about usManthan Kotri is a grassroots organisation dedicated to sustainable development that grew out of Barefoot College’s Social Work and Research Center. We work in sixty villages in the Ajmer and Nagaur districts of Rajasthan near the salt flats of the Sambhar Lake. These villages are water scarce, and face severe social, eco-nomic, political, and environmental challenges.

our approachBy working with marginalised

and excluded populations and emphasising the value of local knowledge and culture, we enhance individual,

family, and societal well-being through community-rooted

development practices.

We rely on: • Knowledge sharing and support for local livelihoods, such as agriculture and cattle-herding, with the aim of merging modern and traditional technologies; • Reviving ancient techniques for natural resource conservation, and ensuring its equitable and appropri-ate use; • Raising political awareness and linking marginalized and excluded communities to government schemes for socioeconomic development.

WATERGroundwater by the Sambhar Lake is intensely saline and fluoride-laden. Fam-ilies rely either on long walks to potable water sources, expensive water tankers whose contents are not necessarily clean, or hand pumps, which often break. Manthan works to revive ancient water sources and build ponds, watersheds, and anicuts, giving villagers and their animals access to sweet water while restoring the ground water for agricultural purposes. We also in-stall reverse-osmosis plants and conduct water testing.

solarManthan links women from villages

with no access to electricity to Barefoot College, Tilonia, where they train as engi-neers. Women can then set up, maintain, and repair solar

power systems in their villages. In 2014-15, 2000 systems were

installed in 6 states of India, and 300 systems were installed in Ajmer and Nagaur districts. Manthan’s own campus runs partially on solar energy.

Back to basicsThis programme gives marginal-

ized and excluded communities access to shelter, clean water, energy, sanitation, and cloth-ing. Manthan builds tanks to reduce the burden of fetching

water, new shelters for fami-lies without roofs, and toilets to

prevent the spread of disease. We also distribute warm clothing and bedding in the winter.

educationManthan has opened night schools, crèches, and balwadis to make education accessi-ble to children from mar-ginalized communities. The girls’ school on our campus educates 75 girls of dalit fam-ilies, salt labourers, and other groups often excluded from formal education. We also provide women vocational training in stitching, computer skills, and solar engineering.

healthBeyond the health impact of Manthan’s other programs, we work with dayiyas, village-trained nurses that work with pregnant mothers and small children, to reduce mother and child mortality rates, give vaccinations, and spread awareness on family planning and sexual health.

CONTACT USManthan SansthaKotri Village via RoopangarhAjmer District, Rajasthan, India 305814

Phone: +91-1497-226011, +91-9636-610733E-mail: barefootkotri@gmail.comFacebook: facebook.com/manthanbarefootkotriWeb: manthankotri.in

Designed by Trip Eggert

focus communitiesStructural inequalities and societal exclusions in India deeply impact existing levels of poverty and hinder the achievement of development goals. They define the ways we use, share and govern our resources, and formulate and implement our policies. Manthan focuses our work on the the environmental, social, economic and political realities of excluded groups such as women, youth, dalits, small farmers, and local nomadic tribes (known as ghumantu) who are often excluded from mainstream development initiatives.

We organize self-awareness sessions with marginalized women to spread information on helpful government schemes and hear about their societal status and health issues. We also run adolescent girl groups, in which we conduct menstruation and hygeine education sessions.

In order to improve the conditions of the Dalit com-munity, we run the Ambedkar Sathsang Group, which involves 25 villages. The group provides awareness programmes and education on issues such as health, rights ,and economic growth.

Manthan also runs youth groups that work on village development, sport culture and brotherhood.