The document outlines the strategies and impact of PRADAN, an Indian nonprofit focused on enhancing gender-sensitive rural advisory services in marginalized communities, particularly women. It highlights PRADAN's approach to organizing rural women into collectives, improving local governance, and addressing gender-specific needs while emphasizing the importance of agricultural livelihoods and community engagement. Key achievements include enhanced women's participation in decision-making, increased access to resources, and promoting social change through collective action.

1. REGIONAL WORKSHOP: Gender-Sensitive Rural Advisory Services: A
Transformation Strategy
Santiago de Chile, 4-5 of July, 2017
Presentation by :Rajeev Ranjan, PRADAN, India

2. Outline of my Presentation
 About PRADAN
 Its Philosophy and Approach to development work
 Context-from agriculture and gender lens
 Our response to the context
 Strategies and Activities
 Summarization
 Challenges
and equitable society.

3. PRADAN
 Established in 1983, PRADAN is one of India’s oldest not-for-profit organizations
registered in Delhi under the Societies Act. It is also India’s foremost civil society
organization striving to create a just and equitable society.
 Presence in central parts of India, 7 states 37 districts across7000 villages with 4.82
lakhs HH.
 80%of the individuals we work with belong to scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled
tribes (STs) from the economically weakest sections in rural and tribal India.
 434 professional ( 30% female professional)
and equitable society.

4. PRADAN’s
Development Clusters (DCs)
1. Jangal Mahal DC
2. South Odisha DC
3. Kolhan & North Odisha
DC
4. South Chhotanagpur DC
5. North Chhotanagpur DC
6. Santhal Pargana DC
7. North East Bihar DC
8. Baghelkhand & Satpuda
DC
9. Mahakaushal DC
10. North & South
Chhattisgarh DC
11. Rajasthan DC

5. • Communities have innate capability to be the driver of social change ie community as driver
• Capable and caring people to work closely with marginalized communities in stimulating social change ie professional as catalyst
• To sustain any change in human conditions, we need to alter the underlying ‘culture’- beliefs, values, norms, relations and
institutional practices that causes underdevelopment. Material condition is certainly one of the necessary conditions though.
• The power to bring change comes from alignment of personal values-organisational culture and culture we want to see in the
society. Thus, PRADAN believes in in-here & out-there coherence.
Beliefs

6. PRADAN: Philosophy and Approach to development
Organizing oppressed rural communities at the class-caste-gender (CCG) intersection
into collectives.
At the intersection of CCG, women are the most marginalized, thus focus on women &
their collectives and facilitate processes to enhance their sense of agency
Poverty is multi-dimensional and development goals are inter-related. Thus, focus
should be on all aspects of life of a person- economic, social, political, psychological and
spiritual.
R&D and then mainstreaming approach- PRADAN is transitory
Scale is innate-saturation approach-institution building and capacity building approach.
Processes should foster equality and democratic values-diminishes gender, caste, class,
power relations.

7. Understading of the Context: (From agriculture and gender perspective)
 Agriculture is largely rain fed.
 10.56% NSA is under assured irrigation.
 Poorer villages do not attract good services
 Market unable to respond because of LWE
groups issues, small scale and poor
connectivity
 In local markets people tend to sell their
commodities at cheaper prices and low
bargaining ability
 Very little control on factors of production
because of poor infrastructure and quality
inputs
 Despite doing most work in agriculture, women is
not treated as farmer.
 Women don’t have land rights
 Have limited ownership on asset
 Have little or no control over income
 Limited mobility and opportunity for leisure
 Women are vulnerable to domestic violence.
 Social Taboos e.g. women cannot till the land.
 Witch hunting is a common phenomenon.

8. A typical village of Jharkhand

10. Our Response:
(A) Strengthening
her Collectives
(E) Improving
local governance
and access to
R&E
(D) Addressing
strategic and
practical gender
needs
(B) Building her
livelihoods
(C ) Developing and
increasing control
over farm assets
Developing Linkages of women
collectives with wider stakeholders-
PRIs, Line Dept, Banks, Markets
Sectoral work, value chain research
and cooperatives
Community based rural service
providers to women Collectives-CSPs,
Mates, Trainers, Volunteers, (largely
women themselves)
To create a just and equal society that is in alignment with the aspiration and values of the community

11. Strengthening her Collectives …
Strategic action Impact
Saturating the entire block in accelerated manner Huge ground swell and preparedness for action
Organizing communities around SHG-VO-BLF and investment on
these tiers organization ( 8737 SHGs -612 VO-12 BLF , 1.20 lakhs
HH)
Vibrant institutions with significant social acceptance, ability to
handle finances and influencing diverse stakeholders.
SHG mobilize own Funds ( 4100 Lakhs), credit disbursed =8609
lakhs
Significant private finances with women and her institution
SHG Linked to mainstream credit avenues- banks and others ( 2100
SHGs nearly 105 Lakhs),
There is a overall improvement in perception about lending to poor
Systematic inputs on Civic Literacy, Gender Awareness Issues of discrimination, violence, corruption, exclusion are resisted
by the collectives and new power relations are emerging.

12. SHG and it’s tier..
SHG
VO
BLF
M MM

13. Building her Livelihood …
Strategic Action Impact/Features
VO led Livelihood and credit
Planning
Confidence in Collectives to make plans and
organize stakeholders.
VO led livelihood micro-credit
support system
Easy, affordable and predictable access to loans
VO led livelihood production
support system
300 Production CRPs, 40 AEs, 410 Ajeevika
Samities, Cooperatives,
Agriculture production cluster
formation
High return predictable production systems.
Demonstration sites
Women is HHs to take part in
training
Increase know-how of PoP, Enterprise mgmt,
marketing and economic decision making abilities

14. Building her Livelihood
Net HH in LH activities : 67,620
Net HH in Agriculture activities : 62,433
Estimate Vegetable production:44,645MT
No of APC: 48, No of AE : 41

15. Building her Livelihood
No of Mango based Orchard families : 6074
Production ( MT) : 1200 MT
Value of sale : 240 Lakhs

16. Building her Livelihood
Total co-operative: 03
Sales turnover : 7039
Lakhs

17. Developing and enhancing her control over farm assets…
Strategic action Impact
VO led Social mobilization and large scale preparation of plans by
people and Leveraging of investment
Village dev plans prepared in a campaign mode where the officials/
ministers too participated
Skilling of NREGA machinery on INRM,
community processes, Act etc
PPT, GRS, BPO, BDO trained on NREGA, INRM and community
process
Quality asset creation in private lands of poorer HH Unlike previous years-where only big tanks and roads were built,
now small INRM sturcutures were made in individual plots
Large-scale take-over of NREGA-Mates by SHG collectives. Reduction in corruption, increase in quality of assets, better
worksite facilities, zero error in mandays-earthwork
Build an understanding of rights (NREGA & resources), resource
base, its utility, access and control of women
Increased awareness of right to employment, NRM resources and
assets in women’s control

18. Village Planning process

19. Addressing strategic and practical gender needs
Practical gender needs Strategic gender needs
Annual food sufficiency and cash income leading to household resilience
and arresting distress migration and greater well-being for children
Promoting SHG mates: Women engaging in the male dominant roles and
challenging grassroots power relations
Drinking water and sanitation services in villages have reduced water-
carrying burden as well as less morbidity
Women has a say in Vilage Development Plan Process, attend Gram
Sabha traditionally men Village Councils
Access to easy credit and entitlements like PDS, Anganwadi and other
services because of being part of a large women collective network
Scheme in the name of women : Identity as a head of the HH, recognition
in the sight of state-bank a/c, INRM asset, MS
Encouraging women centric/focused livelihood I e. BYP, Goatery: Women
are fully employed and has more farm based incomes
VO Sub-committee engagement on gender and rights issues
Ensuring nutritious diet for the family with access to diversified food
sources
Cases of public action around liqour regulation, VAW, entitlements
Introducing farm mechanization: Use of weeders help women reduce
drudgery during weeding period.
Identity of women as farmers
Strategic effort by Women collectives to ascend their leaders in the
election to local bodies
Role reversal and mobility: Increased participation of women in public
sphere as CRPs, Mates, ER s, Trainers, Paravets, Social Mobilisers.

20. Addressing strategic and practical gender needs

21. Improving local governance and linkages …
Strategic action Impact
Strategic partnership of Collectives with SRLM Recognition, Quick mobilization for any drive, Exchange of experiences
of women and state
Strategic partnership with GPs, Block and NREGA Cell, RDD on
Employment Generation
Structural changes in the way system and institutional norms work in
NREGA, Simplification of procedures , Space for CBOs
Women participation in public sphere as PPTs, SHG mates, CRPs, Agri
extension workers, Mukhiyas etc
Values in SHGs percolating to larger governance processes
Collectives running NREGA sahayata Kendra in
Block campus & GP Office-redressal mechanism
Grievances of the workers, citizenship assertion seeking accountability
from institutions
VOs engaging with PRIs & public system- Grama Sabha, VWSC and
Elections
Relevance of women collectives established
Getting connected to right based organizations and forming coalition
with other federation
Escalation of block level issues at state level and putting pressure for
policy changes

22. Linkages…

23. Summarization: Social change processes to address issues of the rural women dependent on natural resource based
livelihoods involves simultaneous coherent actions at the grassroots, organization and in the larger society.
Community Efforts
1. Gender sensitive rural services
2. Women as the center-piece of
engagement
Creating Enabling Envt
1. Mainstreaming the SHG
institution idea
2. Enabling notifications to
increase the space for CBOs
in public programs
3. Advocacy based on
demonstration and evidences
4. Women as key participant in
government schemes
Organizational Measures
1. Women Causus
2. Statutory Committees
3. Thematic Organization
4. Workplace facilities and
consideration for women
colleagues
5. Internal Gender Audits
6. Gender perspectives in strategies

24. Challenges
1. Internal
1. Retain qualified colleagues in remote
workplaces
2. Practitioners need constant deliberation to keep
sight of both material and intangible benefits.
3. Often donors or state is more excited to see
tangible benefits-difficult to communicate on
socio-political, psychological gains of our work
External
1. Women/community is oriented to short-term
goals
2. Requires huge efforts to challenges values,
beliefs, norms, habits within the community
3. Questions of sustainability of Collectives, its
evolving vision, mission, identity dynamics is
challenging

25. Thank you
www.pradan.net | 30.pradan.net | www.facebook.com/pradanofficialpage