VAAGDHARA

Voluntary Association for Agricultural, General Development, Health and Reconstruction Alliance (VAAGDHARA)
(Registered under Societies Act (1958) and Foreign Contribution Regulation Act)

Contact us: HeadOffice: 3/153, Khandu Colony, Banswara, Rajasthan Ph: +91-2962 257333 +91-2962 257725 FAX: e-mail: vaagdhara@gmail.com Web: http:/vaagdhara.org

State Coordination Office: 3/183, Shyonarayan Marg, Chitrakoot, Jaipur, Rajasthan, Ph: +91-141 2441840

Vaagdhara is a professionally managed committed non government organization working for empowerment of the most deprived and vulnerable groups of the society, in particular the indigenous population of South Rajasthan, an already exploited and excluded group, which has been further marginalized over the past fifteen year when market economy has started pervading all spheres of governance and civic life. Vaagdhara was formed in 1986-87 as a result of efforts of number of individuals including health professional, academics, farmers and social workers. The immediate goal was to provide relief of farmers who have become victims of successive droughts in Ghantol Tehsil of Banswara region. The humble endeavor included providing direct relief in the form of seeds and basic provisions for sustenance. Vaagdhara aims at promoting and facilitating development processes in water and resources scarce region through investing in human and technological development and augmentation of natural resources towards long term well being of its partner communities, i.e. women, children, peasants and deprived tribal population.

VISION:
Vaagdhara visualizes a socially just, technologically improved and democratic society, free from ignorance, hunger, fear and exploitation where poor and marginalized have equal opportunity and rightful share of resources, information and development process

MISSION:
To catalyze and facilitate development processes in a rights framework b y investing in both organizing local communities and engaging with governance apparatus and creating synergy between traditional knowledge and technological advancement for securing long term well being of people in tribal south (Rajasthan)

GEOGRAPHICAL COVERAGE:
Vaagdhara is presently working in Rajasthan which mainly includes Banswara, Dungarpur, Udaipur and Pratapgarh from southern Rajasthan. The region is not only water and natural resource scarce, but also faces various other deprivations in terms of human development endeavors. Apart from that, it also has its presence in other parts of Rajasthan. In south rajasthan the main sources of sustenance of these communities have been primitive agriculture and minor forest produce. However, most of the tribal people are now deprived of their lands, and live off animal husbandry, lumbering and providing manual labour to agricultural farms. Vaagar region in Rajasthan stands quite low in term of human development indicators and lack basic infrastructural facilities critical to the development of area.

TARGET POPULATION:
The target area is predominantly inhabited by tribal communities. The district is inhabited by Bhils, Bhilmeenas, Damor, Charpotas and Ninamas tribes. These tribals make out their living by engaging in primitive agriculture and cultivate maize, wheat, cotton and gram. These ethnic groups mainly live in small one room house known as Tapras, which lie scattered all over the area. Other major constituents of the social composition in Banswara are Patels, Rajputs, Brahmins, Mahajans and Muslims. The dialect spoken is called Vaagri which is a mixture of Gujarati and Mewari. FOCUSED PROGRAMMATIC AREAS: 1. Child Development and Protection: With more than a third of its population below the age of 18, India has the largest child population in the world. India has made some significant commitments towards ensuring the basic rights of children. But the issue of child rights in India is still caught between legal and policy commitments to children on the one hand, and the fallout of the process of globalization on the other. In this regard, VAAGDHARA focuses its efforts towards the holistic development of a child. A holistic approach to child development seeks to simultaneously address the physical, emotional, relational, intellectual, and spiritual aspects of a child life. The early years of a childs life are essential for cognitive, social and emotional developments. Therefore, it is important that every step would be necessary to ensure that children grow up in environments where their social, emotional and educational needs are met. Vaagdhara intensively work for the child development issues covering all the aspects like Nutrition, Health, Education, Child Rights, Child Labour, and Child Migration etc. Statistics suggest that children of Rajasthan are from amongst the worst sufferers of nutrition/ health and child labor issues. IMR and MMR are as high as 330 and 148; more than 52% between the age of 0-3 are severely malnourish. In Vaagar region, they are particularly vulnerable to violation of their rights to development, education, health and protection as it reports increasing trends of child labor in cotton fields of Gujarat. Vaagdhara therefore, focuses on childrens health through initiatives intending at decreasing child mortality and child malnutrition, increasing access/availability of quality services, promoting healthy hygiene and sanitation practices. Capacity building of Village Health and Sanitation Committees (VHSC; formed under NRHM) is another strategical intervention that helps improve the overall health environment of a village community, leading to improved child health.

To protect children from worst forms of child labour, and to increase their participation in education and other child development activities, the organization resorts to vocational and life skills trainings in child labour prone areas, accelerating learning process of drop-outs, training of PRI members on maintaining migration records of their respective areas, and community sensitization on the issue. The organization also plays a proactive role at policy level by suggesting changes in existing policies and demanding new policies to safeguard childrens right t o development and protection. It has recently organized a whole series of consultations in different divisions of Rajasthan to collate suggestions from variety of stakeholders in order to prepare an inclusive State Plan of Action for Elimination of Child Labour in Rajasthan 2. Livelihood Enhancement (Livelihood Development through Natural Resource Management) Livelihood of tribal people in South Rajasthan is directly dependent on the veracity and productivity of local natural resources. Consequently, when these resources come under stress so does the quality of life of the people dependent on them, and obviously, when their productivity is enhanced in a sustainable way, local communities benefit. Therefore, since its inception, issues concerning natural resources and livelihoods have been a core concern of Vaagdhara. The efforts have been towards sustainable management and augmentation of natural resources to ensure livelihoods security of local people. In order to conserve natural resources and to provide means of livelihood to the community VAAGDHARA is working on Watershed Development Programmes, building check dams, promoting lift irrigation, Horticulture Development Programme (Named as WADI). 3. Community Development (Tribals) A special emphasis is placed on tribal community development through their participation in local governance, as well as in the development discourse at large. In practical terms it means organizing tribal communities into their self managed action groups, building the capacity building of tribal population in their traditional agricultural practices, support for alternative livelihoods and empowering them for accessing their rights. 4. Cross Cutting Issues: Gender Mainstreaming The strategies of community organization and gender development initiatives are based on the belief that improved gender relations are central to the overall development of a

community. Gender is all pervading theme at Vaagdhara, and as such gender conce rns are reflected in the organizational issues as well as in its programme interventions both as a special activity and as cross cutting perspective. Needs of the women addressed as a priority serve as a stepping stone to the empowerment of the community. The efforts have endowed the women with literacy and numeric skills and organized them into Mahila mandals leading to formation of SHGs linked to banks and availing credit facilities for their enterprises. Micro level interventions have translated into empowerment of women to some extent manifested in their coming out of veil and their increased participation in decision making within and outside their families. Strengthening of Local Governance The situation of PRIs in the region is no different from the same in other parts of the country. PRIs here are characterized by lack of requisite awareness about the powers and responsibilities, non-cooperative attitude of bureaucracy, non- devolution of powers as per the constitutional amendments etc. VAAGDHAARA therefore, has emphasized the need for creating and strengthening people institutions at different levels. On one hand, this has meant organizing village action groups, womens self help groups at the community level; on the other hand it meant working actively with Panchayat Raj Institutions, both by directly working with the representatives of PRIs and through enhanced interface between PRIs and VAGs organized by Vaagdhara. Comprehensive Eye Care Services As eye care and inclusion needs are spread across all age groups, VAAGDHARA intends to benefit the lesser privileged and marginalized groups such as those from the lower socioeconomic strata, tribal communities and the female population through Comprehensive Eye Services and Inclusion services ranging from eye check-up camps, referral services to rehabilitation of visually impaired children in mainstream education . Lobbying and Advocacy Lobbying and advocacy seeks to provide a synergy between the efforts of voluntary and non-government organizations for optimizing the impact of their work for regional and community development by bringing the relevant issues of the area on the larger fora, coordinate the non-institutional efforts and seek the redressal of genuine needs and demands of the region from the administrative machinery. Vaagdhara has had the opportunity of presenting the concern and problems of the area on the larger platform like World social Forum, UNECOSOC and World trade Organization.

The organization has recently prepared State Plan of Action for Elimination of Child Labour in Rajasthan and submitted it to the Labour Department to further make it a policy document for the state.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE The organizational structure of Vaagdhara is a dynamic phenomenon, whereby it keeps adapting itself to the new challenges in the external environment as well as developments within the organization, which at times are very significant. The external challenges also emanate from the global processes on the one hand and development governance in the country on the other hand. In the organizational structures, first comes the Executive Committee of Vaagdhara, which consists of members. On behalf of the committee, the Secretary acts as a Chief Functionary and is responsible for administration, finances, legal matters, liaisoning, and public relations. The Secretary is supported by two part-time advisors and a team of committed development professionals and grassroots workers.

Partner Organizations