the present period saw the completion of the first round of democratic elections

within the Nagrik Vikas Manch. These elections, beginning first as dialogues amongst citizens during the

monthly meetings of the Nagrik Vikas Manch, soon spread to the mohallas and later involved experienced

staff from Seva Mandir in collaboratively framing the guidelines for the election process. The first round

of elections took place at the mohalla level and was followed by transformative leadership workshops

with the newly elected mohalla committees. Through these workshops participants were able to explore

their own individual and collective identities, their own context, their vision of change and the significance

of their own responsibility in bringing about this change.

Subsequently, and keeping the gender balance in mind, one man and one woman representative were

selected from each mohalla to serve as representatives – members of the Executive Committee – at the

level of the Nagrik Vikas Manch. Only once this had taken place, were the preparations for the election of

the key position holders of the Nagrik Vikas Manch initiated. This proved to be a matter of great

contention, as it emerged that none of the usual, party-affiliated political candidates had been selected at

the mohalla level. Furthermore, the election process challenged the predominant understanding of how

elections should take place (i.e. as during the panchayat elections). However, with much patience and

perseverance, it was possible for the local team to protect the election process and thereby, create a

legitimate ground for challenging existing political leadership. Thus, the success of the elections, to the

great dismay of the established local political leaders, represents a great achievement for the

advancement of truly democratic values in Delwara.

Following these elections, a combined leadership and visioning workshop was conducted, involving male

and female citizens of Delwara, both young and old, in framing their future trajectory of change. The

direction that has emerged, coupled with the considerable experience acquired by both the citizens and

Seva Mandir over the preceding years, has been consolidated into a strategy for the future.

Networking and Dissemination

In addition to these achievements at the local level, the citizens of Delwara, Seva Mandir and the National

Foundation for India have had the opportunity to share their experiences in Delwara with a number of

other stakeholders, thereby contributing to the efforts at dissemination. Some notable examples include:

• Presenting experiences and insights to date during the National Foundation for India's 15th

Anniversary celebrations, attended by development thinkers, representatives of various funding

agencies and trusts and other NFI partners.

• Presentation of the Delwara experience in an international seminar organised by PRIA, Delhi.

PRIA has subsequently requested that the paper presented be edited and made available for

publishing in its recently released journal Participation and Governance

• Sharing of the process with the former Block Development Officer, who commended the work of

the Nagrik Vikas Manch (and was later caught for bribery),

• Visits to the Collectorate office and sharing the Delwara initiative with the collector and the DRDA

CEO.

The Future

As the work with the citizens of Delwara progresses, key areas of strategic concern to be addressed

include strengthening the NVM, its leaders and its associated bodies so that it can function with greater

autonomy and deepening the relationship between the NVM and the Panchayat to strengthen the local

governance process. Both these interventions entail many complications – ranging from transforming the

dynamics amongst citizens of different religions, castes, genders and socio-economic backgrounds to

negotiating and evolving effective strategies for enabling meaningful citizen participation in the

Panchayat. As these efforts continue, the work across the various sectors will continue. Furthermore,

efforts will be made to ensure the comprehensive and systematic documentation of the work carried out

to date so that it can be used for dissemination and advocacy purposes.

Finally, the idea of expanding the experiment in peri-urban settlements beyond Delwara is also being

considered. At present, Seva Mandir is considering the idea of taking this work forward to 2 new peri-

urban settlements in its work area.

Child Representative Programme

In 2004, Seva Mandir expanded its relationship with Plan International. Part of the new relationship

entailed Seva Mandir incorporating a Child-Centred Approach into all its work. Since Plan raises its funds

through a sponsorship mechanism, a variety of systems had to be established to support the various

communication requirements that this entails.

Child Representatives

For child sponsorship to function properly it is essential that certain children are registered with Plan

International and that regular communication is established between the child, Seva Mandir, Plan and the

sponsor. To address this issue, Seva Mandir formulated the idea of having Child Representatives at the

village level. A major concern, however, was that these children would receive preferential treatment as a

result of selection and a great emphasis has been placed on ensuring that this does not happen. At the

same time, however, the Child Representatives provide a basis for introducing child-centred community

development to the community. Furthermore, since the child representatives constitute a representative

sample of children from Seva Mandir’s work area, they help to provide a better understanding of the

critical issues that are being faced by children in its work area.

To date, a total of 2,479 child representatives have been enrolled from across 110 villages where Seva

Mandir works. The selection process is carried out through extensive consultation with the community,

through which key aspects related to the selection of Child Representatives are shared, including the

issue of non-discrimination, the principles and values of child-centred community development and the

kinds of follow-up activities that selection of Child Representatives will entail. Despite these efforts, some

confusion has arisen in a few communities in Jhadol where other organizations involved in sponsorship

provide direct benefits to sponsored children and their families, thereby distorting expectations.

Youth photographers

An essential part of the communication process is the periodic sending of photographs of children and

their families. In order to facilitate this process Seva Mandir has engaged local youth from the same

villages as the Child Representatives as photographers. To make this possible, youth have been provided

a number of trainings – in both manual photography and, more recently digital photography. While

engaging youth photographers has presented numerous challenges in terms of quality – particularly in

initial stages – the costs and problems this has entailed will be greatly reduced with the shift to digital

photographs.

At present there is a cadre of 110 youth photographers who have participated in digital photography

trainings. To ensure the timely capturing of photographs required to meet the reporting requirements

additional digital cameras will need to be purchased. During the present period, it was decided that the

payment of youth photographers should be made by the local Gram Vikas Committee. Although this will

make the process more complicated, it will also help to strengthen the local village institutions and has

the potential to open up new opportunities for the youth to take up independent work as photographers.

Children’s Forums

Children’s Forums constitute a critical intervention in moving toward child-centred community

development as they are the primary means through which children’s concerns can be given due

attention. In addition to this, the children’s forums, which hold regular monthly meetings, serve as

platforms through which children are able to acquire and develop important leadership and

communication skills. These forums require considerable facilitation by Seva Mandir’s staff – both in

facilitating the children to share their opinions and in creating space for children’s concerns on village

level platforms.

During the present period, a total of 48 children’s platforms were formed and the associated activities

carried out. These forums have been provided with a variety of play materials, which are kept in a place

where they can be shared with other children.

Welcome Greeting Communications

The children’s forums are also used as part of the communication process with donors. By engaging the

children in a variety of creative activities – such as drawing pictures, singing songs, reciting poems and

writing essays – materials are produced that can be sent to sponsors. By doing this activity as a group it

is possible to reduce the sense of discrimination that would be entailed if only one child was singled out

for communicating with the sponsors. Children and parents alike have enjoyed these activities and are

eager to see them continued as they have helped children to develop their confidence and abilities

through recreational and stimulating activities.

Integration of the Child-Centred Approach

A critical part of the Child Representatives Programme is ensuring that principles of child centred

community development are mainstreamed within Seva Mandir. To achieve this means working alongside

the different programmes and engaging jointly in activities that involves the children as participants,

decision-makers and agents of change. Some examples of these efforts include:

• Natural Resources: One of the perspectives consistently raised through the children’s forums is

the children’s desired to see their villages green and full of trees. As such it was decided to

involve the children in a variety of activities in collaboration with the NRD programme. These

activities included plantation of saplings where watershed activities were being carried out and

planting vegetable seeds in several villages in Girwa block. In Kotra, children were also asked

about the selection of plants to be planted on the pasture land and later assisted in monitoring

the digging of pits and in plantation work. The children involved in these activities vowed to

protect and look after the saplings and plants that they had planted.

• Village Institutions: Issues raised through children’s forums were later discussed in the

meetings of the village development committees.

• Health: During the period in question, there were 8 deaths of Child Representatives. This tragic

news brought to the fore the stark reality that is being faced by the children in Seva Mandir’s

work area. In one village there had been an outbreak of seasonal diseases and Seva Mandir

immediately responded organizing health camps in collaboration with the local Primary Health

Centres and by contacting the CMHO of Udaipur. In addition to this, verbal autopsies were

conducted and revealed the core problems to be delay in seeking treatment, unavailability of

quality services and false diagnosis by quack doctors.

Administrative Issues

Gifts and letters

From time to time sponsors send gifts and letters to the children. In order to manage this inflow, Seva

Mandir has developed comprehensive management and distribution systems designed to secure the

values of non-discriminations. However, although Seva Mandir has tried hard to ensure that only gifts

suitable for sharing are sent, some sponsors nonetheless send individual gifts. During the present period,

a total of 62 gifts and 131 letters have been received and distributed.

Sponsorship

At present a total of 1,028 children out of 2479 Child Representatives are being sponsored. During the

reporting period 2 visits were made by sponsors – one from the UK and one from Germany. Seva Mandir

invested considerable energy in providing the sponsors with a comprehensive introduction to Seva

Mandir, its values and its integrated approach to community development. The sponsors were also

carefully oriented on the importance of non-discrimination and since both visitors wanted to provide gifts

to the children it was imperative that they understand this. Ultimately, both visits were very successful

and the sponsors were overjoyed at the warm, traditional welcome they received from the whole

community. They also felt that they had been able to gain an understanding of how their contribution

was actually translating into action on the ground.

The Future

In the coming year, the Child Representative Programme will seek to expand its caseload to 3,500 by

June 2008 and to 5,000 by June 2009. At the same time, however, it will also be necessary to find ways

of channelling more energy into the process oriented work of strengthening children’s forums and

building child-centeredness more explicitly into the rest of the organisation’s work. A variety of

approaches will be used to work towards his, including formulating a child protection policy and

developing outcome indicators that will be able to capture the contribution to, extent and nature of

changes in children’s lives.

People’s Management School

The People’s Management School houses the Planning Monitoring and Evaluation Cell, the Research Cell,

the Training Cell, the Social Environment Cell and the Library and Documentation Centre. As such it is

primarily concerned with activities linked to knowledge management, organisational learning and internal

capacity building.

Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Cell

The PME Cell has made a shift during the present plan away from survey-based evaluations to developing

in-built monitoring and evaluation systems – at both output and effect levels - in collaboration with the

different programmes. This internalisation of the evaluation process helps to strengthen programme-level

reporting structures and to ensure the ownership of data by the programme staff. In this context, one of

the major functions that the PME Cell plays is the preparation of monitoring and evaluation reports, in

Hindi, based on data collected in collaboration with the various programmes. This year, the following

studies were carried out:

• Balwadi nutritional status report covering 3,088 children in 122 Balwadis

• Village Cohesion Index covering 363 village institutions

• Analysis of SHG data

• Evaluation report of learning levels of students in NFEs and analysis of learning camp outcomes

in Jhadol and Kotra

• Evaluation of immunization services provided by village level health workers

• Quality of management of common resources in relation to VCI

• Analysis of trainings conducted by units at the Block level

In addition to this, the PME Cell has been involved in collecting data for use at the time of project

development – as in the case of the Dal Mill intervention in Kotra. To facilitate this process, the PME Cell

designed a simple survey and involved local youth in collecting the data, resulting in faster, cheaper and

better quality surveys. Simultaneously, the process provided an income generation opportunity to the

local youth.

Research Cell

This year, the research cell conducted a major collaborative report in partnership with the Village

Institutions Programme on ‘Role Transformation’. This explored the dynamics and complexities involved

in how Seva Mandir’s relationships with the village institutions should transform as they become more

mature. It involved staff from management to zone levels and representatives of the village level

committees themselves.

During this period, a study was also initiated to explore the issue of street children living in Udaipur. This

involves both profiling the street children and identifying their social, economic and psychological needs.

Social Environment Cell

The Social Environment Cell was formed with the objective of linking with and extending dialogue to

various external development partners. As such, its work encompasses a variety of programmes,

including the internship programme, facilitating visitors, organizing internal and external seminars and

workshops, and linking with other NGOs. As part of this, various linkages have been established with

organisations such as CHIRAG, SAGE, RIM, CAPART and Columbia University amongst others.

The number of RIM volunteers was 7 in the beginning of the reporting period but by September 2007

there were only 4 volunteers associated with the Rejuvenate India Movement (RIM), through which they

have been serving as change agents in their local communities, addressing a wide range of issues and

trying to activate the panchayat. Seva Mandir hosted the RIM annual general body meeting.

Hosting interns has been a long tradition at Seva Mandir, providing a valuable opportunity for those new

to the field of rural development to gain a deeper understanding whilst simultaneously helping Seva

Mandir manage its workload and explore innovative areas of intervention. 117 interns were hosted in

Seva Mandir, of whom approximately 68% were from leading Indian institutes such as IRMA, TISS, ICFAI

School of Public Policy - Hyderabad, T.A. Pai Management Institute – Manipal, KIIT School of Rural

Management – Bhubaneshwar and IIFM and 32% were from foreign countries and institutes. A total of

43 studies on diverse topics were completed in the last year by the various interns and volunteers.

Furthermore, a total of 662 visitors came to Seva Mandir in 38 groups this year to understand the

organisation’s work. Two specific initiatives were launched during the present period to strengthen efforts

in this direction, including the opening of a regional resource centre in one the zone offices at Dhar

(Badgaon) and a rural visitor centre in the zone office at Sisvi village (Girwa).

Seva Mandir is the nodal agency for a government project under Council for Advancement of Peoples

Action and Rural technology (CAPART). As part of this, Seva Mandir conducted 5 block level meetings

with representatives from 110 regional NGOs. The meeting were conducted to give information on

projects and invite proposals of the same under this program on such issues as youth, sanitation,

rainwater harvesting, village knowledge centres and fruit and vegetable preservation. A number of public

seminars and workshops were organised for the various partners involved in the aforementioned

activities. This includes conducting 2 workshops for the CAPART project.

Training Cell

The training cell facilitates training, capacity enhancement and learning activities for staff and outsiders

both through Seva Mandir and by linking up with external agencies. This year, 4 trainings were

conducted in basic computer literacy and Hindi typing, involving a total of 37 staff participated. In

addition to this, three sessions were held as part of a mini-learning series to build capacity in a range of

activities from project management through to story writing. An external training on folk education was

also organised for 20 staff and 63 staff participated in a variety of other external trainings.

In the areas of trainings there has been a commitment to build institutional memory, which would in turn

lead to scale in the areas of training. An initial effort is the development of a 30-minute multimedia

presentation, which provides an overview of Seva Mandir, its strategies and its activities. Furthermore,

efforts have been made to enhance the quality of trainings and also measure the level of skill up-

gradation. The internal trainings conducted during the period were offered with published curriculum and

also the tests were conducted with certificates given out to the candidates obtaining the qualifying

grades.

Library and Documentation Centre

During the year, the library was expanded with the addition of the Rama Mehta wing as per the schedule

in September. The new room is increasingly becoming a popular space with the staff and the volunteers

and has led to increased usage of the Documentation Centre by the staff. The setting up of the new wing

provided the opportunity to re-organize the in-house research and documentation centre. A well-indexed

catalogue for Documentation Centre is now available with the library desk. The library also hosted a

moderated theme-based discussion group as a new initiative to familiarize the staff with available

documentation.

During the period in question a total of 92 new members were registered at the library, bringing the total

number of members to 324. Furthermore, the collection of books was expanded to 9,423 books with 266

new books getting added this year. The library also has subscriptions to 81 magazines, 31 journals and

73 newsletters, in addition to newspapers in both Hindi and English.

The documentation centre holds reports, studies, DVDs, VCDs, video cassettes and audio cassettes on a

wide variety of development related activities produced both by external organisations and by Seva

Mandir itself. At present, it holds a total of 4805 general reports, 811 Seva Mandir reports and 517 audio-

visual materials. This year 33 Seva Mandir reports were sold, brining in a total of Rs.38,925.

The Future

The focus of PMS in the coming year will be on strengthening information systems within the organisation

and in particular the database. The aim will be to ensure a regular flow of information and the regular

production of periodic evaluation reports for the various programme areas. In addition to this, increased

efforts will be applied to strengthening linkages with other NGOs and contributing to the ongoing capacity

development of Seva Mandir itself.

Rafe Bullick Memorial Fund

Set up in memory of Rafe Bullick, a former volunteer with Seva Mandir who tragically lost his life in a land

mine explosion while on a field trip in Sudan with Save the Children, the Rafe Bullick Memorial Fund has

the objective of keeping alive Rafe’s spirit so that his values and qualities can be remembered and

practiced by those that he cared for so much. The core activities being supported through this Fund

include a variety of interventions for children and youth – particularly the most disadvantaged – including

both education and sport. In addition to this, in memory of Rafe’s valuable contribution to introducing a

road safety awareness policy in Seva Mandir, the Fund is also supporting interventions aimed at

promoting safety awareness.

Key activities carried out for youth and children include:

• Providing a carom board and volleyball kit to the Dewas youth group in Jhadol block

• Providing a bicycle to a girl student in Varvaliya village to enable her to travel to school despite

the distance

• Providing a water cooler with a 1000 litre syntax tank of 1000 litre capacity for the student and

hostellers of the Deaf and Dumb School in Udaipur.

• Awarding a bow and set of arrows to a youth from Dadmiya, in Kotra block, for his performance

in archery. This youth then went on to participate in the Udaipur level competition where he won

the first position. He is now eager to teach other students who are interested in archery.

Key activities carried out in the field of safety awareness this year focused on the development of a

strategy for working on safety. The decision that emerged from the meeting of the Fund, held at Vidya

Bhawan, was to broaden the concern with safety beyond road safety to include all aspects of life. Thus it

was decided that the efforts should focus on safety during festivals – including highlighting a variety of

environmental concerns – including the use of organic colours during Holi, promoting a smokeless Diwali,

ensuring neighbourhood pre-monsoon preparedness and promoting safety in the kitchen and the home.

Mohan Singh Mehta Rural Training Centre,

Kaya

Seva Mandir’s residential training centre located in Kaya is used to host workshops and trainings for both

Seva Mandir staff, the communities with whom Seva Mandir works and external organisations. It is

located in a tranquil and beautiful area of the countryside just 30km outside of Udaipur. This year, 180

trainings were organised, of which 143 were directly related to Seva Mandir’s work and the remaining

were for outside organisations. This kept the training centre occupied for 253 days of the year. To

improve the facilities available in Kaya, new equipment was purchased including a generator and an array

of required furniture. In addition to this, 8 new bathrooms and 8 new toilets were constructed near the

learning centre hall. As such, a total income of Rs.2,249,671 was earned by the training centre against a

total cost of Rs.1,878,694, leaving a total saving of Rs.370,977.

Farm activities carried out in Kaya also brought a total income of Rs.116,415, which is Rs.20,000 more

than was earned in the previous year. The cost of inputs into running the farm and cultivating the crops

was Rs.84,695, resulting in a saving of Rs.31,720. Thus, the overall net profit of the Kaya training centre

this year stands at Rs.402,697.

Resource Mobilisation Cell

A new cell was formed in August 2007 for the purpose of building and strengthening partnerships for

resource mobilisation. In particular, it aims to foster deeper relationships with partners, by engaging

them in a deeper level of dialogue, and enabling them to learn from and contribute to the grassroots

development process. Key activities this year have included giving the organisation’s communication

strategy an overhaul, developing Seva Mandir’s brand identity, increasing its visibility and evolving the

organisation's fund raising strategy.

Marketing and Communication

During the period in question various consultants have provided their expertise to assist Seva Mandir in

positioning itself more effectively. Ms. Ellen Tacoma and Ms. Maria van der Heijdan from ‘Women on

Wings’, a Dutch consultancy, helped to design the overall visual identity for Seva Mandir. The technical

expertise for this was provided by Mr. Henk Seelt and Mr. Paul van’t Veld, two leading graphic designers

and copyrighters from Holland. This included redesigning and standardising the organisation's

publications and communication materials and producing a variety of innovative publications including

brochures, post cards and flyers. Mr. Aad van der Meer from Meer Mens, Holland helped the organisation

to think out an effective fund-raising strategy. Both consultants engaged with staff at various levels as

part of the process.

During the year, Seva Mandir was visited by three groups of High Net Worth Individuals – including the

World President’s Organisation. During these visits, Seva Mandir was able to make use of the new

communication materials developed by Women on Wings and also to communicate the challenges faced

by the organisation.

In addition to this, the internal newsletter ‘Gati Bimb’, which had gone dormant for some time, was

restarted this year, with one issue being published toward the end of the present period. It is hoped that

this will help to strengthen internal communication. In addition to this, Seva Mandir started, in March

2008, to ensure radio coverage of many of its functions and relevant news on a twice-a-month basis.

Web Presence

During the period in question, Seva Mandir has been making efforts to enhance its web-presence as a

means of attracting on-line support. As such, it has registered itself on various on-line fund-raising

agencies such as Global Giving, Trickle Down (UK), Karmyoga and Ammado. Presently, 6 projects have

been uploaded on Global Giving. Seva Mandir also participated in a competition hosted by Global Giving

to raise funds for its NFE centres for which a total of US$ 42,000 was raised. Furthermore, Seva Mandir

continues to benefit from its long-standing relationship with the Give Foundation. This year Seva Mandir

was ranked 3rd out of the top 10 recipients of funds from Give Foundation.

To support this work, Seva Mandir has provided trainings to some of its staff on how to write stories of

transformation in order to secure a regular supply of such stories, which are important for creating a

web-presence and for providing feedback to donors.

At present, Seva Mandir’s website is also under review for redevelopment. However, efforts have been

made to enhance Seva Mandir’s web presence by publishing various video-clips about its work through

various web sites such as ‘You Tube’ and Ammado Communities.

CSR Support

In order to identify new partners Seva Mandir has been seeking the help of Friends of Seva Mandir, USA

and has also been exploring through browsing the internet. To date, we have come across new corporate

partners – including KPMG, India Private Limited and United Parcel Services (UPS), Jetair Express Private

Ltd. This year, three projects (including a youth resource centre, a lift irrigation system and an anicut)

were submitted to UPS for support. One project (the lift irrigation system) was short-listed and has been

forwarded to the head office for approval.

Other Activities

During the year, Seva Mandir applied for a number of awards and had the good fortune of winning the

Gandhi Sarvodaya Puruskar, which was awarded by Lupin Human Welfare and Research Foundation,

Bharatpur.

In addition to this, internal capacity building for the RMU staff has also been carried out through

participation in a number of trainings organised by various external agencies specialising in this domain

The Future

In the future, the RMU will continue to seek mediums for raising awareness of Seva Mandir work by

increasing its visibility and using this as a way of raising support to sustain and expand its work.

Furthermore, it will aim to ensure that it is able to develop stronger relationships with donors through

effective communication and regular updates.

Credibility Alliance Norm Compliance

Report 2007-08

Identity:

� Seva Mandir is a Voluntary Organization registered under the Society Registration Act 1958, (Reg. No.

149/1967 – 68 dated 12.02.1968).

� Seva Mandir’s Constitution & Trust Deed are available on request.

� Seva Mandir is registered u/s 12A of the Income Tax Act, 1961, and u/s 10(23)(C)(iv) for the A.Y. 2007-08 to

2009-10.

� All individual & corporate donations are also eligible for exemption u/s 80-G. The exemption u/s 80-G is

available till 31-03-2011 vide their letter No. AA/Udi/Judicial/2008-09/267 dated 5.05.2008.

� Seva Mandir is also registered under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act 1976 for accepting any foreign

donations & grants vide Registration No. - 125690002, dated 11-02-1985.

Name and address of the Banker:

1. State Bank of India, Main Branch, 23-C, Madhuban, Udaipur 313 001, Rajasthan (FCRA Account), and

2. Union Bank of India, New Fatehpura, Udaipur 313 001, Rajasthan (for Indian money).

Name and Address of Auditors:

� M/s B.L.Pagaria & Co., Chartered Accountants, B- 4 Bapu Bazar, Udaipur 313 001, Rajasthan.

Mission:

Seva Mandir’s mission is to make real the idea of a society consisting of free and equal citizens who are able to come

together and solve the problems that affect them in their particular contexts. The commitment is to work for a

paradigm of development and governance that is democratic and polyarchic.

Seva Mandir seeks to institutionalize the idea that development and governance are not only to be left to the state

and its formal bodies such as the legislature and the bureaucracy, but that the citizens and their associations should

also engage separately and jointly with the state. The mission, briefly, is to construct the conditions in which citizens

of plural backgrounds and perspectives can come together and work to benefit and empower the least advantaged in

society.

Governance:

Details of Board Members: (As on 31st March 2008)

Name Sex Age Position on

Board Occupation

Meetings

attended

Shri Ajay S.

Mehta M 54 President

Executive Director, National

Foundation for India, New Delhi. 2/2

Shri V.B.

Eswaran M 79 Member

President, Society for promotion of

Wasteland Development. 1/2

Shri M.S.

Kothari M 73 Member

Chairman, Udaipur Division, World

Wide Fund for Nature – India 2/2

Shri Jagat S.

Mehta M 86 Member

Former Foreign Secretary,

Government of India. 2/2

Shri P.L.

Agarwal M 82 Member

Former Chairman Steel Authority of

India Ltd. 2/2

Ms. Indu

Kapoor F 51 Member

Director, CHETNA, Ahemdabad.

0/2

Prof. Kanchan

Chopra F 64 Member

Director,

Environment and Resource

Economics Unit, Institute of Economic

Growth, New Delhi 0/2

� The Seva Mandir Board met two times in the Financial Year 2007-08, 4th June 2007_for (Annual Meeting)

and on 30th November 2008 for Half Yearly Meeting.

� Minutes of Board Meeting are documented and circulated.

Accountability and Transparency:

� No remuneration, sitting fees, or any other form of compensation has been paid since the inception of

Foundation to any Board Member, Trustee, or Shareholder.

� The following reimbursements have been made to Board Members:

o Traveling expenses: Rs. 59, 513/-

o Not other reimbursements have been made to any Board Member, Trustee, or Shareholder.

� Chief Executive Officer’s remuneration: Rs.45, 000 per month

� Remuneration of three highest paid staff members (per month):

Rs. 40,000/-(CE) Rs. 36, 380./-(CFO) Rs 31, 152/-(Incharge - Health)

� Remuneration of lowest paid staff member (per month):

Rs 2, 200/-

Staff details (As on March 31st 2008):

Gender

Paid Full

Time

Paid Part

Time

Paid

Consultants

Paid

Volunteers

Unpaid

Volunteers

Male 188 - 12 - 54

Female 83 - 4 - 63

Distribution of Staff According to Salary Levels (As on March 31st 2008)

Gross Salary (Rs.) Male Female Total

< 5, 001 51 31 82

< 10, 001 73 25 98

< 25, 001 61 24 85

> 25, 000 3 3 6

188 83 271

Total Cost of International by Staff during the year (March 31st 2008):

S.No.

Name Designation

Destination

Purpose

Sponsored

1. Ms. Neelima

Khetan Chief Executive

� Kathmandu

� USA ,

Holland and

China

� ICCO

Workshop

� Fundraising

for Seva

Mandir

� Partially

sponsored by

ICCO

� Partially

sponsored by

IFPRI

2. Ms. Swati Patel Incharge WCD Stockholm –

Sweden

To study the

Young people

Reproductive and

Sexual Health

Rights Network

Sponsored by

MAMTA -

Ahamdabad

Donors

Institutions

� National Environment Awareness Campaign, Government of India, India

� Interchurch Organization for Development Co-operation (ICCO), The Netherlands.

� Aid to Artisans, USA.

� Canada India Village Aid, Canada.

� John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, USA.

� CAPART, New Delhi, India.

� Key stone, Tamil Nadu, India

� Central Social Welfare Board, Government of India

� Mamta-Srijan (YRSHR project), New Delhi, India.

� Monsoon Accessorize Trust, U.K.

� National Food For Work Programme, Government of India, New Delhi, India.

� Chetna, Ahmedabad, India

� National Foundation for India, New Delhi, India.

� Child Line, Government of India, New Delhi, India.

� Oxfam India Trust, Ahmedabad, India.

� Plan International, New Delhi, India.

� Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), New Delhi, India

� R. D. Tata Trust, Mumbai, India.

� District Poverty Initiatives Programme, Government of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India

� Rafe Bullick Memorial Foundation (UK)

� Rejuvenate India Movement, Bangalore, India

� DRDA, SGSY Programme, Government of India

� Saint Christopher School, U.K.

� Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst e.v. (EED), Germany.

� Clinton Foundation, USA

� Ford Foundation, New Delhi, India. ¨SIDBI, Jaipur, India

� St. Stephens Church, Canada.

� Foundation for Sustainable Development, USA

� Target international, USA

� Friends of Seva Mandir, UK

� TERI, New Delhi, India.

� Friends of Seva Mandir, USA

� Give Foundation, Mumbai, India.

� Global Giving , USA

� The Paul Hamlyn Foundation, U.K.

� Give World, USA

� Tobin Foundation, Washington

� Udaipur Child Labour Project, Government of India, New Delhi, India.

� I.N.G. Vysya Foundation, Bangalore, India

� Mamta - Health Institute For Mother & Child, New Delhi, India

� Undaunted Carnival Foundation, USA

� Chirag, Nainital, India

� Shell India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, India

� Watershed Organization Trust, Ahmadnagar, India

� Goodwill Association of America, USA

� Tides Foundation, USA.

Individuals

� G.L. Maheshwari, Udaipur.

� Shamdasani Foundation,

� Mr. Champalal Upadhyay, Udaipur.

� Mr. Ved Prakash Arya, Jaipur.

� Mr. Goverdhan Singh Jhala, Udaipur.

� Anjali Hegde, c/o. Dr. Vinaya Pendse, Udaipur.

� Jaspal Kaur, Ludhiana.

� Rajesh Vora, Mumbai.

� Arti Vora, Mumbai.

� Aruna Lakhani, Vadodara.

� Sunita kumari, Udaipur.

� A.K. Agrawal, Udaipur.

� Hardish Gill, Ludhiana.

� Kishore Saint, Udaipur.

� Praveen Devpura, Udaipur

� Sadhna, Udaipur.

� Darina Allen, Ireland.

� Ekkehart Gunther, Germany.

� Sarah Maddocks, Canada.

� Maria & Ellen, The Netherlands.

� Goodwill Assoication of America

� Robert F. Goheen

� Hanne Schulten

� Peter J. Katzenstein

� Satish Jindel

� Huda Q. Kraske

� Anne H. Marum & Friends

� Kent Fikrig

� Cynthia Elliott

� Anupam Puri

� Robert & Maurine

� Vivek Sharma

� Satish Jindel

� Bengt R. Holmstrom

� Jewel Trust

� Vineeta Khanna

� Sanjeev kr. Jain

� Jerry & Margaretta Hausman

� Kalyani Rai Vats

� Uday s. Mehta

� Mark Kesselman

� Christopher c. Walker

� Pradeep Chetal

� Umesh Kataria

� Hanne Schultern

� Michael Leiner

� Daphne Makinson

� Rajan Suri

� Robert Berkowitz

� Mangala Subramaniam, USA

� Development in Action UK.

� Tripta Desai, USA

� Gero Jontsch, Lommerwiese

� Keval Bhasin, USA

� Annie le Febure, France.

� Nicole de Dobbeleer, Belgium.

� Carluy Rue St Newolasi, France.

� Gilly and Chris Wiscarson

� H.M Thomson, Canada.

� Mr. Markus Maier, France.

� West Vancouver United Church, Canada.

� Young Presidents Organization Inc., USA

� Through Give Foundation:

� Sarika Garg

� Bhanu Prakash Reddy

� Anuj Babel

� Naresh Chandra Sepuri

� Raghavan Srinivasan

� Michael Jude Fernandes

� Mashud Hasan

� Apoorv Gosalpuria

� Cherry Kapoor

� Clyde Joseph

� Rohit Kaila

� Sambit Bhattacharya

� V Anooj

� Simen Munter

� Rakesh Rathi

� Hemant Vasant

� Kiran K

� Rakesh Rathi

� Shamin Furtado

� Satish Thombre

� Ernest Gilbert Alvares

� Chaitanya Pragda

� Naresh Chandra Sepuri

� Saurabh Malhotra

� Sanjay Shah

� Anuj Babel

� Ashutossh O Pewekar

� Apoorv Gosalpuria

� Sunil Shah

� Rahul Parelkar

� Ganesh Vishwanath

� Viral Rajendra Patel

� Naresh Chandra Sepuri

� Sarika Garg

� Jenifer Saxena

� Pralabh Verma

� Kiran Deshpande

� Amit Acharya

� Anuj Babel

� Satish Thombre

� Vidur Gupta

� Ruairidh Wilson

� Rancho Santa Fe Foundation

� Sanjay Reddy

� Krishna Kumar

� Arti & Badri Nath

� Sarita & Vijay Chopra

� Judith Helzner

� Vanguard Charitable End.Pro.

� Scottrude

� Vidur Gupta

� Ruairidh Wilson

� Mohit Kalia

� Simen Munter

� Uma Pariti

� Sachin Kasera

� Pujit Gandhi

� Harsh Tewari

� Sang. Jo Kim

� Ruairidh Wilson

� Apoorv Gosalpuria

� Kartik R.

� Naresh chandra sepuri

� Gautam rathore, udaipur.

� Nawal Todi, USA.

� Sulekha.com, USA

� Iris Software, USA.

� Linda Blanshay, USA.

� Vijay Kedia, c/o. Pradeep Chetal, USA

� Louis Stalsworth, USA.

� Madhusudan Kotta, USA

� R. Bhargava, USA

� Vikram PushpaBbhargava, USA

� Anju Bhargava, USA

� Jitendra Makhecha, USA

� Iam International, USA

� Merchantile systems, USA

� Meeta Agarwal, USA.

� Jai & Kaushallya Dayal, USA

� Bikram & Jyoti Sapra, USA.

� Pramod Khanna, USA

� Pradeep & Seema Chetal,USA.

� Raj Mittal,USA.

� Aridaman Jain, USA.

� Dynamic systems, USA.

� Laxmi & Kinti Chowdhary, USA.

� Satish Mullcik, USA.

� Nemichand & Harsha Jain, USA.

� Anoop Doshi, USA. .

� Pratima Agarwal, USA.

� Nirmalendu Choubey, USA. .

� V O Bhargava, USA.

� Mala Shrivastava, USA.

� John Kroeber, USA.

� Clemens & Marjorie Bribitzer, USA.

� Viswanath Tirupattur, USA.

� Rakesh & Gaurika Kushwaha, USA.

Members of different bodies

(as on 31st march ‘08)

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

1. Shri Ajay S. Mehta

2. Shri V.B. Eswaran

3. Shri M.S. Kothari

4. Shri Jagat S. Mehta

5. Shri P.L. Agrawal

6. Ms. Indu Capoor

7. Dr. Kanchan Chopra

FINANCE COMMITTEE

1. Shri Vijay Singh Mehta

2. Shri V.B. Eswaran

3. Shri M.K. Dhar

4. Shri K.V. Rajendran

5. Shri H.R. Bhati,

6. Shri Narayan Lal Ameta

7. Smt. Neelima Khetan

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

1. Shri Ajay S. Mehta

2. Shri V.B. Eswaran

3. Shri M.S. Kothari

4. Shri Jagat S. Mehta

5. Shri P.L. Agrawal

6. Ms. Indu Capoor

7. Dr. Kanchan Chopra

8. Shri Vijay Singh Mehta

9. Shri M.L. Mehta

10. Shri Anupam Poddar

11. Smt. Chandra Bhandari

12. Dr.(Ms.) Vinaya Pendse

13. Shri K.L. Bapna

14. Shri G.L. Maheshwari

15. Ms. Rama Dashora

16. Shri Vimal Kumar Agrawal

17. Shri Manoj Paliwal

18. Ms. Neelima Khetan

19. Shri H.R. Bhati

ADVISORY COMMITTEE

1. Shri Ajay S. Mehta

2. Shri Vijay Singh Mehta

3. Shri A.C. Wadhawan

4. Shri Shanker Ramaswamy

5. Shri Pavan Khera

6. Ms. Nandita Roy

89

7. Dr. H.K. Dewan

8. Dr. S. Ramakrishna

9. Shri Laxman Ji – Kherwara

10. Smt. Ratni Bai – Kherwara

11. Shri Narayan Lal Meena – Girwa

12. Smt. Basanti Bai – Girwa

13. Shri Shankar Lal Kharadi – Jhadol

14. Smt. Lalita Devi Goswami – Jhadol

15. Shri Mashroo Lal Kher – Kotra

16. Smt. Kuri Bai – Kotra

17. Smt. Nathi Bai – Badgaon

18. Shri Rameshwar Lal Khatik – Badgaon

19. Ms. Rekha Vaishnav - Kumbhalgarh

20. Shri Sohan Singh – Kumbhalgarh

21. Shri Shariq Mashhaddi

22. Ms. Angela Jacob

23. Smt. Krishna Sadashivan

24. Smt. Neelima Khetan

25. Shri H.R. Bhati

26. Shri Sanjiv Jain

27. Shri Heera Lal Patel

28. Shri Harish Ahari

29. Shri Goverdhan Singh Jhala

30. Shri Narayan Lal Ameta

31. Shri Narendra Jain

32. Smt. Priyanka Singh

33. Smt. Swati Patel

34. Shri S.N. Bhise

35. Shri Shailendra Tiwari

36. Dr. Sunita Kumari

37. Shri Mohammad Yakub Khan

38. Smt. Gunjan Doogar

39. Smt. Leela Vijayvergiya

40. Shri Heera Lal Sharma

90

Old Fatehpura, Udaipur

Rajasthan, INDIA - 313 004

Tel: +91 294 2451041

/2452001 /2452002, Fax: + 91

294 2450947

E-mail: info@sevamandir.org,

Web: www.sevamandir.org

Seva Mandir