1. An Overview

2. Genesis Founded in 1986 Inspired by the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, Ram Manohar Lohia & Jai Prakash Narain Logical culmination of the founders background in student and journalistic activism

3. Vision and Mission Vision: establishment of an egalitarian society devoid of any kind of discrimination and exploitation based on caste, class, gender, race or religion: a society that would permit the collective flowering of human potential for humane ends Mission: to work for the effective empowerment of the socially, economically and politically marginalised people to ensure their equitable participation in the societal mainstream

4. Operational Area and Target Population Operational Area Target Population Starting with intensive work in 4 districts and overtime spreading to 14 more districts of Bihar comprises the most deprived sections of the society with special emphasis on the dalits, the scheduled tribes, women, minorities and the depressed backward classes

5. Profile of the Target Population A historical legacy of marginalization reflected even in spatial terms with them occupying the periphery of the village settlement Embedded structural inequity (class and caste) in a context of extreme ecological vulnerability (recurrent floods) renders them extremely poor by limiting their access to, and control over, assets, education, health care and other constitutionally ordained entitlements including the potential gains from institutions of local self governance which stand appropriated by the locally dominant interest groups Largely landless with dependence on agricultural wages and casual non farm labour Limited employment opportunities rendered further fragile by the recurrent floods and the poor evolution of the secondary and tertiary sectors prompting large scale migration High incidence of indebtedness Oppressive social structure coupled with the rigour of day to day survival promote a sense of fatalism inhibitive of collective development initiatives

6. Factors perpetuating the status quo Lack of critical awareness about the self and the socio, economic, political, cultural and institutional context amidst the target group Their lack of organisation Their lack of leadership and decision making ability Inadequacy of institutional mechanisms for collectively addressing their woes and accessing their entitlements

7. SSVKs Developmental Perspective Locates development anomaly in 1. Exogenous factors structural causes like control/ownership of and access to resources economic, political and social structures 2. Endogenous factors ideological factors (habits, beliefs, cultural preferences) insufficient awareness and knowledge Accords primacy to endogenous factors with emphasis on bringing changes in the attitude and action of the marginalised entailing continuous reorientation and adaptation of their values , practices and institutions in order to facilitate appropriate interventions/technologies to enhance their quality of life and welfare, and their consequent bargaining /negotiating powers

8. SSVKs Strategic Orientation Strategically this perspective translates into a harmonious blend of activism/struggle and development Strategic Orientation - Activism/Struggle Grassroots sensitisation, mobilisation and organisation of the most disadvantaged sections of society, and facilitating mass activities to enable them to access their rights and entitlements Mobilization involving intensive animation inputs at the village level, periodic larger meets on entitlements related issues and mass contact programmes through `Padyatras. Protest strategies involving petitioning, demonstrations, sit ins and legal redressal. Advocacy conceptualised as a tool meant to go beyond mere public policy influence to the larger arena of influencing societal attitudes and practices so as to transform the oppressive value system to a more just and humane world view.

9. SSVKs Strategic Orientation Strategic Orientation The Developmental Development oriented services to address the immediate and intermediate needs of its target group (Health, Education, income generation, revitalisation of natural resource base, provision of legal services) Such interventions prompted by the protracted time factor inhering in entitlement oriented struggles as well as to generate the critical mass of demand in pursuit of entitlements. Also to emphasise innovative approaches to service delivery Emphasis on promoting the self help initiatives and strategically calibrated for demand generation

10. Strategic objectives of SSVK Promote leadership at the community level by training them as social animators and social organizers Create amidst the target group an awareness of their physical, social and political environment to induce an attitude of meaningful and constructive action on their part Enable the empowerment of its target population through organizing them as self-defining groups with a strong sense of self-identity and with capacities to leverage resources and act as a pressure group. Enable the target group to access its developmental and welfare entitlements from the government Develop linkage building capacities of the target group Enhance the self-reliance of the target group through creating and sustaining economic opportunities Documentation of best practices, achievements and results generated and its dissemination to build credibility and enhanced recognition of SSVKs efforts by the relevant stakeholders thus laying grounds for formalised cooperation and collaboration Advocate on issues of consequence for the target group: Building strategic alliances around common themes and regional issues

11. Key Intervention Areas Health Education and promotion of Primary Health Care including WATSAN Non Formal Education and Adult Education with a focus on socially relevant education Securing livelihood opportunities with emphasis on facilitating control over and access to land and water based productive resources, ensuring just wages, enabling access to the governmental employment generation and development programmes and promotion of complementary income generating interventions Legal Assistance and Education including public interest litigation Environmental awareness and mobilisation on the ecologically sensitive issues of the project area Training of social animators and social organizers from the target group Pro poor governance through sensitisation, capacitation, and institutionalised follow up systems for effective functioning of the Panchayat raj institutions Awareness, mobilization and capacitation on right to information Rehabilitation of child labour Consciousness raising on relief and rehabilitation related issues along with relief and rehabilitative interventions in the aftermath of natural calamities Publication of newsletter and information dissemination through thematic publications on issues of relevance to the development of the marginalized

12. SSVKs Approach to Health The key elements of SSVKs approach to health security include: Linking health security to work security. Women-centered health care led by local women Capacity building of Traditional Birth Attendants through upgrading their skills so that they become the barefoot doctors of their communities and villages Addressing common health problems among poor families Promotion of health and well-being by providing access to information and education Through awareness and information dissemination regarding government schemes and programmes building up an informed constituency of its target group who subsequently use their strength as organised collectives to lay claim to and access their developmental and welfare entitlements from the government. Emphasising self-reliance in terms of women owning, controlling and managing their own health activities through setting up of village health committees

13. WATSAN In an operational context characterized by a high incidence of water and sanitation related morbidity, WATSAN interventions contribute to improved health and well being of the people by increasing their access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene promotion Key Interventions Sanitation Construction of low cost sanitary toilets (sulabh model) adding value by incorporating a pre cast roof and door within the limited budget Training of local masons in casting of roofs and production of pans Beneficiary contribution secured in all instances Awareness campaigns for promotion of appropriate sanitary practices and development of IEC material for the same

14. WATSAN Safe Water Installation of high quality hand pumps at depths to sustainably supply safe water Hand pumps located within the most deprived sections of village settlements through community participation with participation of women at more than 50%. Each hand pump is provided with a cemented platform with provision of appropriate drainage of water Village level committees for maintenance and repair and the costs linked to the gram kosh Training of local mechanics in repair of hand pumps and provision of tool kit to each Awareness campaign around safe drinking water practices carried out and IEC material developed for the same. Special campaigns carried out in accordance with the seasonality of diseases in the area.

15. SSVKs Approach to Education Organisations educational interventions targeted at communities historically excluded from the educational process for their effective integration into the government primary education system NFE centres set up as bridge schools for facilitating their entry and effective and equitable participation in the government system. Special emphasis on girls education to substantively improve their participation in education Deployment of Innovative teaching methodologies to facilitate learning capacities of the children Reorientation of content and process of NFE by linking them with the living and working conditions of the people Efforts to ensure that the various governmental schemes, like scholarships, incentives and nutrition support, targeted at the underprivileged children actually reach them Organisation of community representatives into VECs and their capacitation for sensitisation, management and advocacy functions Sensitisation and advocacy initiatives seeking to positively influence the elements in the policy and operational context that contribute to the exclusion of the targeted children. `REFLECT, an innovative approach to adult learning and social change and which fuses the theories of Paulo Freire with the methodologies of participatory rural appraisal, used for running adult literacy classes.

16. SSVKs Approach to Livelihoods Strengthening the subsistence livelihoods of the marginalised by promoting their access and control over land and water based productive resources Optimizing the returns on the land and water based assets that the poor have Promoting tenurial security of the sharecroppers Ensuring just wages Enabling access to the governmental employment generation and development programmes Creating off farm economic opportunities both for income augmentation as well as a risk sharing mechanism Facilitating resilience of the target group to indebtedness to moneylenders

17. Promotion of community institutions The Sustainability Dimension All pro poor initiatives firmly embedded in strong and vibrant community based organisations to render them sustainable as community owned , community led and community managed initiatives Grassroots mobilisation, organisation, and facilitating mass activities to enable the most marginalised sections of society to access rights & entitlements, gain control over common property resources and effectively participate in panchayati raj institutions Even in project centred sectoral initiatives the overall guiding framework has been that of empowering the community based institutions in rights mode. The community institutions organised into a tiered structure: The Primary Groups at the level of each tola (hamlet/village) The Intermediate/Apex level groups (the Lok Shakti Sangathan) - an agglomerated representative body at block, district and state level A differentiated role between the primary and the intermediate/apex groups: The primary groups serve as platforms to provide developmental inputs in health and education and as forums for information sharing and capacitation inputs, optimise economic and livelihood opportunities and get active in village and development affairs by standing for local elections, and addressing crucial social issues. The intermediate/apex groups subserve the purpose of process extension and act as pressure group on PRI & Govt. offices and facilitate linkages as well as advocacy initiatives.

18. Gram Kosh A resource base at the community level created with regular contributions made by the community members themselves on a monthly basis with flexibility to pay a minimum of 60% in cash and the balance in grains Strategic core of SSVKs successful community level institution building being essential in terms of harnessing and holding together the social capital of the marginalised communities by providing economic teeth A mandatory pre condition for coming under the banner of LSS A reserve for community members to dig into to address their individual contingent needs as well as a fall back mechanism for the CBOs in the struggles they wage for just wages and for pond and land related rights. Being the communitys own resource, borrowings are returned at a premium of 2%/month to expand the fund base A substantial resource base cumulatively built over the years has not only helped reduced the dependence on the local money lenders but also enabled sustaining many a struggle for rights and entitlements

19. Disaster Management SSVKs operational area vulnerable to a host of hazards ranging from flood to earthquake to cyclone to fire Class, caste, ethnicity, gender, disability and age are all factors affecting people's vulnerability and those at a disadvantage because of one or more of these characteristics more likely to suffer Thus disaster risk management one of the defining paradigms for all the developmental initiatives of SSVK Key interventions Emergency relief operations involving provision of food, safe drinking water and temporary shelters, extension of medical assistance and provision of boats for facilitating movement of the marooned Rehabilitative efforts involving reconstruction of damaged settlements and restoration of livelihoods Diversification of livelihood support base Strengthening community level coping mechanisms through organisation building and institutional development and promotion of grain banks and contingency fund reserves (gram kosh) amidst affected communities Building community capacities to act as first responders in the event of floods Networking with all relevant stakeholders around a shared perspective, towards addressing the issue of Bihar floods at all the levels of mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. Advocacy centred initiatives geared towards addressing the root causes of the flooding problem, galvanizing state response and inclusion of the most marginalized in the relief and recovery operations initiated by the various stakeholders most importantly the government.

20. Strengthening of Local Self Governance Thrust on rendering the panchayati institutions stronger as well as accountable to the poor Constitution of panchayat adhikar samitis for greater and effective devolution of powers and panchayat nigrani samitis with adequate target group representation to monitor the functioning of panchayats Pre-election awareness drives for informed casting of votes and enabling target group members to contest various tiers of panchayati raj and post election training of elected representatives for effective functioning and community members for informed participation to render panchayati institutions pro poor in their initiatives

21. Achievements Network of Community Organisations, under the banner of Lok Shakti Sangathan (LSS), now spreads over 1709 villages covering 162355 families. It has contributed greatly towards enhancing the self-esteem and self-worth of these families. The popular acceptance and practice of `Gram Kosh (villagers own fund through fixed monthly contributions and its development as a revolving fund for the benefit of the members) with a cumulative accrual of Rs 1,87,80,150/- (Rupees One crore eighty seven lakhs eighty thousand one hundred and fifty only) in all these villages has not only enabled self-help capacities but also reduced dependence on money lender as well as helped sustain several struggles for rights and entitlements. SSVKs leadership development initiatives at the community level have led to the Lok Shakti Sangathan being instrumental in the formation of 1039 SHGs in the districts of Madhubani Saharsa , Supaul and Darbhanga SSVKs target group has been able to sustain struggles and wrest victories on issues related to just wages, control over land and water related productive resources, access to governmental development and welfare programmes and redressal of issues pertaining to victimisation by the local administration and dominant elements. Land and ponds acquired through struggle have been put under land and pond user committees for their productive and sustainable management. Sustained environmental awareness campaigns have been carried out to increase green cover in the intervention area and for promotion of sustainable agriculture.

22. Achievements With support from CAPART, SSVK has not only conducted 5 `Training of Trainers programme covering 300 NGOs but also trained over 700 Social Animators and 120 Social Organisers many of whom came from the organisations target community and were instrumental in setting up and scaling up of Lok Shakti Sangathan. While still staying very active, they have essentially worked as volunteers with SSVKs support limited to guidance on perspective and strategic choices. SSVK has conducted state level review workshop of social organisers and social animators as well as a regional review workshop of 10 states of eastern and north eastern India for CAPART. Members from its target group have been elected to various tiers of the Panchayati Raj. The organisation has been instrumental in setting up of a Panchayat Adhikar Samiti to ensure the effective devolution of powers to the Panchayati bodies. Training and mass awareness camps for effective functioning of the Panchayat bodies have been carried out which have promoted more responsible functioning on the part of elected representatives and also contributed to informed participation by the target group members in the gram sabha meetings. The organization convened a conference in November 2005 to pass a set of 22 resolutions on desired reforms in the Panchayati Raj Act, the most notable amongst which was the submission of a memorandum to government for 50% reservation for women in Panchayati bodies which in fact was done three months prior to the Government of Bihar taking a policy decision on it.

23. Achievements Through its health intervention it has appreciably improved the health status of its target group on indicators pertaining to infant mortality, maternal mortality, child mortality, incidence of malnutrition. Particularly sustainable gains at the community level have been the creation of a pool of trained TBAs capable of conducting safe deliveries and that of health promoters with skills of ante-natal and post natal check-up and diagnostic abilities for addressing minor ailments occurring in the community. Attitudinal and behavioural change as reflected in improved dietary practices and the wide scale adoption of ORS as a response to diarrhoeal outbreak have been the other notable gains SSVKs efforts in the area of primary education have led to enhanced enrollment of children from the marginalised communities in the government schools, a perceptible decline in their dropout rate and their enhanced access to the various governmental schemes targeted at the underprivileged children. CBOs regularly monitor these schemes and engage with relevant authorities for improving student teacher ratio and teacher absenteeism in government schools. The organisation has been instrumental in the installation of 550 ( PH-6 ) & India Mark II hand-pumps, making of 150 modified treadle pumps; the construction of 900 low cost latrines and construction and renovation of 100 houses. These installations were mandatorily accompanied by the training of local masons and hand pump mechanics and the responsibility for the maintenance of these assets was vested in popularly elected village committees. Regular drinking water and sanitation campaigns were carried out to sensitise the communities on safe water usage, appropriate sanitary practices and personal and environmental hygiene.

24. Achievements In relief operations approach has been to involve the beneficiaries not as passive recipients but as active relief workers in the running of the relief camps. To ensure transparency and accountability, not only local authorities and panchayat representatives but even members of the victim communities are integrated in the Relief Coordination Committee instituted by the organisation for effective implementation and monitoring of relief operations. Given its longstanding experience and track record, SSVK, in the aftermath of the catastrophic Kosi Floods of 2008, could successfully leverage corporate, bi lateral and INGO assistance to reach out to 47975 families with relief and rehabilitation package. SSVK has also carried out a pilot intervention for enhancing the disaster preparedness capacities of the vulnerable communities that it works with in 15 villages and with 4,000 families. To address the issue of food security grain banks were set up, disaster management committees constituted and DMC members were trained as trainers in capacities required of them as first responders. Another intervention aimed at addressing the health needs of the communities, particularly during floods, led to the creation of a trained pool of traditional birth attendants and health volunteers in all the 15 villages. SSVK is also a member of Training and Learning Circle (TLC) which is a community of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) practitioners from South whose overall purpose is to enhance learning through South-South knowledge and solution exchanges with a focus on addressing systemic gaps and topics in training and education. The TLC Community of Practice works on system-wide issues relating to DRR training and education in India and beyond. Since 2007 SSVK / LSS has been a part of Dalit Watch in Disaster Mitigation Bihar along with 5 networks of peoples organization and NGOs. Dalit Watch, a national forum for Equity and Inclusion of Discriminated in Relief and Rehabilitation, has since been involved in eliminating discrimination and ensuring equity and inclusion in relief measures..

25. Achievements Publication of a quarterly newsletter by the name of `Lok Shakti for the past 15 years on issues that impinge on the development of its target group SSVK / LSS is one of the nine Indian member constituents of the World Dignity Forum (a forum against casteism, racism, other forms of discrimination and exclusion) and has been an active co-participant in the conferences, public rallies and protest marches organized by it in the interest of the dalit communities. The Forum in India roots itself amongst Dalits and Dalit organisations, and consists of more than 125 social, cultural, voluntary, Dalit and non-governmental organisations The organisational Secretary has been an invitee participant in the World Social Forum Meets held in Mumbai and Brazil. The organization Secretary also visited Hong Kong on the occasion of 6th WTO ministerial level conference. Two Dalit women from SSVK and LSS were nominated for Nobel Peace Prize 2005 and were among the 91 nominated from all over India and 1000 from all over the world. In recognition of their nomination, the Ryan Foundation awarded them with Women of Substance Award 2004. One of the two also received Out Look Speak Out Award 2005. Awarded the prestigious Green Globe Foundation Award for the year 2010 in recognition of its seminal role as a civil society organisation contributing to the causes of sustainable development while subscribing to the principles of social equity and justice. A joint initiative of Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and the International Indian Film Academy, the Green Globe Foundation is partnered by distinguished knowledge partners: the United Nations Environment Program and The Energy Resources Institute (TERI) led by Dr. RK Pachauri. The award was adjudicated by a distinguished panel of jury comprising, Mr. M.C. Mehta, Mr. Darryl D Monte and Mr. Kartikeya V. Sarabhai.