annual report 2009 - final - dhan foundation · capart council for advancement of people’s action...

DHAN FoundationMadurai

Annual Report 2009

ContentsAbbreviations & Acronyms

Introduction to DHAN Foundation ................................................. 1

Heritage Matters .................................................................................. 3

Annual Report 2008-09 ...................................................................... 23

Kalanjiam Community Banking .............................................................................. 27Vayalagam Tankfed Agriculture Development ......................................................... 33

Emerging ProgrammesCoastal Conservation & Livelihoods Programme ..................................................... 38Tata-Dhan Academy ................................................................................................. 42ICT for Poor .............................................................................................................. 45Rainfed Farming Development ................................................................................. 48Working with Panchayats ........................................................................................ 51Tourism for Development ......................................................................................... 53

Centres for Integration ..................................................................... 55

Impact .................................................................................................... 65

Financial Statements ......................................................................... 91

Acknowledgement ............................................................................. 105

Board of Trustees .............................................................................. 109

ACEDRR Advanced Centre for Enabling Disaster Risk Reduction

ADB Asian Development Bank

ASKMI Asian Knowledge Centre for Mutual Insurance

CAPART Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology

CARC Coastal Agriculture Resource Centre

CDA Cluster Development Association

DHAN Development of Humane Action

ELRP Enabling Livelihood Restoration Programme

ICT Information and Communication Technology

INAFI International Network of Alternative Financial Institutions

INFOS Indian Network of Federations of Microfinance Self Help Groups

JnNURM Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission

JSYS Jala Samvardhane Yojana Sangha

KDFS Kalanjiam Development Financial Services

KISC Kalanjiam Integrated Service Centre

KMS Kalanjiam Meenavar Sangam

KRCH Kalanjiam Reproductive and Child Health

KTL Kalanjiam Thozhilagam Limited

MAVIM Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal

MDG Millennium Development Goal

MFG Microfinance Group

NABARD National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development

NREGA National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

NRM Natural Resource Management

NSP National Seed Project

NWDPRA National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas

PMG Primary Marketing Group

PPG Primary Producer Group

SHG Self Help Group

SIDBI Small Industries Development Bank of India

SUHAM Sustainable Healthcare Advancement

TDA Thagavalagam Development Association

TFA Tank Farmers’ Association

TNAU Tamil Nadu Agricultural University

VADC Vayalagam Agriculture Development Centre

VIC Village Information Centre

VTADP Vayalagam Tankfed Agriculture Development Programme

Abbreviations & Acronyms

Introduction to DHAN Foundation

Development of Humane Action (DHAN)Foundation, a professional development

organisation, was initiated on October 2, 1997. Itbrings highly motivated, educated young women andmen to the development sector. They would makenew innovations in development to root out povertyfrom the country. The Foundation works to makesignificant changes in the livelihoods of the poorthrough innovative themes and institutions.

The broad purposes for which DHAN standsare:1. Mothering of Development Innovations: The

institution intends to promote and nurture newideas on development themes, such asmicrofinance, small scale irrigation, dry landagriculture, and working with Panchayatswhich can impact on poverty in a significantmanner.

2. Promoting Institutions to reach scale: Exclusivethematic organisations will be promoted to takeup development work with a sub-sectoral focus.The primary role will be to promote and ensurethat quality benefits reach a large number ofpoor.

3. Human Resource Development: The institutionwould bring young professionals into thedevelopment sector and give them anopportunity to practice and develop relevantknowledge, attitudes and skills needed for longterm work.

The principles guiding DHAN are

1. Engaging high quality human resources to workat the grassroots. The focus would be to enablethe poor, not deliver services.

2. Valuing collaboration with mainstreaminstitutions and Government to demonstratenew and effective intervention to link them withthe people.

3. Promoting people’s organisations to ensureentitlements and to build an effective demandsystem to promote people’s interest.

4. Promoting livelihoods to address the issues ofpoverty directly

5. Enriching the themes and retaining sub-sectoralfocus as a strategy for growth

MISSION“Building people and institutions for

development innovations and upscaling toenable the poor communities for poverty

reduction and self-reliance”

VISION

DHAN Foundation is always a pioneeringdevelopment institution to build poverty free, genderbalanced, equitable, ecological sensitive, democratic,just and value based inclusive society. It createsfreedom of choice to the families, groups andcommunity to determine and develop the meaning oftheir lives, their identities and their life styles forthe well-being of their life.

DHAN Foundation opens new frontiers for betterhumanity and would build scalable, cost effectiveand sustainable innovations for self-reliance.

DHAN Foundation will always be acknowledged as aleader in institution building for poverty alleviation.It would be trendsetter in grassroots developmentwith people governance and management.

It will be occupying its legitimate space in policymaking forums to shape the macro environment tothe realities of grassroots and serving developmentcommunity by disseminating good practices. It willshape thousands of development professionals tomake millions of poor lives different with dignity andright livelihoods. The DHAN Foundation will fosteralternative paradigms with social entrepreneurshipand collective leadership.

It will be respected for its role in unleashing thepotential of the poor and guiding them through theirmovements by building new institutions forachieving significance. It will promote networks,alliances on development ‘Cause’ with relevantstakeholders – Academia, civil society, Government,Business houses, Professional networks, Media,Financial institution and other resource institution –at national, regional and global environment.

VALUES

DHAN has rooted in values, such as Grassrootsaction, Collaboration, Enabling, Innovation,Excellence, and Self-Regulation. DHAN believes thatthese values are its core strength needed to realizeits Vision and Mission.

DEVELOPMENT APPROACH

DHAN Foundation’s development approach entails asystem of inter-linked components. There is a three-way link between thematic focus, social capital andmainstream collaboration to promote sustainabledevelopment for the poor.

DHAN lays high emphasis on thematic focus. Itbuilds social capital by organising the unorganisedpoor communities around the themes of water,microfinance, rainfed farming information andcommunication technologies, and local governance.Localised Peoples’ Organisations are built in urban,rural, tribal and coastal contexts. It is the mostcritical step in building the capabilities of thecommunities to handle the development processesand its outcomes for ensuring their entitlements byacquiring bargaining power.

These Peoples’ Organisations provide platform fornurturing innovations at the grassroots, scale–downtechnologies and contextualizing those technologiesfor addressing the issues of poverty, which arehighly complex and contextual.

The third factor, the mainstream collaboration iscritical for creating enabling environment for theother two factors to perform. The thematicinstitutions continuously build the capacities of thePeople’s Organisations built around the particulartheme to bring relevant mainstream developmentinstitutions, both private and public institutionscloser to the communities. They evolve and nurturethe principle of sustainable partnership between the

People’s Organisations and the mainstreaminstitutions. The collaboration process educates bothPeople’s Organisations and mainstream institutionsabout their roles and responsibilities in sustainingtheir collaborations.Conceptually, the interaction among these threefactors put the primary institutions at the centre,which are ideal platforms for practicing participatorydemocracy and ensuring collective empowerment.DHAN plays a promotional role in initiating atheme, building Peoples’ Organisations aroundthem, establishing linkages with mainstreaminstitutions and sustaining them. The promotionalrole keeps evolving over a period. As the localcapacity is built, the roles get transferred to people.Simultaneously DHAN as a mothering institutionpromotes thematic organisations as subsidiaries toupscale the matured themes to continue thepromotional role to sustain the Peoples’Organisations in the specific theme. The thematicinstitutions would take up the work of upscaling anddeepening of the themes.

DHAN CollectiveDHAN Foundation and its institutions form theDHAN Collective. It is to nurture and preserve theculture of collegiality, mutuality and solidarity.Shared purpose, core values and resources (human,financial and physical resources) bind theinstitutions of DHAN Collective. DHAN Foundationas the mothering institution would guide, supportand regulate its family institutions on their mission,policies, strategies and values. Each institutionwould define its ‘own unique’ space.The Kalanjiam Community Banking Programme,one of DHAN Foundation’s pioneering initiatives andits first institution, has evolved into an institution,the ‘Kalanjiam Foundation’, to take up thepromotional role. It would promote the theme ofKalanjiam Development Finance and guide thepeople institutions. Vayalagam Tankfed AgricultureDevelopment Programme has evolved into theVayalagam Foundation to work on the theme ofconservation and development of small scale waterbodies and stabilize the livelihoods of the farmersdependent on them. The Tata-Dhan Academy wouldbe promoted within the next three to five years asthe next thematic institution. Many suchinstitutions would emerge in course of time –efficient, excellent and with unquestioned integrity –in the DHAN Collective of institutions.

Annual Report 20092

Building SocialCapital

(Organising theUnorganised)

Thematic Focus(Downscalingdevelopmenttechnology)

MainstreamCollaboration

(Enablingenvironment)

Heritage Matters: Sustaining Development

Tanks are the living heritagesTank is a vital resource, having economic,ecological, social and spiritual functions. Due toits fundamental role in village life, they have astrong cultural dimension. Withoutunderstanding and considering the culturalaspects of tanks, no sustainable solutionscan be found.

Perspectives, Principles and Practices in DHAN Collective

Herit

age M

atters

DHAN Foundation views heritage as very much a living idea - it is about the present and the

future as much as the past. DHAN believes that thepast would give, in some way, a lesson for thepresent and future. The heritage that survives fromthe past is often irreplaceable, which places theresponsibility of preservation on the presentgeneration. Heritage is all the qualities, traditions,or features of life there that have continued overmany years and have been passed on from onegeneration to another.• it is constantly built by communities, in

response to their environment, their interactionwith nature, and their history;

• it provides communities, groups and individualswith a sense of identity and continuity;

• it promotes respect for cultural diversity andhuman creativity;

• it forms the basis of humans rights and ofsustainable development.

Heritage may include immovable features such asnatural and manmade structures, sites includingarchaeological localities and habitats; areasincluding lakes, rivers and other natural andcultural landscapes. Heritage may include movablefeatures, such as artifacts, specimens anddocuments, which can be transported from place toplace. Heritage may also be intangible and includetraditional beliefs and values, attitudes, behaviours,skills, narratives, events and ceremonies.

The Heritage is broadly defined as intangible aspectsof a particular culture, often maintained by socialcustoms during a specific period in history. Theseinclude social values and traditions, customs andpractices, aesthetic and spiritual beliefs, artisticexpression, language and other aspects of humanactivity. The heritage significance can be interpretedagainst the backdrop of socioeconomic, political,ethnic, religious and philosophical values of a

Heritage Matters: Sustaining Development

Perspectives, Principles and Practices in DHAN Collectiveparticular community. Naturally, intangiblecultural heritage is more difficult to preserve thanphysical objects.

Types of HeritagesNatural Heritage

Natural heritage refers to outstanding physical,biological and geological formations, habitats ofthreatened species of animals and plants and areaswith scientific, conservation or aesthetic value.Natural heritage is also an important part of aculture, encompassing the natural environment,scientifically known as biodiversity.

Cultural Heritage

Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifactsand intangible attributes of a group or society thatare inherited from past generations, maintained inthe present and bestowed for the benefit of futuregenerations. Physical or “tangible cultural heritage”includes buildings and historic places, monumentsand artifacts that are considered worthy ofpreservation for the future. These include objectssignificant to the archaeology, architecture, scienceor technology of a specific culture.

Cultural heritage also include living persons possessspecial skills or talents such as craftsmen,musicians, or artists. Similarly traditions, songs,sayings and ways of life can also be considered asheritage though they are non-tangible.

Identifying and Qualifying Heritage

Understanding heritage significance requires asystematic and consistent process, which isappropriate to the purpose of the assessment. Theseprocesses can be applied not only to heritages alreadyidentified as significant, but also to those havingpotential for becoming a heritage.

Understand the evolution of the heritagestructure or practiceUnderstanding the values of cultural and naturalheritages includes its origins, how and why it haschanged over time, the form and condition of itsconstituent elements, the technology, andcomparison with similar heritages. Historical andarchaeological archives always help inunderstanding historical and communal values ofsuch heritages. Often published research materialswould help understand particular aspects ofevidential value or potential. Mapping, descriptionand characterization would help people recognisehow the past has shaped the present, and how it canshape the future. For example, DHAN values Tanksas heritage structures as many of the tanks severalcenturies ago. The historic research carried out byDHAN on the Tanks is an effort towardsestablishing historic and technological uniqueness ofthese manmade miracles still survive and supportthe millions of farming families in south India.

Identify the communities related to suchheritages

In order to provide foundation for heritagemanagement, the people and communities who areattached with the heritage structure or practicesshould be identified. This involves working withcommunities and experts with a sufficient amount ofknowledge on the heritages. Different communitiesmay attach different weight to the same heritagevalues at the same time. Understanding the historyof a heritage structure or practice does notnecessarily make it significant; but the process ofunderstanding often generates and helps to defineperceptions of heritage value. Through theendogenous tourism project DHAN has identified anumber of artisanal groups involved in makingspecialized Athangudi tiles, weaving Kandangisarees, preparing delicious Chettinad cuisines andcarving stone sculptures in Karaikudi area in TamilNadu. This exploration helped in designing livelihoodinterventions suiting to the needs and interests ofthe communities involved in such activities.

Consider the relative importance of thoseidentified values

It is normally desirable to sustain all the identifiedheritage values of a structure or practice identified

worthy of preservation either cultural or natural.Understanding the relative contribution of eachidentified heritage value to the overall value of theheritage structure or practice – its significance – willbe essential to objective decision-making. A balancedview is best arrived at through enabling allinterested communities to appreciate all theperspectives and priorities. Eliminating ormitigating negative characteristics may help toreveal or reinforce heritage values of a place andthus its significance. While the traditional forms ofexchanging gifts and helping the families in distresslike ‘Moi’ or ‘Seimurai’ still exist among the ruralcommunities in Tamil Nadu are worth preserving,the exploitative elements in such systems must beunderstood to propagate only the positive aspects ofsuch systems.

Articulate the significance of the heritagestructure or practice

A ‘statement of significance’ of a heritage structureor practice should be a summary of the cultural andnatural heritage values currently attached to it andhow they inter-relate, which distils the particularcharacter of the structure or practice. So far aspossible, it should be agreed by all who have aninterest in that heritage structure or practice. Astatement of significance is an informed andinclusive judgment made on a particular set of data,applying prevailing perceptions of value, primarily toinform the management of a significant heritagestructure or practice. The statement will thereforeneed review in the light of new information, andperiodically to reflect evolving perceptions of value.The traditional rainfed farming practices in Indiaare highly contextual and specific to a particulararea. The Rainfed Farming Development theme laysemphasis on documenting, validating anddisseminating successful intercultural operations inrainfed agriculture to the similar agro–climaticconditions. Often it involves rigorous enquiry andresearch.

Principles of Heritage Conservationand DevelopmentHeritage is a shared resource

DHAN values heritage as a unique and dynamiccollection of natural and manmade structures and

Annual Report 20096

activities. It has been shaped by people responding tothe environment they inherit, and embodies theaspirations, skills and efforts of successivegenerations. Every community values its culturaland natural heritage. It reflects the knowledge,beliefs and traditions of diverse communities. Itgives distinctiveness, meaning and quality to theplaces in which they live, providing a sense ofcontinuity and a source of identity. It is a collectivesocial and economic asset and a resource; therefore ithas to be conserved.

Everyone should participate in heritageconservationDHAN believes that the local communities are theprimary stakeholders of conserving their heritageand their active participation in identification,assessment and management is integral to theeffective protection of heritage values. Everyone inthe community should have the opportunity tocontribute his or her knowledge of the value of theheritages, and to participate in decisions about theirfuture. Conservation of heritages requires people’sawareness and understanding of their heritage,including the varied ways in which its values areperceived by different generations and communities.Therefore it is essential to develop, maintain andpass on the specialised knowledge and skillsnecessary to sustain the heritages.

Understanding the significance ofheritages is vitalDHAN lays high emphasis on understanding thesignificance of a heritage. It is necessary first tounderstand its basics, and how and why it haschanged over time. Also it is critical to understandwho values the heritage, and why they do so, howthose values relate to its foundation, their relativeimportance, how the heritage compares with otherssharing similar values. Therefore understanding andarticulating the values and significance of a heritageis necessary to design and work on strategies toconserve them.

Heritage should be managed to sustaintheir valuesDHAN considers that change in the heritages isinevitable, caused by natural processes, and people’s

responses to social, economic and technologicalchange. Conservation is the process of managingchange to a significant place in its setting in waysthat will best sustain its heritage values, whilerecognising opportunities to reveal or reinforce thosevalues for present and future generations.Conservation can be achieved by all concerned with aheritage. Efforts to counter harmful effects ofnatural and manmade change should be timely,proportionate to the severity and likelihood of theconsequences, and should be sustainable.Conservation efforts should increase understandingof the past, reveal or reinforce particular heritagevalues to sustain those values for present and futuregenerations.

DHAN’s Heritage Approach

DHAN believes in the following basics ofdevelopment, which is built in consciously in all thedevelopment interventions designed by it.

Freedom of choice: Enabling individuals andgroups to identify, generate, and act on their choices.

Quality of life: Assisting persons to determine anddevelop the meaning of their live, their identities,and their life styles.

Managing resources: Dealing with the personalresponsibility for generation, management andconversation of human and material resources.

Inter relatedness: Guiding individuals,institutions and culture recognise and deal withtheir interrelatedness and interdependence.

Organising theUnorganisedPoor familiesinto Peoples’

Organisations

Demystifyingtechnology based

on the localknowledge and

wisdom

Enablingenvironment forinstitutionalizing

heritagepractices

Annual Report 2009 7

Dealing with ‘change’: Dealing with the causesand effects of change within and upon individuals,institutions and societies.

One of the key development approaches followed byDHAN Foundation is to start anything from whatthe communities already have. All the thematicinterventions of DHAN have been built on nativepractices, native solutions and native wisdom of thelocal communities. The Foundation is formalizingthem with institutional mechanisms making itpracticable and replicable. The KalanjiamCommunity Banking programme has formalized theindigenous savings and lending practices followed bythe communities. The Vayalagam TankfedAgriculture Development programme works towardsreviving the traditional practice of Kudimaramath,where the communities maintained water bodies byoffering their labour. The Rainfed FarmingDevelopment Programme repackages all thetraditional and relevant agricultural practicesthrough the Peoples Orgnaisations promoted amongthe small and marginal farmers involved in monsoondependent farming. The Coastal Conservation andLivelihoods Programme is encouraging traditionalfishing gears, crafts and fishing methods to promoteconservation of marine resources.

Social Capital and Heritage

DHAN organises the poor families into primarygroups of SHGs, Water Users Associations andRainfed farmers’ groups. They come into existence toaddress the issue of poverty through savings andcredit, rehabilitation of small-scale water bodiescalled tanks and rainfed farming development. ThePeoples’ Organisations at each level have a uniquesystem of organising and managing as anindependent institution. They are promoted athamlet, cluster/cascade and at block/district levels,which operate on the principles of self-help, mutualtrust, and co-operation. It is self-evident thatorganising Peoples’ Organisations and building theirnested institutions is a long-term and organicprocess. The Peoples’ Organisations take care of notonly the present, but also the future. In other wordsthey achieve the goals to better people’s lives in thepresent but strengthen institutional systems to takeup future issues and broader challenges. The

Peoples’ Organisations have nurtured and developedvarious products and services to their members toenable them to come out of poverty.

DHAN strongly believes that the poor families arelacking resource and opportunities. But, they possessa rich life experience, and wisdom that led them tosurvive despite hardships, external challenges, bothmanmade and natural. If they are provided with anenabling environment they would be able to unleashtheir potential and come out of poverty. For examplethe Rainfed farmers’ knowledge and wisdom onfarming with an uncertain rainfall is somethingthey inherit from their ancestors. The programmedocuments the indigenous knowledge and practices,validates with structured experimentations anddisseminates the proven indigenous practices to thefarmers in the similar agro–ecological contexts. Theorganised social platform helps them unleash thepotential of local heritage practices by articulatingthe significance of such heritages and meaningfullydeploy them in the process of development.

Heritage and Development Technology

Technologies are usually adapted not adopted.DHAN Foundation promotes Peoples’ OrganisationsCommunities and local organisations that areexposed to a wide range of available local bestpractices evolved from the indigenous knowledge andpractices can locate which ones are relevant to theirparticular situations. Knowing the principles behinda technology and improving capacities to innovatehelps communities cope with changing environmentsand new problems. Therefore, to achieve scale and toalso ensure sustainability in the programs oftechnological enhancement, the strengthening oflocal capacities to innovate may often just as or evenmore important than the technologies themselves.

For example, every community has a number ofways by which families save individually as well as agroup, exchange gifts and support each other.Indigenous forms of savings and credit form part ofthis complex of livelihood strategies. DHAN’sdevelopment interventions are founded on the basisof the close inter-relations between peoples’ diverselivelihoods and the institutions, mainly informal,with which they interact, in order to have any deep

Annual Report 20098

or lasting impacts. The Kalanjiam Federationscarefully study the informal savings and creditinstitutions or arrangements, range and frequency ofconsumption and investment needs in a village, andaccess to such arrangements. Based on suchunderstanding they design suitable savings andcredit products taking into account theseinterdependencies, role of livelihoods and socialnetworks that can make made significant impact onthe poor families’ access to credit and well-being.However, the range of products would vary accordingto the socio, economic and cultural contexts.Therefore it necessitates contextualizing the designto suit to the needs of the local communities.

Enabling Environment

This enabling approach forms the basis of all thedevelopment intervention designs evolved by thePeoples’ Organisations. Ultimately the people andPeoples’ Organisations with the guidance of DHANwould handle all activities by building their internalcapabilities and would become a strong demandsystem and able to work for their entitlement andempowerment. DHAN helps the Peoples’Organisations to build their identity and enablethem to build internal capabilities to run theorganizations for generations through collectiveaction. DHAN lays high emphasis on enabling thepoor communities to celebrate and explore their ownheritage through a collaborative discovery of theevolution, change and characteristics of theheritages.

DHAN is concerned about the eroding culturalheritage, arts, traditions and indigenous knowledge.Also it believes that developing on existing culturalvalues and traditions enhances opportunities forcommunities. DHAN intends to revive thetraditional value system and encouragesconservation of cultural heritage at all levels. Thereare certain communities in the rural, tribal andcoastal contexts function as custodians of heritage,culture and tradition. DHAN enables the Peoples’Organisations to integrate the heritage elementsfrom such communities within its structure,processes and systems to conserve, preserve anddevelop our cultural heritage, traditions and arts.The Tourism for Development initiative of DHAN

works on the heritage resources to make it a driverof poverty reduction. While the heritage resourcesprovide the content for product development, tourismenables the promotion and marketing of theseproducts. DHAN enables the local artisans to getorganised and become a key stakeholder in thetourism development as well as tapping potential ofemerging tourism industry for their wellbeing.

DHAN’s Way of HeritageConservationRestoration

Restoration is an attempt to return a heritagestructure or activity to a known earlier state, on thebasis of compelling evidence, without anyassumption. Restoration is made with the deliberateintention of recovering a known element of heritageand utility value that has been eroded, obscured orpreviously removed, rather than simply maintainingthe status quo. It may also achieve otherconservation benefits, for example restoringtraditional water harvesting structures created byour forefathers may make it both physically andeconomically usable and sustainable in the longterm.

Promotion

Artisans are traditional creators and caretakers ofthe community’s artistic heritage. Documentation ofartisanal skills and the communities involved in it iscritical for transmission of those skills to the futuregeneration. Ensuring the survival and continuedsocial economic relevance of the traditional system ofarts and crafts would provide economic benefits tothe communities in which the heritage is imbedded.DHAN’s Tourism for Development theme intends toharness the omnipresent economic potential oftourism for the conservation of the local arts andcrafts. Similarly the poor families organised intoSHGs of farmers, women and fishermen, who areinvolved in arts and crafts making are organizedinto Primary Producer Groups (PPGs). These PPGsfulfill their capital requirements; link them withmarkets, making improvements in the arts andcrafts to suit to the changing consumer needs.


Revival

Heritage revival is recreating a culture that isinspired from historical periods. There are manyfascinating elements of historic periods, collectivecommunity action in the villages to protect waterbodies (kudimaramath), traditional watermanagement systems by appointing water managers(neerkatti), expressing sense of togetherness towardstheir neighborhoods faced with bereavement in thefamily, with emotional support and financialcontribution in the form of cash and kind, duringand after the funeral rites (katta moi) and so on.While historic cultures provide a rich array ofcustoms, DHAN adapts such traditional practicesand gives an institutional framework for theactivities to integrate them with the products andservices offered by the Peoples’ Organisationspromoted by it. Instead of trying to imitate whatpeople did in the past, DHAN takes the past asinspiration to develop, innovate and adapt traditionsto the present

Strengthening

All the traditional farming / production systems areless energy intensive, dependent on local resourcesand their recycling. Indian farmers, particularly thefarmers surviving on rainfed farming are skilled inindigenous method of soil classification, fertilitymanagement, soil and water conservation throughselected plants / trees / shrubs and culturalpractices, creating micro-environment, seed selectionand conservation, planting methods, weed control,maintaining the indigenous crop varieties, croppingsystems and local techniques of insect pestmanagement. DHAN’s Rainfed FarmingDevelopment Theme lays emphasis on documentingthe indigenous practices of the famers andrepackaging it to disseminate to farmers in similarecological conditions.

Product design

Innovation is essential for sustaining values of aheritage structure or practice to benefit present andfuture generations, but should not be achieved at thecost of established value of that structure or practice.The traditional mutuality practices of the local

communities in the form of savings, exchanges,philanthropic support to the needy families havebeen used by the Peoples’ Organisations promoted byDHAN to design savings, credit and insuranceproducts to benefit their member families. Similarlythe philanthropic works of the past have been usefulin designing philanthropic products such as creatingendowments for the water bodies, adopting drinkingwater ponds to provide drinking water to the villagecommunities were some of the philanthropicproducts designed by DHAN to provide meaningfulgiving opportunities to the individuals andinstitutions.

Principles in Practice:Building on Heritage

Heritage of Collective actionIndia, a South Asian tropical country, has historicalevidences of its human interventions in themanagement of water for agriculture from villagewater bodies. One such intervention is an irrigationtank. A tank is a simple rainwater harvestingstructure designed by early settlers using indigenouswisdom and constructed with the generous supportof native rulers and chieftains. There exist 500,000irrigation tanks in the country, of which 150,000tanks are located in the semi arid region of Deccanplateau. They are located in hydrologicallyfavourable sites, some of them in sequential chainsor cascades, effectively capturing the rainfall andserving multiple uses with irrigation having themajor share. Tank irrigation systems are simple butfragile structures. They have to be constantlymaintained, monitored and conserved.

The customary water rights enjoyed by communitywere indeed gained by them due to their hard workin construction as well as in maintenance. The stoneinscriptions found on some of the age old tanksthrow light on public participation in maintenanceand renovation. The communities followed a uniquesystem of Kudimaramath where each family wouldcontribute their labour for the repair andmaintenance works. But after the introduction ofRyotwari settlements by the middle of 19th century,

Annual Report 200910

the effectiveness of the traditional systemdeteriorated progressively, resulted in decay of localmanagement. After independence their managementfunctions also come under the different linedepartments with neither integral approach norcommon purpose. This has resulted in the steadydecline of the performance efficiency and degradationof these precious small scale water bodies. DHAN

Water unites Communities

Kudimaramath refers to the traditional systemof tank management widely practiced beforeindependence. Kudi means the villagers,maramath means maintenance work. A villageelder, assisted by a committee, wouldcoordinate and motivate the local communityto maintain the irrigation structures. Villagersprovide their labour freely. The Vayalagamtank farmers’ organisations have revived thepractice of Kudimaramath in all theconservation works taken up by them.

Foundation has therefore chosen to intervene torestore these multipurpose tanks to their designedstandard and performance efficiency, by mobilizingthe users, organizing them into associations andundertaking the restoration work through them,thereby reviving the traditional local management.

DHAN’s efforts in working with the small andmarginal landholders for the restoration of tankirrigation and regeneration of farmers’ managementhave met with success. The farmers are organisedaround the tanks to conserve the tanks and improvetheir performance. Through the years, DHANFoundation has undertaken more than 1500 units ofdevelopment works such as tank rehabilitation,community well construction, drinking waterdevelopment works and watershed developmentworks covering nearly 1,60,655 farmers andbenefiting their small holdings in the dry areas ofSouth India to an extent of 57,541 hectares. Theseworks have been carried out through more than2,150 Tank Farmers’ Associations (Vayalagams) and31 Federal Associations in the states of Tamil Nadu,Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Union Territory ofPuducherry. The communities have contributedmore than 20 percent in the total cost of developmentworks, which includes predominantly their physicallabour.

Heritage of Savings practice

The rural communities in India have a rich heritageof saving resources in various forms. Appropriatesystems suiting to the local context and practicescan help the poor communities to leverage theirsavings for a better future. DHAN’s KalanjiamCommunity Banking programme has formalized theinformal savings and lending practices with aninstitutional framework, transparent andaccountable administration. The Kalanjiams viewsavings as a powerful tool to build the stakes of thepoor women in their groups. It builds the self respectof the people involved and integrates them into thefinancial system. Mobilisation of need based savingscatering to the diversified needs build the trust of themembers on the system.


Heritage of Savings practiceThe culture of saving has long history in Indian society.The saving practices are mostly decided by the statusand level of the community. In Solapur, Beed andOsmanabad districts of Maharashtra certain old savingpractices are found even today. These practices areas followed.

Lucky Bhishi: This practice of saving money is verymuch popular among the families living in slums inthe suburbs and small towns. In this kind of saving,15 to 20 members of a particular area form themselvesin to an informal group. The quantum of the monthlyshare is collected by one of the members in a particularperiod. Each member will go to nominated leadershouse to pay the amount. The collection is not on afixed date, collected in the first week of a month. Onceall members’ contribution is collected on the last dayall members will sit together and prepare eachmembers chit and pick up one from the lot. The personwhose chit is drawn is entitled to get the whole amountwithout any commission. The next time in subsequentmonth benefited members name will not appear in chitbox but she or he will have to pay his share till eachone get the lot. In this kind of saving very minimumrecord is kept. The record consists of small note book.However the peer pressure is very high in lucky Bhishi.It has been observed and heard that all women remainspresent on the last day to ensure as who has got thelot. Another thing is that at any cost each memberpays her/his respective share.

Auction Bhishi: This saving practice is more or lesssame with the above practice. The major difference isthat this collection is auctioned. The member whoauctions the collected amount has to lose certainamount as auction. Those who are in urgent need ofmoney they go for auction. The amount of auctionincreases with the increased number of members in


need of money. The auctioned amount is shared by othermembers on equal basis as bonus to them. The benefitof this practice is that the last members need not tolose a single rupee to get his turn. The disadvantage ofthe later system is that the person in need of moneyhas to lose some amount as auction. The drawback ofthis system is that more the number of offer for auctiongreater the amount of auction.

Gupta Bachat: This kind of saving is almost not inexistence now days. It was practiced in olden days.The family used to keep money/jewelry or wealth underthe ground. They used to keep the money in metal potor box under the ground. This kind of saving is motivatedto prevent loot from the Dakaiti or invaders from theoutside. Now days we cannot see this kind of savingpractices in our villages.

Pew: The Pew is the underground grain storagestructure alike a mud pot which is used to store theexcess grain harvested during the harvest. This kind ofgrain saving was in practice till late 80s. However thesestructures are not used now days. But the structuresare there in the villages. The capacity storage of onestructure varies from 20 quintal to 100 quintals. Thefarmers were used to keep the excess grain in thisstructure. Grain use to absorb the water content andquantity of the grain used to get increased. The advantageof this structure was that the grain was kept unaffectedby the cockroaches and rats.

Galla: The Galla is a small structure of mud or metalwith whole on its top. This is very much popular in towns.The middle class or wives of employees will put Galla inhouse somewhere. Whenever they get money topurchase household things they will save some moneyout of it and put in the galla. The amount saved in thiskind of practice is used for some family function or topurchase household articles.

Heritage of Water bodiesWater is elixir if life. It has economic, social,ecological and spiritual functions. It was on thebanks of rivers and water bodies, human civilizationflourished. The hydrological characteristics of theIndian monsoon necessitated the creation of storagefacilities to hold the rainwater of the monsoon. Withextraordinary engineering, managerial and socialskills, an extensive system of rainwater harvesting

structures like tanks and ponds had been built andmaintained by the people for centuries. Behind theseexisting indigenous systems of irrigation, there arethousands of years of tradition.

DHAN’s Vayalagam Tankfed AgricultureDevelopment programme is involved in renovationand upkeep of these tanks in the peninsular Indiathrough the farmers’ organisations and theirfederations promoted by it.

Temple TanksMadurai, the Athens of the East and the city of templesis the oldest inhabited city in the Indian peninsula. It islocated on the banks of river Vaigai in Tamil Nadu. Thefestivals and celebrations in Madurai signify the deeperrelationship between water and the people. Historicevidence shows that tank irrigation prevailed in Maduraiin as early as 300 A.D. during the Pandya period. Manyvillages were named after the tanks abutting them.

When Madurai became a municipality in 1866, it waswell served by a network of tanks; surplus water fromVaigai and Kiruthumal rivers were stored in these tankswhich served the irrigation and drinking water needs ofabout 42,000 people. Today, the population of the cityhas grown by about 26 times, and most of the waterbodies have vanished. Ingeniously designed by nativerulers and managed by local communities for centuries,the tanks and channels have fallen into neglect mainlydue to fast paced urbanization. The tanks that are ownedlegally by the state were taken over for construction ofGovernment offices, housing colonies, bus depots, andother utilities. The tank ayacuts were converted intosettlements by the people. The Krishnarao tank, Naina(Maina) teppakulam, Ezhukadal teppakulam andValaiveesi teppakulam are confined to the pages ofhistory. The Vandiyur tank, Madakulam and Mariammanteppakulam are the visible remnants of a glorious past.

DHAN Foundation has organised Madurai Marathon onthe theme of ‘Run for Heritage Water bodies’ in 2008 tosensitize the citizens of Madurai on the importance ofconserving the existing water bodies. Besides raisingawareness, this Marathon raised resources forrenovation of water bodies and temple tanks in Maduraithrough innovative ways and through partnershipsbetween various agencies in Madurai.

Immayil Nanmai Tharuvar Temple–TankRenovation


The temple tank – Potramarai Kulam is located insideImmayil Nanmai Tharuvar Temple in Madurai City. Thistank was constructed in the year 1,200 AD during theperiod of Pandyas. The tank capacity is about 1.2 lakhcubic-feet. The tank was previously fed by KiruthumalRiver and is now being fed by rainwater. The tank wasin a neglected condition and used as a dumpingreceptacle for solid waste and wastewater. No fresh

water was stored in the tank and the tank became thebreeding ground for mosquitoes and nuisances due tobad odour. Nearly 2,000 litres of wastewater let into thetank every day and the tank was silted up with debrisup to 10 feet. With the resources raised from MaduraiMarathon, DHAN in association with MaduraiCorporation took up rehabilitation works in the tank.The silts were removed completely. Due to diversion ofwastewater, the tank is protected from pollution and itis used for rainwater harvesting. Through thisconservation work, the water recharge has increasedin the bore wells of surrounding areas, which wouldsatisfy the water need during summer.

Kochadai Tank Supply Channel Renovation

The Pothigai Vattara Kalanjiam, adopted the KochadaiTank located in the outskirts of the Madurai City asresolved by them in the Madurai Marathon. TheFederation gave its contribution of Rs. 50,000 forrenovating the channel that previously supplied waterfrom the river Vaiagai. With the help of PWD and theRevenue Department the channel was demarked andthe encroachment was evicted. Besides that, therenovation works included jungle clearance and de-silting of the tank supply channel. The work started inJanuary 2009. Throughout the project, coconut trees,walls, shops, households and neem trees were removed.As an outcome of this project, wells in the vicinity ofthe Kochadai Tank would be benefited from improvedgroundwater recharge.

Heritage of Artisanal skillsIn traditional Indian society, the artisans andcraftsmen fashioned all the things that are part andparcel of life, be it a ritual object or a product ofutility. They ingeniously imbibed the villagecustoms, personal care, aesthetics and eco-friendlymaterials. With hundreds of art forms at stake, and


livelihoods abandoned due to meager earnings, theartisan has lost his patronage in Indian society, andskill sets are halted, instead of being passed downgenerations. DHAN views that heritage and tourismindustries have a responsibility to present and futuregenerations in ensuring the preservation,continuation, interpretation and management ofheritage resources of significance.

Karaikudi

Chettinad is the homeland of the Nattukottai Chettiars,a prosperous banking and business community.Karaikudi lies in the heart of Chettinad, 85 km from thefamous temple town of Madurai. The palatial buildingsand temples spread over 74 villages in the Chettinadspeak volumes of the quality and lifestyle of its ownersand the skilled workforce. Almost all houses in thevillages stand out with their front elevation, beautifully-carved pillars, meticulously planned interiors andcolorfully-painted buildings.

The Chettiyar Community provided patronage to a varietyof arts and crafts in this area. The Kandangi cotton sariis unique in the dramatic and spontaneous use of colourand pattern with bold checks, stripes and contrastinghues. Athankudi tiles named after their place ofmanufacture in Chettinad are handmade in myriadcolours and patterns by a unique process using localsoil. The wooden sculptures and artifacts made by thewood-carving artisans can be seen on the doorways,pillars and furniture. The Chettinad style food is famousfor its varied spicy, delicious and colorful varieties.

KazhugumalaiKazhugumalai, one of the ancient temple towns in TamilNadu is known for the monolithic rock cut temple datingback to 8th Century and decorated with sculpturedpanels, pillars and Jain carvings. Kazhugumalai not onlywas a Jain centre of worship but had a monastery and

a college, where both men and women taught students.There is a rock face with three rows of bas-reliefs ofJain Tirthankaras. Vettuvan Koil, the temple of lordShiva, carved out of a single rock is as an impressivework of the Pandya architecture. It has a lot ofsimilarities to the Ellora in the West of India.

The traditional folk dances such as Oyillattam,Thappattam, Kummi, Villupattu, Karagattam andKavadiattam are the familiar folks of this area whichportrays the lifestyle of this area. Kottan-weaving is apopular activity in andaround Kazhugumalai.Kottans were originallybaskets used aspackaging and ascontainers for gifts andofferings during Familyrituals. Weaving colourfulhand-dyed kottans was aleisure craft for the womenhere.

DHAN’s Heritage Centered TourismInitiativesAs a result of the ‘Endogenous Tourism’ project pilotedin Karaikudi and Kazhugumalai with the support of theGovernment of Indian and United Nations DevelopmentProgramme, DHAN Foundation has come out withcommunity-led heritage tourism model for strengtheningthe livelihoods of the rural artisans. The poor womenand artisans who are dependent on the tourism relatedactivities have been organised into Self Help Groupsand their networks. These groups facilitate skill building,creation of market linkages, building and strengtheningof private and common assets. The local youths trainedas tourist guides attend the tourists with special carethe internet based tourism information centres setup inthe villages provide them needed guidance to plan theirvisit.

Heritage of MutualityOne of the unique characteristics of Indian societiesis social interdependence. From birth to death,people are deeply involved with others through aclosely knitted social fabric. Economic activities,too, are intensely imbedded in a social nexus.Various crucial horizontal linkages connect eachvillage with many others and with urban areas bothnear and far. In daily life and at colorful festivalsand rituals, members of various groups provideessential goods and services for one another.

These social systems and traditions have manylessons for shaping and modeling modern institutorsand practices. There was spontaneous solidarity ofkinship which has since then been replaced byorganized assistance between groups of people withcommon interests. Such organized mutual assistancesystems are recognized and revered by the entirecommunity. Often the religious or communityorganisations in the villages ensure such practicesand they are deeply integrated in the social systems.

Mutual sharing mechanisms are conspicuous intimes of pleasures as well as in times of a disaster orrisk are prevalent in the rural and tribalcommunities. For example in the Ponnakkanerivillage of Ramanathapuram District, Tamilnadu, thevillage community organisation takes care of theentire responsibility of carrying out funeral rites inthe aggrieved family and meets the expenses from itsfunds. Once the family returns normal, it asks thefamily to pay it back in easy installments withoutinterest. At the burial ground, people from eachhousehold would contribute amounts as they wishbut not less than Rs.5, which would be used forimmediate expenses of the family. Similarly in thenearby Kavanur village in Ramanathapuram, attimes of death, they collect Rs. 20 and half liter ofrice from each family and give it to the aggrievedfamily. When ‘Village Pachai’ (a custom) is carried,each family would carry and give banana, soft drinksand paddy. This helps the aggrieved family to feedthe outsiders who are coming to the funeral.

With the principles drawn from such local practices,which maintain these social fabrics intact, thePeoples Organisations promoted by DHANFoundation are implementing scientifically designedmutual insurance solutions by themselves. PeopleMutuals, a social security initiative of DHANFoundation documents such indigenous systems ofsocial security exist in the communities in the eventof risk to integrate such systems and practiceswithin the Peoples’ Organisations promoted by it.Such principles are integrated in the mutualinsurance products evolved by the FederationMutuals promoted within the Federations of SHGs.


Mutuality strengthenssocial security

The rural communities express their sense oftogetherness towards their neighborhoods facedwith bereavement in the family, with emotionalsupport and financial contribution in the formof cash and kind, during and after the funeralrites.

Heritage of Rainfed FarmingThe rainfed farmers of India have a rich heritage ofagricultural wisdom on crop and livestockhusbandry. They have a deep knowledge of their ownvarieties of crops, their environmental andnutritional requirements, properties andpeculiarities. This enabled farmers to sustain theirlivelihoods even under the most severe stresssituation. Rainfed Farming in India is complex,diverse and risk prone and is characterised by lowlevels of productivity. It accounts for 40 per cent ofthe total geographical area and more than 60 percent of the area under cultivation. Delayed monsoon affects sowing of the crops, or long spell of dry period damages the standing crops and at times heavy rains in a few hours cancause enormous damage to the crops. Rainfedfarming is vulnerable not only to rainfall relatedrisks but also liberalisation led market risks.

Uncertainties of rain fall behaviour is not a recent phenomenon but is as old as agriculture.This has led the farmers to evolve their own mechanisms to enable them to cope with bad periods.Many rainfed farm families cannot survive fromtheir land alone and therefore have to look foradditional sources of income. Migration is a commonphenomenon in these areas. Most of the rainfedfarmers are very poor.

Despite such a constraining environment, there aresigns of hope. DHAN Foundation has taken uprainfed farming as a theme for intervention. Thebelief is that rainfed farms can be made viableprovided a package of practices, a combination ofland and allied activities and systematicallymanaging risks related to it are available to thefarmers. This will help stem the decline that istaking place in rainfed farming today. The theme isbeing piloted in three distinct rainfed conditions inTamil Nadu - Thirumangalam for black cotton soil,Natrampalli for red soil, Vedharanyam for coastalarea, Pudurnadu for hilly tribal context.

Rainfed farmers are organised into Farmers Groupsand into Watershed Associations at the next level.Interventions in agriculture, horticulture, livestockand land development are the major components.Context specific savings, credit and insuranceproducts are designed and implemented. Local bestpractices of farmers in rainfed farming, bothindigenous and exogenous are documented,standardised and disseminated.


Sustaining livelihoodswith native wisdom

Diversity is the key to sustainability. In rainfedfarming, farmers are adopting location specificagronomic practices and judiciously designedmixed cropping system to cope up with vagariesof monsoon.

Heritage of Tribal CultureOver many centuries the tribal communities inIndia have built in unique customs, traditions andfestivals that signify their identities, solidarity andcommunity living. The diversity of celebrations;beauty, grace and wisdom embodied in the festivalsenrich their social life and make their life colourful.These traditions help them to fortify enduring bondswithin the communities and between the villages.Their life was not just celebrations and festivities.Despite working hard, the tribal communities hadalways been at the receiving end. Amidst thevulnerabilities of their traditional means oflivelihood, continued exploitation by the middlemenand moneylenders has drowned them intoindebtedness, starvation and malnutrition.

Understanding the lifestyle, culture and socio-economic reality of the tribal people, also theirunique strengths are critical for creating favorableenvironment for sustainable development of tribes.DHAN has started working with the tribalcommunities of Indervelly Mandal of Adilabaddistrict in Andhra Pradesh since 1997 in partnershipwith Integrated Tribal Development Authority(ITDA). Tribal youths were identified and groomed towork on the issues of their own communities byorganising Kalanjiams of tribal women, creatingnetworks of Kalanjiams to make the women interactwith the women in other villages, introducingsavings, credit and insurance services.Strengthening traditional livelihoods was given highemphasis in all the groups. Later the Kalanjiamshave joined together and promoted “Sri IndrayiMahila Kalanjia Samakhya”, a federation of womenSelf Help Groups in 2002, with 3140 members,organised into 240 groups. Based on the experiencefrom Indervelly, DHAN has expanded its tribaldevelopment programme in the tribal locations inthe district – Triyani and Azifabad. The Federationsapart from savings and credit activities implementagriculture development, watershed activitiesthrough renovation of water bodies and providinginput supply and marketing linkages. Farmers havepurchased input collectively and arranged toestablish market linkages through promotingexclusive producer groups for soya bean and minorforest produce.

With almost a decade of intensive work in the tribalareas of Andhra Pradesh, DHAN Foundation hascome out with a package of microfinance plusstrategies such as; freeing the tribal communitiesfrom financial bondedness of exploitative traders,creating and strengthening forest based livelihoods,water resource development and building health andeducational services from the inception. TheKalanjiam Programme has been expanded to otherstates such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissaand Tamil Nadu. Currently, the Programme isworking with 16,404 tribal families from five statesof India across 13 locations covering 16,404 membersorganised into 1134 groups.


Development to preservecultural identities

The institutional mechanisms of impartingeducation, extending health services, anddevelopment interventions should enable thetribal communities to preserve their identities,traditional knowledge and culture.

Heritage of Local governanceDemocratic systems are nothing new to Indianvillages. In South India, the ‘Kudavolai’ systempracticed by imperial Cholas, as far back as 900 AD,points to the existence of well-organisedrepresentative institutions. The Uttiramerurinscriptions give information about the villageadministration, taxation and land revenue.

Taking the principles of functional groups (Variyam)detailed in the system, DHAN Foundation conceiveda new theme ‘Working with Panchayats’ to bringvibrant democratic practices in the Panchayatsystem. The Programme lays high emphasis onparticipatory governance, which calls forinvolvement of people, in decision-making processes,based on the use of good governance principles suchas accountability, transparency, self regulation. Theprogramme has taken up a number of experimentstowards creating new type of democratic villageinstitutions which would expand the process ofparticipative democracy by directly including all thepeople in the decision-making process at variouslevels.

The programme organises functional groups invillages generated by the rich web of non-politicalassociations, which are social in nature. Thesegroups provide basis for democracy and have thehabits of exchange and collaboration on the basis ofwhich co-operation for the public good. Theseinformal groups are trained for better participationin local governance and in the gramsabha meetings.It advocates for legitimate space for such groups inplanning and implementation of development works.Taking principles from traditional Panchayatmeetings as well as the modern parliamentarysystem, the Programme has designed a systemcalled ‘Panchayat Parliament’ after an intensivepiloting.

The purpose of Panchayat parliament is to simulatethe experience of our Parliamentary system atPanchayat level. The outcome of the forum is tofacilitate better participation of the community inlocal governance and bring vibrancy in thegramsabha meetings. The informal associations andtraditional Panchayat bodies in the Panchayat wouldbecome institutional members of the forum, so thatthey would get integrated with legitimate bodies to

foster synergy. This system works well and itstrengthens the democratic systems and inculcateshow to participate in the Panchayat affairs.Intensive and meaningful discussion happening inthe meeting would clarify many of the doubts of thepeople and set a tone for transparent administration.

Heritage of WatermanagementObservations of Great Civilizations show that theirdevelopment was directly related to the extent towhich they could control and manage waterresources. The hydrological characteristic of theIndian monsoon necessitated the creation of storagefacilities to hold the rainwater of the monsoon andutilize the same at a later date. With extraordinaryengineering, managerial and social skills, anextensive system of rainwater harvesting structureslike tanks and ponds had been built and maintainedby the people for centuries.

Before the advent of British rule, the localcommunities had the complete control over waterbodies. The village organizations had well laid outrules and fixed responsibilities to manage waterefficiently. They employed persons to operate sluices(Madaiyaans), distribution of water (Neerani,Neerkatti or Kanduvetti). There were villageaccountants, village watchmen (Kaval). All thesepersons and the village artisans were paid from thetotal produce of the village. Inscriptions of Sangamperiod contain wealth of information on watersharing, distribution, water rights andresponsibilities - the key elements of watermanagement. The traditional water managersplayed a key role in effective water management

Most of the tanks in south India had water guides /managers to effectively manage the waterdistribution. Each tank had one or more Neerkattis.There are no accurate estimates as to how manyNeerkattis would have been involved in such tankmanagement in the region. One of the estimatessays there are around 4000 Neerkattis in GundarBasin, one of the dry river basins measuring around5,500 sq km of geographical area with around 2500small and big tanks. They are still working in thetanks providing irrigation and other services to thedependent farming communities.


The Neerkattis had several functions to performranging from supply of water to every field at thefarm level to safeguarding the tank structures fromall natural and manmade calamities. He is amobiliser of the village labour, he undertakes watchand ward of tank assets, he ensures watermanagement according to the available water andneed of the crop, he would forecast the monsoon andwater availability, and he manages the water attimes of scarcity and demand.

DHAN’s Vayalagam Tankfed AgricultureDevelopment programme works on reviving andstrengthening such systems by encouragingVayalagams to appoint Neerkattis for equitablewater distribution. Exclusive savings and creditgroups have been promoted with the Neerkattis toprovide them social and financial safety-nets, so thatthey continue to contribute in water management,which is very critical in maintaining justdistribution of water and avoidance of conflictsrelated to water sharing by the local communities.

Heritage of FestivitiesIndia offers astounding variety in virtually everyaspect of social life. Diversities of ethnic, linguisticand regional groups crosscut Indian society, which isalso permeated with immense differences incelebrating festivals with family and community.The People’s Organisations promoted by DHANrespect the diversity of celebrations and drawsinspiration from the beauty, grace and wisdomembodied in the various festivals. They have built insuch unique customs, traditions and goodness offestivals in the solidarity and culture building eventsof Peoples Organisations. These traditions help themcreate new and enduring bonds with communitiesother than their own.

The People draw strength from each other. Breakingcaste and religious barriers, the Kalanjiam womencelebrate and adore their success in the public bylighting lamps and vocalizing their commitments ina secular fashion. Mulaipari and Kummi are thepopular expressions of the members in theKalanjiam events in Tamil Nadu. Mulaipari is avery important ritual which takes place at almostevery village celebration. The women would go on

procession carrying earthen pots with grown grains(nine different types of grains) inside on their headsand walk towards a river where the content isdissolved. The original meaning of the ritualperformance is a request to the village Goddess forrain for fertility of land, in order to secure a richharvest. The women are involved in large groupssignificantly implying the prosperity, peace andharmony through empowered women. Similarly inKummi, the women stand in a circle and danceclapping their hands rhythmically to lifting songs.

These celebrations are followed in different ways inother parts of the country. The connecting thread isthe purpose for which they are done. The membershave brought in a number of such indigenousexpressions of togetherness and solidarity throughthese celebrations and their different forms andexpressions. With greater emphasis on the values ofself–help, mutuality, and self-regulation, theKalanjiam Movement is working towardsintegrating festivals and celebrations to establishtheir identities within their societies.


Building solidaritythrough celebrations

The members of Kalanjiam Federations meetonce in a year to celebrate their successes, sharetheir experiences, and plan for the next year.They will perform their traditional prayers anddances as part of their celebrations.

Heritage of PhilanthropyEradication of poverty requires collaborative effortsand resources. If we take India as a country withrich and varied heritage of giving and the same wecould see with other countries too. In India especiallythere are various kinds of dhan (donations).Shramdhan is giving labour, Annadhan is givingfood and Vidhyadhan is giving knowledge. Thesewere the various ways available in the past. Buttoday and for the future, especially in the presentcontext there exist a need for various ways of giving.DHAN is working on promoting a sharing cultureamong the poor communities with whom it isworking, the general public both in India andabroad, corporates through creating meaningfulopportunities and partnerships.

Kings, noblemen or the villagers for the purpose ofmaintenance of tanks made endowments in the formof gold or land. The income from these endowmentswas utlised for the maintenance of tanks. ThePallava period (600 AD to 900 AD) epigraphsextensively mention the ‘Eri Variyam’ (Tankmanagement committee). The members of thecommittee were elected every year, which enabledfresh members to get in and serve the committee.The Erivariyam took up the responsibility of regularmaintenance, failing which the members of theassembly were liable for fine and punishment. Thecommittee employed persons to operate sluices anddistribution of water. There were villageaccountants, and village watchmen. All thesepersons and the village artisans were paid from thetotal produce of the village. The remaining wasshared between state and villagers.

DHAN firmly believes that the effectivemanagement and sustainability of people’sinstitutions over the years are the solutions toconserve and develop the endangered tanks.Endowment fund or corpus funds are maintained ineach Tank association for the sustainability of theassociation and for the future maintenance. SirRatan Tata Trust (SRTT), Mumbai pioneered in thisaspect by providing Rs 5.00 Million as Endowment/Corpus grant to 500 Tank Farmers organisation forfour years from January 2001. Endowment fund iscreated at every Tank Association level for ensuringfuture maintenance and institutional sustainability.

The association mobilizes corpus fund with matchinggrants given by government agencies, philanthropicinstitutions. Only the interest portion of the corpuscan be ustilized for future maintenance activities ofinstitutions concerned and not any part of the corpuswhether contributed by the people or by thephilanthropic institutions.

Heritage of MarineconservationMany traditional societies view physical as well asbiological components of the environment and thehuman population as being linked together in a webof relationships. For thousands of years, thesecommunities around the world have used knowledgeof their local environment to sustain themselves andto maintain their cultural identity. The fishingcommunity in India, with their traditionalknowledge of the sea and its environment harvestedthe resources in a moderate scale and recognise thesea as their common property.

Tamil Nadu is one of the important Maritime Stateswith rich Inland and Marine resources. It has a


Conserving for future generations

The craft and gears such as catamarans, smallcanoes, big canoes deployed by the traditionalfishing communities were the most appropriateto suit the environment. Fish workersthemselves developed these over centuries ofexperience and skill, keeping in mind thedynamics of tropical waters, multi-species, fishbehaviour and seasonal changes. Building ontheir belief system, DHAN Foundation, after theTsunami devastation, organised suchcommunities along the Southern coastal villagesto build lasting disaster coping mechanismswith high emphasis on conserving marineresources.

Coast line of 1000 KMs, and accounts for 15 percentof the total fish landings in India. Roughly onefourth of all Marine exports from the country arefrom Tamil Nadu.

Located on the southeastern tip of the subcontinent,the Gulf of Mannar (GoM) is known to harbor over3,600 species of flora and fauna, making it one of therichest coastal regions in Asia. 117 hard coralspecies have been recorded in the GoM and itproduces about 20 percent of the marine fish catchin Tamil Nadu. More than 50,000 fishermen livingon the coast of the GoM directly depend on thefisheries resources of the reserve for their livelihood.Local fishermen rely on the reef to feed theirfamilies, but destructive fishing methods combinedwith the stress of pollution and coral mining havemeant both near shore and offshore catches havedecreased. Endangered species include dolphins,Dugongs, Whales and Sea cucumbers.

The Tsunami in 2006, affected Ramanathapuramdistrict. Even though, there was not much of loss tolives, many people lost their crafts, gears and nets,which were earning their livelihoods. The tsunami isonly the latest misery in the lives of fishermen inthe coastal Tamil Nadu. The grip that traders,moneylenders and other vested interests have onthese people has always kept them downtrodden andpowerless. Contributing to these, drainage of incomedue to alcoholism, expenses due to poor sanitationand health seeking behaviour, lack of education hasmade them to fall into the trap of trader’s networkfor many generations.

Kalanjia Meenavar Sangam in Conservation:DHAN Foundation started conservation anddevelopment works in this area from 1992 onwards.The UNDP-GEF project on “Promotion ofAlternative Livelihoods for the Poor in the Biosphereof the Gulf of Mannar”, between 2000 and 2002, wasthe first project towards empowerment ofcommunities for poverty alleviation in the region.This was a sub-programme to the main project on“Conservation and Sustainable Use of Gulf ofMannar Biosphere Reserve’s Coastal Biodiversity”,which was endorsed in 1999 by UNDP-GEF, andinaugurated in 2002. DHAN Foundation took upimplementation for the sub-programme onpromotion of alternative livelihoods.

After Tsunami in 2006 DHAN has intensified itsworks among the coastal communities to enablethem to restore their livelihood activities byorganizing savings, credit and business supportservices. DHAN has promoted Kalanjia MeenavarSangam (KMS), Primary Producer cum MarketingGroups owned and managed by the fishermen. TheKMS operates on the principles of self help,mutuality and collective action. It creates amarketing platform to its members by collecting,preserving and reselling the daily catches. FromMeemisal village of Pudukottai district tillPerudhalai Village of Tuticorin district, 23 KMShave been promoted covering 864 fishing familiesand organised into four producer companies.

Members of KMS have resolved to conserve themarine resources and laid down a number ofconservation centered fishing practices, such as notto catch sea creatures which are banned by thegovernment, not to use the nets banned by thegovernment and releasing endangered species caughtinto nets back to the sea. Also they employ laborersto clean the sea shore at periodic intervals.

Way forwardDHAN Foundation took up the year 2008-09 as a‘Year of Heritage’. A yearlong celebration ofheritages and works around such heritages haveresulted in creating an understanding on theimportance of identifying and documenting localheritages and integrating them into the developmentworks being carried out by the programmes andinstitutions in DHAN Collective. However the localcommunities are yet to be sensitized on their ownheritage significance, which needs a continuousprocesses and mechanisms for reinforcement.Instilling the values of local heritages among theyouths is an important task for the Peoples’Organisations to ensure their conservation anddevelopment. The Peoples’ Organisations haveresolved to take up Heritage Conservation as anagenda in their development plans and strategies.‘Tourism for Development’ has emerged as acrosscutting theme in DHAN Collective to integratethe local heritages in the existing programmes. Thesocial infrastructure has already been created by allthe programmes would form foundation forintegrating heritage conservation and developmentas a potential and scalable livelihood opportunity forthe poor families.


Annual Report 2008-09

Savings build equity withownership rightsA rural woman saves the grains in theKalanjiam (granary in Tamil). There werediverse forms of indigenous savings systemsfollowed by the rural communities, mainly tocope up with the seasonality of employment andincome in farming. The Kalanjiam groups havejust formalized such systems.H

erit

age M

atters

Particulars March2007

March2008

March2009

Cumulative figures

ReachNo. of FamiliesNo. of Primary GroupsNo. of ClustersNo. of FederationsNo. of VillagesNo. of DistrictsNo. of States

6,11,88827,030

1,679128

8,77537

9

6,49,38928,027

1,638116

9,1484111

7,35,50129,3261,367*

1649,531

4111

Staff

No. of ProfessionalsNo. of Programme StaffNo. of People Functionaries

363367

2,919

330316

2,340

314347

1,904

Finances (Rs. in million)

a. Programme Funds People Banks Government and Donors (for the year)

1,2992,,239

256

1,4443,011

93

1,6373,368

486

Sub Total 3,793 4,548 5,491b. Programme Management (for the year) People Government Donors

815

128

6513

253

528

240

Sub Total 214 331 300Grand Total 4,007 4,879 5,791

* Reduction in number of Cluster Development Associations (CDAs) were due to merger of adjacent CDAs in few federations for operational convenience

DHAN Foundation at a Glance


Annual Report 2008-09

The year 2008-09 was a year of advancement inthe themes and institutions with greater

integration and diversification. The existing povertyreduction themes in DHAN have startedassimilating the crosscutting themes such as genderand disaster risk reduction, through localising theMillennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The Kalanjiam Programme intensified its modelbuilding efforts on civic interventions such as health,education, sanitation and safe drinking water, andelectricity. The Kalanjiam Reproductive and ChildHealth programme is set to upscale and on thesimilar line, malaria and HIV AIDS interventionsare being piloted by the programme.

A Development Information System has been createdin the Kalanjiam Programme to track the impact ofits poverty reduction measures closely at the familylevel. This would help monitor the graduation offamilies from survival and subsistence state to self–employed and self–reliant state.

Innovative inroads have been made for integratingprimary education in the development agenda of theFederations. The concept of Federation managedmodel community school with an activity basedlearning system has been operationalised in twoplaces.

The Vayalagam Programmes has geared up to forupscaling geographically as well as deepeningthrough diversified interventions in agriculturalproduction and marketing. The Programmeexpanded its reach to the Eastern India to work onthe ahar-pyne system of indigenous irrigation. Therehas been an overwhelming response for our call tosupport our water initiatives from the individualswithin and outside India.

The action research programme carried out with thefarmers participation sponsored by the CentralWater Commission has brought us a lot of lessons

for deepening the agricultural interventions withinthe programme. Inland fisheries has beendemonstrated on a scale and proved to be a potentialactivity for livelihoods enhancement and foodsecurity.

All the programmes, institutions and centres in theDHAN Collective were successful in building newpartnerships and strengthening the existingpartnerships on various forms such as resourcegeneration and sharing, capacity building, buildingand sharing knowledge and expertise, networking foradvocacy, capacity and awareness building and soon.

Partnership with HUL to enhance livelihoods ofabout 75000 women as part of celebrating its 75th

year in India made a remarkable contribution to thePeoples’ Organisations promoted by DHAN duringthe year. It helped us to innovate areas forlivelihoods intervention.

The Rainfed Farming Development Programmecompleted its experimentation phase and set toupscale in other places. With a full-fledgedprogramme design and components the programmegets into integrated and crosscutting approach withthe Federations promoted by other themes.

The pilot projects carried out with the facilitation ofthe Advanced Centre for Disaster Risk Reductionhoused in the Tata–Dhan Academy reinforced theneed for mainstreaming disaster preparedness andmanagement strategies within the Peoples’Organisations to cope up with the adverse effects ofthe climate change. Similarly the ‘Advanced Centrefor Skill and Knowledge on Mutual Insurance(ASKMI)’ undertook a number of pilots and researchassignments in association with the themes andinstitutions in the DHAN Collective. Both theCentres could build an identity in the respectivefields through networking and advocacy within ashort time.

The Working with Panchayats theme has expandedits horizons into urban governance andmicrofinance. Visibility for the theme in the sectorhas started to grow. Conceptual and contextualrefinements were taken up on the key programmecomponents such as micro–planning, capacitybuilding and networking.

Tourism has emerged as a potential crosscuttingtheme for fast–pacing the poverty reductionprogrammes implemented in the areas of tourismpotential. The experience gained from theEndogenous Tourism Project with UNDP supportgave us a lot of insights on the design andimplementation.

Dhan People Academy came out with an expansiondesign for the ‘Livelihoods Initiative with FunctionalEducation’ by integrating with the Peoples’Organisations to respond to the needs of the pooryouths to pickup employable skills.

The memorandum of understanding made with theIndira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)for implementing community college concept acrossTamil Nadu has opened up livelihoods orientedhigher education opportunities in rural areas.

Enhancing the quality of governance was givenmuch emphasis through leadership rotation,appraisals and handholding support for the board ofgovernance in the federations, visioning exercisesand capacity building for field workers.

Contribution and stake of the poor communities inthe poverty reduction initiatives were amazing andincomparable. They continue to maintain a stake ofone third of the total programme funds through theirsavings and financial contributions. In the last yearalone they contributed Rs. 52 million for the staff

and programme implementation. Though theFederations have built in a lot of goodwill locally,raising localised resources is still an area of concernand continued focus for the Peoples’ Organisations todeepen their works.

The annual Madurai Marathon was organized on thetheme of “Run to be free from Anaemia” incollaboration with the Tamil Nadu State HealthSociety, Madurai corporation and various otheragencies. The event attracted over 40 thousandparticipants and the half marathon was organized asa competitive event which attracted a lot ofparticipants as compared to the previous year.

DHAN as an HRD organisation provided space forthe professionals to expand their horizons and helpedthem find their identity with the community andgrow in terms of professional competency,commitment to the cause and contribution to thecommunity. However getting and retaining highquality human resources to work at the grassroots iscontinued to be a challenge.

The specialised centres working on human resourcedevelopment, development communication, finance,philanthropy, research, policy and planning haveplayed a greater integration role across theprogrammes through various products and servicesfor enhancing the field action. In addition they havestarted contributing in their respective fieldsthrough research, consultancy and advocacy.

The permanent working groups constituted with thesenior professionals in DHAN, have maderemarkable contributions in terms of advancing thethinking process and synthesizing knowledge fromthe available experiences on gender, livelihoods, andmentoring.


DHAN Foundation initiated the Kalanjiam Community Banking Program in 1990. Over the last decade theseefforts resulted in developing an ‘enabling model’ of microfinance, emphasizing member ownership, self-help,and mutuality. The models primary aim is to empower women and address poverty. The programme focuses onwomen and believes that localised financial institutions owned and controlled by women are an effective way toalleviate poverty and address gender issues. The DHAN Kalanjiam Foundation has been promoted for upscalingthe Kalanjiam nested institutions model. The approaches of the programme are:• Organising Kalanjiam Self Help Groups for the poor women and networking them to become independent

and interdependent secondary institutions called Cluster Development Associations and Federations at thePanchayat and block level.

• Promoting creative financial products such as savings, credit and insurance by formalizing the existingindigenous practices and mutuality mechanisms among the poor.

• Facilitating the Peoples’ Organisations to build linkages with banks and formal financial institutions to meetthe multiple credit needs of members, collaborate with other development agencies such as the Governmentto get their entitlements, implement civic programmes in health and education.

• Strengthening existing livelihoods and creating new livelihoods opportunities through skill building and marketlinkages.

• Building replicable intervention designs through research and pilots on the social and development needs ofthe members such as drinking water, health, education, sanitation, access to basic infrastructure, alcoholismand gender issues.

• Identifying and nurturing the latent leadership potential among poor women to make them as dynamicgrassroots leaders to manage and sustain their organisations.

• Enabling the Peoples’ Organisations to setup fool–proof and transparent financial management by evolvingpolicies, setting up systems, rules and procedures, ensuring quality of accounts through auditing.

• The programme has become a movement called the ‘Kalanjia Iyyakam’ – to bring more women intoKalanjiams.

Reaching out to Poor Communities

The Kalanjiam programme has been expanded to sixnew locations during the year and 46,731 poorfamilies have been organised into 1,580 Kalanjiams.As on March 2009, the Programme has reached outto 434,419 poor women by promoting 25,049Kalanjiams in 164 locations spread over 11 states.

Facilitating financial services

Efforts were made on increasing the quantum ofsavings by the members. Intensive interactions withthe members and counseling helped in increase ofsavings rate in the groups. During the year all the

members have saved Rs.237 million, reaching theaccumulated savings of Rs. 1,368 million. TheKalanjiams issued loans to their members to thetune of Rs. 1748 million for various consumption andproduction purposes. The Programme has ensuredlife insurance cover to 385,146 members through theprivate and government insurance companies.

SHG-Bank Linkage

The Programme has made efforts to strengthenrelationship with the commercial banks with whomthe groups have been linked. Currently 194 branchesof 30 commercial banks are involved in SHG Banklinkages with the Kalanjiam groups. During the

Kalanjiam Community Banking Programme

year 7,691 groups were linked with the banks andmobilised Rs.855 million as loans. So far 21,482groups have been linked with the banks and availed66,626 loans to the tune of Rs.3521.10 million.

Wherever the groups faced difficulties in gettinglinkages, the Programme facilitated linkage with theKalanjiam Development Financial Services tomobilise bridge finance until getting linkages.During the year alone the Programme has facilitatedbridge finance to the tune of Rs.120 million. Withrigorous monitoring and follow-up the Programmecould ensure timely linkages and proper repaymentto the banks. The loans outstanding with the apexbanks were cleared with the available funds to makethe federation out of direct financial linkages withthe groups and concentrate on other developmentagenda.

Federations achieving self–managementCommon fund investment

The Programme continued to focus on educating themembers, leaders and the staff on the need forsecuring common–fund within the group. Instead ofre–lending the ‘common fund’ the groups wereexplained on the importance of creating corpus,mutuality fund and social development fund. Thegroups have taken resolutions to create these funds,and invest in fixed deposits in banks. Monthlyallocation of the common fund and depositing thesame in the bank was emphasised.

Self growth for sustainability

Achieving self-management through financial selfsufficiency by the Kalanjiam Federations was givenmore thrust. The members were educated on thesignificance of cost coverage by the people to achievesustainability. As a result of these, the locationswere able to mobilise service charges from themembers run their institutions to the tune ofRs.41.90 million against the actual spending ofRs.109 million by the federations during the year. Atpresent 21 out of 99 registered federations, which areof more than six-year old were able to meet all theirexpenses on their own. Another 41 Federations meet40 to 80 percent of their costs.

Cost reduction and control

The Federations have made special efforts to reducethe cost of operations at least by 10 percent. Thefederations finalised their budgets at the start of thefinancial year with the involvement of people leaders.They have taken efforts to reduce expenses in manyareas such as optimizing human resources at theCluster Development Associations, reducing cost oftravel and meetings, bulk purchase of stationeriesand do on. As a result of all these efforts, the cost ofProgramme operations has been reduced by 16percent during the year.

Business Correspondent and BusinessFacilitator models of banking

A major partnership has been made with State Bankof India to implement business correspondence andbusiness facilitator models of banking by theKalanjiam Federation. A series of deliberations withthe officials of the Bank were held to finalisemodalities. The KDFS will facilitate theimplementation through the Federations. The role offederations would be identification of borrowers,collection and preliminary processing of loanapplications, creating awareness about savings andother products offered by the Banks and educationand advice on managing money and debt counseling,promotion, nurturing, monitoring and handholdingof SHGs and others, post sanction monitoring in caseloans granted by the Bank, follow up of recovery,disbursal of small value credit, recovery of principaland interest from the borrowers, collection of smallvalue deposits, and sale of micro insurance andpension products.

Civic interventionsAs part of deepening microfinance activities, theKalanjiam Programme has undertaken civicinterventions on reproductive and child health,curative care, malaria control, programme on HIV/AIDS, sanitation, safe drinking water, electricityand housing.

Kalanjiam Reproductive and Child HealthProgramme (KRCH)

The KRCH Programme implemented in eightadvanced Kalanjiam federations with the support of


ICICI bank was concluded. The programme wasaimed at promoting health seeking behaviour amongmember families through behavioral changecommunication approaches and people managedhealth systems and structures, linking withmainstream institutions for reducing the healthcareexpenditures.

An end line survey on hemoglobin count andKnowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) wasundertaken. The results of evaluation of hemoglobinlevel among adolescent girls and ante–natal mothersshowed that there was a significant reduction inprevalence of anaemia after the interventions. Aninterim assessment on the practice changes relatedto anaemia has brought out the facts that theinstitutional delivery rose from 78 percent to 99percent. 38.8 percent of adolescent girls and 36.4percent of pregnant mothers have come out ofanaemia.

The intervention on childhood malnutrition wasinitiated during the year. A baseline onanthropometric measures namely underweight,stunting and wasting was created for the 1,294children below five years old in the eight projectlocations. Besides, a baseline on KAP for 1,198 post-natal mothers was created. Based on the findingsfrom the baselines, behavioral changecommunication strategies were evolved with thesupport of experts. Breast feeding, colostrumsfeeding, complementary feeding, immunisation,balanced diet were taken as focus areas of theintervention. Messages for behavioral changecommunication were prepared for dissemination.

The programme also focused on the ReproductiveTract Infections and Sexually Transmitted Infections(RTI/STI) during the year. As many as 18 specialcamps on RTI/STI were organised in the projectlocations for early detection of ailments. A baselineon knowledge and practice related to reproductivehealth for men and women was created. With theexperience gained on the RCH, the Programme hasbeen able to standardise intervention design. Theproject has been expanded into five new locations inMadurai, Chinnamanur and Salem in Tamil Nadu,Kanakapura in Karnataka, Kuppam in AndhraPradesh.

SUHAM Hospitals for Curative care

The second unit of SUHAM hospitals has beeninitiated in Madurai to serve to members ofKalanjiam, Vayalagam and rainfed farmer groups inMadurai district. The experience gained from TheniSHUAM Hospital was useful in setting up thesecond one. People processes were followed at everystage of establishing this hospital. Rs.1.25 millionhas been mobilised as equity contribution from theFederations. SUHAM Madurai is a 40 beddedhospital with facilities such intensive care unit,pharmacy and operation theatre. Public and privatehospitals and diagnostic centres in Madurai havebeen identified for referral services. So far 257persons and 4565 persons have availed inpatient andoutpatient services respectively from the hospital.

HIV/AIDS and Malaria control project

Preliminary screening for HIV–AIDS in threeKalanjiam Federations in Tamil Nadu was takenup. Promotion of self health governance, linkagewith mainstream for addressing the issue andintegrating health agenda with microfinanceactivities are the expected outcomes of the HIV–AIDS Control Project. The Programme has initiatedMalaria Control project in four tribal locationsnamely Sailana and Piplotha in Madhya Pradesh,Koraput and Borigumma in Orissa with an objectiveof increasing awareness about malaria preventionand treatment among the tribal people andimproving the service delivery by the public healthdepartment. The preliminary screening revealed thegaps in the existing public healthcare system.Baseline on behavioral aspects related to malaria hasbeen created. The other civic initiative – sanitationand safe drinking water programme has beeninitiated in 54 blocks in Tamil Nadu, AndhraPradesh and Karnataka.

Integrating education programme in triballocations

The Programme has introduced remedial educationconcept to bridge the gap in quality of education thetribal locations Borigumma, Betnoti and Lateharlocations. Fourteen remedial educational centreshave been initiated during the year. Primary


standard students have been enrolled in thesecentres. Basic language skills for reading andwriting, and arithmetic skills are taught to thestudents. Youths passed 10th-12th standard fromamong the local community have been recruited asanimators. Basic infrastructure facilities likeblackboard, stationery and furniture have beenprovided to the centres. The parents have beenmotivated to pay for this service to make itsustainable.

Ensuring Community Participation inJnNURM

Three Kalanjiam Federations in Madurai city raisedCommunity Participation Fund from the JawaharlalNehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM)to the tune of Rs. 2.85 million. The Federationsfacilitate the implementation of integrated low costsanitation programme. In partnership with theMunicipal Corporation of Madurai, the Federationshave conducted awareness camp on the BasicServices for Urban Poor (BSUP) scheme in fourslums. As a follow up of the camps, 200 familieshave enrolled in BSUP construction process bysatisfying the eligibility criteria. The Federationswould play a key role in setting up of Madurai CityResource Centre.

Business intermediation

The Programme facilitated technical and strategicsupport from Kalanjiam Thozhilagam Limited (KTL)to the Kalanjiam Federations to identify andintervene in the potential business activities. Theactivities such as dairy, medicinal plants marketingand charcoal making initiated already werestrengthened in terms of systems, volume ofbusiness and linkages with market agencies. Inaddition, pilots on livelihoods promotion such rainfedfarming, sal leaf–cup production and lac cultivationin tribal areas of North India.

Strengthening the existing businessactivities

The federations in Kadamalai, Bodi, Narayanpur,Shanarpatti and Vadamadurai are implementingdairy interventions for the members. The federations

were able to build linkage with corporate dairyplants such as Heritage Dairy Products Ltd andJersy. Nearly 2,000 members have been organisedinto Primary Producer Groups (PPGs). In addition tomarketing of milk, the members of these groups gotdifferent services like collective purchase of cattlefeed, collective hire of technical labour, producequality management, insurance for the cattle, andveterinary care for the animals. All the members inthese federations market around 5,000 litre of milkevery day and supply to various private andcorporate dairies.

The federations in Kadamalai and Vathalagunduhave promoted PPGs for collection and cultivation ofmedicinal and aromatic plants. Nearly 1700 familiesare involved in the activity, and they collect andmarket 20 types of medical plants. The turnover inthe activity during the year was Rs.5.90 millionearned through marketing 420 metric tonnes ofmedicinal plants with leading corporate agenciessuch as Natural Remedies and Himalayas DrugCompany. The federations at Kamudhi andMudhukulathur have organised 185 members into31 PPGs for the Charcoal production.Implementation and market linkage arrangementsfor this activity have been strengthened. TheProducer Company on charcoal making couldachieve a turnover of Rs.17.70 million during theyear.

Integrating Rainfed Farming withmicrofinance

A pilot project for integrating the natural resourcebased interventions with microfinance support isbeing tried out in Koraput, Orissa. So far, 36 rainfedfarmers groups have been initiated with amembership of 502 farmers in 26 villages. Thelocation team undertook a study on disasterpreparedness of rainfed farmers in Koraput district.The findings were useful for the Programme tounderstand risks and vulnerability of the rainfedfarmers and also the coping mechanisms adopted bythe farmers in the project area. Major focus wasgiven on piloting activities such as installation oftreadle pump in low lands, zero budget farming andSystem of Rice Intensification.


Piloting on livelihoods interventions intribal areas

In Betnoti location, an activity grant was given to 40members of 15 groups to support Sal leaf cup andplate making activity. The raw material collectedfrom the forest is processed manually to producecups and plates. With the activity grant, theypurchased a machine for making the products. Dueto the intervention, income of these members wasobserved to increase from Rs.20 to 60 per day.

Similarly, in Latehar location, credit support at lowinterest rates was made available to the 140members of 10 groups for the lac processing activity.A training programme was given to 10 of thesemembers on new technologies of lac cultivation andprocessing activities in Indian Institute of NaturalResins and Gums (IINRG), Ranchi. Though theresources involved in these interventions very less,they have created a significant change in the level ofreturns of the group members who are the primaryproducers.

The location teams at Koraput and Borigummamade arrangement to partner with the ORMARSociety, Orissa state government aided agency whichprovides skill building and marketing support for thetribal and rural people.

Collaboration with the Government

The Programme works with the public healthdepartment of Tamil Nadu for implementinganaemia control programme in five blocks alongwith district and block level public healthdepartments. Project inception report was preparedafter assessing the status of prevalence anaemia inthe locations, present interventions on anaemia andknowledge, attitude and practice of people in thelocations on anaemia.

The Programme also entered in partnership with theMAVIM, a livelihood promotional initiative by theGovernment of Maharashtra to provide resourcesupport to its implementation teams on socialmobilisation and microfinance. Similarly, theprogramme engaged in a partnership with theWomen Development Corporation of Government of

Tamil Nadu to extend resource support onmicrofinance. The Corporation consented to extendlinkage support to all the eligible groups theKalanjiam Programme under the SwarnajayantiGram Swarozgar Yojana. About 6,000 Kalanjiamgroups have been linked so far and availed revolvingfund assistance to the tune of Rs.360 million.

Strengthening Kalanjiam Peoples’OrganisationsMajor thrust was given to conduct CDA andfederation level Mahasabhas with the fullparticipation of leaders. In many federations, thepeople leaders showed their ownership throughtaking charge in planning for the event, mobilisingresources, relating with resource persons,coordinating logistics and anchoring the stageevents. The Federations in Madurai and Salemregions have published their annual reports.

Enhancing effectiveness of governance

The Programme undertook a few pilots to strengthenthe governance system in the Kalanjiam Federationsin view of achieving institutional sustainability in afaster pace. The results were positive particularly forreduction of cost and effective use of humanresources available. The idea of constituting coregroups in the Kalanjiam Federations with the seniorleaders formerly occupied leadership space in thefederation has been mooted to ensure their continuedcontribution in the governance. The Programmecould ensure increase in number of board membersin the federation from seven to 13 per federationduring the year. Major focus was given for rotationof board members and appraisal for them in all theKalanjiam Federations.

Ensuring Financial Systems

The Programme organised capacity building andtechnical support to computerise the accounts andreporting. Full-fledged computerisation hasstrengthened internal control mechanisms at alllevels and ensured transparency. It has enabled thelocations in timely completion of audit of groups.Computerisation has also improved the skills of thepeople’s institutions making effective managementdecisions.


(Cumulative figures)

Particulars March2007

March2008

March2009

Spread of the programmea) No. of Statesb) No. of Districtsc) No. of Blocksd) No. of Kalanjiamse) No. of Clustersf) No. of Federationsg) No. of Membersh) No. of villages

933

15723,987

1,52770

3,80,5177,209

1136

15724,469

1,45173

4,01,6887,311

1136

16426,049

1,14399

434,4197,615

Finance (Rs.in million)a) Total own fundsb) Savingsc) Reserves & Surplus

1,210942268

1,4051,1312,74

1,6701,368

302

SHG Bank Linkagea) No. of branches involvedb) No. of banks involvedc) No. of loansd) Amount mobilizede) Loan outstanding with membersf) Total credit generated

18329

44,8951,8761,9235,016

19229

56,0922,6662,1906,629

19430

66,6263,5212,5958,377

Status of Kalanjiam Community Banking Programme


Ensuring quality of accounting systems was givenhigh emphasis. Internal auditing done by theProgramme team has helped in ensuring quality ofaccounting in the Peoples’ Organisations andefficiency of audit process. The Programme evolveda guideline for auditing of accounts of people’s

institutions and ensured appointment of auditors forall the location. A one–day workshop was organisedon accounting policies for Peoples’ Organisationsinvolving the Charted Accountants from variousparts of India.

Vayalagam Tankfed Agriculture

Development Programme

There are numerous small irrigation tank structures spread over the entire Deccan Plateau, which serve severallakh small and marginal families in South India. The tanks deteriorated because of neglect and need urgentrenovation and good management. The Vayalagam Tankfed Agriculture Development Programme was initiated inthe year 1992 to work on these small water bodies with the participation of the farmers. The programme believesthat local management of the tank system can be the only solution to the problem in the long run. The programmehas moved from working on isolated tanks, to cascade-watershed, small scale water bodies, basin and now‘Water’ as a unique tool for alleviating poverty. The key components of the programme are:• Organising the farmers around the tanks and later on at the level of cascades, blocks and districts.• Rehabilitating water harvesting structures with farmers’ contribution and participation to improve the acquisition

of water by restoring the system efficiency and increase water use efficiency.• Promoting tank-based watershed development by including tank rehabilitation as a component of watershed

development for harvesting all the rain water within each watershed boundary.• Organising Micro Finance Groups to provide access to savings, credit and insurance services to the farmers.• Establishing Vayalagam Agriculture Development Centres to enhance productivity of tankfed agriculture by

creating awareness about new farming and irrigation management practices.• Promoting producer and marketing groups to undertake bulk purchase of farm inputs and collective marketing

of farm produces to get the benefits of economy of scale.• Collaborating with relevant academic and research institutions at national and international levels to do

research on tank systems and tankfed agriculture.• Advocating for supportive policies to aid community action in conservation and development by interacting

with the local, State and Central Governments.

Promotion of People’s Organisationsfor Water Conservation

The Vayalagam programme has reached out to11,885 farm families in 192 villages by organisingthem in to 182 Vayalagams. So far the Programmehas reached out to 161,307 farm families throughpromoting 2,164 Vayalagams and 161 Cascadeassociations. The programme has made an entryinto the Eastern India. Explorations were made infive new locations for expanding the conservationand development of traditional water bodies andlivelihoods around them. Based on the scope andpotential, a study for the tank rehabilitationpotential has been undertaken at Dhenkanal districtin Orissa.

Conservation and development ofWater ResourcesThe productivity from tank command area primarilydepends on the adequacy of number of irrigationgiven from the tanks to the crops cultivated. Theprogramme with the funding support of mainstreamagencies like government, corporate and individualphilanthropies has taken up and completedconservation and development works worth of Rs.42.26 million in the water bodies. In addition, Rs.20million worth of physical works were in differentstages of completion.

These conservation and development works werecarried out in the tanks, ooranis, community wells,

farm ponds, mini percolation tanks with thefarmers’ contribution ranging from 12 to 50 percentdepending on the nature of the work. As a result ofthese conservation works the water bodies havebecome efficient and effective to store the enoughfresh water during the monsoon which in turnhelped the small and marginal farm families tostabilize their agriculture and livelihood.

Partnerships for Conservation andDevelopment

The programme was successful in strengtheningexisting relationship with the partner agencies bothprivate and public for mobilising resources to takeup conservation and development works. Thecontribution from various schemes of NationalWatershed Development Programme for RainfedAreas (NWDPRA), National Bank for Agricultureand Rural Development (NABARD), AndhraPradesh Community Based Tank ManagementProject (APCBTMP), Jala Samvardhane YojanaSangha (JSYS), UNDP–Global EnvironmentFacility (GEF) were very significant. Support fromthe individual donors and the corporates like ITCand Hindustan Unilever Limited were also timelyand very critical for undertaking works.

One of the significant partnerships made during theyear was Farmers Participatory Action ResearchProgramme (FPARP) of Central Water Commission,under the Ministry of Water Resources ofGovernment of India. The project aimed atpromoting farmers’ participatory action researchtowards achieving “More Crop and Income perDrop”. The Vayalagam Programme implementedthis project in seven districts by taking up 98demonstrations encompassing five proven watermanagement technologies.

Similarly, the philanthropic support by the PAN-IITalumni initiatives to renovate 10 water resourcesand the Corporate Social Responsibility initiative bythe ITC and Hindustan Unilever Limited to supporttank based watershed development and drinkingwater pond development were noteworthy. About55,000 families have been directly benefited throughall these partnership projects.

Micro finance for AgriculturalDevelopment

The Microfinance Groups (MFGs) are the vehicle toaddress the credit needs of the farming communityfor various purposes as integral component of theVayalagams promoted around the water bodies.During the year 6,287 members were organised intoMFGs totalling up to 41,287 members. Thesemembers have saved Rs. 14.73 million reaching thecumulative savings of Rs. 27.18 million.

The MFGs have mobilised Rs. 35.36 million throughthe SGH Bank linkages and from the KalanjiamDevelopment Financial Services as bridge finance.The MFGs predominantly with the men farmers andlandless labourers have proved beyond doubt thatthey are creditworthy with their repaymentperformance. Seeing their performance many banksincluding State bank of India, Canara bank, UnionBank of India and Regional rural banks cameforward overwhelmingly to extend credit supportsetting aside the myths about men SHGs.

The farmers and landless labourers, who are themembers in these MFGs availed credit facilities forvarious production as well as consumption purposes.The MFGs have issued loans to the tune of Rs. --51million during this year making the cumulative loanoutstanding as Rs. 76.50 million.

Under Swaranjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana(SGSY) linkage the 41 MFGs have received revolvingfund assistance from the Government of Tamil Naduto the tune of Rs. 2.07 million.

Sustaining tankfed agriculture forlivelihoods

System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a set of newfarming practices developed to increase theproductivity of land, water, and other farm input.Being advocated widely across the world, theexperience shows that the SRI plants develop strongroots and stalks, and more tillers, with higher yieldsand even better rice quality– all with less input ofwater, seeds and other inputs. Paddy cultivationunder SRI methods has shown better resistanceagainst drought, water logging and wind damages.


The Vayalagam programme through its VayalagamAgriculture Development Centres (VADCs)established at cascade level advocated the SRImethod in Chittoor, Tumkur, Madurai andHyderabad regions. The results were encouragingand the farmers accepted to continue this method inthe coming years.

The Vayalagam Federation at Pavagada, Karnatakaand the federations in Ramanathapuram,Kottampatti federations have helped the farmers toget inputs such as fertilisers and seeds in time atfair prices. Through this input supply services about12,000 members got benefited and about Rs. 12.61million worth of inputs were supplied to them.

Singampuneri Federation awarded the best farmerswith an award and citation for their achievements inthe yield, organic practices, use of manual labourand water use efficiency. Similarly the Federation inThiruvallur undertook a mass signature campaignagainst conversion of cultivable lands into housingplots and other non agricultural purposes. Theycollected signatures from over 3000 farmers andhand over with a petition to the District Collector tostall the process.

The practice of organic farming was promoted aspart of farm production system in the last of year ofNWDPRA implementation through involvingfarmers in application of tank silt, earth worms,farmyard manure and Panchakavya for paddy cropcultivation in the watershed villages.

Agricultural marketing through value chain modelwas piloted with a seed–capital. Vayalagammembers organised into eight Primary Procurementgroups and two Primary Marketing Groups tried outcollective purchase and marketing of paddy, maize,bajra, sorghum and medicinal plants in bulk fromfarmers and sold the commodities for Rs.4.00million.

Safe Drinking Water

The ‘Water Expertise and Training Centre (WETC)’promoted by the Vayalagam Programme has beentrying out a variety of household water treatmentoptions for ensuring safe drinking water. Capacity

development to create awareness on Bio sand filters,Community Health Promotion, Water QualityTesting, Household Rainwater harvesting, ProjectPlanning and training to Masons have beenorganised with the support of Rotary ClubInternational and three year project sanctioned byCanadian International Development Agency.

The Centre has organised 17 training programmesbenefiting 221 development professionals working atthe grassroots level Peoples’ Organisations. Theywere trained on safe drinking water, communityhealth, water quality testing and householdrainwater harvesting. WETC ensured production of233 bio–sand filters and installation of 471 filters in16 locations in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.236 filters were installed in 92 schools in Madurai,Nellore, Karaikudi and Virudhunagar.

During the year, the WETC mobilised Rs.0.20million from Rotary International Karaikudi andVirudhunagar to deploy 200 Bio–sand filters inschools. The Centre got a sanction for the jointproposal submitted by it with Centre for AffordableWater and Sanitation Technology (CAWST) toCanadian International Development Agency (CIDA).This 3–year capacity development project wouldscale up the safe drinking water initiative of theCentre for providing education, training and ongoing technical support.

Centre for Urban water Resources(CURE)

With the resources raised from the MaduraiMarathon 2008 the CURE team completed the piloturban water resources development works atInmayil Nanmai Tharuvar temple tank as well asKochadai tank supply channel. Encroachmenteviction in Kochadai supply channel was donecompletely with the support of Government and thelocal communities. This experience has given a lot oflessons in encroachment eviction in the big citieslike Madurai.

Two waste water treatment systems underDecentralised Waste Water Recycling Technique(DEWATS) have been installed on experimental


basis. The Centre has become a member in theCovenant of Dissemination of DEWATS (CDD)Society, a net work agency promoted by BORDA,Germany and GTZ. The team members from CUREtook part in the BORDA Country strategy work shopin Bangalore.

Promoting Freshwater Fisheries

There exist a greater scope for undertakingpisiculture in the water bodies, both public andprivate such as tanks and farm ponds. Pisiculturewas taken up in 927 water bodies in Madurai,Sivagangai, Ramnad, Kanchipuram and Thiruvallurdistricts in Tamilnadu, Adilabad, Chitoor in AndhraPradesh and Tumkur and Yadagiri in Karnataka. Itwas done in 44 tanks, 25 Ooranis, 858 farm ponds.Since these districts receive rainfall during either ofthe southwest or northeast monsoons, fish seedstocking is done during August to Februarydepending on water availability. Trainings and fieldvisits were facilitated to promote pisiculture.Existing fish growers and experts from the fisheryinstitutes trained the field associates and farmers onthe technology of pisiculture. They were taken to thefields to interact with the community and clarifytheir doubts.

Policy Advocacy as a ResourceCentre

With more than a decade of intensive workexperience in conservation and development of smallscale water resources with community participationand ownership, the Vayalagam Programme isapproached by many NGOs and Governmentagencies for consultation. The Programme takespart in many national and international forums onwater theme to share its experience.

The Vayalagam Programme helped the NalgondaDistrict Rural Water Supply Department, AndhraPradesh to identify the potential drinking waterponds to over come the issue of dental flourosiscaused due to excessive fluoride in the drinkingwater. It has organised an exposure programme forthe Programme Officers of Oxfam-India onCommunity Managed Tank Irrigation Systems to

sustain food security by enhanced tankfedagriculture. The Programme also shared itsexperiences in participatory field researchmethodology with the centre for Water Resources,Anna University. Similarly the Programme teamhas shared its experiences in conjunctive use ofwater resources and legal aspects of encroachmenteviction in water bodies to the IrrigationManagement Training Institute, Trichy.

On the request of Integrated Tribal DevelopmentAgency, Adilabad in Andhra Pradesh theProgramme has undertaken an assignment toprepare tank memoirs for five Irrigation Divisions.Also, the Programme housed as Project Secretariatfor 2–year project on Nodal NGOs sponsored byCAPART in South Tamil Nadu. The MANAGE,Hyderabad as well as Central Soil and WaterConservation Institute, Ooty invited the Programmeteam to share its experiences in water conservationand integration of microfinance for sustainability.

The Programme also presented a thematic paper onClimate Change Adaptation and Safe Water-MultipleUse system for Food security in 5th World WaterForum in Istanbul, Turkey. DHAN Foundation wasinvited at the World Water Council’s pavilion toshare implementer’s perspective on safe drinkingwater at household level in India as part of the sideevent organised by UN-HABITAT and CAWST.

Studies and Documentation

The Vayalagam programme team conducted a pilotstudy at Thirumanimuthar sub basin and mappedthe vulnerable tanks and set up the early warningsystem during floods. The study has brought in newknowledge to the programme and helped in evolvingpolicy for integrating the Disaster Risk Reduction asa core component of the programme. Similarly astudy on the capacity building needs for the DRR fordifferent calamity situations was facilitated by theteam.

Programme Management

The Professionals involved in programmeimplementation at the ground level have undergone‘Executive Development Programme’ to get equipped


the skills of the financial management. Financialpolicy and manual were prepared and shared withthe Vayalagam Federations to ensure uniformfinancial management systems. Special sessionswere organised to the staff for orienting them onGender Policies of DHAN Foundation. Appraisalswere organised for the Board of Directors of theFederations to reorient them towards governancepractices at the federation level.

Vayalagam Movement to spearheadtank conservation

The annual general body of the movement wasorganised at Madurai, where 100 leaders from all theVayalagam Federations attended and shared theachievement in last year. Resolutions insisting onaddressing issues related to conservation and

development of water bodies were made by thegeneral body. The Movement leaders facilitated theBoard Appraisals and monitored leadership rotation.In few places the Movement demonstrated the use ofRight to Information Act to obtain informationrequired for addressing issues related toconservation.

The Vayalagam Movement also motivated theVayalagam Institutions to take up Shramdhanactivities. About 250 shramadhan works werecarried out by the farmers as part of celebrating theVayalagam Movement Day on March 7th. To workwith entire village for reinforcing its native cultureand heritage, the Movement promoted a Village–levelValue Integration Forum in Kumarachittanpattivillage of Pudur location in Tuticorin District on apilot basis.


Status of Vayalagam Agriculture Development Programme (Cumulative figures)

Sl.No.

Particulars As onMarch '07

As onMarch '08

As onMarch '09

1 Spread of the programmea) No. of Statesb) No. of Districtsc) No. of Vayalagamsd) No. of Cascade including watershed associationse) No. of Federationsf) No. of Membersg) Command area benefited (in ha.)

418

1,197

9614

1,02,26634,683

422

1,982

14031

1,48,77052,081

422

2,164

16131

1,60,65557,541

2 Value of Physical works implemented during(Rs.in million)a) Through Farmers' Contributionb) Through Govt. and other agenciesc) Agriculture Credit support tthrough MFGs

6.525.918.8

14.644.836.3

8.633.751.1

Coastal Conservation and

Livelihood Programme

DHAN Foundation responded immediately after the tsunami in 2004 and took up relief works. To identify andaddress the needs, the local community was asked to identify what they needed. After the relief phase, DHANtook up role of enabling the restoration of livelihood activities in the affected regions. It has become a full-fledgedand area based programme. The programme follows an integrated and holistic approach to address the issues inlivelihoods and conservation of coastal ecosystem. Without upsetting the social fabric and cultural identities, thefollowing programme components have been designed.• Promoting Peoples’ Organisations among the most vulnerable communities: marginalized fishing communities,

affected coastal farmers, affected women and families involved in allied activities. They get access to savings,credit and insurance services in addition to support for their livelihoods activities

• Conserving natural resources such as coastal eco-system, marine bio-system, water bodies and coastalfarms to reduce poverty and vulnerability and to make fisheries and coastal agriculture sustainable.

• Building business-based people’s organisations and their networks to strengthen their existing livelihoodsand encourage them to take up alternative livelihoods.

• Establishing disaster mitigation strategies through disaster management committees, early warning systemsthrough networked VICs, creating corpus funds at the People’s Organisations for facing future disasters.

• Working in partnership with the Panchayat and District level mainstream agencies to coordinate effectivelyunder any emergency situations.

Community Organisation for CoastalConservationThe Coastal Conservation and LivelihoodsProgramme (CALL) consolidated all its experiencesgained during the livelihoods restoration phase andinitiated the conservation phase of itsimplementation with a demarcation of coastal areaand buffer zone. Since the families living in thebuffer zone have an equal opportunity as well asthreats, they have an equal stake in conserving theresources as well. During this year 5,151 poorfamilies were organised into 307 SHGs, making thetotal number of families organised by theProgramme to 73,065.

During this year two federations were promoted inThirunallaru location in Karaikal district in theUnion Territory of Puducherry and Kullanchavadilocation in Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu. So far 39SHG federations have been promoted in the coastal

area. Seven SHG federations have organizedmahasabha events in Pondicherry and Ramnaddistrict. More than 14,000 women membersparticipated in the event. Officials from the districtadministration and banks participated in the event.

Resource Mobilisation

The poor families in the SHGs have saved Rs. 142million by adding Rs.37 million during the year. Thecommunities have mobilised Rs.500 million throughtheir savings and loans and grants from otherinstitutions. With these funds the SHGs haveextended credit facilities to their members forvarious needs such as consumption, livelihood,health, and education. Under SHG Bank linkage1,115 SHGs were linked with banks and mobilisedRs.89 million as loans. Another 821 groups werelinked under SGSY and other schemes and mobilisedRs.49 million.

Livelihood Interventions

The families involved in salt–pan works, traditionalactivities, small and petty trades and landlesslabourers were supported to strengthen theirexisting activities and initiate new activities. Theywere supported to initiate livestock, small and pettytrades, vending, fishing and agriculture activities.The farmers, fisher folks and women were organizedinto producer and marketing groups and they havecollectively marketed to an extent of Rs.22 million.Livelihood infrastructures were established toenhance the income of poor families. During the yearalone 3,497 families were supported for variouslivelihood activities.

During this year 658 salt farmers were supported forthe initiating alternative livelihood activities. Goatrearing was the major activity chosen by thecommunity. Families having limited experience onalternative livelihood activities were supported totake salt farms on lease. Through this initiative 291landless families were able acquire a piece land andearn income out of it. Similarly 822 poor familiesinvolved in traditional marine based activities weresupported to strengthen their farm and sea basedactivities.

Collective Marketing

The farming families in Nagapattinam district wereorganized into primary agriculture producer group,fisher folks in Nagapattinam, Cuddalore, Ramnadand Pudhukottai districts were organized in primarymarketing groups and women involved in dairyactivities were organized in milk producer groups.Fifty nine PPGs and PMGs were promoted duringthe year with 750 families. All these families wereable to achieve better market price for the producesold directly to the merchants after evading theintermediary. They have received quality inputs atfair price and they were able bargain on the price fortheir produces. These business based peoples’organisations have collectively made a turnover ofRs.22 million during the year.

Two fish kiosks have been promoted during the yearin Cuddalore district with the support of FAO andUnited Nations Team for Tsunami Recovery

Support. Similarly mud crab fattening was found tobe a profitable livelihood alternative. This activitygenerates better income and provides better returnto the community. The activity requires minimumtime and skill for monitoring and feeding. The seed(Juvenile crab) for this activity is naturally availablein the coastal villages. This year, two PPGs werepromoted around this activity.

Infrastructures for LivelihoodDevelopment

Milk Processing Unit: The milk processing unithas been set up in Ayeekuppam village of Cuddaloredistrict. The unit has the capacity to process 25,000liters of milk and equipped with machineries andtool for processing, chilling and packing. Anexclusive professional team has been placed to runthe unit. Presently this unit is processing 10,000litres of milk per day, supporting around 2000 dairyfarming families. All the families supported couldearn an additional income of Rs. 1–2 per liter ofmilk.

Warehouse for farmers: A warehouse wasestablished in Nagapattinam district for the use ofthe farmers with the support of Care Today. Threemore warehouses are under construction. Throughthe warehouse, the poor and marginal farmingfamilies were able to store their produces and sell itwhere there was a hike in the market price.

Fish Meal Plant: A fish meal plant was establishedin Cuddalore district to support the fisher folks andadd value to the produces. The unit establishedwould support 300 families in the coastal villages.The dried fish taken from the fishermen arepulverized, packed and sold to the merchants indifferent districts of Tamil Nadu. Through thisinitiative the fisher folk were able to receive 5 – 8percent as additional income.

Technology and Development

The Village Information Centres and CommunityColleges served the information needs of about150,000 users. The Kalanjiam Samuga Vanoli(Community Radio) promoted under the UNDPproject, with an objective to provide early warning


information and awareness to the coastal communityobtained its broadcast license. The Kalanjia SamugaVanoli received Manthon award for the best e-content of the year under community broadcasting.The station has produced 3,201 audio programmesand started broadcasting.

Local Governance

DHAN Foundation launched its Panchayat theme inthe 10 coastal Panchayats to promote communitycentered and development oriented local governance.The programme had exclusive focus on effectiveimplementation of NREGA activities and linking thepeople institution with the local government.Participation of the people in the Gramasabhameetings and multi-year micro plan at village levelwere given adequate attention during this year. Thevillagers were oriented on social audit and exclusivereferendum was also organized to rate the services ofthe local Panchayats.

Disaster Management

The recent cyclone Nisha, caused 86 deaths andrendered thousands homeless. The cyclone whichcrossed the coast near Karaikal in the unionterritory of Puducherry, wreaked havoc in a numberof places, including Karaikal, Nagapattinam,Cuddalore, Tiruvarur and Ramnad districts,submerging standing crops in over one lakh acres.The fishing boats anchored near the shore and thefishing equipments were also severely damaged. Theincessant rain caused extensive damage to roads andmany villages were isolated in terms of road andcommunication.

The cyclone tested the capacity of recently promotedinstitutions and disaster management committees.In Pudhupalli village of Keelayur block inNagapattinam district, the disaster managementcommittee actively diverted the flood water andprevented the damages to the village. The committeemembers removed the fallen trees and facilitatedquick restoration. The federations in the coastal areareacted swiftly to the damages caused by thedisaster. They formulated federation level teams toassess the damages and channelise the resourcesfrom the mainstream institutions. The details of

damages were shared with the VillageAdministrative Officer and the districtadministration. The information shared by afederation in Thalainayiru block has been used asbaseline information by the district administrationfor relief work.

The Kalanjiam federation in Ramnad districtsupported the affected families to renovate the 11damaged houses. Leaders directly went to the fieldand assessed the damages and provided moralsupport to the affected communities. The communityradio established in Nagapattinam district updatedthe coastal community with early warninginformation. Further it also documented thecommunity level initiatives.

Health and HIV AIDS awareness

To address the health related issues andoccupational hazards faced by the salt–pan workers,exclusive medical camps were organized. The healthcamps organized in different villages indicated that,salt pan workers suffer from thyroid, dermatologicaldisease, body pain and abdomen pain. About 300people got benefited through these camps.

Awareness and orientation events were organized forthe school children, general public and SHGmembers on HIV AIDS. Blood test camps wereorganized to identify the victims and link them withthe positive network. Events like processions andcultural events were organized to reach thecommunity in a mass scale.

Workshops and Seminars

A district level workshop on conservation wasorganized in Ramnad district with the participationof more than 200 fisher folks. Community leadersand fisher folks representing different coastalvillages of Ramnad took part in the event. Theparticipants discussed on existing livelihood andconservation related issues. The participants feltthat banned practices must be avoided to secure thecoastal livelihoods and juvenile fishes must not becaught. Coastal pollution must be controlled andnatural resources like coral reefs and sea grass mustbe conserved. Coastal plantation should be done to


avoid soil erosion and a detailed atlas on variousresources and livelihoods can be prepared and sharedwith the community.

Collaboration and ConvergenceThe IFAD assisted Post Tsunami SustainableLivelihood Programme has been launched in TamilNadu. DHAN Foundation has become a resourceinstitution for training the local developmentorganization. Under UNDP- Tsunami EconomicAssistance Project 18 primary marketing groups andtwo fish kiosks were promoted to strengthen thelivelihoods of about 294 families.

With the support of Oxfam Novib the Programmehas reached out to the unreached fringecommunities to strengthen their livelihoods.Through this project, 4046 families were organisedand supported through capacity building events.

To address the price fluctuation issue and to enablethe farming community to earn better price, three

warehouses are being established in the coastalvillages of Nagapattinam district with thecollaboration of Care Today Foundation. Thisinitiative would support 1200 farm families.

With the support of district administration inRamnad, the Programme facilitated construction of2,875 new houses in the tsunami affected coastalareas with an estimate of Rs. 2.38 lakhs each. TheProgramme played a key role in mobilising thecommunity, identifying the members and to supportthe community to select the suitable design of thehouse.

The European Union supported project “IncreasedWater Harvesting and Diminished Desertification”to support the farming community is implementedin five tsunami affected coastal districts of TamilNadu. The project aims to renovate 100 minor waterbodies for irrigation and drinking and to create 1500farm ponds benefiting 7,500 farm families.


Tata-Dhan Academy

The Tata-Dhan Academy, an institution for Development Management is the result of a partnership between theDHAN Foundation and Sir Ratan Tata Trust, Mumbai. The Academy was begun in December 2000 and aims atbecoming a Centre of Excellence in Development Management. The core purposes of the Academy are inductingand grooming fresh graduates as Development Professionals through specially designed programmes, andbuilding capacity of the development practitioners. The key activities taken up by the Academy are;• A two-year postgraduate programme in development management (PDM) for building development

professionals with high quality techno-managerial competence supported by appropriate motivations, valuesand attitudes to work with people, particularly the disadvantaged.

• A number of short duration management development programmes such as Social Development ResearchCapacity Building, LEAD: Future Search for NGOs, Advanced Reflective Training on upscaling Microfinance,Micro insurance and Development Management Appreciation Programme for the NGO staff, academicians,researchers and government agencies.

• Researches for generating case studies and teaching materials are coordinated by the faculty membersand supported by Research Associates.

• The ‘Advanced Centre for Skill and Knowledge on Mutual Insurance (ASKMI)’ promoted in the Academyworks for advancing the practice of micro insurance and the ‘Advanced Centre for Enabling Disaster RiskReduction (ACE DRR)’ works on enhancing the knowledge and practice on disaster risk reduction. TheseCentres take up researches, pilot projects, training and education, documentation and publication, networkingand consultancy, and policy advocacy in the respective fields.

Post-Graduate Programme inDevelopment Management

To date, about 100 students have graduated from theAcademy’s PDM. These graduates—equipped with amulti-disciplinary set of skills relevant to thedevelopment context—are now working at designatedNGOs throughout India. For the seventh batch ofPDM students, all 21 students received placementsafter a rigorous campus placement process. Of thesestudents, about half of them were placed in NGOsother than DHAN. There has been good responsefrom these NGOs, and many of them have alsoextended field support to the eighth batch of PDMstudents during their field studies. PDM 7 studentscompleted their days at the Academy with a formalfour-day programme consolidation workshop, theoutcomes of which also help strengthen the PDM’sdesign.

During 2008–2009, the 17 students in the eighthPDM batch had completed up to the end of their

second development practice segment and wereentering their final term. During their fourth term,they had a chance to participate in elective coursesin analytical decision making, audio/visualproduction, and specialised writing. In the fifthterm, they were offered elective courses in microinsurance, disaster risk management, and genderand practice. The eight students in the ninth PDMbatch had completed their inauguration and theirfirst term and were undergoing their first fieldworkin various states under the guidance of DHANites.

Among the new activities for the year, a film clubhas been started, online courses have beenintroduced to the PDM students, a student websitehas been established, and a “village adoption”concept has been organised. In the film club,students screen and discuss development-relatedfilms and documentaries. The online courses focuson developing their English communication skills.The student website offers students a place to sharesome of their work and their experiences at the

Academy. The village adoption programme will helpto reinforce the relationship between the studentsand the community.

Advanced Centre for EnablingDisaster Risk Reduction (ACEDRR)The Advanced Centre for Enabling Disaster RiskReduction (ACEDRR) focused on institution buildinginitiatives and on implementing activities such asresearch, training and education, and policyadvocacy. ACEDRR evolved its vision, mission,principles, and core values and developed aperspective and strategic plan document to guide theCentre’s growth. A website was developed for theCentre; this will eventually be developed as aknowledge portal on disaster risk reduction (DRR).Publicity materials such as a brochure and a 2009desktop calendar were also developed.

Three of ACEDRR’s four research projects—whichwere designed to link DRR with recent developmentparadigms and themes like climate change andadaptation, participatory design andimplementation, natural resource management,microfinance and micro insurance—have beencompleted. Fourteen pilots in ten thematic areasspread in three geographical contexts (tribal, ruraland coastal) and five disaster contexts (flood, cyclone,tsunami, drought and epidemics) were undertakenduring this reporting period.

ACEDRR is currently working to publish thefindings of the research and pilot projects in the formof briefs and a compendium. Nangooram (meaninganchor), a compilation of lyrics to 35 songs onawareness building in disaster preparedness andrisk reduction, was published by the Centre. APrimer on Linking Disaster Risk Reduction withDevelopment Efforts is a publication (underprinting) based on the discussions and outputs ofACEDRR’s workshop on disaster risk reductionconducted during the 2007 Madurai Symposium.

ACEDRR offered an elective course on disastermanagement to the students of the Academy andoffered training to Project Executives on community-based DRR. The Centre has also began explorationfor collaboration with the World Bank Institute tooffer online courses in DRR. Capacity has also beendeveloped within the ACEDRR team: this year, team

members had the opportunity to partake in nationaland international training programmes.

Advanced Centre for Skill andKnowledge on Mutual Insurance(ASKMI)

ASKMI completed international and nationaltraining programmes on micro insurance and wasable to build the capacity of 28 participants ondifferent aspects of micro insurance. An electivecourse on micro insurance was offered to thestudents of PDM 8. ASKMI staff also attended twointernational training programmes on microinsurance.

The Centre has worked on 7 research projects during2008–2009: (1) risks and vulnerabilities of rural andtribal poor; (2) risks and vulnerabilities of dairyfarmers; (3) tank-based index insurance; (4)indigenous technologies of risk management; (5)microfinance and micro insurance tools in disastermanagement in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh(with ACEDRR); (6) community empowermentthrough traditional folk media on risk andvulnerability; and (7) backwater and its impact onlivelihood.

Two documents, one on piloting deficit rainfallinsurance with small rainfed farmers, and a casestudy on agriculture insurance were documentedand published. Additionally, a case writing workshopon micro insurance was held to generate and collectcases to build the capacity of practitioners.


Consultancy, Publications, andFaculty DevelopmentFour field studies were undertaken with IndianBank involving PDM 8 students. A disseminationproject is in progress for the two District HumanDevelopment Reports of Tiruvannamalai andSivagangai districts which were prepared for theState Planning Commission.

The Academy has begun to release a series ofinternal thematic publications. The first twopublications—the Style Manual of the Tata-DhanAcademy and Fieldwork Diary Writing, ProcessDocumentation, and Journal Writing—were writtenprimarily with the PDM students in mind. TheAcademy has also taken efforts to strengthen itsinternal design capacity with respect to designingbrochures and other promotional materials.

Systematic efforts have been made with respect tofaculty development to improve the teaching ability,research and documentation ability, and thecurriculum at the Tata-Dhan Academy. During

2008–2009, two faculty attended IIMA’s FacultyDevelopment Programme. One faculty completed acourse on disaster risk management which wasconducted half in Switzerland and half in India. Onefaculty attended a four-day case teaching workshop,and a few attended seminars and workshops relevantto their subject areas.

Development ManagementProgrammesThe Advanced Reflective Education and Training onDevelopment Finance, Micro Insurance andBusiness Development (ART), a two-weekinternational course, was conducted for about 30participants. The participants were exposed todifferent community models of microfinance,different micro insurance products and businessinterventions to enhance economic development andaddress the sustainability issues. Three courses onmicro insurance was offered by ASKMI of theAcademy for the practitioners of national levelNGOs.


Information and Communication Technology for Poor

There exists a great divide between the access to and use of information and communication technology (ICT)between urban and rural, rich and poor, for profits and charities. DHAN Foundation has taken up ICT for the pooras a new theme to experiment, develop and implement socially-relevant ICT programmes through the ICT basedpeople’s organisations built at the grassroots. It has become a cross cutting theme to complement themicrofinance, water, rainfed farming themes. The programme is involved in the following activities.• Promoting Thagavalagam Groups to provide ICT based livelihoods, Village Information Centres in rural areas

as well as urban slums to provide various e-services such as e-mail, e-Post, computer aided school education,e-Governance.

• Facilitating the rural poor to get connected with the resources and expertise located distantly throughonline consultations for eye care, health, agriculture, legal, education and animal husbandry and fishery.

• Enabling the aged and illiterate women and men to learn reading and writing through computer-aided adultliteracy centres setup for the Kalanjiam and Vayalagam members.

• Establishing Community Colleges to offer a number of ICT related and job oriented courses to the pooryouths and helping them to get employed in the nearby towns and cities.

• Developing content for educational use, software for agriculture and animal husbandry services being usedby farmers in VIC’s.

• Promoting partnership with the other stakeholders such as ICT based academic, research and businessorganisations to channelise resources and expertise to the grassroots

The ICT for Poor theme has developed aThagavalagam model of ICT based poverty reductioninitiative with a right mixture of development focus,community management and ownership, revenuegeneration and integration with existingdevelopment programmes in the area thus providingsynergy. The Thagavalagam theme now would enterthe new phase of upscaling with fullest integrationwith various DHAN programmes.

ICT based People’s Organisations

The primary unit of the ICT intervention is VillageInformation Centre (VIC), known as Thagavalagamin Tamil. VIC is basically is an information resourcecentre at village level, where an operator and acomputer system are available with internetconnectivity. They provide computer experience forthe people in the villages. These VICs help thevillagers to improve their standard of living byexpanding livelihood options and empowering themwith information tools, goods, and services such aseducation and health care. There are 112 VICs in

operation extending about 32 types of ICT services tothe villagers.

Thagavalagam Community College (TCC) acts aresource, training and integration centre for theseVICs. These Community Colleges will be owned andmanaged by the Federation of the ThagavalagamDevelopment Association. A typical TCC serves thecommunity within the range of a block andcoordinates 15-20 VICs. There are 14 ThagavalagamCommunity Colleges coordinating all these VICs toensure their self management through cost coverage,enhancing quality of service and coordination.

ICT Products and ServicesContent Development

The content development teams constituted with theVIC operators have prepared nearly 100 hours ofcontents in the areas of agriculture, livestockmanagement, fisheries, education, women andhealth, and legal awareness. The teams undertookneed assessment workshops with the community for

generating areas of content to be made. In additionto collating the locally available content, the teamshave also organised content from other sources aswell. These contents were presented as power pointshows, flash movies and audio programmes.

Content dissemination

The number of people accessing the services of theVICs has been increasing over the years. Theoperators in the VICs invite the villagers to attendthe screening sessions planned for farmers, women,children and youths as per the timetable displayedalready in the village. The services are provided intwo ways. In the scheduled days, sessions areorganised in the VICs with the invited participants.If needed public screenings are organised in thevillage common yard using LCD projectors. Duringthis year 6214 such sessions were organised in 143topics benefiting 58,522 users.

Computer Education

Providing computer literacy for earning livelihoods isa flagship activity of the programme. It intends tobuild technical knowledge of the youths on variousICT applications. Also the e-School builds the subjectknowledge of the school going students. The self–learning tools, workbooks, and supportive materialsin local language help the poor youths to get a soundpractical knowledge with sound theoreticalorientation. While undergoing the course itself thestudents are helped to get job–works from the localprivate and government institutions. During theyear 1032 students have undergone short–termdiploma courses, 55 percent of them were girlstudents.

Awareness camps

To reach out to the targeted users the Centres haveorganised a series of camps and events with thesupport of government departments, universities andgovernment hospitals on various themes such asfarming, animal husbandry, health and relevantgovernment schemes. The people benefited out ofthese camps have become potential users of the VICsfor accessing further resources on the areas of theirinterest. During this year 242 camps were organisedon the above themes benefiting 11, 706 users.

Software development

The programme has developed a number of softwarefor the use of other programmes and institutions inthe DHAN Collective to improve their informationmanagement, analysis and reporting systems. Thefirst version of Social Security Software for healthand life insurance for the People Mutuals wasfinalised and put into use.

Community Radio

The programme played a key role in setting up ofVayalagam Samuga Vanoli (Vayalagam CommunityRadio) at Kottampatti in Madurai District. While themanagement of the Station is with the MaduraiDistrict Tank Farmer’s Federation, the ICTprogramme handles the technical coordination. TheStation has made 120 hours of programme onvarious subjects as demanded by the users. TheStation is waiting for its broadcast license from theMinistry of Information and Broadcasting. In themeanwhile the Station has started playing all theseprogrammes through the public address systemsfitted over VICs in 20 villages in Kottampatti.

Collaborations

DHAN Foundation has signed a memorandum ofunderstanding with the Indira Gandhi NationalOpen University (IGNOU) for implementingcommunity college concept across Tamil Nadu inorder to provide higher education opportunities inrural areas. The ICT programme played a key rolein making this partnership and it has prepared allthe 15 Community Colleges and 162 VIC being run


by it to offer the Associated Degree Programmeoffered by the IGNOU. Through this collaborationfor the dropouts (minimum 18 years of age) whocould not pursue after Tenth class, IGNOU wouldequate a six-month diploma/certificate course offeredby the Community Colleges with Plus Two and fromthereon candidates can go for further education.

The curriculum focuses on vocational skills andpreparation for employment. It also gives flexibletimings to candidates. One hundred studentsenrolled in the course and 52 have completed thecourse and the examination. The remaining 48students are expected to appear for the exam inApril-May 2009. The programme has finalisedteaching method, course material preparation andtranslation in to Tamil, conducting examinationsand printing of certificates. The programme has alsopartnered with the Indian Space ResearchOrganisation (ISRO) on Village Resource Centreproject. ISRO provides equipments and connectivity.The VRCs have started providing services like tele–education, tele–medicine, tele–agriculture,

interactive advisory on watershed planning, weatherinformation, fisheries, land and water resourcesmanagement, and e-governance. Similarly theProgramme has also got a sanction for setting up of10 Village Knowledge Centres (VKCs) from theCouncil for Advancement of People’s Action andRural Technology (CAPART).


Rainfed Farming Development

The rainfed agriculture plays a crucial role in India, covering 68 per cent of the total net sown area in 177 districts.Uncertainty in production due to fluctuations in rainfall and its distribution, decrease in relative productivity inrainfed lands affect the livelihoods of the poor and marginalised farmers. DHAN foundation has launched RainfedFarming Development Programme to make the rainfed farming viable by improving the total factor productivitythrough location specific interventions. The programme is involved in the following activities:• Organising farmers into Uzhavar Kuzhu (Farmers’ Group) building nested institutions of Rainfed Watershed

Association, Uzhavar Mandram and federating them into Uzhavar Mamandram.• Building on the local best practices of farmers in rainfed farming, both indigenous and exogenous by

documenting, standardizing and disseminating information.• Designing and implementing context specific, multiple and interrelated interventions across sub sectors like

agriculture, livestock and horticulture through land development, organic matter build up, crop productionenhancement and livestock development.

• Developing and offering a package of social security products such as deficit rainfall insurance, cattle insuranceand human insurance to mitigate the risks and vulnerabilities of rainfed farmers.

• Creating access to savings and credit services for farmers through their groups.• Build the capacity of farmers in the areas of proven rainfed farming technology, leadership development, and

change in attitude of farmers towards rainfed farming to lead to significant changes.

Building Rainfed Farmers’Organisations

The Rainfed Farming Development Programme hasbeen initiated in Gudiyatham Taluk of Velloredistrict with the support of RaboBank–Maas en Waalduring the year. Community organisation model ofRFDP involves promoting Uzhavar kuzhu (Farmersgroup) among deprived rainfed farmers, both menand women having land adjacent to each other.Farmers’ groups are federated subsequently intoRainfed farmers association and Rainfed farmer’sfederation at village and block level, respectively.Common Interest Groups (CIGs) are formed topromote specific interventions. This year 179Farmers’ groups have been added, thereby reachingout to a total of 550 Groups with 9089 members.General body meetings were conducted in all thewatersheds, legal compliances have been ensuredand auditing has been completed in all the 12watershed associations. The systems related toaccounts, group meetings, and cost coverage werestreamlined.

Land capability improvement

The Programme placed high emphasis on improvingthe capability of land for supporting crop production,besides soil and water conservation. Priority wasgiven to activities, which can lead to increasedproductivity in rainfed lands at the earliest. As thisapproach was found to be effective due to itsalignment with the perspective of the farmers andhas the advantage of accommodating wide number ofactivities, mostly indigenous and unconventional.

Considerable amount of investment was made toevolve context specific program components andactivities, through continuous interaction withcommunity and by taking up trials. The examples ofunconventional activities supported include Prosopisjungle (Veli mul) clearance, Cynodon dactylon(Arugam pul) clearance and conversion ofuncultivable land into cultivable land. Theprogramme followed ‘Repeat work’ concept since itwas able to attract large scale private investment infarming in response to public investment. An impact

study conducted in Nattarampalli, showed that theactual contribution from farmers was above fiftypercent.

Under NWDPRA, the program has mobilised Rs.3.20 million for various natural resourcemanagement works during the year. Landdevelopment activities for 3.72 million were taken upfor 442 members in all the locations. Sixteen farmponds were newly constructed; 25 farm ponds and 11Ooranis were renovated. Forty one acres of wastelands have been converted into cultivable landthrough Prosopis jungle clearance, Cynodondactylon clearance, rock removal and land levelling.Experimentation was taken up for Prosopis jungleclearance, silt application and farm pond along withfish rearing.

Soil health enhancement

To enhance the organic matter content of the soil,farmers were motivated to increase application ofmanure and compost by providing support forcompost pit construction or restoring the existingcompost pit, introducing aerobic composting, andproviding soft loans for sheep/goat penning and FYMapplication. Seventy five percent of the cost ofcompost pit making was given as support and Rs.100was provided as support for raking up aerobiccomposting.

During the year, 356 member farmers weresupported to apply FYM to 526 acres; 28 farmerswere supported for sheep penning. In Nattarampalli,humic acid was distributed to large number offamilies and 27 members were supported forpreparation of compost under aerobic conditions. InTirumangalam 200 kg Azospirillum and 200 kgPhospho bacteria were distributed besides neem oiland Geran oil. Farmers were supported forpreparation of vermi–compost.

Crop production enhancement

Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), acomprehensive agricultural system evolved byassimilating traditional farming knowledge wasintroduced among farmers. A common interest group(CIG) focusing on ZBNF was promoted inNattarampalli. The farmers were facilitated through

training, motivation and input supply, to try newcrops like wheat and maize for livestock feed. Maizewas introduced as an alternative crop to paddy as itrequires less number of irrigation, less amount ofcare and less investment and as it enjoys goodmarket demand throughout the year.

This year, 108 farmers were supplied with 1265 kgof maize seeds; 42 farmers with 100 kg of KM–2variety of Greengram; 21 farmers with 60 kg ofVamban–3 Blackgram. Besides these 2,800 kg ofgroundnut seeds was supplied in two locations. Fortymembers were trained on Zero Budget NaturalFarming and 90 farmers have initiated the same.About 19,570 seedlings were supplied to 180 farmers,besides supply of 4,000 Jatropha seedlings. Farmerswere taken for an exposure visit on rope pump usagefor irrigation.

Livestock development

Animal health camps were conducted once in theremonths for vaccination and de–worming. Thirty sixsuch camps were conducted benefiting 7,283 sheepand goats and 627 milch animals. Slips of CO4Cumbu Napier grass was supplied to 110 farmersand 28 farmers were supported for Azolla cultivation.Support was given to four farmers for converting themud floor of the cattle shed to cement floor. Specificloan products were offered for purchase of livestockby the members, benefiting 63 members.

Microfinance for rainfed farming

Based on the needs of the member, the groups haveprovided loan fordifferent activities related to rainfedfarming such as plough animal purchase. Thiscredit service also helped the member to tide over thecash flow problem at times of yield loss. During theyear, 145 members took loan for leasing 159 acresland for cultivation; three members took loan forredeeming their three acres of land. Members haveavailed Rs. 1.8 million loan from the groups forundertaking various farming related activities.Sprayers were supplied on loan basis to twentyfarmers.

Reducing vulnerabilities

Mutual crop insurance was well received by themembers as it was owned and run by the


community themselves. The Programme has evolvedtwo products such as mutual deficit rainfallinsurance and mutual crop income insurance.Mutual deficit rainfall insurance was piloted by therainfed farmers in Madurai district of Tamil Nadufor cotton, maize and black gram. The rainfall dataduring different stages of the crop period was used asa proxy for assessing the rainfed crop yield loss.Similarly the Mutual Crop Income Insurance waspiloted based on the actual loss in income, with lossassessment and price monitoring done by thecommunity. Mutual Crop Income Insurance forgroundnut crop for addressing both yield and pricerisks was piloted in the Vellore district for the firsttime in India.

In Tirumangalam, 158 Blackgram and Greengramfarmers covered their 158 acres under mutual deficitrainfall insurance during the year. Their crops wereaffected due to deficit rainfall in the first phase of thecrop and have received Rs. 400 per acre ascompensation. In the same way 38 maize farmerscovered their 28.5 acres under mutual deficit rainfallinsurance. Maize yield was affected by poor seedgermination due to deficit rainfall and farmersreceived Rs. 2000 per acre as compensation. InNattarampalli 50 farmers insured their groundnutcrop under mutual crop income insurance and 41 ofthem have received compensation due to poor yield.

In Nattarampalli, 52 farmers were facilitated toenrol in the Government sponsored milch animalinsurance scheme. Fifty two members have enrolled

their livestock the Mutual livestock insurance andfour members received compensation. In all thelocations 1159 members enrolled themselves invarious life insurance products.

Research and Documentation

Three pilot projects and one research projects weretaken up under ACEDRR of Tata DHAN Academynamely, 1) Coping with disasters- Participatorydesigning of efficient cropping patterns for rainfedlocations, 2) A study on Disaster mitigationmeasures among tribal rainfed farmers ofPudurnadu, 3) Disaster preparedness for the tribalrainfed farmers of Koraput district, Orissa and 4)Disaster preparedness and drought mitigation in theMalaipatti village of Tuticorin district. These studiesand pilot projects offer significant insights onchanges in rainfall pattern over the years, theirimpact on farming, and various coping mechanismsof farmers and leads for action.

An impact study was taken up in Kothur middlewatershed in Nattarampalli and Sengapadaiwatershed in Tirumangalam. Farmer participatoryaction research program on farm pond with fishrearing, silt application and Prosopis julifloraclearance were taken in Peraiyur location. PRA andbaseline data collection was taken up forGudiyatham villages as part of eleventh planNWDPRA scheme. All these studies offered a lot ofinsights for deepening of the program. A film wasprepared on RFDP in Nattarampalli location.


Working with Panchayats

The history of the village-level Panchayat institutions in India goes back hundreds of years. After independence,the Panchayat system was neglected. DHAN Foundation has realised that these institutions need to be vibrantand responsive to the needs of the people to bring about lasting progress, benefiting all. DHAN Foundation haslaunched a programme ‘Working with Panchayats’ to promote and strengthen the informal functional groups inthe village to get involved in the Panchayat affairs. The programme integrates the existing traditional systemswith the Panchayats to enhance the participation of the people and achieve synergy.• Promoting functional groups and village development forums, strengthening and guiding working committees

to integrate with the Panchayat system.• Facilitating preparation of multi year micro planning for Panchayat Development by the community and

make the working committees responsible for executing those plans.• Advocating for enabling policies for effective decentralization through studies and publications, seminars

and workshops.• Promoting network of Panchayat Raj representatives at the Block and District level, and building their

capacity in good governance.• Creating awareness among the voters, youths, students on PRI, and ensuring benefits of the development

programmes to reach the poor and vulnerable communities• Strengthening the Gram Saba and making it a forum for performing social audit, and introducing e–Panchayats

for open and transparent administrative system• Enhancing the revenue for Panchayats through building corpus and undertaking income generating activities

at village level.

The ‘Working with Panchayats’ theme isimplemented in 25 Panchayats spread over fivebackward districts of Tamil Nadu, namelyCuddalore, Dindigul, Madurai, Nagapattinam andTheni. In addition to field locations, the programmecoordinates a resource center, C-PAD (Center forPanchayat Affairs and Development) for enablingleadership capacities, thematic research, knowledgesharing, policy advocacy and networking.

Strengthening governance practices

The Programme focused on strengthening theinstitutions at Village Panchayats level during theyear. Efforts were taken for ensuring communityparticipation in the Gramasabhas, Panchayatcouncil and working committee meetings.Leadership development in the primary levelfunctional groups was given high emphasis. People’splan - 2009 was facilitated in all the Panchayats.This year, the respective Panchayat Administration

took up the responsibility for plan preparation andmet the cost of preparation themselves.

As part of leadership development in workingPanchayats, the Panchayat leaders were taken tomodel Gram Panchayats in Kerala for exposurevisit. The experience was very much useful andenriching for the leaders. As a follow up of theexposure visit, in each village, the Panchayat councilundertook special projects on development prioritiessuch as “100 percent social security”, “HutlessPanchayat”, “100 percent electrified Panchayat”,“Clean and Green Panchayat” and the like. Everyvillage Panchayat has taken up one special projectand the programme team helps them to achieve it.

Building Partnerships

The Programme made efforts to strengthen therelationship initiated already with the institutionsworking on Panchayat affairs. With RGNIYD, the

Panchayat team is involved in national levelresearch project on ‘Understanding Knowledge,Attitude and Practice of youth in Panchayat RajInstitutions’. In association with Rural Developmentdepartment of Tamil Nadu, the Program has takenup training program on ‘Role of NGOs inDevelopment’ to ten batches of village Panchayatpresidents. With this initiative, the Panchayattheme would be able to develop relationship withmore than 500 better performing Panchayat leadersand.

In addition, the Programme works jointly with theRural Development Department to demonstrateNational Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme infive selected village Panchayats in Tamil Nadu.Along with NIRD, the Programme has taken up animpact study of NREGS in Tamil Nadu in fourdistricts of Tamil Nadu.

Experimentation

Referendum at hamlet level was tried out inCuddalore district. Developing labor associations ofNREGS workers was taken up. Also, the team hasinitiated the promotion of “Village Panchayat levelDevelopment associations”, which comprises of allfunctional and primary groups with in the villagePanchayat boundary to serve as complimentarypeople institution to Panchayat council for effectiveadministration of services. The Panchayat themehas initiated its works in an urban context. Anexclusive project location to work with MaduraiMunicipal Corporation has been initiated.

Introduction of micro finance activity in all workinglocations created an opportunity to develop aPanchayat driven microfinance model. So far 65microfinance groups have been promoted by theteam.


Tourism for Development

DHAN Foundation’s Tourism for Development theme is an outcome of the four-year pilot project ‘-EndogenousTourism for Rural Livelihoods’ implemented by it in Karaikudi and Kazhugumalai in Tamil Nadu with the support ofUnited Nations Development Programme and Government of India. One of the key learnings of the project wasthat the diversified livelihood opportunities exist in the tourism sector can contribute in poverty reduction. ‘Tourismfor Development’ would be a crosscutting theme to facilitate DHAN’s programmes working in the locations oftourism importance to capitalize the emerging opportunities in the tourism sector. It would be a multi–stakeholderand inclusive approach with all the stakeholders in tourism including the poor communities. The key programmestrategies are• Organising the poor families into tourism based Peoples’ Organisations and introducing savings, credit and

insurance services.• Conserving and promoting heritage and artisanal skills by organising the artisans and service providers into

Primary producer and marketing groups and federating them into a Producer cum Marketing Company.• Strengthening existing skills and building new skills in production, servicing and marketing related to tourism.• Linking the Peoples’ Organisations with commercial banks, markets and resource institutions for mobilizing

resources, production and marketing of quality products.• Facilitating research and development in the Peoples’ Organisations for product innovation, packaging and

marketing.• Ensuring responsible tourism through promoting tourism literacy and capacity building.

The four-year Endogenous Tourism Projectimplemented at Karaikudi and Kazhugumalai inTamil Nadu was concluded in December 2008. As anoutcome of the project tourism development modelhas been worked out keeping the poor communitiesat the centre.

The team at Karaikudi has organized 1550 poorwomen into 105 tourism–based Kalanjiam SHGs.They were able to save to the tune of Rs. 24.4 lakhsand issue loans to the tune of Rs. 53 lakhs. Inaddition, six Primary Producer Groups (PPGs) with410 members involved in different tourism linkedactivities such as wood–carving, stone carving,Athangudi tiles making, Chettinad cuisinepreparation, Kandangi Saree making, kottan (palmleaf basket) making, and egg–plastering has beenpromoted.

Athanakudi Heritage Tiles Association has beenpromoted during the year with the artisans involvedin Athangudi tiles made up of specialized variety ofsand available in this area, which is known for itscolour, texture and elegance. A 22 member tourism

development committee has been constituted withthe representatives from different tourism linkedindustries to steer the promotion of tourismactivities in Karaikudi.

Out of 34000 tourists visited Karaikudi site 4000tourists stayed in the mansions with home stayarrangement.

The Kazhugumalai team has organized 1742 poorwomen into 107 tourism–based Kalanjiam SHGs.The members saved Rs. 25 lakhs and availed loansto the tune of Rs. 37 lakhs for various consumptionand production purposes. The team has alsopromoted 20 activity groups with 280 membersinvolved in different tourism linked activities. A 11–member tourism development committee has beenset here to steer the tourism development. Around38000 domestic and foreign tourists visited theKazhugumalai site.

Development Tourism

A development tour was organized for 13participants from the Netherlands to provide

opportunities for them to understand the culture,tradition, and community led development initiativesin India. The team visited various developmentprogrammes being implemented by DHANFoundation and other NGOs in south India. Asimilar village cultural immersion programme wasorganised for a nine–member team from RabobankFoundation, the Netherlands and six–member teamfrom Sweden. Eighteen students and six teachersfrom France visited Tirupudaimarudur village(Tirunelveli district) to have the experience of villagelife and understand the culture and heritage.

Exploration of New Heritage Sites

The Programme team in Madurai undertook anelaborate exercise to explore heritage sites in andaround Madurai. As a result of their exploration,heritage sites namely, Perumalmalai,Thenparankundram, Aritapatti, Keelakuilkudi,Meenashipuram in Madurai district and Tirumalaiin Sivaganaga district have been studied to promotethem as potential tourism sites and to conserve theheritage of Jainism that flourished in these areas.Potential for promoting tourism based livelihoods forthe host communities were also explored.

Promotion of Tourism Literacy

One day heritage awareness programme wasorganised for 100 volunteers from National ServiceScheme of Madurai Kamaraj University to impartthe importance of conserving local heritages bytaking them to the Keelakuilkudi village where theJain sculpture and caves constructed during 2ndCentury B.C were in a need of conservation.

Similarly one–day orientation on recentdevelopments in tourism and their positive effects onlocal communities was organised for theSri.Parasakthi, Arts College, Courtralam as part of astate level seminar on “Recent Development inTourism” Organised by them with 200 students. An

awareness programme for the tourism stakeholdersin Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu was organisedjointly with the Department of Tourism on Code ofEthics for responsible tourism. Similar programmeswere organised in Madurai as well.

Collaboration

The team attended the regional workshop on eco–tourism governance organised by the Yes Bank andMinistry of Tourism, GoI and made a presentationon the DHAN experience in tourism promotion.Presnetations were also made in the Workshop onInstitution Building, Rural Tourism andSustainable Livelihoods organised by the Institute ofRural Management Anand and UNDP inpartnership with the GoI. A presentation was givento the Director of Tourism; Government of India onthe vision of DHAN Foundation in promotingtourism based livelihood activities. Participation inthe Regional Workshop on Responsible Tourism–Corporate Responsibilities organised at Cochin bythe Ministry of Tourism, GoI resulted provided a lotof insights on collaborations for tourism promotion.

Documentation

A media tour was organised jointly with theMinistry of Tourism, GoI and UNDP to show caserural tourism initiatives in Karaikudi. A videodocumentation to consolidate the experiences ofimplementing ETP in Karaikudi and Kazhugumalaiwere facilitated by the programme team. A set ofleaflets, brochures, posters, calendars, hand bookswere made for both the locations to promote tourismawareness. Web pages for both the sites weredeveloped and uploaded. Tourism informationcenters have been setup at Pallathur, Ariyakudiand Athangudi villages. A community collegefocusing on the ICT oriented skill building has alsobeen set up in both the sites. The artisans attendeda number of exhibitions across India and displayedtheir products for sale.


Centres for Integration

The Central office plays the integration roleacross themes, geographic locations, functions

etc. through innovative integrating mechanisms andevents. It provides strategic support to the newthematic institutions promoted and help them toestablish themselves. The central office also takesthe responsibility for resource mobilization and itsmanagement, strategic planning, policy advocacy athigher levels and legal compliances. The centraloffice plays the integration role across themes,geographic locations, functions etc. throughinnovative integrating mechanisms and events. Itprovides strategic support to the new thematicinstitutions promoted and help them to establishthemselves. The central office also takes theresponsibility for resource mobilization and itsmanagement, strategic planning, policy advocacy athigher levels, legal compliances etc. It has set upspecialized Centres for Human ResourceDevelopment, Development Communication, Policyand Planning, and Finance for the above activitiesas well as the different themes and thematicinstitutions. DHAN has a number of integratingmechanisms that besides bringing in a commonculture, vision among all the members also buildsthe leadership capacity. Some of them are theStrategic Forum, Consultative Forum, retreat, task

forces and working groups for specific purposes.They contribute to the institution building processesand collective leadership. DHAN Foundation has anumber of integrating mechanisms that besidesbringing in a common culture, vision among all themembers also builds the leadership capacity. Some ofthem are the Strategic Forum, Consultative Forum,retreat, task forces and working groups for specificpurposes. They contribute to the institution buildingprocesses and collective leadership.

The Programme leaders, Regional Coordinators andanchors of the Centres met every month to reviewoperational issues and plans and to workoutmechanisms for integration across themes andinstitutions. Knowledge building workshops wereorganised on select themes with them. TheConsultative Forum met twice during the year. Ithas reviewed all the programmes of DHANcollective. The Strategic Forum met several timesduring the year to review the growth and set thedirection for the future growth. The eleventh AnnualRetreat was organized at Adilabad, with the TribalCommunities. DHANites stayed in the villagesunderstood the heritage of tribal culture andreflected on their self, institutional growth andachievements.

Centre for Human Resource DevelopmentDHAN Foundation’s core purpose is to attract and groom high quality professionals for development work. TheFoundation creates opportunities to learn, grow and occupy leadership spaces and anchor new themes.

The Centre for Human Resource Development created to steer the HRD practices in the DHAN Collective workswith a select academic institutes to identify and place socially concerned professionals in the grassroots work.The focus is on building up the needed motivation, values, attitudes and competence.

The Centre ensures growth of staff with well designed professional development programmes on managerial andcommunication skills, village studies, poverty and livelihood studies, leadership development, institution buildingand so on.

The Centre facilitates Mentor–Mentee mechanisms among the staff to align both individual and organisationalpurpose for each other’s benefit and to enhance personal and professional growth in an individual. The Centreworks towards building a culture of self–regulation by providing supportive environment for the staff to reflect on theirself and the institution in the annual retreats, and to reflect on their achievements and learnings in the annualperformance enabling programmes.


The Center for Human Resource Developmentplaced high emphasis on strengthening relationshipwith the 100 plus academic institutions includingAgricultural Universities with whom it has beenworking for attracting professionals to work withDHAN Foundation. During the year alone theCentre identified and placed 189 staff with variousprogrammes. Instruments used by the Centre toassess and understand the motivation level of theindividuals at the entry level were revisited anddeveloped a new set of instruments to enhance thequality of selection.

Building Capacity of thePractitionersA wide range of capacity building programmes wereorganised for the newly inducted staff to enhancetheir perspectives in development and acquireimplementation skills. The staffs under probationand apprenticeship have undergone inductionprogramme to understand the development sector,issues of poverty and development, DHAN’s way ofpoverty reduction and programmes beingimplemented for achieving this purpose. They werefacilitated to meet periodically and share theirexperiences to learn from each other. In the finalappraisals, they were helped to chalk out their lifeplan, reflecting their commitment for the cause ofpoverty reduction.

The session on gender in development organised aspart of induction programme to the newly inductedstaff helped them enhance their understanding onthe gender concepts and practices in the workplace.Freshly engaged community accountants wereoriented on the basics of accounts, cost control andcost reduction strategies, auditing, and analysis andaccounts.

A three–day micro–lab on counseling was organizedfor team leaders to provide them step-by-step guidein counseling by enhancing their skills in buildingand managing relationships in workplace situations,listening, responding, probing and caringconfrontations . The programme encouragedparticipants to develop competencies in counselingand developed their confidence in interpersonalcommunication.

DHAN Development ProfessionalProgrammeA 15–months distance learning programme ‘DHANDevelopment Professional Programme’ was launchedfor the newly placed development professionals toprovide structured guidance and learningopportunities to learn and tryout new ideas with poorcommunities during field programmes. ThisProgramme has been designed to enhance theirability to conceptualize, practice in field and mentortheir teams. The Action-Reflection-Action mode ofteaching and learning would help them bring clarityin their ‘self’ to become ‘Development Missionaries’

In the first trimester, a 10-day session ‘Reflection onPractice’ was organised, which included a two weeksvillage stay, one week classroom segment followed bya two and a half months of field work. This sessionhelped them build their knowledge, perspectives insubjects like management, development and valueorientations to enhance the creative, critical andanalytic skills.

Online course in communicationskillsAn e-learning course ‘Advancing CommunicationSkills for Team Leaders (ACT)’ was launched tostrengthen the writing capabilities of the teamleaders. There was an overwhelming response fromthe team leaders to learn and equip themselves inwritten communication. The first batch for thiscourse was enrolled and they have started learningeffective and persuasive writing.

Mentoring in DHAN CollectiveThe Centre has facilitated annual performanceenabling programme (PEP) for all the DHANites tohelp them understand their growth in terms ofclarity in their self, institution and developmentsector. In this programme, both mentors and menteereviewed progress in the mentoring process, and setgoals for the ensuing year. Mentoring workshopswere organised for the staff to help them gain deeperinsights, reflect their personal experiences and definetheir own directions in mentoring. They were helpedto workout mentoring action plan to set mechanismsand processes for effective mentoring. Training ofTrainers programme on Mentoring was organized forthe senior Executives to build capacities of the staffin their regions and locations in mentoring.

Building capacity of the field staff, leaders andmembers of the Peoples’ Organisations promoted byDHAN Foundation is the core activity of DhanPeople Academy (DPA). The Academy organises avariety of pre–designed and tailor–made capacitybuilding programmes for them. During the year, theAcademy extended support to the programmes andthe Peoples’ Organisations of DHAN Collective toorganise 162 programmes for about 5100participants.

The DPA conducted trainings to two batches ofparticipants from Tamil Nadu Vazhndhu KattuvomProject on accounting and financial management ofPanchayat Level Federations. Two exposureprogrammes were organized for IFAD fundedgovernment projects in Bangladesh and Vietnam.

Apart from training programmes, the DPA offeredfield support to Peoples’ Organisations based on theneed for conducting workshops, Federation retreats,Federation appraisals, federation Mahasabha,conducting field level training programmes andother events.

Diploma in Panchayat Management

Dhan People Academy together with Working withPanchayat Programme of DHAN Foundation hasbeen offering a one year distance learningprogramme ‘Diploma in Panchayat Management’ forthe public. Seminar classes for third batch of DPMwere conducted and final evaluation was done

through written examination. In the third batch 519students completed and got their diplomas. The firstconvocation function of the Academy was conducted.The Vice Chancellor of IGNOU presided over thefunction and awarded the students with theDiploma. The admission for DPM batch-IV has beeninitiated and 75 students have been enrolled. Thetext books used for DPM are getting converted intoSelf Learning Materials. An expert team wasconstituted to work on this.

Partnership with IGNOUThe Academy has been taking efforts for jointlyworking with IGNOU for the past few years. Thefirst action towards this got materialized throughoffering Computer Literacy Programme of IGNOU.DPA collaborates with Information CommunicationTechnology for Poor Theme of DHAN Foundation inoffering CLP. The CLP is a 40-hour programmerunning for 30 days and 55 members have enrolledfor it. It will be conducted at Dhan CommunityColleges. The first batch of CLP started with theenrollment of 67 students in ThagavalagamCommunity Colleges in Melur, Kottampatti andPalamedu.

Livelihoods Initiative withFunctional EducationThe Livelihoods Initiative with Functional Education(LIFE), the vocational education division in theAcademy coordinates the Madurai centre in


Dhan People AcademyDHAN Foundation’s community organising strategies are centred on building capacities of leaders, members andstaff. The Foundation invests substantial resources to promote the leadership in collective bodies of people.

Dhan People Academy (DPA) was initiated to provide learning environment for the staff and peoples’ leaders. Withthe well furnished training infrastructure, the Academy devises appropriate pedagogy to facilitate learning, buildingon the experience available, and participant–centered education. The Academy works in partnership with academicand training institutes on common interests.

The DPA organises exposure visits to encourage cross learning of best practices, conflict resolution, workshopsand seminars help the people’s leaders to share their experiences and build their perspective.

Need-based certificate programmes and distance learning programmes are designed and offered by the DPA.Trainers Trainings are organized on various themes. Customized trainings are also offered to the other NGOs andPeoples’ Organisations on demand.

The DPA facilitates setting up of Community Colleges – Livelihood Initiative with Functional Education (LIFE) toprovide a variety of location specific and tailor–made livelihood skill building programmes for the youths from thepoor families.


association with the Kalanjiam federations in theMadurai district. During the year, 363 students,both boys and girls have undergone the short-termskill building programmes in computer hardwareand software, tailoring and fashion designing,beautician, mobile phone servicing and simplechemicals preparation.

The LIFE also coordinates such Centres in 10Federations in offering similar vocational educationprogrammes. Through these vocational centers ofFederations, 1,326 persons got trained in varioustrades. Together with the Slum Clearance Board, theLIFE offered the mobile phone servicing course.Youth from urban slums of Madurai got benefitedout of this initiative. The progress in the MaduraiCentre has led to the creation of LIFE Centre atMaraimalainagar, near Chennai. A market surveyto understand the need for skill building in thecommunity was carried out and trainings in a fewvocational trades have been initiated.

Studies and ResearchDuring the year three research studies were takenup by the Academy. A pilot study on establishingRegional Resource Center for Disaster Managementat Nagapattinam with the support of ACEDRR wastaken up. The study focused on preparing resourcematerials related to disaster preparedness andmanagement and also on conducting trainings anddemonstrations for building the capacities of localfield functionaries. The DPA also took up a researchstudy on identifying disaster risks andvulnerabilities of 10 villages in Nagapattinamdistrict with the support of ACEDRR. A trainingmanual cum resource book on disaster preparednessand management was prepared as an outcome of theresearch and pilot studies.An evaluation study of Canara Bank CentenaryRural Development Trust was taken up and the fieldinvestigation and reporting were done during theyear. This study helped in understanding thevocational education initiatives of many institutionsin the country.

Centre for Development CommunicationDHAN Foundation strongly believes that community provides a powerful learning opportunity and it viewscommunication as a human factor in development. Also the Foundation believes that media can be used as ameans for education, for motivation in the spheres of development action.

The Centre for Development Communication facilitates documentation and dissemination of field learning withinand outside the organisation and promotes the application of the traditional and modern media in developmentaction.

The Centre documents and publishes the field experiences of the programmes and Institutions of the DHANCollective in both print and audio visual formats for information sharing and advocacy.

The Centre supports the People’s Organisations to setup and run community media centres with the combinationof community radio, video and web based technologies. It has also promoted a Forum for Development Journaliststo discuss and write on the community initiatives that would reflect grassroots realities.

The Centre undertakes thematic campaigns combining digital and folk media for fostering BCC. The DevelopmentFilm Festival is an exciting annual feature organised by this Centre on a development theme.

Documentation and dissemination ofexperiencesThe Centre has prepared a film ‘Build People toBuild People’ highlighting DHAN’s way of nurturingdevelopment professionals and their contribution inchanging the lives and livelihoods of the poorcommunities. The centre also made visualdocumentation of a few of the development projectsimplemented by the Programmes such as Water-for-life supported household water filter project, Pan–IIT

Alumni supported drinking water pond project, andthe federation adoption projects by Rabobanks, theNetherlands. Documentation of events and filedprojects were taken up by the Centre in audio visualformat.

Facilitating information sharingThe monthly magazine ‘Development Matters’published by the Centre has created a platform forthe DHANites to write their experiences,


innovations, best practices and their impacts,learnings from implementation and so on. TheCentre has also published a booklet titled ‘GenderMatters’ that elucidates the gender principles,philosophies and practices followed by DHANFoundation.The Centre maintained the website of DHANFoundation with needed updation in addition tomanaging the websites of the associated institutionssuch as INAFI India, INFOS, and event promotingwebsite for Madurai Marathon.Media relations were facilitated through press meets,media tours and press releases. Reporters weretaken to field to showcase the interventions andimpacts. Interviews were facilitated with selectedprofessionals of DHAN to highlight the works,feature products and announce events. Seniorprofessionals in DHAN were encouraged to writeabout development issues and our interventions inthe Tamil dailies.

Community mediaThe Kalanjiam Samuga Vanoli (KalanjiamCommunity Radio) setup at Nagapattinam in TamilNadu with the support of has taken a shape ofCommunity Media Centre with the mix ofcommunity radio, video and internet technology. TheCentre focuses on disaster preparedness and genderdevelopment. Though the station started itsoperation from August 2006 by narrowcasting audiocontents made by the local community volunteers,the Government of India has issued a Broadcastlicense by earmarking 90.8 FM. The localcommunities with the support of local volunteershave made 125 hours of audio programme and 12Documentaries and 16 events–based audio visualproducts.The Centre has earned the Manthan Awards for theyear 2008 for the best e–content in the area ofcommunity broadcasting. Many NGOs have visitedthe Centre to learn about Community Radio. In theTrainer’s Training organised by the WorldAssociation of Community Radio Broadcasters(AMARC) in Indonesia, the Kalanjiam SamugaVanoli shared its experience.

Journalism for developmentThe Centre performed as secretariat for theDevelopment Journalists Forum launched with a

core group of journalists, NGOs and Academicinstitutes in Madurai. Programmes for mediaprofessionals were organised on the themes of causesand consequences of inflation, issues of migrantworkers, pollution in rivers of Tamil Nadu, and theissues of run away children in partnership withacademic institutes and NGOs. Journalismstudents, academicians and the public attendedthese events. Outcomes of the workshops werepublished as a newsletter in Tamil.

Development film festivalThe Development Film Festival organised every yearon a selected theme in development by the Centreintends to create a platform for the development filmmakers to screen their products and to make thepublic view, debate and enter into meaningful actionaround the issues. This year the Centre hasorganised IV Development Film Festival on Cultureand Heritage. A jury comprising film makers,academicians, researchers and journalists selectedthree films for award. Although all the films wereextremely engaging, three films “Missing Colors”,“Chedi”, and “Elumalai Jama” were those that toldstories that were thought provoking that told storiesthat were thought provoking, cinematographicallyadvanced, and left the audience seeing manyperspectives on the issues.

Awareness campaignsThe mobile theatre has served federations andprogrammes for screening development films to thecommunity for creating awareness on various issues.The folklore resource team from the Centreorganised campaigns to support field–action of thepeoples’ Organisations in DHAN Collective bypromoting community participation in the waterprojects in Villupuram district, creating awarenesson anaemia as part of Madurai Marathon 2009,motivating dairy farmers for collective marketing inCuddalore district.A pilot project focusing on the application oftraditional communication methods in disastermanagement was taken up by the Centre with thesupport of ACEDRR of Tata-Dhan Academy. Apackage of traditional art forms to understand andcommunicate disaster management strategies wasprepared and rolled out in ten coastal villages. Thereflections of the community were documented andstudied for the usefulness of the traditional folk artsin disaster preparedness.


Centre for FinanceThe Centre for Finance is an integral part of the central office, collating financial functions across programmes,centres and thematic organisations of the DHAN Collective. The Centre places greater emphasis on building atransparent and foolproof financial management system at all levels.

The Centre evolves financial policies for the Foundation and other Institutions in DHAN Collective and PeoplesOrganisations. The Centre ensures online accounting system with the support of accounting software packagesand builds capacity of accountants and finance managers for it.

The Centre facilitates the audit process and statutory compliances of DHAN Collective institutions and PeopleOrganisations promoted by it. With a sound internal auditing system and continued interaction with the panel ofCharted Accountants constituted for these institutions, the Centre ensures regular appraisal and feedback for thequality of books and expenses.

The Centre develops operational accounting manuals and provides ICAI-formulated accounting guidelines for qualityaudit standards to ensure uniformity in programmes and institutions of the DHAN Collective.

The Centre for Finance is an integral part of thecentral office, collating financial functions acrossprogrammes, centres and thematic organisations ofthe DHAN Collective. The Centre has moved fromdoing a few limited financial functions tocontributing to the DHAN Collective and Peoples’Organisations by giving training and setting upfinancial management systems at all levels. TheCentre places greater emphasis on building atransparent and foolproof financial managementsystem. The Centre evolves financial policies for theFoundation and other Institutions in DHANCollective and Peoples’ Organisations.

The Centre for Finance has coordinated timelycompletion of annual financial audits of all theinstitutions in DHAN Collective. The Centre hasestablished Quality Assurance Audit Team headedby a charted accountant to undertake monthly

concurrent audit so as to facilitate easy completion ofaudit. The Centre acts as a secretariat for thePurchase Committee and Finance Committeeconstituted at the Central office. During this year,policies and guidelines have been worked out andshared across the organisation; the Centre hasensured compliance in accordance with procedures.The Centre coordinates Employees Provident Fundscheme with the Government owned EmployeesProvident Fund Organisation. Also the Centremanages the Staff Gratuity Funds with LIC of India.Monthly contributions towards PF and Pension wereremitted as per the stipulations of the scheme. Inaddition to managing staff group accident and medi-claim policies with insurance companies, the Centrealso manages legal compliances and corpusinvestments. It could ensure systems for budgetmonitoring and approval through FinancialResponsibility Centres.

Centre for Facilitating PhilanthropyDHAN Foundation is working on promoting a sharing culture among the poor communities with whom it is working,the general public both in India and abroad, corporates through creating meaningful opportunities and partnerships.

The Centre for Facilitating Philanthropy develops context specific philanthropic products and sophisticated formsof giving in consultation with the community. It works with the Corporates and Indian Diaspora with a long termperspective and on a partnership mode that seeks to build on each other’s competencies and areas of interest tobring about an enduring and lasting benefit to the poor communities. Also it establishes friends of DHAN Chaptersto aid development work in India in select countries.

The Centre builds awareness among the individuals or a group of individuals to understand the development workthrough field visits, and motivates them to provide support for such works, which would be mutually beneficial toboth the givers, and the poor community. With the resources raised from the individuals and institutions theCentre supports small community projects that have the elements of community contribution, collective actionand sustainability.


The significant achievements during the year arebuilding a partnership with Hindustan UnileverIndia, support for promotion of two federations bytwo Rabobanks in the Netherlands and apartnership with the PanIIT Alumni for the cause ofwater. The project with Hindustan Unilever was toenhance the livelihoods of 75,000 women as part oftheir 75 years in India celebrations. The women arefrom among the members of the federationspromoted by DHAN. The Rabobank Foundation, theNetherlands facilitated two of their memberRabobanks to adopt two federations in India byextending support for cost of its promotion. A smallgroup of Pan IIT alumni came forward to supportthe water initiatives of DHAN to demonstrate thatindividuals can make a difference and a way inwhich the alumni could meaningfully contribute tothe development efforts in India.

The Friends of DHAN Foundation in theNetherlands continued their support for the varioushealth and education initiatives of DHAN. Theycould expand their support to set up a vocationaltraining centre for the disabled in one of thefederations, support for school building for the schoolpromoted by one of the federations.

The centre could extend support to the DHANKarunai Illam for setting up a Livelihoods Initiativeswith Functional Education centre for equipping theyouth and women with vocational skills, setting up a

model community school to offer quality Englishmedium education for children from low incomefamilies with support from the New Zealand HighCommission, New Delhi. The water projectsespecially the drinking water ponds were supportedby many individuals and their friends. Many of themare repeat supporters for this initiative. TheHuguenin Ralapalli foundation extended support fora second set of five drinking water ponds during theyear.

The centre works closely with the programmes tounderstand the needs of the community and matchthem with the interests of the donors. It alsoprovides the donor with the feedback on how theircontribution has been used and the difference itcould make. This is done through periodicalreporting to the donors and through the website.

The annual Madurai Marathon was organized on thetheme of “Run to be free from Anaemia” incollaboration with the Tamil Nadu State HealthSociety, Madurai corporation and various otheragencies. The event attracted over 40 thousandparticipants and the half marathon was organized asa competitive event which attracted a lot ofparticipants as compared to the previous year. TheCentre could raise about Rs.35.00 million for variousinitiatives of which 60% has been received duringthe year and the remaining will be received in thenext financial year.

Centre for Policy and PlanningDHAN Foundation as a member of many policy-making bodies on microfinance and water conservation stronglyadvocates pro-poor policies. As a resource centre, it organises many capacity building events and training programmesfor bankers, government officials and representatives of NGOs within and outside the country.

The Centre for Policy and Planning has been set up to support the programmes and institutions of the DHANCollective so that they evolve, develop and modify their policies and plans to fulfill their aims. It provides frameworksand tool kits to the programmes in planning, review and monitoring performance in line with the corporate plan.

The Centre works with the programmes for advocating pro–poor policies in the fields of microfinance, water, rainfedfarming, Panchayat Raj institutions and disaster mitigation. It helps the programmes in undertaking studies andpolicy research, organising policy seminars, publishing policy briefs and policy notes on specific issues related tothese themes.

The Centre also ensures gender mainstreaming in the DHAN Collective by building gender perspectives among thestaff through capacity building programmes, evolving and assessing gender policies in practice.

Policy Advocacy

Towards advocating pro–poor policies the Centre forPolicy and Planning organised policy consultationsand seminars to document the experiences of DHAN

Foundation in some of the key areas of microfinanceand water programmes. Outcomes of those eventswere published as policy briefs and disseminated torelevant stakeholders to make changes in the policyand practice.

DHAN Foundation’s experiences in resolving pre–existing conflicts for making interventions toconserve and develop tanks and other small scalewater bodies were synthesised and published as apolicy brief titled ‘Conflict resolution in conservationand management of tanks’.

The Centre has brought out a policy brief on‘Financial inclusion – savings and its relevance topoor: issues and solutions’ based on the experiencesof DHAN Foundation in implementing enablingmodel of microfinance. This policy brief elucidateddiverse financial service required for the poor andtheir ability to save. The recommendations emergedout of practices were shared with the Reserve Bankof India, National Bank for Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (NABARD), and commercial banks.

The policy brief on ‘Resource mobilisation forrehabilitation of tanks involving people’ focused onthe causes for degeneration of water bodies andexperiences of DHAN Foundation in resourcemobilisation for rehabilitation of these water bodieswith people participation. It was shared withrelevant line departments in Tamil Nadu StateGovernment, Finance and Water Resourcesministries of Government of India and NABARD.Presentation was made to the Special Secretary,Planning and Development Department,Government of Tamil Nadu and recommendationswere made for allocating resources for minorirrigation and involving people institutions inimplementation.

A policy seminar on ‘Tank based Watersheds forSustaining Farmer’s Livelihoods’ was organised inassociation with Government of Andhra Pradesh.The seminar stressed on the relevance andimportance for the inclusion of tanks in watershed

development. As a follow-up of the seminar a policybrief was published. The Centre in association withthe Indian Network of Federations of MicrofinanceSelf Help Groups (INFOS) organised national levelworkshops on financial Inclusion.

Shaping Institutional Policies of DHAN Collective

The Centre has organised a workshop on ‘Enablingpolicy making in DHAN Collective’ for the seniorprofessionals of the Foundation. Existing policies ofthe programmes were reviewed and inputs weregiven to refine the policies. A note on DHANCollective’s policies and practices was developed andshared. The Centre could ensure perspective buildingexercise on planning in all the regions by theprogrammes. Annual planning and review exerciseswere facilitated by the programmes. Mainstreaminggender and disaster risk reduction were given focusin planning.

Studies and assignments

The Centre has taken up ‘Gender Impact Study’ forthe State Planning Commission, Government ofTamil Nadu to study the impact of SwarnajayantiGram Swarojghar Yojana (SGSY) and Dr.Muthulakshmi Reddy Maternity Scheme. A draftreport was submitted to the Commission withrecommendations. As part of International Fund forAgriculture Development (IFAD) assisted PostTsunami Sustainable Livelihood Programme(PTSLP) by Government of Tamil Nadu, the Centrefor Policy and Planning has taken up an assignmentto provide resource and knowledge support forimplementation. The Centre has organised districtlevel planning workshop to evolve gender action planfor the project by inviting communities andstakeholders from the districts, blocks, and villages.

Centre for ResearchDHAN Foundation nurtures development innovations which can transform the lives of the poor on a larger scale.The Foundation encourages reflective practices among the professionals and the communities with whom they areworking to bring out the best possible solutions for the issues that would suit to the local contexts.

The Centre for Research facilitates field-based research on issues common to the sector and the Foundation. Itundertakes sectoral research on microfinance, tankfed agriculture and other rural and urban development issues inaddition to taking up impact studies of DHAN projects in order to build up a knowledge base for the sector

The Centre facilitates the professionals working at the grassroots to take up micro studies and action researcheson the issues concerning them to come out with operational solutions to improve the performance.

The Centre collaborates with educational institutions, research organisations and universities on common researchinterests to exchange expertise and to bring academic rigour to the research outcomes.



Micro Studies

The Centre for Research undertakes micro studieson the themes of common interest and those cancontribute in the development interventions made bythe development institutions like DHAN. The Centrehas taken up ‘study on value chain of Madurai Mali’to document the features of Madurai Malli a specialfragrant flower popular in Madurai. The studybrought out the potential of expanding theproduction, marketing and product diversificationthat would impact the livelihoods of a large numberof growers, flower weavers and vendors. As a followup of value chain study of Madurai Malli, effortswere made for linking Kalanjiam members weavingflowers with the hoteliers, big flower vendors anddecorators.

A similar study on heritage value of Perumal Malaicreated a bigger impact in the media. The threatfaced by the hill from quarrying activities aroundthe hill was brought out, which attracted the mediaattention. Efforts were also made to represent thisissue to the Government. As a result of all theseattempts, the District collector ordered revenueofficials to stop the quarry activity a warning boardhas been placed there. Another study brought outthe filed implications of the housing schemeimplemented in Meenambigai Nagar underJnNURM.

Action Research

The Centre for Research functions as a secretariatfor the City Technical Advisory Group (CTAG) andCity Volunteer Technical Corps (CVTC), constitutedas part of Jawaharlal Nehru National UrbanRenewal Mission (JnNURM) implementation inMadurai. It facilitates publication of two successiveissues of ‘City Communiqué’ the news letter, onbehalf of CTAG and CVTC. Madurai Corporation hasgiven a space for showcasing JNNURM works at

Madurai for common public and dignitaries. TheCentre extended support to Kalanjiam federations inMadurai city to prepare proposals to mobilisecommunity participation fund from the JnNURM.

Under JNNURM, on request of Madurai Corporationthe Centre undertook socio economic survey of urbanpoor. Through this survey 41,086 slum poorhouseholds in 131 slums were interviewed. Thesurvey revealed the fact that above 60 percent of theslum dwellers living in rental houses were left out inJnNURM. Centre for Research has facilitated manyrounds of meetings with bureaucrats to revisepolicies to include such families.

The Centre has also prepared a detailed projectreport on behalf of Madurai Corporation forimplementing the ‘Integrated Low Cost Sanitation’as envisaged by the Government of India forconverting existing dry latrines into water sealtoilets.

Centre for Research facilitated promotion of ‘SlumDevelopment Associations’ in Bharath Nagar andJaihindpuram slums besides organising awarenesscampaigns. The Centre also facilitated formation ofNeighbourhood Committee (NHC) which is aprecursor for constituting Area Sabhas in six wardsof Madurai Corporation.

Studies to enhance field actionThe Centre made a joint study with the KalanjiamDevelopment Financial Services (KDFS) to study theefficacy of ‘bridge finance’ extended by KDFS. ForPeople Mutuals, the Centre for Research undertookmortality rate study in all programmes covering allthe people institutions in all the contexts. Impactstudy of the Kalanjiam Community BankingProgramme has been completed and a similarimpact study for the Vayalagam Programme hasbeen initiated.

Impact

Creating crafts and culturebased livelihoodsArtisans in Karaikudi town of Tamil Nadu arecarving wooden sculptures which was oncepatronized by the Chettinad Nagaratharcommunity. Contemporising these crafts is theneed of the hour, which would strongly unfoldthe magic of ingenuity of these artisans andtheir creative manual skills.H

erit

age M

atters

Project Impact

Health is not only an individual issue, but also acommunity issue. Poor health reduces the physicaland cognitive capacities of an individual. Whenpeople identify health problems, their health seekingprocess is influenced by availability, accessibility,affordability, adequacy, and acceptability of healthinfrastructure. Women and children are morevulnerable due to poor nutrition, lack of sanitation,poor hygiene awareness, and lack of access to qualityhealthcare. Of all stages, the reproductive years arethe most vulnerable in a woman’s life, and thisvulnerability is heightened by malnourishment.

Iron deficiency is the most prevalent nutritionaldeficiency in the world, and probably the mostimportant micronutrient deficiency in India, where

69.5 percent of children in the age group of six to 59months are suffering from anemia of which 63percent are in the urban areas and 71.5 percent inthe rural areas. Iron deficiency anemia is the mostcommon type of anemia. Most of the anemicpatients, especially women, suffer from mild tosevere deficiency of iron. The hemoglobin count inmost of the adolescent girls in India is less than thestandard 12 g/deciliter, the standard acceptedworldwide.

About half of all pregnant women experience irondeficiency anemia during their pregnancies, and at

Deepening Microfinance: Anaemia control for Healthy Generationsleast one out of five girls and women experience thecondition at some point during their reproductiveyears. Illiteracy, poverty and general economic andsocial development have a bearing on the incidence ofanemia among the people.

Kalanjiam Reproductive and ChildHealth Programme

The Kalanjiam Federations promoted by DHANdesign and implement comprehensive reproductiveand child health programme to bring positivechanges in the health seeking behaviour of themembers’ families to prevent or reduce anemia andmalnutrition among mothers and adolescent girls.They work in concert with the government andprivate healthcare systems for reducing healthcareexpenditure and increasing health seekingbehaviour. The Anemia Control is one of thecomponents of the Kalanjiam Reproductive and ChildHealth (KRCH) Programme implemented by theKalanjiam Federations. The project was supportedby the ICICI Bank. A baseline survey was designedto assess the prevalence of anemia and relatedKnowledge, Attitude and Practice of pregnantwomen and adolescent girls. A representative sampleof Kalanjiam members consisting of 205 pregnant

women and 448 adolescent girls from NineKalanjiam Federations were selected andinterviewed with a pre–tested interview schedule.

• The prevalence of anemia was observed as 89.3percent for pregnant women and 95.6 percent foradolescent girls. This was comparatively higherthan that which was reported in other parts ofthe state and the state as a whole.

• All the possible responses for the consequences ofanemia were stated by only a few of them. Theseobservations hold good both for pregnant womenand adolescent girls. Both pregnant women andadolescent girls were not fully aware of thecomplete list of foods that are rich in iron.

• While more than half the pregnant women knewabout when Iron Folic Acid (IFA) tablets shouldbe started and the number of tablets to beconsumed very few of the adolescent girls hadthe correct knowledge.

• Around three fourth of the pregnant women andadolescent girls knew about the entry of hookworm into the body and the method ofpreventing the entry of hook worm and half ofthem knew the method of treating for hookworminfection.

• Only half of the pregnant women registered inthe 3rd month of their pregnancy with thegovernment healthcare systems.

• The number of women who have consumed morethan 100 IFA was not satisfactory. Only onetenth of the respondents own a toilet in theirhome and more than three fourth did not usetoilet always.

• Little more than half of the pregnant womenand adolescent girls used slippers always whilethey went out of their homes. Only one tenth ofthe pregnant women were treated for hookworminfection during their pregnancy.

• While more than two third consumed greensweekly thrice, other iron rich foods such asdates, ragi, jaggery, guava were consumed byfew pregnant women and adolescent girls. Meatand fish were hardly used in the diet.

Based on these findings the Kalanjiam Federations

have short listed members and adolescent girls intheir families. Based on the level of hemoglobinlevels they have been grouped into mild, moderateand severely anemic.

Anaemia Control Project

In the nine federations selected for the project 1,700Kalanjiam Groups are functioning in 408 villages. Ofthese 1,204 Kalanjiam groups were selected andbenefited under this project. About 1315 pregnantwomen were benefited through this anaemiacontrol project. Of the 408 villages, in 309 villages312 adolescent groups were formed to implement thisproject among adolescent girls. About 6,690adolescent girls were benefited through this anaemiacontrol project.

‘Enabling Self Health Governance’ was the corecomponent of the experiment where the people wereenabled to become aware of their rights from thegovernment health care system. A well knitted‘Behavioural Change Communication (BCC)’ packagewas used to bring positive changes in the healthseeking behaviour of the members’ families. Thefocus on ‘Linkage Building’ enabled the federationsto build a sound demand system to claim forlegitimate rights from the mainstream and to ensurethe reach of quality programmes to all eligible poor.Ultimately the ‘Case Management and ReferralServices’ with a strong backup of the microfinancewas the foundation of the intervention. The supportfrom the ICICI Bank, and collaboration with theDepartment of Health & Family Welfare, Tamil


Nadu were crucial in the experiment.

All pregnant women were identified by the healthguides and motivated to register with thegovernment Village Health Nurse and obtain AnteNatal Care starting with procuring Iron and FolicAcid (IFA) tablets from the 4th month and consume aminimum of 100 tablets during their entirepregnancy. This was monitored by the field levelKalanjiam staff. The pregnant women weight wasmonitored to gain 10 kg during pregnancy. Theywere given anaemia related facts through BCCmethods a number of times.

All adolescent girls from the Kalanjiam members’family were made to meet as an Adolescent groupand they were educated on the anaemia relatedmessages using the various Behavioral ChangeCommunication strategies. Peer educators wereorganized to educate others and were made tomonitor the activities like, distributing IFA, makingadolescents wear slippers, procuring and consumingIFA tablets, de–worming and monitoring.

Each health guide was responsible for a particulargeographical area around their home village. Therewas one health associate for 5-7 health guides whowould be in charge of delivering all health relatedactivities. The health coordinator was responsible forone federation. The MIS data at the village levelfrom pregnant women and adolescent girls werecollected and maintained by Health Guides and sentit to Health Associates and they consolidated for thefederation and gave it to the Health Coordinators.

Conclusions of End Evaluation

The Anaemia Control programme a communitybased action research embedded with a one group prepost design. This is the end of project evaluation ofthe Anaemia Control Project carried out byKalanjiam Foundation through nine federations indifferent districts of Tamilnadu during the periodfrom 2006 to 2008. The evaluation data was collectedin December 2008 and January 2009. This was onegroup pre post evaluation without a control. In theBaseline Survey all pregnant women of Kalanjiammembers consisting of 205 and 165 and arepresentative sample of 448 and 430 adolescent girls

from the nine Federation areas were chosen as thesamples. Personnel working in different areas ofKalanjiam not associated with the HealthProgrammes were involved in data collectioncoordinated by a senior official who had joinedKalanjiam just prior to the evaluation with goodexperience in research. In addition, qualitativemethods were adopted by Kalanjiam staff at variouslevels using KII (Key Informant Interview) with thetop level and Focus Group Discussions with otherlevels staff which was carried out by the consultants.

Decrease in the prevalence of anemia

Pregnant women• The interventions impacted a significant

(P<0.000) decrease 25.7 percent in theprevalence of anaemia among pregnant womenfrom 89.3 percent to 63.6 percent.

• The severe anaemia among pregnant womenwas not a major problem in this area. Theimpact of the interventions reduced theprevalence of moderate anaemia by 40.8 percentwhich was highly significant (P<0.000). Theshift occurred from moderate to mild andnormal category is indicative of the positiveimpact of the interventions.

• The mean Hb and maximum Hb level had anincrease from 9.49 to 10.41 g/dl and 12.1 to 14.2g/dl respectively

Adolescent Girls• The impact made among adolescent girls was a

significant decrease of 34.4 percent in theprevalence of anaemia(P<0.001)


• Severe anaemia was reduced from 5.8 percent to0.5 percent. Moderate anaemia has shown asignificant (P<0.001) decline of 36 percent. Theoccurrence of shift from moderate to mild andnormal category is indicative of the positiveimpact of the interventions

• The mean Hb and maximum Hb level had anincrease from 9.6 to 11.3 g/dl and 13.0 to 14.4 g/dl respectively

Increase in the knowledge ofanaemia related factsPregnant women

• A significant increase in the knowledge levelwas observed among pregnant women on thedefinition of anaemia and each of the 8 signs &symptoms, 8 causes, 7 consequences, detectionand 4 preventions. The normal level of Hb forpregnant woman was known by 95.8 percent ofthe women.

• The increase in the knowledge of Jaggery, ragi,Guava, meat and fish as iron rich foods wasfound to be significant.

• The knowledge that a minimum of 100 tabletsof IFA must be consumed during pregnancy wassignificantly (P<0.001)increased from 57.1percent to 100 percent. The knowledge on thecorrect month to start IFA was increased from47.8 percent to 93.9 percent which is significant(P<0.001).

• All pregnant women knew the path of entry forhook worm as the feet, prevention of hook wormand treatment for hook worm which weresignificantly increased from 68.3 percent, 73.2percent and 51.2 percent respectively

Adolescent Girls

• A highly significant (P<0.0000) increase in theknowledge level was observed among adolescentgirls on the definition of anaemia and each of the10 signs & symptoms, 7 causes, 7 consequencesfor adolescent girls, 7 consequences forpregnant women, detection and 4 ways ofpreventing anaemia. The normal level of Hb foradolescent girl and the same for pregnantwoman was known to 92.3 percent and 98.4percent respectively of the adolescent girls.

• The knowledge on the correct number of IFA tobe taken by pregnant women as minimum 100tablets during pregnancy was increased from15.4 percent to 99.8 percent and the correctmonth to start IFA increased from 15 percent to96 percent which were found to be highlysignificant (P<0.000). The knowledge of statingeach of the 5 listed side effects was found to besignificant (P<0.0 001).

• The knowledge on iron rich foods as greens,GLV, dates, jaggery, ragi, guava, meat and fishhave significantly increased (P<0.001 ) after theintervention

• All adolescent girls knew the path of entry forhook worm as the feet, prevention of hook wormand treatment for hook worm which weresignificantly increased from 75.0 percent, 76.3percent and 45.5 percent respectively

Change in the attitude towardsanaemiaThere is very high positive attitude in every areameasured towards anaemia. Probably this is basedon the education on anaemia provided at the grassroot level.

Shift in the practices related toanaemia1. Pregnant women - antenatal care, early IFA

procurement and consumption, regular weighttaking during pregnancy, Hb testing and intakeof iron rich foods.

2. Adolescent girls - IFA procurement andconsumption, regular weight taking, Hb testing,intake of iron rich foods and de–worming.

Pregnant women

• Before intervention 65.4 percent pregnantwomen had minimum of 3 antenatal checkupswhich was increased to 80 percent.

• IFA procurement and IFA consumption have notchanged much except those who consumed morethan 90 have increased from 6.4 percent to 17percent.


Excerpts from the evaluation reports of Dr. Abel Rajaratnam and Dr. Jolly Abel, who have done base line andend evaluation for the Anaemia Control Project implemented by the Kalanjiam Federations

• The practice of using toilet always is very low.Probably this is associated with few houseswhere toilets are available in houses.

• The practice of wearing slippers always haveincreased significantly (P<0.001) from 55.6percent to 93.9 percent

• The practice of taking de–worming tabletsduring their pregnancy was not adopted as thiswas not promoted by the government healthsystem.

• There was not much change observed in thedietary pattern of increasing their diet duringpregnancy or having the same quantity orreducing their diet.

• Even the consumption of iron rich foods thatwere promoted such as greens, GLV, dates, ragi,guava, meat and fish did not change much.

Adolescent Girls• Adolescent girls have procured (86.5 percent)

and consumed (80 percent) 30-60 IFA tabletssignificantly different from the baseline data(22.1 percent).

• The consumption of iron rich foods that werepromoted such as greens, GLV, dates, ragi,guava, meat and fish did not change muchbecause of the intervention

• The changes in the practice of using toilet didnot take place. Probably this is associated withfew houses where toilets are available in houses.

• The practice of wearing slippers always haveincreased significantly (P<0.0 ) from 55.4percent to 97.2 percent

Behaviour Change CommunicationMaterials

The BCC materials developed were found to beeffective enough to bring knowledge change. The flipchart and hand bills have complete correct andpositive messages on anaemia. Flip chart and handbills cover the entire range of messages on anaemiaand they can be used anywhere and every where

De–worming and hook worminfection

The government system did not support thepregnant women de–worming and hence it did nottake place. Adolescents were de–wormed once in 6months. De–worming was done at least once for93.5 percent of the adolescent girls duringintervention. A small sample of adolescents testedwas found to have no hook worm prevalence in thestools tested.


It is an ancient tank, deep in the rural hinterland ofMadurai district in Tamil Nadu. A state highwaypasses on one side of the tank bund. “Earlier waterwould overflow from the tank onto the road andwould get wasted. In the village, the rainfed farmersowning less than 1.5 acre land would have to buywater from rich well-owners for their lands”, says S.Sethuraman, pointing to the highway and the landssloping off below it. “Now, in the two years thatDHAN Foundation has been helping us renovatethis Villur tank, we actually have surplus duringthe rains”, he says.

DHAN Foundation organised Villur village farmersand landless people to form their Vayalagam. S.Sethuraman is the Vayalagam president. He is ascience graduate and farmer who can conversefluently in English. He was instrumental in thebuilding of a higher secondary school in his village.He motivated the Vayalagam Association to cleanthe three of the ‘feeder channels’ of the Villur tank.The channels were overgrown with weeds, silted upand to top it was encroached by a few farmers for thelast 30-40 years!

The Vayalagam leaders got hold of official landrecords from the government Revenue office, and gotthe entire area surveyed as per the records. With thesupport from DHAN Foundation they exertedcontinuous pressure on the two farmers who hadencroached on the feeder canal and convinced themto give up the encroached land which they had beenusing for three and more decades.

When asked how they managed to evict such long-term encroachers, Sethuraman says they couldmanage to do so only because they approached theencroachers as a collective association and not asindividuals.

The work on the feeder channels was supported byOxfam-Novib as a humanitarian support during thefloods in that area. The villagers contributedRs.15,000 worth of voluntary labour during the timethis work was done. The bund formation around thetank was taken through the Government of India’sFood for Work program. Here they contributedRs.20,000 to augment the works being done duringthis period. After a discussion with all the membersthe contribution from the members towards thework was fixed at Rs.300 per acre of land in thecommand area. This was unanimously agreed uponby all the members and the contributions werecollected. The tractor owners also contributed someamount as they also benefitted by getting workthrough the Vayalagam for transporting the siltexcavated from the tank and using it for applicationon the lands. The Vayalagam wanted to take up thework of repairing the sluices which had fallen intodisuse.

The command area that could be cultivated changedsignificantly from 25 acres to over 100 acres due tothe availability of the water in the tank after all thiswork was taken up. Sethuraman’s 3.6 acres gave anyield of over 40 bags (one bag is equal to 75 kilos) ofpaddy, up from the 30 bags he managed to get twoyears ago when the tank did not have enough water.

Villur big tankVillur Big tank is under the control of the PublicWorks Department. It was like the mother tankwhose surplus fed five other tanks in the village.Due to prolonged neglect and lack of even minimummaintenance of this tank it reached a stage wherethe tank got filled only to ¼th or ½ of its capacity.Even during periods of heavy rainfall in goodmonsoons it never got filled. This led to a situation ofthe lands in the command area to be similar to

Impact on a village

Reviving Tanks: Sustaining Livelihoods


rainfed lands. The only crop raised was rice. Thefirst 80 days of the crop utilized the rainwater frommonsoon and residual moisture from ground. Thelast 20 – 30 days the crop would suffer droughtleading to crop failure. Only those who had wells andpump sets in their land could save their crops byusing the well water.

Four farmers who wanted to change the situationmet with the DHAN field teams and appraised themof the situation in their tank. The field team sharedabout DHAN’s approach and the need for thecommunity to contribute 25% of the cost if theywanted to undertake the work. The villagers werereluctant to do so. But these four farmers put in a lotof efforts to convince them to come forward tocontribute money and finally collected Rs.25,000almost rupee by rupee from them. They formedParivallal Vayalagam association in the village. Theamount was deposited in the group account andrequested DHAN Foundation in 2004 to take uptank renovation activity.

Ambika said in those days Villur people faced moreproblems due to theft. There were several incidentsof theft of rice, cotton, goats and even groceries dueto the poverty and hunger as a result of the waterscarcity. It was in this situation that Sethuramanconvinced people that “If we could fill the tank withwater, the stomach would get filled automaticallyand there will be no need to steal.” It was after a lotof persuasion and discussion that the villagers cameforward to contribute a small amount and labourwork in the tank. After the work has been completedthe often heard comment about this village is “Evenif the Vagai river is dry the fields around Villur willnot go dry. The fields are green throughout the yearwith some crop on the other in the fields”

In 2004, renovation work was taken up in the VillurBig tank. The supply channel was cleaned for adistance of five kilometers. Clearing weeds andencroachment were the main activities done for thistank. When the monsoons began after this work,there was no breaching in any part of the tankbunds. The crop cultivation became possible in theentire 350 acres of command area where previouslycultivation could be done only in 30 acres. On seeing

the impact of the work done in the tank and thesuccessful cultivation of the lands the villagersresolved to clean the supply channel every year.They decided to contribute six measures (Padi) ofpaddy per 30 cents. The collected grains were soldand the money is deposited in Vayalagam commonfund and used for renovation activities.

Impact• The cultivated area was increased from mere 30

acres to 300 acres.• The productivity of the land was increased by

20% thereby increasing the incomes of thefarmers.

• Earlier on the rough varieties of (TKM 9, CR1009, IR 20) were cultivated and direct sowing ofpaddy was in practice. Now, many varieties ofPonni of high quality are raised increasing theincomes from the same piece of land. Apart frompaddy, cotton, black gram, green gram, sesameand sorghum are cultivated through out theyear.

• The number of livestock in the village increaseddue to the increased agricultural activity whichmade available fodder for the animalsthroughout the year. Goat rearing became veryprofitable for the farmers.

• The land value increased significantly due to theincreased productivity and water availability.

• Life and health insurance schemes wereintroduced through the Vayalagam to benefittheir members.


Vengudusamuthram tank

In the year 2005, weed clearance was done in theVengudusamythram tank. The renovation workdone in the Villur big tank resulted in the waterbeing available in the five other tanks of the village.Desilting, bund strengthening, supply channelclearance works were done in this tank. The cost ofthe work was Rs.60,000 of which Rs.45,000 was fromOxfam Novib and the remaining was thecontribution from the people. Previously, only 20acres were cultivated with the help of the four wellsand pump–sets. Once the work was completed inthis tank all the 175 areas of the command area ofthe tank could be cultivated. This also increased theground water levels. More than 250 families directlybenefited from the work done in this tank.

Vetrankulam tank

In 2006, the supply channel cleaning inVetrankulam tank was done for about 700 meters. Aportion of the tank is still encroached by a road. Themajor problem in this tank was weak bunds whichresulted in breaches even for small rains and watercould not be stored in this tank. Bund strengtheningwas done after removal of weeds in the tank bed. Thetotal cost of the work was Rs.1,00,000 with peoplecontribution of Rs. 25,000. Only 15 families fromVillur benefited directly from the work done in this

tank. But more than 250 families in theneighbouring villages get benefited out of this tank.Even a summer shower could fill the tank, as thesupply channel harvested the rainfall of the entirecatchment area. There are four dug wells which aresupplying water through out the year. Power-cutsare the only limiting factor for the water supply fromthe wells to field. One well owner has no land in theayacut of Villur big tank but is benefitted by therenovation in the tank.

By seeing the development activities undertaken bythe Vayalagam in the village, he became a memberand is now one Committee members. There is feelingof unity among the villagers and all of them havecome forward to create a common fund for theVayalagam through cash and grains. They weresuccessful in creating a fund to the tune of Rs.2,00,000. This money is used for the renovation andmaintenance of the water bodies and other relevantdevelopment works in the village.

Sevalkulam tank

In 2007, Swarnajayanthi Gram Rojgar Yojna(SGRY), food for work was implemented in thisvillage. Work estimated at Rs. 97,000 was completedin Sevalkulam tank. Around 450 meters of supplychannel was cleared, 750 meters of bund wasstrengthened. This work employed 80 per cent of the


farm labourers in the village providing the wageemployment for them and completing the first phaseof Sevalkulam tank renovation work. The secondphase of Sevalkulam tank was done subsequently. Itinvolved sluice repair, bund strengthening for 120meters and supply channel clearing for 50 meters.

Flood management by Vayalagam

There was severe flood due to monsoon rainfall inNovember 2007. The heavy down pour resulted inthe danger of floods in the village. ParivallalVayalagam group members proactively responded bymobilizing Rs. 5,000 from the common fund and Rs.20,000 by pledging jewels and valuables of themembers. Damages due to the floods were minimizeddue to timely piling up of sand bags at various weakpoints to prevent breaching of the tanks.

Fishing made profitable

Sethuraman, who was instrumental in forming theAssociations in Villur had an opportunity to visit T.Kallupatti location’s Executive Council (EC) meeting.There he happened to hear about fishing in tanks.He was inspired by the concept and discussed withthe Vayalagam members. Usually the Villur bigtank auction was conducted by the Panchayat and ithad never been profitable so none interest to take thelease. Sethuraman motivated the members ofParivallal Vayalagam group members to lease thetank for fish rearing. There was division of labouramong the members in work of fish rearing. At theend of the season, there was good harvest of fish andan income of Rs. 27,000. As agreed with thePanchayat earlier, Rs. 7,000 (25 per cent of theincome) was given to Panchayat. Out of theremaining funds Rs. 10,000 was used for tankrehabilitation, Rs. 5,000 was used for the chain oftanks activities. The remaining Rs. 5,000 was usedfor maintenance of tanks to pay for the traditionalwater managers. The agreement for ten years (2006– 20015) was signed between Vayalagam andPanchayat in 2006 for the fishing rights. There wassuccessful fishing and profit allocation for the pastthree years.

The Villur TodayIt is an agrarian village in Kallukudi block ofMadurai district in Tamil Nadu. The village got itsname due to interest of villagers in Villucompetition. The population of the village is 8000with 3800 men and 4200 women. Most of thevillagers depend on agriculture either in their ownland or in others land for wages. There are few (250)Government employees and another 20 people areworking abroad.

The village has all needed infrastructure likeprimary and higher secondary school, electrification,police station, primary health centre, veterinaryhospital, banks, and transport facilities. The literacylevel is 100 per cent. The village has good number oflivestock which serves as livelihood alternative andsupplements the agriculture. It is also blessed withwater bodies – eight tanks and six ponds. The supplychannels (8.5 kilometers) to the water bodies aremaintained well. Proper maintenance of the waterbodies and the supply channels facilitatesagriculture in 256 acres of dry land, 980 acres of wetland. SRI method of rice cultivation is practiced.Crops like paddy, cotton, chilly, vegetables, groundnut, maize are cultivated. All these were possibleonly by the efforts of the People institutionspromoted by DHAN Foundation and the supportextended by them.

People institutions promoted by Vayalagam in Villurand tank rehabilitation works have brought manyfamilies back to Villur. The water scarcity andunviable agriculture made many families to migrateto various places in search of other jobs. Somefarmers went to those villages where they could getagricultural works to earn daily wages. Increasedwater availability has made agriculture viablethroughout the year. The crop production andproductivity has increased. Tank works havereached every household and made every man to beconcerned about the tank renovation, which in turnwill decide the crop stand. NABARD officials sayVillur is a model village on seeing the impact of thetank works. Muthukamatchi is one among suchmigrants returned back to Villur.


Food Security is ensured to farmer’s families

G. Pandi is a 45 years old farmer. He has studied upto Class 3 and later dropped out due to lack of interest instudies. He was sent to Tanjore as an agricultural labour to earn Rs. 5 per month (in 1974-75). He got trained todo all agricultural works and tending to cattle. After a year of training he was capable of managing the entirefarming of the land lord. After few years of work he returned to join his parents in Villur. He got married at the ageof 29 to Ms. Murugeswari without dowry due to his principle in life.

He got 2.5 acres (1.5 acre of dryland / rainfed and 1 acre of irrigated garden land) from his parents. He alsopurchased 58 cents of red cotton soil land in Sevalkulam tank ayacut with his hard earned savings. Agriculture isdone only in 58 acres red cotton soil and one acre irrigated garden land. Both the lands lie near Sevalkulam tankbut they are of different nature.

58 cents of red cotton soil 1 acre irrigated garden land

58 cents of red cotton soil 1 acre irrigated garden land

Only rice is cultivated (IR 20). It isused for household consumption only.The yield is 15 - 20 bags (72kgs/bag).The entire year's need is met by thisyield from the land.

Various crops are cultivated. Groundnut(sells to get money), chillies (domestic useonly shares with friends and relatives,Banana is cultivated in 40 cents, coconutis cultivated in the field boundaries.

The field is cultivated only in oneseason

The field is cultivated throughout theyear.

Apart from agriculture, the family owns six goats, ten hens (country breed). The family is dwelling in a houseinherited from his father. As Pandi is uneducated, he wants his children to study well. He admitted all children inschool and they are not doing any agricultural works. Pandi takes care of agriculture and his wife takes care of thehousehold and livestock. The income from the agriculture increased from Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 11,000. There is regularincome from agriculture throughout the year from various crops cultivated in the irrigated garden land. By this hemanages his family. Pandi says, “Without the renovation of Sevalkulam tank this income would not have possible.Previously we had to purchase food grains every day, draining our daily income. Now we cultivate the needed foodgrains for the family. We don’t purchase food grains and chilies. It is a big savings for our family.” His wife goes forNREGA works to earn Rs. 100 per day on other days she goes for agricultural works earning Rs. 30 – 40 per day.The family comprises of four school going children. The eldest son Senthil Murugan, 15 years old is studying 10th

standard, daughter Kalaivani, aged 11 is studying 6th standard, second son, Dakshinamurthi, aged 7 is in 2nd

standard and the youngest daughter Annapoorani is 4 years old is doing her Pre-Kinder Garden schooling.

He came to know about Vayalagam in April 2006 and became a member since that period. Since he wasproactive and interested in development of Villur, he was selected as President of Sevalkulam Kanmoi associationin the first group meeting itself. He got a loan of Rs. 1200 for consumption in the first meeting (April 2006) whichhe repaid in six months period. His second loan of Rs. 5,000 (October ’06) was to invest in agriculture for hiringtractor for land preparation for cultivation, seeds sowing, transplanting, fertilizers etc. He repaid the loan in 10months. He availed the 3rd loan of Rs. 10,000 for agricultural expenses. On seeing the prompt repayment andproactive initiatives for Villur development by joining hands with Sethuraman he was selected as Coordinationcommittee member of Thirumangalam Tank federation.


Rainfed agriculture plays an important role in Indiain terms of economic contribution and biodiversityand nutrition. In spite of the various benefits,rainfed farming is on the decline over years, due toreasons like inadequate policy, research andinvestment attention, vagaries of monsoon, and lackof effective risk management tools. In the last twodecades, there has been large scale increase in fallowland, loss of livelihoods and migration. In theprocess, rainfed farming is losing its status as viablelivelihood for many. But it is important to improverainfed agriculture. As the growth of irrigatedagriculture has reached a plateau and the groundwater sources are dwindling very fast, future lieswith rainfed agriculture. Enhancing food security ofthe nation itself would depend a lot on enhancingrainfed farming in the long run. What is more, sincerainfed areas support the poorest of the poor and arehome to many poor indigenous ethnic minorities, arise in productivity in this sector would have animmediate impact on poverty alleviation.

The Government of India has accorded high priorityto the holistic and sustainable development of rainfedareas and made high investments in watershedprojects. One such project is Restructured NationalWatershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas(NWDPRA). DHAN Foundation is one of the ProjectImplementing Agencies for Restructured NWDPRAin Tamil Nadu. The Restructured NWDPRA schemeof tenth five year plan was started in the financialyear 2002-03 and will come to an end by March2009. An evaluation of the same was made tounderstand the benefits of the scheme and to identifythe areas in need of improvement. The learning andrecommendations emerging from the study can feedinto the forth coming watershed schemes.

To address various issues of rainfed farming, RainfedFarming Development Programme (RFDP) wasinitiated by DHAN Foundation, with the vision of“Making rainfed farming as a viable livelihood”.Currently the program is in the pilot stage, where in

the learning gained so far would be tried out in fewother locations falling in similar or differentecosystems. So it is essential to understand thesignificant benefits of the program, principles andpractices that have led to the same and also theareas of in need of improvement. So this researchstudy was carried out with the primary purpose ofunderstanding the impact of RFDP of DHANFoundation and Restructured NWDPRA.

Location: Kothur Middle Watershed

Kothur Middle Watershed, falling in Kothur andKondakinthanapalli panchayats in Nattarampalliblock of Vellore district, Tamil Nadu, was selected asthe study area. Total area of this watershed is800 ha. This pocket has undulating topography withred loamy soil of varying depth and falls in UpperPalar macro watershed. The average slope of thiswatershed is 5 percent. There were nine hamletswith a population of 2405 as on 2003. The study areaexperienced frequent deficit rainfall phenomena. Themajor irrigated crops were paddy, vegetables andfinger millet. The major rainfed crops weregroundnut, redgram, horsegram, cotton, fingermillet, fodder sorghum, little millet (samai) andgarden beans. Small and marginal farmers

Impact on Watershed

Making Rainfed Farming Viable


constituted ninety percent of the total farmers.Livestock was the major supporting livelihoodbesides beedi rolling and incense stick making.Migration for work on temporary and permanentbasis was very common.

Objectives of the study

The major objectives of the study are,

1. To document the efforts and investments done inthe watershed in a systematic manner

2. To analyse the impact of RestructuredNWDPRA scheme and Rainfed FarmingDevelopment Programme in the study area

3. To identify the policies and practices that haveled to significant positive impacts and

4. To identify the changes needed in currentinterventions and the need for other newinterventions, to enhance the effectiveness of thewatershed projects and RFDP in future.

Methods & Process followedProcess followed

• Purpose and need for this study was explained tothe members during watershed associationExecutive Committee meeting to get theirconsent and support.

• At the request of the local team one or two officebearers in each hamlet have volunteered forhelping the interviewer. The volunteered officebearers ensured the availability of samplemembers for interviewing and also facilitatedthe interview process, specifically by making thesample members to share the informationwithout hesitation. They also acted as keyinformants for the study and shared theirexperience and knowledge.

• Most of the information regarding the commonworks was given by the office bearers who havevolunteered to support the study.

• Besides these support, the watershedcommunity also gave boarding and lodgingsupport to the interviewer.

• After the completion of the study, the resultsemerging from the study were shared with thewatershed community to validate them and toget suggestions. The validation meeting wasconducted on 1st December, 2008.

Sampling

In Kothur Middle watershed, 363 farmers wereorganized into twenty groups as on June, 2008. Asthe focus of the study was impact, only membersfrom three year old groups were taken for sample.The group and member details of the watershedassociation were collected from PIA office. All themembers in above three years old groups weredivided based on their landholding size. Ninetymembers were selected through stratified randomsampling from 188 farming families, leaving outmembers from the same family. The members werestratified based on landholding size into fourcategories namely marginal farmer (up to 2.5 acres),small farmer (2.5 – 5 acres), medium farmer (5 – 10acres) and landless.

Primary & secondary data collection

Primary data was collected through administeringsemi structured interview schedule to the samplemembers, interviewing the key informants, focusedgroup discussion (FGD), case studies andobservation. Semi-structured interview schedule wasused as the activities varied across the respondents.The interview schedule for the study was pre-testedwith five farmers. Based on the feedback necessarycorrections were made to finalise the interviewschedule. During administering the interviewschedule, the land development works were visitedwherever possible, to make necessary observationsabout the impact of those works. Experienced leaders


and staffs who have been working in the watershedfor long time served as key informants and gavequalitative information. The secondary data wascollected from Project Implementing Agency (PIA)office and from Watershed association office, usingrelevant documents of Kothur Middle WatershedAssociation and group records.

Data analysis

Data was analyzed through average analysis andidentification of ranges. Wherever relevant projectionwas done for the whole watershed.

ImpactThe analysis of data collected clearly indicates thatthere has been significant impact at the individualfamily level and at the village level and it isexpressed in the impact profile given below. This wasthe case in spite of the fact that the impact of manyactivities, like large number of loans used for variouspurposes other than livestock, veterinary camps andsupply of seeds and seedlings, were not considered.• Change in land use in the study area, mostly

from rainfed to irrigated land, was about thirtyeight percent of the total treated area.

• Majority of the members, who have cultivatedthe same crop after land treatment in the studyarea, has experienced increase in productivity,irrespective of the activity with respect togroundnut, finger millet and paddy.

• There was significant increase in area underpaddy based cropping pattern.

• Land Development works have generatedadditional wage employment to the tune of 1075man days per annum on a recurrent basis. Thiswill increase by around 100 man days soon afterthe study period.

• About sixty one percent of members haverealised increase in food security, with majorityof them enjoying it for three to six months.

• Implementation of all Land Development worksby the community itself has resulted in highlevel of contribution and ownership and totalelimination of contractual system.

• Above 50 percent contribution mobilised frommembers for private land works, therebyindirectly creating a fund for taking up worksfor large number of members, during and afterthe project.

• High levels of private investment as a responseto public investment on land developmentworks.

• On an average, each member family enjoyed Rs.3550 as increase in income per year.

• On an average, each member family enjoyed anincrease in asset value of Rs. 52,647, with themajority of the members falling in the range ofRs. 50,000 to 1,00,000.

• Creation of member owned and member runmicrofinance infrastructure with the totalsavings of Rs. 8,38,073 and with total loanoutstanding of Rs. 13,41,841. Till the studyperiod members have availed Rs. 62,63,452 ascredit though 3720 loans.

• Coverage of around 30 percent of the membersthrough life insurance, livestock insurance andmutual crop income insurance products.

• Significant impact of five out of six commonworks taken up as entry point activity, likecheck dam, common pond and farm roads.

• High levels of women participation in terms ofmembership, holding positions, attendingcapacity building events and implementation ofactivities. As a result their importance withinthe family has increased and their ability to talkin a public forum and to deal with outsiders hasconsiderably improved.


• Post project sustainability was ensured bybuilding up of significant levels of social andfinancial capital, offering of large number ofactivities on credit and cost basis besides thegrant based activities and practising of normsfor cost coverage during the project period.

The policies and practices that haveled to significant impact:Effective and sustainable social structure-community organisation model:• Integration of social resource management with

natural resource management• Organising user groups around credit and thrift

in the shape of SHG among farmers, based onsolidarity and proximity of their landholding, toavail all the advantages of SHG model, likeparticipatory democracy in the group (as thereare only twenty or less than twenty members),serving as platform for savings and credit andaccess to various Government schemes.

• Promotion of group centred approach, with theSHG shaped user groups and SHGs acting asthe foundation for organising other groups andmanagement bodies.

• Promotion of men groups: It is a general notionthat only women groups are effective, both as agroup and as a local bank. But experience ofKothur Middle Watershed Association (KMWA)shows that if properly promoted, men groups areas effective as women groups.

• Practicing of norms for ensuringparticipation of women: Specific norms forensuring participation of women as groupmembers and as decision makers in Executivecommittee of Watershed Association wereevolved and practiced.

• Casino approach for offering services byWatershed Associations and PIA: Casinoapproach means that the members and groupswould be offered a group of services and theywould select a few among them based on theirneeds. The assumption involved is that theyknow their needs much better than WatershedAssociation Executive Committee and ProjectImplementing Agency. Further offering of

various services was instrumental in reachingmajority of the members through one service orother, thereby enhancing participation of them.

• Offering of ‘repeat services’: Be it is landdevelopment work, crop productionenhancement or microfinance, ‘repeat services’,were offered by the Watershed Association andProject Implementing Agency and it hasresulted in retaining of interest of the membersin the Uzhavar Kuzhu and WatershedAssociation and kept them alive and dynamic,as ‘repeat loan’ does in the case of SHGs.

Different approach to natural resourcemanagement:

• Focusing on development of privatelands: Only if the capability of these landsis improved, any dent can be made onimproving productivity of rainfed farmingand in reducing the risk of losing the cropdue to vagaries of monsoon.

• Restricting the estimate amount of landdevelopment work taken up by one memberat a point in time by fixing a maximumlimit and giving preference to membersseeking first work over other membersseeking second and third work, to avoidconcentration of benefits to few familiesand to ensure equity.

• Livelihood- based development ofnatural resources1 approach was chosenbecause this was in alignment with theperspective of the farmers and has the

1 See, ‘A Journey through Watersheds, Manage, Vol. 1 No. 5, January 2003’ for more details of this concept.


following advantages: 1) accommodatingwide number of activities, mostlyindigenous and unconventional and 2)result in livelihood enhancement, in termsof increase in food security, income andassets.

• Supporting context specific activities,with preference for indigenousactivities, as they can only work: Therainfed farming contexts are so differentfrom each other and there can be nouniversal solutions in terms of activities.May be the processes of identifying theissues and searching for solutions can beuniversal. This means that considerableinvestment is needed to evolve contextspecific program components and activitiesthrough continuous interaction withcommunity, involving trial and error. Thisagain requires flexibility and autonomy inprogram implementation.

• Integration of livestock development:Livestock development was taken up as a majorprogram component, with the focus of filling thegaps in the existing system and assetenhancement.

• Integration of Microfinance forsupporting rainfed farming

• Integration of risk management:Understanding the central role of riskmanagement in rainfed farming development,risk reduction activities (like better soil andwater conservation and good quality seeds), riskcoping activities (like credit) and risk transferactivities (like insurance) was offered as packagefor effective risk management.

• Engaging paid services and loan asinstruments to achieve various sub-goalsbesides grant: Usually grant with someminimum level of contribution is used as themain instrument to promote various RFactivities. But the experience of KMWA showsthat many RF activities can be taken up on cashpayment and loan basis. Activities like supply ofseeds, manures and seedlings were easily takenup on cash payment basis. In the same wayactivities like adding farm yard manure, cropdiversification, and provision of inputs were

taken up through loan. So necessary provisionin project design need to be made forinstruments, other than grant for effective andholistic implementation.

• Piloting of many new activities: Many newactivities like aerobic compost, Zero budgetNatural farming, Mutual crop incomeinsurance, weather insurance, dates cultivation,etc. were piloted for their suitability to the studyarea.

• High investment was made in capacitybuilding of various stakeholders

• Effective implementation structure-“Agency” approach: Integrated approachacross agriculture, livestock, horticulture,community organization and agriculturalfinance is essential to make any dent at theindividual farm level. The current “agency”approach, with man power across sectors andconsiderable flexibility to access specialized manpower was found effective to achieve thisintegration.

• Autonomy to Project ImplementingAgency and support of District WatershedDevelopment Agency: Many of theinterventions of KMWA became possible onlybecause the PIA had adequate autonomy andthrough the timely support of DWDA infacilitating new interventions like wheat andmaize introduction in the study area.

RecommendationsFor the watershed scheme:The following policy changes are needed in flagshipschemes meant for development of rainfed areas likeRestructured NWDPRA, to make rainfed farming aviable livelihood.• Making it mandatory that User Group (UG)

should be organised around credit and thriftactivity as per their social affinity andcompatibility, even if they are to mange aparticular community asset.

• Making it mandatory that SHG shaped usergroups and SHGs should act as the foundationfor organising other groups and managementbodies.

• Focusing of investments on private rainfed landby design, in a contextually relevant manner.


2Fund utilisation is not uniform across the WAs and so there is possibility of transferring funds from WAs with less demand and/ or poor performance to high demand and better functioning WAs.

• Making it mandatory to adopt livelihood- baseddevelopment of natural resources.

• Supporting context specific activities, with apreference for indigenous activities by design.

• Provision of wide range of services on a repeatbasis by design, to ensure reaching to majorityof the families and to ensure retention of interestof the members and to give continuity toCommunity Based Orgnaisations (CBOs).

• Integrating livestock development, microfinanceand risk management as part of all schemesmeant for developing rainfed areas.

• As there was high disparity across the membertype, with the benefits increasing withlandholding size, preferential terms are neededfor the resource poor. At least 30 percent fundcan be allocated exclusively for resource poorfamilies and for women specific agenda, as triedout in Andhra Pradesh Rural Livelihood Project.

• As the funds provided for NRM activities fromRestructured NWDPRA was not adequate formeeting the needs of all members for landdevelopment activities, additional fund could beallocated based on demand and approved actionplan.1

• Ensuring institutionalisation of CBOs formedwith the support of watershed schemes throughensuring meaningful linkages with banks,agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandrydepartments during the project period and in thepost project period. Here too the need anddecision related to linkage has to come from theCBOs and should not follow the usual supplydominant mode. For example the bankablerainfed farming interventions, like ploughanimals purchase, could be funded by creditinstitutions from the second year based ondemand from the community without anytarget.

• The fund allocation design usually allows sometrial and demonstration related to agriculturetechnologies. But experimentation and piloting isneeded in all spheres of intervention as shown by

the KMWA experience. So fund allocation designto be changed accordingly.

• Involvement of autonomous institutions atvarious levels with watershed works as themain agenda. There need to be adequateautonomy at each level of implementation toevolve, design and implement variousinterventions.

For the Rainfed Farming DevelopmentProgramme:

• Improving recording of purpose of loans taken bymembers and monitoring utilisation of loans isneeded, so that their impact can be ensured andknown. This will also bring self regulation atmember and group level with respect toutilisation of loans for the purpose they haveborrowed.

• Records need to be kept regarding membersavailing services like veterinary camp, seedsupply, etc. so that the impact information canbe collected later.

• In spite of no discrimination based on landholding and gender, there was disparity inbenefits realised across the member type, withthe benefits increasing with landholding size. Sonovel interventions should be piloted to enhanceequity of benefits.

• The list of members who have not benefited needto be prepared and in depth study to be made toknow the reasons. Based on the results,necessary interventions to be made to ensurerealisation of benefits by them.

• The members of new groups need to be givenpreferential treatment over old members in theimmediate future.

• Insurance education to be taken up on a largescale to reach large number of members.

• Investment on good activities like aerobiccomposting, Zero Budget Natural Farming andazolla cultivation for fodder to be increased toreach more members.


Land development brings new life to rainfed farming

Manikammal is a 52 years-old woman farmer livingin Gandhinagar hamlet in Kothur middle

watershed. She has two sons and one daughter. Sheis taking care of her family and agriculture, becauseher husband died in 2003. Out of 0.75 acres of landthat she owned only 0.24 acres was an irrigated land,0.21 acre was rainfed land and another 0.20 acre wasuncultivable barren land.

She came to know about Uzhavar Kuzhu and joined inMariyamman Uzhavar Kuzhu at Gandhinagar in 2004.She has taken up the land levelling work in 0.20 acresof uncultivable barren land in 2006 with a grant supportof Rs. 4,570 from watershed association and owninvestment of Rs.15,000. Besides that she alsoinvested Rs. 9,000 in laying pipes. After treatment shehad cultivated paddy two seasons. After that she hasapplied 21 loads of tank silt to enrich the land. Forthat she has received a grant support of Rs.1,334 andher own investment was Rs. 5,000. She cultivatedtomato in that plot. In 2007 she has taken up anotherland levelling work in 0.21 acres with a grant supportof Rs. 4166 and own investment of Rs. 5000. Beforethis treatment she cultivated groundnut, ragi and redgram but after the treatment she has cultivates paddy.

The Animal Power

Nagan is a 52 years old farmer living in Kannalaparaikolli hamlet, in Kothur middle watershed. He owns

1.75 acres of land, also he works in other farms as alabourer. He has two children. His daughter got marriedand his son is immobilised due to brain fever. For treatinghis son he borrowed heavily from outside, but thecondition of his son did not improve. He became indebtedand sold part of his land to pay back the debts. As hiswife has to take care of their son, he is the only breadwinner in the family.

He cultivates groundnut, ragi, horsegram and cumbu inhis land. He also cultivates chilly and tomato in very smallplots. Whatever he gets from his field goes for familyconsumption. He has joined Omshakti Uzhavar Kuzhu atOttrupadi four years back and taken up the stone bundingwork in his land with a grant support of Rs. 4,000 fromassociation and an own investment of Rs. 5,000. Forurgent needs he used to get loans in the group. From hisgroup he has availed 13 loans amounting to Rs. 22,424.The purpose of loans taken includes householdexpenditues, outside debt redemption and agriculture.

Long back, he had bought plough animals through aloan taken from a local co-operative society and was hiringout ploughing services on wage basis. But he was not

With all these interventions she has converted all herland into irrigated land and she is planning to cultivatethroughout the year. She has bought plough animalsworth of Rs. 25,000 on her own. So, a total investmentof Rs. 69,070 was made in her farm of which Rs.10,070 was grant and Rs. 59,000 was her owninvestment. She has taken up rice cultivation thathelped meet food requirements of not only to her familybut also to her daughter’s family. She has earned Rs.6000 by selling paddy straw. She is expecting incomefrom standing tomato crop. Her first son stoppedmigrating aboard as adequate work in the farm and inhiring out ploughing services. All other family memberswere also engaged in their farm to a large extent. Sheis also generating 30 man days of employment everyseason through cultivating paddy crop at a wage rateof Rs.40/man day.

Manikkammal says “I knew about land levelling; but Ididn’t do it due to lack of money. But after joining thegroup I could how other members have benefited fromland development works. After seeing them I wantedto develop my land as well. Because of this now Ihave 0.75 acres of irrigated land and could cultivatepaddy crop”.

able to pay back the co-operative loan as per scheduledue to cash flow problems. Due to pressure from the co-operative later he sold the plough animals and repaidthe loan in full. After that he was not able to purchaseplough animals and so founded difficult to hire ploughingservices for cultivating his land.

He has availed Rs. 10,000 loan from the group in 2006for purchasing young plough animals just ready forploughing. Through plough animals he could save anamount of Rs.1,962 per year through ploughing his ownfield and he could also able to earn around Rs. 9,912 peryear as net income. He used to plough seven times forgroundnut crop. But if he had no plough animal, he wouldhave ploughed only twice or thrice.

He used to get two loads of Farm Yard Manure per yearworth of Rs. 2,000, which is used in his own land. Hehas completely repaid the loan as per schedule. Thevalue of plough animals at present is Rs.25,000 and soit can be considered that the asset value of the familyhas increased by Rs. 25,000. So the plough animal loanhas resulted in significant enhancement of his livelihoodthrough assured employment during sowing period,considerably increase in family income, timely landpreparation and sowing and considerably increase inasset value.


Kamatchi is a woman farmer in Sengapadai villageof Tirumangalam taluk in Madurai district, TamilNadu. She knows well, the land prepared timely isvital for receiving rains. Her knowledge on farmingwith an uncertain rainfall is something she learntfrom her parents since her childhood.

Rainfed farming is a predominant system of farmingin this area. Vagaries of Monsoon make it risk proneand pushes the small and marginal farmers intoindebtedness, leave their lands fallow and take upjobs in nearby Madurai City.

Trapped between the uncertainties of monsoons andrising cost of cultivation - prompting fallingconfidence, the story of Kamatchi brings hope for therainfed farmers. She works tirelessly in her land andis never reluctant to spend money to develop it. Herexperience is not exceptional; she stands testimonyto the success stories of hundreds of farmers in hervillage.

Kamatchi and her Family

Kamatchi lives with her husband and two sons. Herhusband works as a security man in a local textileshop in Madurai. Her sons have got married and liveseparately in the same house. The elder one hadrecently joined the army, and the younger onesupports her in farming apart from renting out theirbullock cart. She has two grand-daughters and agrand-son. Her daughter got married five years ago,and lives with her husband in Madurai.

Soon after marriage, Kamatchi and her husbandsettled in Sengapadai with her parents.“My husband never worked in farm. He rarely staysin the village as well. He will eat and sleep in thetextile shop itself. Whenever he visits family hewould give some money, which he could save aftermeeting his personal spending and drinking alcohol”says Kamatchi. With no options she had to work forherself and her children. Her parents gave 4.5 acres

of rainfed land to Kamatchi for earning herlivelihood. With a lot of difficulties she could ensureschooling for her children.

Due to the lack of support from her husband,Kamatchi has to take care of both her family andfarming activities all alone. She educated her firstson up to 12th standard in Thirumangalam, and heryounger son studied up to 10th standard; herdaughter didn’t attend high school for she supportedher mother to do household chores. While her eldestson studied in Thirumangalam, her younger sonused to help her in farming activities, afterreturning from the local school, to cultivate the landand to irrigate the paddy field, which he continues todo till now. She was unable to enterprise herself dueto lack of support, financial and emotional, by formalor non-formal means.

She says, “… one has to walk four to five times totheir house (the well-offs and moneylenders) to get aloan for urgent needs. They didn’t trust us for we arefrom Kallar community, and even if one could get aloan it was at the rate of 5 to 10%.” She was alsounable to invest in her farming.

In addition to her 4.5 acres land, she took another1.5 acres of land on lease 10 years ago from a nearbyfarmer, who is living in Madurai. Out of this,around 3.5 acres is black cotton soil, in which she

Impact on a family

Stabilising Livelihoods: Kamatchi brings Hope

cultivated various rainfed crops. With the monsoonrains she could store one foot of water in a naturaldepression in her land, and with that water shecultivated paddy in about half an acre of land. Sheirrigated the field manually and was only able totake some five to six bags of paddy. In another oneacre of land, she cultivated neem and sorghum,while the remaining one acre was left fallow in mostof the years. From 2002-05, there was drought inthe village, making the rainfed farming even worse.

The village - SengapadaiSengapadai is a typical rainfed village situated inThirumangalam block of Madurai District. Most ofthe villagers are dependent upon rainfed agricultureas a major livelihood. Farmers grow a variety ofrainfed crops like cotton, black gram, green gram,sorghum, senna, coriander, cowpea, varagu, redgram, and different kinds of vegetables in a mixedcropping pattern; few farmers having lands alongthe river bed grow paddy in small scale. Income isalso supplemented by rearing goats, sheeps, andcows.

The groundwater here is saline, making it totallyunfit for agriculture. The existing water harvestingstructures, ooranis and ponds are used only fordomestic purposes and cannot be used for irrigation.

Hence, the farmers have to totally depend on rainfallfor agriculture. The North-East monsoon that startsin the month of third week of September decides thefate of agriculture.

Vagaries of monsoon and lack of effective copingmechanism among the rainfed farming communitymakes the rainfed farming loose its lustre as viablelivelihood for many. Lack of suitable financialservices further pushes the rainfed farmers intopoverty traps. In the last two decades, there hasbeen large scale increase in fallow land, selling ofonce-cultivated rainfed lands, diversifying to othernon-farm livelihoods especially among the youthslike construction work, and migration to nearbycities like Madurai, Tiruppur, etc. Few families haveleft agriculture and permanently migrated taking uphotel business.

Intervention of DHAN FoundationGiven the situation, DHAN Foundation initiated itsRainfed Farming Development Programme inSengapadai village in 2003. The programme workswith the purpose of making rainfed farming a viablelivelihood. For achieving this purpose theprogramme is involved in the following activities:• Organising farmers into Uzhavar Kuzhu

(Farmers’ Group) building nested institutions ofRainfed Watershed Association, UzhavarMandram and federating them into UzhavarMamandram.

• Building on the local best practices of farmers inrainfed farming, both indigenous and exogenousby documenting, standardizing anddisseminating information.

• Designing and implementing context specific,multiple and interrelated interventions acrosssub sectors like agriculture, livestock andhorticulture through land development, organicmatter build up, crop production enhancementand livestock development.

• Developing and offering a package of socialsecurity products such as deficit rainfallinsurance, cattle insurance and humaninsurance to mitigate the risks andvulnerabilities of rainfed farmers.

• Creating access to savings and credit servicesfor farmers through their groups.

Rainfed Farming Scenario

Rainfed agriculture plays an important role in Indianeconomy. In India 58.53 percent of total net sown area(141.4m.ha) comes under rainfed lands spreading overmore than 177 districts. Nearly fifty percent of thetotal rural workforce and sixty percent of cattle headsof the country is located in the dry districts. In TamilNadu, out of 7m.ha of cultivable area 2.46m.ha isoccupied by rainfed agriculture (NRAA Publication2008). Ramasamy et al (2001) has classified thirteendistricts of Tamil Nadu as dry districts. In Tamil Naduabout ninety percent of the coarse cereals, ninetypercent of pulses, eighty one percent of oilseeds andsixty nine percent of cotton are grown under rainfedconditions. Besides the above mentioned facts relatedto economic importance, rainfed farming is importantfor the nation in terms of bio diversity and nutrition. Inspite of the various benefits the rainfed farming is onthe decline over years.


• Build the capacity of farmers in the areas ofproven rainfed farming technology, leadershipdevelopment, and change in attitude of farmerstowards rainfed farming to lead to significantchanges.

Kamatchi Uzhavar Kuzhu

It was during this period that Kamatchi joined theKaliamman Uzhavar Kuzhu (Uzhavar Kuzhudenotes rainfed farmers’ groups) with a bit of hope on5th August, 2003. Initially, the group members,including Kamatchi, saved fifty rupees per month.Slowly and steadily, the group started to grow, so didthe members of the group. The group has helped hermeet various consumption needs and livelihoodinvestment needs by supporting her with timelycredit facilities and watershed funds.

Seeing her prompt repayment and participation inthe group activities, all the members in her groupasked her to take up the role of treasurer for theUzhavar Kuzhu from May 2008. The UzhavarKuzhu gave the much needed support that she solong yearned for. It provided her with credit facilitiesand various livelihood supports. The group proved tobe a safe platform to save, to access timely creditservices, and to be supported by various livelihoodinterventions.

An Array of AchievementsKamatchi has saved Rs.5,600 in the group, andavailed a loans to the tune of Rs.70,191. Currentlyshe has a loan outstanding of Rs.21,360. As part ofNational Watershed Development Porgramme forRainfed Areas (NWDPRA), an amount of Rs.54,146was invested in her land from the watershed fund.

Watershed activityIn 2006 she received first support from theNWDPRA to construct a farm pond. She got afinancial support of Rs. 34,250 from her group, inwhich she contributed Rs. 6,000 as cash contributionand took up manual work worth of RS. 2,000. In theyear 2008, she again got a support of Rs.18,396 toconstruct another farm pond. She contributedRs.2,000 as chash and provided labour worth of Rs.1000. She says, “For many years, constructing afarm pond was a dream for me; but it never gotmaterialised. Only now I could construct two farmponds, because of my group.” In 2007-08, she got anadditional support of Rs.1500 to plant dry–landhorticulture crops like guava, sappota, amla,tamarind with Jatroba as live fence.

Kaliamman Uzhavar KuzhuThe Kaliamman Uzhavar Kuzhu was started on 5th August, 2003. There are 17 members in the group. Out of the 17members, only three members were land-owners cultivating some 2 to 4 acres of rainfed land. Others were landless,and were cultivating on leased and on savi system (a traditional system where landlords rent the land to landlesson yearly basis for an amount of Rs.300 to 500). Most of them have to dependent upon usurious money lenders fortheir credit needs.There has been significant change among the group members, after joining the group. Every member of the grouphad availed credit facilities through the group for household expenses, consumption needs, and to purchase goats,sheep, cattle and milch animals.They received interest free loans to purchase land, and to get land on lease. Now, out of the 17 members, sevenmembers have purchased land availing loan amount of Rs.10000 each (out of the 8, 7 were landless); four membersare now cultivating land for lease; and seven members are cultivating land on savi system basis.


The table no.1 shows the different kinds of workscarried out in Kamatchi’s land. A total of Rs.54,146worth of works were carried out in her land, forwhich she contributed a total amount of Rs.11,750 incash as well as labour.

Benefits of the Watershed Works

Before the farm ponds were dug, the 2.5 acres of landwas not productive enough. She cultivated paddy inhalf an acre of land, which she irrigated manually.In another one acre of land, she planted neem, anddid sorghum cultivation; the remaining plot was leftfallow. During 2002-05, there wasdrought in this region, and shewas unable to take an assuredcrop. She was able to storeharvest only five to six bags ofpaddy. But things startedchanging, once she constructedthe farm pond and store water.With the first farm pondconstructed in 2006, she was ableto harvest 14.4 lakhs litres ofrainwater, which was otherwisenot possible. The second farmpond was constructed recently;with this she could irrigateanother half-an-acre of land.

The table 2 explains the impact ofthis farm pond work. In the firstfarm pond, she carried out fishrearing activity both years. But

due to the overflow, thefish escaped through theoutlet. She wants tocontinue fish rearing thisyear also, and hopes toget a good harvest.

a. Credit supportfrom Group

In addition to the supportfrom the watershedproject of NWDPRA,Kamatchi availed loansfrom her group frovarious consumption and

production needs. So far she availed 30 loans fordifferent purposes amounting to Rs. 70,191. Thetable 3 and the figure 1 show the details of loansavailed in the group and percentage distribution ofthe different kinds of purposes for which Kamatchihad taken the loan. It shows a mix of needs for bothconsumption purposes and for income-generatingactivities. Kamatchi started with the savings of Rs.50 per month in the group. After few months sheincreased her savings to Rs. 100. Every month in thegroup meeting she would pay her savings, principalrepayment and the interests.

Table No.1 Activites in Kamatchi’s land

Year WatershedActivity Member Contribution Total Investment (Rs.)

2008-09 Rs.18,396 Farm pond construction(11/12/08) (26X15X1.5 cubicmeter)

Rs.2,000 as cash, andmanual contribution ofRs.1000

2007-08 Rs.1,500 Dry-land Horticulture cropseedlings with Jatroba aslive fence(20/10/07)

Rs.750 for pit making andplanting

2006-07 Rs.34,250 Farm pond construction(18/06/06) (60X16X1.5 cubicmetre)

Rs.6,000 as cash, andmanual contribution ofRs.2000

2003-04 Joined the group promoted by RFDP-DHAN Foundation on 05/08/03

S.No. Before (till 2007) After (2007 to 2009) Impact

1 Irrigated half an acre ofpaddy field

Irrigates around 1.00 acre ofpaddy field

More area under irrigation;Increase in acreage of paddycultivation;

2 Paddy yield of 5 - 6 bags Paddy yield of 24 bags in2007-08 and 20 bags in2008-09

Increased paddy yield

3 Manually irrigated Oil engine purchased withhelp of group loan in thebeginning of 2007

Pump more volume of waterand irrigate more area of land;

4 Manually have to spent twodays for one irrigation

Irrigates the paddy field injust five hours

Saved time

5 Spent a labour cost ofRs.600 for 4 man-days forirrigation, at Rs.150 perperson, for a week

Spends one litre of diesel perhour for 10 hours (two dayswith 5 hours each day) for aweek. It costs only Rs.350

Reduced labour cost

6 Cultivated 120 days paddy With the advice from theUzhavar Kuzhu, cultivates100 days paddy

Reduced usage of irrigationwater, saves 2-4 irrigation,reduced vulnerability torainfall risks.

7 No dry-land horticulture Planted 50 seedlings ofhorticulture crops

Brought fallow undercultivation; Will get increase infarm income once they startyielding.

Table No. 2 Impact of the watershed activities


Table 3. Credit Support from Group

S.No. Purpose No. of

loans Amount Percent

I Consumption loans1 Household expenses 7 5,270 7.5

2 Debt redemption 3 2,500 3.6

3 Medical expense 1 1,000 1.4

4 Son's marriage 1 3,000 4.3

Sub Total 12 11,770 16.8

II Farm Asset Creation

5 Land purchase 1 10,000 14.2

6 Oil engine 1 50,00 7.1

Sub Total 2 15,000 21.4

III Livelihood working capital requirement

7 FYM application 1 1,000 1.4

8 Farming -weeding 1 1,000 1.4

9 Seeding cost 2 2,000 2.8

Sub Total 4 4,000 5.7

IV Livestock investment

10 Milch animal 1 10,000 14.2

11 Goat rearing 5 16,550 23.6

12 Kroiler 1 360 0.5

Sub Total 7 26,910 38.3

V Risk management measures

13 Goat insurance 2 116 0.2

Sub Total 2 116 0.2

VI Asset Creation

14 House construction 1 12,000 17.1

Sub Total 1 12,000 17.1

VII Others

15 Biosand Filter 1 145 0.2

16 Uniform saree 1 250 0.4

Sub Total 2 395 0.6

Grand Total 30 70,191 100

It is to be noted the nearly 65.4% (Rs.45910) of loanis used for livelihood activities. Recently, she hastaken Rs.12,000 to construct farm house in her land.She has already bought construction materials; thework is yet to be initiated. Apart from this she hastaken a variety of loans for various consumptionneeds like medical expenses, marriage expenses,outside debt redemption and household expenses. Asa leader of the group Kamatchi visits the bank andtalks to the Manager for linkages. “In earlier days,

none of the banks cared us of our credit needs. Now,the bankers they themselves invite us to take loanfrom their bank, for they know our group’scredibility and discipline, and trust us,” saysKamatchi. She says further “Before the group I wentfor pledging my jewels to get a loan from the localbank. As I could not put my signature I was told tobring my relatives who can put signature. I washelpless and with shame I went back and cried tomy son. Today the same bank manager gives me aset and talks with me about our group. This I couldearn this respect only because of my group”

Benefits of the loans availed

With the support of group loans Kamatchi purchasedgoats and started maintaining a regular stock of 15to 20 goats with the help of loan availed. This, inturn, helped her to face uncertainities, absorbshocks, and able to pay off her debts by selling goats.Kamatchi said she was able to recover from theshock; thanks to the group, she again purchasedgoats from the loan availed from the group. She alsobought a cow with the group loan. She again boughtone more cow with her earning from the farm.

With the help of group loan she was able to purchaseone acre of rainfed land, in which she cultivatedmaize last year, and varagu and red gram this year.She also purchased oil engine with the help of thegroup loan adding another valuable asset to herfarm. The time of purchase was significant, in thesame year when the farm pond was dug. So, she wasable to use the water harvested in the successiveseason.

Fig. 1: Percentage of loans utilized


Impact of the worksIn the past five and half-years, Kamatchi found that little spark that had major changes in her life andlivelihood. The various activities resulted in the following outcomes in the life of Kamatchi and her family.

Table No. 4. Showing the crop produce and income from the farm in 2002-03 and 2008-09

Cropyear Crop cultivated Area

cultivated Produce Price Income

2008-09 Paddy 1 acre 20 bags Rs.75 per bag 15,000

Fodder sorghum 0.75 +1.5 acre 2800 mudi Rs.3 per mudi 8,400

Dryland horticulture crops 0.75 acre yet to realise

Cotton 1 acre Sale of cotton 3,000

Black gram 10 measures Rs.25 250

Green gram 70 kg Rs.30 2,100

Red gram 1 acre Red gram-40 bags Rs.35 per kg 1,400

Total area cultivated 6 acres Total Income 30,150

2002-03 Paddy 0.5 acre 10 bags Rs.750 per bag 7,500

Sorghum 3 quintals of sorghum Rs.1000 per Qtl. 3,000

Red gram 30 bags of red gram Rs.35 per kg 1,050

Kuthuraivali 2 Qtls. of kuthuraivali Rs.700 per quintal 1,400

Cotton 1.5 acre Sale of cotton 5,000

Fallow 1 acre

Total are cultivated 5 acres Total Income 17,950

Difference in income 12,200

Asset (as on 2008-09) Assetworth (Rs.)

Asset before joining thegroup

Asset worth(Rs.)

Two acres of blackcotton soil land

60,000 One acre of rainfed blackcotton soil land

30,000

1.5 acres of vertisol land 67,500 Land 1.5 acres of vertisol 67,500

One acre of irrigatedpaddy land

50,000 Land 0.5 acre of irrigatedpaddy land

25,000

Two farm ponds 54,146 No Farm Ponds

One oil engine 5,000 No oil Engine

Goat - 7 21,000 Goat s- 5 15,000

Cattle - 2 24,000 Cow - 1 15,000

House (in process ofconstruction)

12,000 No house in the farm

Total 2,93,646 Total 1,52,500

Value of the additional assetcreated

141146

Percent increase in assetvalue

92.60

The table 4 shows an incremental income raise of Rs.12, 200 per year from the farm. This would mean 68%increase in farm income.

Table No. 5. Net worth of the assets

Similarly, there has been a significant increase in the net worth of the asset holding. The table 5 shows anaddition of assets worth Rs.96, 146 was created, with an increase of 92.60 percent in total asset value.


Expenditure Amount(Rs.) Income Amount

(Rs.)Paddy cultivation in 1acre

9,645 Yield of 20 bags of paddy atRs.750 per bag

15,000

Cotton and varagu in twoacre of rainfed land withpulses like red gram,green gram and blackgram

9,749 Cotton (250 kg X Rs.12) 3,000

Black gram (10 measures @Rs.25)

250

Red gram (40 kg @ Rs.35) 1,400

Green gram (70 kg @ Rs.30) 2,100

Fodder sorghum cultivatedin some 2.25 acres of land 3,680

Yield of 2800 bunches ofsorghum @ Rs.3 per bunch

8,400

Milch animal: Fodder peryear (Oilcake and cumbu )at Rs.52 per day

18,980Income from milch animalrearing with an yield of 6litres per day at Rs.10/litre

21,900

Goat rearing: 20 goats Selling of goats at Rs.3000per goat

60,000

Total expenditure 42,054 Total income 1,12,050

Net Income from farm andallied activities

69,996

Table No. 6. Total income and expenditure, with net incomefrom farming and allied activities in 2008-09

The Rainfed Farming Development Program (RFDP)of DHAN Foundation had increased Kamatchi’saccess to institutional credit facilities, and reduceddependency on money-lenders. There has been anincreased awareness and an increase in socialrecognition being front-runner in her leadership role.With the additional income

from the farm, she had further invested inpurchasing a pair of cattle, and a bullock cart; shealso planning to complete her farm house, for shehad the gained confidence to face the future. Thisshows a positive trend in moving towards a farm-based livelihood option, which was once a not sodependable source of income.

Kamatchi’s Future PlanKamatchi now hopes to purchase and rear one morepair of milch animals. She wants to deepen her firstfarm pond from 1.5 to 2.0 metre, and this year wantsto rear fish in both her ponds. She also planned to

construct a supply channel so as to capture theoverflow discharge from the first pond to the secondpond.

She wants the group to supply farm inputs likeseeds, fertilisers by buying quality seeds at wholesalerate. This could reduce the cost of seeds for thefarmers, and farmers also can avail better qualityseeds. She also discussed about avoiding the localtraders, who are forming ‘syndicate’ amongthemselves and fix prices. As it prevents the farmersfrom negotiating for a better price, she thinks ofmobilising groups and the federation to procure andmarket farm produces. Obviously, this would ensurea fair means of trade and farmers could get fair pricefor their produce, thereby more income.

Through the support rendered by the UzhavarKuzhu, and with her own confidence and courage,Kamatchi proved that rainfed farming can be aviable venture and it can make changes in the livesof marginalised farmers. Kamatchi is now a beaconof light and a source of hope for her own villagers.


Financial Statements

Wisely conserved, justlydistributedTraditional system of water allocation andsharing was based on custom, belief, and theconcept of equity, as they perceived. Thisensured smooth sharing and minimizedconflicts. Behind these existing indigenoussystems of irrigation, there are thousands ofyears of tradition.H

erit

age M

atters

FORM NO.10B

Audit report under section 12 A(b) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 in the case ofcharitable or religious trusts or institutions

We have examined the consolidated Balance Sheet of DHAN (Development of Humane Action)Foundation, 18, Pillayar Koil Street, S.S.Colony, Madurai – 625 010, Tamil Nadu, India (PermanentAccount Number: AAA TD 2591 B) as at 31 March 2009 and the consolidated Income and ExpenditureAccount for the year ended on that date which are in agreement with the books of account maintained by thesaid trust.

This financial statement is the responsibility of the Trust’s management. Our responsibility is to express anopinion on the financial statement based on our audit.

We conducted our audit in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in India. Those standardsrequire that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financialstatements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supportingthe amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accountingprinciples used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financialstatement presentation. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

We have obtained all the information and explanations which to the best of our knowledge and belief werenecessary for the purposes of the audit subject to non confirmation of balances of certain advances, depositsand loans recoverable, bank balances, donor balances and current liabilities. In our opinion, proper books ofaccount have been kept by the head office and branches of the trust so far as appears from our examination ofthe books.

In our opinion and to the best of our information and according to the information given to us, the saidaccounts give a true and fair view:i) in the case of the consolidated Balance Sheet of the state of affairs of the above named trust

as at 31 March 2009 andii) in the case of the consolidated income and expenditure account of the excess of expenditure over income

of its accounting year ending on 31 March 2009.

The prescribed particulars are annexed hereto.

'TRIDIPA' Ground Floor, 46/2, I Cross, SomeshwarapuraExtension, Ulsoor, BANGALORE - 560 008.Tel.: 91 - 80 - 25364740 / 25368228 Fax: 91 - 80 - 25367711

for SUNANDA & SHESHADRIChartered Accountants

Sd/-K.SHESHADRI

Partner, Membership No.20956

Place: MaduraiDate: 10 July 2009

Financial Statements

(in Rupees)

Schedule March 31, 2009 March 31, 2008

A S S E T S

FIXED ASSETSWritten off as per contra 1 108,723,651 80,958,295

INVESTMENTS 2 99,478,037 96,258,797

CURRENT ASSETS, LOANS AND ADVANCES

Bank Balances 3 28,143,882 59,459,481

Inventory 14,200 9,300Loans and Advances 4 11,191,961 7,087,532

SPECIFIED FUNDS 6 12,271,997 13,669,654

Total 259,823,728 257,443,059

L I A B I L I T I E S

CORPUS AND CAPITAL FUND 5 102,291,822 97,855,410

SPECIFIED FUNDS 6 47,099,159 76,700,967

CURRENT LIABILITIES 7 1,709,096 1,928,387

FIXED ASSETS WRITTEN OFF AS PER CONTRA 1 108,723,651 80,958,295

Total 259,823,728 257,443,059

Notes on Accounts 12

Schedules 1 to 7 & 12 form an integral part of the Balance Sheet

As per our Report of even dateSd/- Sd/- For Sunanda & Sheshadri

Chairman Treasurer Chartered Accountants

Sd/- Sd/-Executive Director K.SHESHADRI

Madurai PartnerJuly 10, 2009

DHAN (Development of Humane Action) Foundation

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 31, 2009


(in Rupees)Schedule March 31, 2009 March 31, 2008

I N C O M E:

Grants Received 8 174,979,839 170,190,642Techno Managerial Services Receipts (TMS) 1,149,497 3,447,612Other Receipts 9 13,790,238 13,910,045

Total 189,919,574 187,548,299

E X P E N D I T U R E:Community Banking Programme

Programme Implementation and Administration 10 43,032,674 12,725,823Capital Expenditure 1 5,873,476 48,906,150 3,914,332

Tank fed Agriculture ProgrammeProgramme Implementation and Administration 10 30,301,895 30,339,103Capital Expenditure 1 1,625,782 31,927,677 291,759

Post Tsunami relief & Rehabilitation ProgrammeProgramme Implementation and Administration 10 51,716,570 64,233,579Capital Expenditure 1 20,568,327 72,284,897 10,388,148

New Themes and Other ProgrammesProgramme Implementation and Administration 10 38,538,638 35,116,686Capital Expenditure 1 9,983,581 48,522,219 12,236,979

Central Support SystemProgramme Implementation and Administration 10 12,429,737 7,228,355Capital Expenditure 1 1,320,948 13,750,685 355,907

Excess of (Expenditure over income) / income over expenditure (25,472,054) 10,717,628

Total 189,919,574 187,548,299

Appropriation of Excess of (Expenditure over income) / Income over Expenditure 11 (25,472,054) 10,717,628

Notes on Accounts 12

Schedules 1 & 8 to 12 form an integral part of the Income and Expenditure account

As per our Report of even date.Sd/- Sd/- for Sunanda & Sheshadri

Chairman Treasurer Chartered Accountants

Sd/- Sd/-Executive Director K.SHESHADRI

Madurai Partner July 10, 2009


CONSOLIDATED INCOME & EXPENDITURE ACCOUNTFOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 31, 2009


DH

AN

(Dev

elop

men

t of H

uman

e A

ctio

n) F

ound

atio

nSC

HED

ULE

S TO

CO

NSO

LID

ATE

D B

ALA

NC

E SH

EET

AS

AT

MA

RC

H 3

1, 2

009

(In R

upee

s)Sc

hedu

le 1

: Fi

xed

Ass

ets

N

E T

B

L O

C K

As

on

01.0

4.20

08

Add

itio

n

( T

rans

fer)

D

elet

ion

(Tra

nsfe

r)

As

on

31.0

3.20

09

As

on

01.0

4.20

08

for

the

year

W

ithd

raw

n on

de

leti

on

As

on

31.0

3.20

09

As

on

31.0

3.20

09

As

on

31.0

3.20

08

Com

mun

ity

Ban

king

Pro

gram

me

Free

hold

Lan

d2,

037,

316

-

-

2,

037,

316

-

-

-

2,03

7,31

6

2,

037,

316

B

uild

ing

3,00

0,69

7

2,38

3,62

6

-

5,38

4,32

3

673,

553

47

1,07

7

1,14

4,63

0

4,

239,

693

2,32

7,14

4

Bui

ldin

g (W

ork-

in-P

rogr

ess)

85,2

91

-

-

85,2

91

-

-

-

85

,291

85

,291

Fu

rnitu

re a

nd F

ixtu

res

1,10

6,05

0

109,

048

-

1,21

5,09

8

589,

053

62

,605

651,

658

56

3,44

0

516,

997

Offi

ce E

quip

men

ts42

4,25

8

-

-

42

4,25

8

29

1,36

8

19,9

34

31

1,30

2

112,

956

13

2,89

0

Pr

ofes

sion

al E

quip

men

ts5,

266,

912

1,

091,

430

-

6,

358,

342

5,

025,

555

799,

672

5,

825,

227

533,

115

24

1,35

7

E

lect

rica

l Fitt

ings

343,

164

13,5

11

-

356,

675

256,

520

10

,016

266,

536

90

,139

86

,644

V

ehic

les

4,46

5,71

5

1,74

3,23

6

-

6,20

8,95

1

2,70

0,99

9

52

6,19

3

3,22

7,19

2

2,

981,

759

1,76

4,71

6

Staf

f Veh

icle

s93

9,91

5

15

7,62

5

58

9,51

2

50

8,02

8

-

-

-

508,

028

93

9,91

5

Pl

ant &

Mac

hine

ry92

9,68

6

37

5,00

0

-

1,

304,

686

18

7,07

3

167,

642

35

4,71

5

949,

971

74

2,61

3

T

otal

I

18,5

99,0

04

5,

873,

476

58

9,51

2

23

,882

,968

9,72

4,12

1

2,

057,

139

-

11,7

81,2

60

12,1

01,7

08

8,87

4,88

3

Tan

k F

ed A

gric

ultu

re P

rogr

amm

eFr

eeho

ld L

and

176,

689

-

-

176,

689

-

-

-

17

6,68

9

176,

689

Furn

iture

and

Fix

ture

s53

0,53

9

82

,052

-

61

2,59

1

23

4,02

5

37,8

57

27

1,88

2

340,

709

29

6,51

4

O

ffice

Equ

ipm

ents

327,

734

5,47

8

-

333,

212

179,

264

23

,092

202,

356

13

0,85

6

148,

470

Prof

essi

onal

Equ

ipm

ents

2,27

1,87

5

649,

536

-

2,92

1,41

1

2,13

9,51

1

46

9,14

0

2,60

8,65

1

31

2,76

0

132,

364

Ele

ctri

cal F

ittin

gs15

6,64

5

3,

692

-

16

0,33

7

10

0,74

7

5,95

9

106,

706

53

,631

55

,898

V

ehic

les

1,24

6,95

1

857,

324

330,

700

1,77

3,57

5

961,

161

16

0,07

2

265,

593

85

5,64

0

917,

935

28

5,79

0

St

aff V

ehic

les

320,

975

27,7

00

218,

165

130,

510

-

-

-

13

0,51

0

320,

975

Plan

t & M

achi

nery

1,32

4,80

0

-

-

1,32

4,80

0

1,06

7,14

7

38

,648

1,10

5,79

5

21

9,00

5

257,

653

Tota

l

II

6,

356,

208

1,

625,

782

54

8,86

5

7,

433,

125

4,

681,

855

734,

768

26

5,59

3

5,15

1,03

0

2,

282,

095

1,

674,

353

Pos

t Tsu

nam

i Rel

ief a

nd R

ehab

ilit

atio

n P

rogr

amm

eFr

eeho

ld L

and

6,55

9,29

1

418,

230

-

6,97

7,52

1

-

-

-

6,

977,

521

6,55

9,29

1

Bui

ldin

g w

ork-

in-p

rogr

ess

4,69

7,52

4

7,65

1,69

4

(11,

053,

885)

1,29

5,33

3

-

-

-

1,

295,

333

4,69

7,52

4

Bui

ldin

g10

,870

,053

11,1

37,1

31

-

22

,007

,184

1,85

1,12

3

2,

015,

606

3,86

6,72

9

18

,140

,455

9,

018,

930

Fu

rnitu

re a

nd F

ixtu

res

1,24

1,67

7

44,8

38

-

1,28

6,51

5

327,

761

95

,883

423,

644

86

2,87

1

913,

917

Offi

ce E

quip

men

ts86

0,62

2

16

,975

-

87

7,59

7

30

8,90

1

85,3

04

39

4,20

5

483,

392

55

1,72

1

Pr

ofes

sion

al E

quip

men

ts5,

810,

593

85

0,09

5

-

6,

660,

688

5,

350,

585

786,

063

6,

136,

648

524,

040

46

0,00

8

E

lect

rica

l Fitt

ings

489,

704

4,76

1

-

494,

465

184,

949

30

,953

215,

902

27

8,56

3

304,

754

Veh

icle

s6,

478,

851

-

-

6,

478,

851

2,

462,

182

602,

500

3,

064,

682

3,41

4,16

9

4,

016,

669

Pl

ant a

nd M

achi

nery

-

11,2

91,5

17

-

11

,291

,517

-

1,

693,

736

1,69

3,73

6

9,

597,

781

-

Staf

f Veh

icle

s29

4,40

6

20

6,97

1

20

5,47

9

29

5,89

8

-

-

-

295,

898

29

4,40

6

T

otal

I

II37

,302

,721

31,6

22,2

12

(1

0,84

8,40

6)

57

,665

,569

10,4

85,5

01

5,

310,

045

-

15,7

95,5

46

41,8

70,0

23

26,8

17,2

20

Par

ticu

lars

G

R

O

S S

B

L

O

C

K

A

T

C

O

S T

D

E

P

R

E

C

I A

T

I

O

N


DH

AN

(Dev

elop

men

t of H

uman

e A

ctio

n) F

ound

atio

n

*Cen

tral

Sup

port

Sys

tem

- Fr

eeho

ld la

nd in

clud

es R

s.20

,94,

344

fund

ed o

ut o

f Cor

pus

Sd/-

Sd/-

Cha

irm

anTr

easu

rer

Sd/-

E

xecu

tive

Dir

ecto

rSd

/-M

adur

aiK

.SH

ESH

AD

RI

July

10,

200

9Pa

rtner

SCH

EDU

LES

TO C

ON

SOLI

DA

TED

BA

LAN

CE

SHEE

T A

S A

T M

AR

CH

31,

200

9

(In R

upee

s)

N E

T

B L

O C

K

As

on

01.0

4.20

08

A

ddit

ion

( Tra

nsfe

r)

Del

etio

n (T

rans

fer)

A

s on

31

.03.

2009

A

s on

01

.04.

2008

fo

r th

e ye

ar

W

ithd

raw

n on

de

leti

on

As

on

31.0

3.20

09

As

on

31.0

3.20

09

As

on

31.0

3.20

08

New

The

mes

and

Oth

er P

rogr

amm

esFr

eeho

ld L

and

1,72

7,00

4

-

-

1,72

7,00

4

-

-

-

1,

727,

004

1,72

7,00

4

Build

ing

wor

k in

Pro

gres

s26

,759

,176

7,44

8,02

0

-

34,2

07,1

96

-

-

-

34,2

07,1

96

26,7

59,1

76

Bu

ildin

g3,

422,

644

-

-

3,

422,

644

34

2,26

4

308,

038

65

0,30

2

2,77

2,34

2

3,

080,

380

Fu

rnitu

re a

nd F

ixtu

res

1,42

3,50

2

166,

446

-

1,58

9,94

8

501,

800

10

8,81

6

610,

616

97

9,33

2

921,

702

Offi

ce E

quip

men

ts74

9,32

6

16

,430

-

76

5,75

6

31

3,21

5

67,8

81

38

1,09

6

384,

660

43

6,11

1

Pr

ofes

sion

al E

quip

men

ts7,

242,

140

1,

708,

221

-

8,

950,

361

6,

709,

506

1,34

4,51

2

8,

054,

018

896,

343

53

2,63

4

El

ectr

ical

Fitt

ings

483,

151

21,4

00

-

504,

551

231,

100

27

,345

258,

445

24

6,10

6

252,

051

Vehi

cles

1,52

0,86

8

-

88,1

85

1,43

2,68

3

796,

030

99

,576

29,9

65

86

5,64

1

567,

042

72

4,83

8

St

aff V

ehic

les

63,4

26

43,4

64

63,4

26

43,4

64

-

-

-

43

,464

63

,426

Pl

ant &

Mac

hine

ry14

2,60

0

57

9,60

0

-

72

2,20

0

10

0,22

1

93,2

96

19

3,51

7

528,

683

42

,379

To

tal

IV

43,5

33,8

37

9,

983,

581

15

1,61

1

53

,365

,807

8,99

4,13

6

2,

049,

464

29,9

65

11

,013

,635

42

,352

,172

34

,539

,701

Cen

tral

Sup

port

Sys

tem

*Fr

eeho

ld L

and

8,79

6,17

0

-

-

8,79

6,17

0

-

-

-

8,

796,

170

8,79

6,17

0

Build

ing

wor

k in

Pro

gres

s-

27

0,00

0

-

27

0,00

0

-

-

-

270,

000

-

Fu

rnitu

re a

nd F

ixtu

res

343,

322

11,9

70

-

355,

292

168,

422

18

,687

187,

109

16

8,18

3

174,

900

Offi

ce E

quip

men

ts95

,068

-

-

95

,068

64

,065

4,65

0

68,7

15

26

,353

31

,003

Pr

ofes

sion

al E

quip

men

ts1,

411,

129

14

3,62

3

-

1,

554,

752

1,

390,

477

98,5

64

1,

489,

041

65,7

11

20,6

52

Elec

tric

al F

ittin

gs93

,426

1,

648

-

95

,074

64

,013

3,10

6

67,1

19

27

,955

29

,413

Ve

hicl

es-

86

9,50

1

-

86

9,50

1

-

130,

426

13

0,42

6

739,

075

-

St

aff V

ehic

les

-

24,2

06

-

24,2

06

-

-

-

24

,206

-

To

tal

V

10,7

39,1

15

1,

320,

948

-

12,0

60,0

63

1,

686,

977

255,

433

-

1,

942,

410

10,1

17,6

53

9,05

2,13

8

Tota

l

(I+I

I+II

I+IV

+V)

116,

530,

885

3

9,37

2,11

4(1

1,05

3,88

5)

1,4

95,4

67(1

1,05

3,88

5)

154,

407,

532

35

,572

,590

10,4

06,8

26

295,

560

45

,683

,881

10

8,72

3,65

1

80

,958

,295

Par

ticu

lars

G

R

O

S S

B

L O

C

K

A

T

C

O

S T

D

E

P

R

E

C

I A

T

I

O

N


(in Rupees)Schedule 2: Investments 2009 2008

Ford Foundation Corpus Deposits with:Post Office - KVP Scheme 14,300,000 14,300,000Housing & Urban Development Corporation Ltd. 5,000,000 5,000,000Housing Development Finanical Corporation 7,500,000 7,500,000Govt. of India - RBI Bonds 2,430,000 2,430,000Fixed Deposits with Canara Bank 4,281,979 33,511,979 3,930,315

Sir Dorabji Tata Trust Corpus Fund Deposits:Govt. of India RBI bonds 16,373,500 16,373,500Post Office - Kisan Vikas Patra Scheme 7,500,000 7,500,000Fixed Deposit with Pandiyan Gramma Bank 7,411,000 7,411,000Fixed Deposits with Canara Bank - 31,284,500

DHAN own / Tata-Dhan Academy / Other Corpus Fund Deposits:Govt. of India RBI bonds 1,122,500 1,122,500Post Office - Kisan Vikas Patra Scheme 1,500,000 1,500,000Fixed Deposit with REPCO Bank 11,584,309 8,169,803Fixed Deposit with HDFC Bank 3,050,000 1,500,000Fixed Deposits with Pandiyan Grama Bank 7,207,470 7,207,470Fixed Deposits with City Union Bank 2,500,000 25,000,000Fixed Deposits with ICICI HFC Ltd. 450,000 -Investments with Tata Equity management Fund 500,000 500,000Fixed Deposit with Others - 27,914,279 3,124,340

Community Risk Reserve & Other Funds with: Fixed Deposits with Pandiyan Gramma Bank 5,107,279 4,481,964

Fixed Deposits with HDFC Bank 1,660,000 6,767,279 1,500,000

Sir RatanTata Trust Expendable Field Campus corpus Fixed Deposits with Canara Bank - 207,905

Total 99,478,037 96,258,797

Schedule 3: Bank BalancesIn Savings accounts 16,551,038 11,637,796In Fixed Deposits 11,492,844 47,782,685Cheques in Transit 100,000 39,000

Total 28,143,882 59,459,481Schedule 4: Loans and Advances Advances Recoverable:

Project Advances to staff 239,926 105,141Deposits 2,660,057 2,376,571Other Advances Recoverable 8,291,978 4,605,820

Total 11,191,961 7,087,532

Sd/- Sd/- Sd/- Chairman Executive Director TreasurerMaduraiJuly 10, 2009

DHAN (Development of Humane Action) FoundationSCHEDULES TO CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET AS AT MARCH 31, 2009


Sche

dule

5: C

orpu

s an

d C

apit

al F

und

Corp

us F

und

Ford

foun

datio

n33

,342

,600

-1,

640,

055

(1,8

67,8

86)

33,1

14,7

69Si

r Dor

abji

Tata

Tru

st31

,286

,605

-1,

320,

173

(1,4

47,0

55)

31,1

59,7

23D

HAN

Fou

ndat

ion

Ow

n14

,029

,355

-3,

971,

002

(247

,937

)17

,752

,420

Oth

er C

orpu

s Fun

d3,

350,

800

1,00

0,00

0-

-4,

350,

800

Tata

-Dha

n Ac

adem

y1,

543,

849

-16

5,00

0-

1,70

8,84

9

T

otal

83,5

53,2

091,

000,

000

7,09

6,23

0(3

,562

,878

)88

,086

,561

Capi

tal F

und

14,3

02,2

01-

-(9

6,94

0)14

,205

,261

Tot

al97

,855

,410

1,00

0,00

07,

096,

230

(3,6

59,8

18)

102,

291,

822

Sche

dule

6: S

peci

fed

Fun

dD

onor

’s A

ccou

nt -

Net

54,4

37,1

1039

9,89

7(2

9,38

3,02

0)25

,453

,987

Sir R

atan

Tat

a Tr

ust (

SRTT

) Rev

olvi

ng F

und

300,

000

76,0

0037

6,00

0SR

TT E

xpen

dabl

e Fie

ld C

ampu

s Cor

pus F

und

87,1

17-

-(8

7,11

7)-

Oth

er R

evol

ving

fund

retu

rns

4,22

3,18

03,

000

330,

364

4,55

6,54

4C

omm

unity

Ris

k R

eser

ve F

und

3,04

9,59

362

5,31

526

5,30

4-

3,94

0,21

2Bo

ok F

und

360,

423

51,9

9641

2,41

9Ve

hicl

e Fun

d57

3,89

076

,000

(561

,890

)88

,000

Tot

al63

,031

,313

704,

315

1,12

3,56

1(3

0,03

2,02

7)-

34,8

27,1

62

Less

: Don

or’s

acco

unt n

et b

alan

ce in

clud

ed a

bove

54,4

37,1

1025

,453

,987

8,59

4,20

39,

373,

175

Add

: Don

or’s

acco

unt S

urpl

us b

alan

ces

68,

106,

764

68,1

06,7

6437

,725

,984

37,7

25,9

84

D

onor

’s ac

coun

t Def

icit

bala

nces

1

3,66

9,65

4-

12,2

71,9

97

T

otal

76,7

00,9

6747

,099

,159

Mad

urai

Sd/-

S

d/-

Sd/-

July

10,

200

9C

hair

man

E

xecu

tive

Dir

ecto

r

T

reas

urer

Ope

ning

bala

nces

as o

nA

pril

1, 2

008

Am

ount

s not

incl

uded

inIn

com

e &Ex

pend

iture

acco

unt R

ecei

pt /

(Adv

ance

)In

com

eSu

rplu

s/(E

xpen

ses)

App

ropr

iati

on f

rom

Inco

me

& e

xpen

ditu

re a

/cC

losi

ng B

alan

ceas

on

Mar

ch31

, 20

09

DH

AN

(Dev

elop

men

t of

Hum

ane

Act

ion)

Fou

ndat

ion

SCH

ED

ULE

S TO

CO

NSO

LID

ATE

D B

ALA

NC

E S

HE

ET

- AS

AT

MA

RC

H 3

1, 2

009

Part

icul

ars


(in Rupees) March 31, 2009 March 31, 2008

Schedule 8 : Grants ReceivedFrom Foreign Agencies

Oxfam Novib - The Netherlands 108,127,646 119,497,650Rabobank Foundation 7,500,560 7,538,664Individual donations for Tank renovation works 2,991,922 807,014Stichting Varienden Van DHAN - The Netherlands 5,176,836 3,559,751Karunai Illam Trust, Newzealand 1,454,728 2,502,908CAWST (CIDA) Water Expertise Centre, Canada 1,307,676 -New Zealand High Commission 499,000 -ZLM Verzekerjngen - The Netherlands 1,595,420 -Nepalese Community Soceity of Calgary, Canada 4,900Oxfam (America) Trust 5,333,003 7,061,132Water for Life 249,953 3,458,807Care Today Fund 280,000 1,000,000Others 661,843 135,183,487 8,933,436

From Indian Agencies

Sir Dorabji Tata Trust 7,506,000 250,000ITC Rural Development Trust 3,200,000 3,158,273Department of Agriculture NWDPRA - Watershed 287,932 797,611Jala Samvardhane Yojana Sangha - GoK 1,414,481 2,823,983United Nations Development Programme / UNTRS 4,861,865 2,277,000National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) 983,317 511,257Ministry of Water Resources, Govt. of India 1,260,000 1,260,000CAPART New Delhi 2,508,500 1,899,000

DHAN (Development of Humane Action) FoundationSCHEDULES TO CONSOLIDATED INCOME & EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT - MARCH 31, 2009

(in Rupees) March 31, 2009 March 31, 2008

Schedule 7: Current LiabilitiesSavings bank account overdrawn 2,945 495,644Others 1,706,151 1,432,743

Total 1,709,096 1,928,387

DHAN (Development of Humane Action) FoundationSCHEDULES TO CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET - MARCH 31, 2009


DHAN (Development of Humane Action) FoundationSCHEDULES TO CONSOLIDATED INCOME & EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT - March 31, 2009

Individual donations for Tank renovation works 550,700 - 737,356COIR Board, Govt. of India 465,000 655,720Department of Health, Tamil Nadu 1,450,000 150,000APCBTMP, Govt. of AP 1,373,879 200,160Hindustan Unilever Limted 8,650,000 485,000Sir Ratan Tata Trust 1,375,000 -District Rural Development Agency - Chittoor, AP 210,914 -District Rural Development Agency - Tamil Nadu 308,680 565,920Indian Bank 480,000 -Care Today Fund 1,454,300 -National Agricultural Innovaion Project 931,096 -Others 524,688 60,000

Total 174,979,839 170,190,642

Schedule 9: Other ReceiptsInterest from Banks, etc 3,309,371 3,604,976Income from corpus Investment 6,691,898 4,630,162Other Income 2,838,966 4,895,142Donations 950,003 779,765

Total 13,790,238 13,910,045

Sd/- Sd/- Sd/-Chairman Executive Director Treasurer

MaduraiJuly 10, 2009

39,796,352


DH

AN

(Dev

elop

men

t of

Hum

ane

Act

ion)

Fou

ndat

ion

SCH

ED

ULE

S TO

CO

NSO

LID

ATE

D IN

CO

ME

& E

XPE

ND

ITU

RE

AC

CO

UN

T A

S A

T M

AR

CH

31,

200

9

Sche

dule

10

: Pro

gram

me

Impl

emen

tati

on a

nd A

dmin

istr

atio

n

(in

Rup

ees)

Act

ivit

y / E

xpen

ditu

re /

Item

sC

omm

unit

yTa

nkfe

dP

ost

tsun

ami

New

The

mes

Cen

tral

Tot

alB

anki

ngA

gric

ultu

re

rel

ief &

reh

abil

i-

a

nd O

ther

Supp

ort

Pro

gram

me

Pro

gram

me

tati

on p

rog.

Pro

gram

mes

syst

em

Post

Tsu

nam

i - R

elie

f & R

ehab

ilita

tion

--

--

525,

536

Res

tori

ng L

ivel

ihoo

ds-

-9,

738,

374

--

9,73

8,37

47,

762,

540

Res

tori

ng H

abit

at-

-29

6,97

7-

-29

6,97

726

3,63

7

C

oast

al A

gric

ultu

re /

Hor

icul

ture

/

Liv

elih

oods

--

1,43

3,58

5-

-1,

433,

585

44,8

25E

ndow

men

t and

oth

er G

rant

s to

Tank

farm

ers

Ass

ocia

tion

s, N

GO

s, P

anch

ayat

etc

.4,

500,

000

30,0

0043

,190

--

4,57

3,19

095

7,49

8Fl

ood

relie

f sup

port

and

Res

tori

ng H

abita

t-

--

--

Orp

hana

ge C

entr

e-

--

1,43

8,06

0-

1,43

8,06

01,

318,

255

Vol

unte

er a

llow

ance

s and

Tra

vel

6,19

2,20

92,

893,

390

4,82

0,03

13,

535,

309

-17

,440

,939

21,2

81,0

19Tr

aini

ng /

Exp

ense

s on

Vol

unte

ers,

Gro

ups

Mem

bers

& F

eder

atio

ns &

Civ

ic P

rogr

amm

es6,

872,

546

222,

259

1,30

0,51

07,

941,

973

-16

,337

,288

8,54

0,73

8Su

ppor

t for

Inco

me

gene

rati

on b

y m

embe

rs5,

535,

000

889,

200

10,9

23,2

7080

5,00

0-

18,1

52,4

704,

710,

357

Cro

p Pr

oduc

tion

& W

ater

Man

agem

ent T

rain

ing

-47

7,81

1-

--

477,

811

4,47

5,33

8D

rink

ing

Wat

er P

onds

Pro

gram

me

-5,

808,

358

-15

0,80

0-

5,95

9,15

85,

519,

003

Con

vent

ion,

Wor

ksho

p, E

vent

s and

Mee

ting

636,

780

662,

214

1,49

5,50

02,

167,

516

3,30

6,24

88,

268,

258

8,13

8,22

1E

mpl

oyee

s rem

uner

atio

n an

d be

nefit

s14

,433

,346

14,1

00,9

6716

,240

,471

15,3

55,0

895,

846,

732

65,9

76,9

0558

,367

,493

Prof

essi

onal

/ Con

sulta

ncy

Cha

rges

138,

014

995,

226

344,

255

892,

701

502,

993

2,87

3,18

94,

486,

888

Trav

el /

Con

veya

nce

1,70

6,01

51,

931,

542

1,76

0,26

21,

680,

742

343,

189

7,42

1,75

07,

476,

812

Veh

icle

mai

nten

ance

606,

696

492,

903

1,00

4,28

147

6,78

335

6,15

22,

936,

815

2,32

6,27

0B

ooks

and

Aud

io V

isua

l Exp

ense

s25

,274

51,2

9467

,743

111,

905

119,

742

375,

958

571,

414

Prin

ting

and

Stat

ione

ry40

8,26

329

4,45

540

6,12

261

1,08

323

4,26

11,

954,

184

3,03

8,60

7C

omm

unic

atio

n39

2,56

440

9,60

149

1,41

358

6,93

628

7,50

72,

168,

021

2,64

1,32

2R

ent,

Wat

er, E

lect

rici

ty a

nd M

aint

enan

ce1,

524,

490

1,01

2,08

41,

302,

906

2,74

1,29

71,

315,

552

7,89

6,32

96,

796,

728

Mis

cella

neou

s Exp

ense

s61

,177

30,5

9147

,680

43,4

4411

7,36

130

0,25

340

1,04

5

Tot

al43

,032

,674

30,3

01,8

9551

,716

,570

38,5

38,6

3812

,429

,737

176,

019,

514

149,

643,

546

Pre

viou

s ye

ar12

,725

,823

30,3

39,1

0364

,233

,579

35,1

16,6

867,

228,

355

149,

643,

546

Sd/

-

Sd/-

S

d/-

Cha

irm

an

E

xecu

tive

Dir

ecto

rTr

easu

rer

2009

2008

Mad

urai

July

10,

200

9



SCHEDULES TO CONSOLIDATED INCOME & EXPENDITURE ACCOUNTAS AT MARCH 31, 2009

(in Rupees)

March 31, 2009 March 31, 2008

Schedule 11: Appropriation of Excess of Income over Expenditure

Excess of (Expenditure over Income) / Income over Expenditure (25,472,054) 10,717,628Transfer:

From Investment incomeFord Foundation Corpus fund 1,640,055 1,288,193Sir Dorabji Tata Trust corpus fund 1,320,173 1,146,146DHAN Foundation own Corpus fund 2,971,002 871,645Tata-Dhan Academy Corpus fund 165,000 -SRTT Expendable Field Campus corpus - 521,309Revolving fund 330,364 -Community Risk Reserve Fund 265,304 -

Tata-Dhan Academy Corpus fund - 200,000

Book Fund 51,996 -Vehicle Fund 76,000 -SRTT from Interest on Building fund 399,897 1,828,559

DHAN Corpus from TMS Receipts and other income 1,000,000 2,000,000

Of Expenses to Corpus fundsDHAN Foundation Own (247,937) (421,820)Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (1,447,055) (1,,277,292)Ford Foundation (1,867,886) (1,178,125)SRTT Expendable Field Campus (87,117) (1,178,125)Vehicle Fund (561,890) (3,517,196)

Of (Deficit) / SurplusCapital fund (Deficit) / Surplus (96,940) (1,477,907)Others Donors’ - Net (Deficit) (29,383,020) 10,378,300

Total (25,472,054) 10,717,628




Schedule 12 Notes on accounts:1. The guiding principles that are fundamental to the Trust are:

1.1. High quality human resources will be engaged in grassroots work. The focus of the work will be onenabling rather than delivering through direct action.

1.2. Value collaboration with mainstream institutions and government to demonstrate new and effectiveways of development intervention and to build viable linkages between people and mainstream.

1.3. Promoting people’s organisations at various levels, with focus on one particular theme forsustainability.

1.4. The strategy for growth is towards enriching the themes and retain subsectoral focus.

2. In pursuance of its objects and based on the guiding principles set out in para 1 above the trust:

2.1 Undertakes projects and facilitates government and private local institution sponsored projects forpromotion, renovation and maintenance of irrigation systems, and of natural resources, by landtreatment, watershed management, afforestation, waste land development and management and alsohousing / housing finance for the needy.

2.2 Promotes women’s mutual credit and savings groups, associations of such groups and federations ofsuch associations to enhance the savings and borrowing power of the poor to promote incomegeneration activities for their livelihood.

2.3 Works with the poor through locally active groups, informal and otherwise, in the accomplishment ofits objectives.

2.4 Provides technical and management assistance to similar voluntary agencies, institutions,government departments and funding agencies involved in developmental work in India. Thereimbursement of cost / services are accounted under the head Techno Managerial service receipts &other receipts.

3. In the course of implementing the development projects the Trust facilitates the mobilisation of substantialresources from various rural development schemes of the government and banks and through participants’own contribution, which are directly channeled to the participants. These have no monetary impact on theaccounts of the Trust. This is in keeping with the Trust’s policy of progressively strengthening thecapability of the weaker sections to deal effectively with development agencies and to manage developmentactivities themselves. The administrative overheads incurred on account of the technical / managerialsupport extended are charged as expenditure of the trust.

4. In the case of informal savings and credit groups and other income generation activities flowing therefrom,the Trust provides inter alia revolving fund grants & working capital loans, as per the mandate of thedonors to the beneficiaries and the same are separately accounted for through the Balance Sheet, held inTrust and administered. All other grants (except corpus grants), including capital grants, are taken asrevenue receipts of the Trust in the year of receipt.

5. The Trust follows cash basis of accounting.6. Fixed assets are written off in the year of acquisition as an expenditure in the income and expenditure

account.However to present a more realistic picture of the value of assets appearing in the balance sheet, depreciationat the rates provided in the Income Tax Act, 1961 is being reduced from the cost of the fixed assets on thewritten down value method. Written down value of assets so arrived at is shown as contra on both theassets & liabilities side of the Balance Sheet.


Schedules to Balance Sheet & Income and Expenditure Account - Consolidated - for theyear ended March 31, 2009


No depreciation has however been provided on staff vehicles as they are deleted when transferred to theemployees at cost on their repayment of the loan taken to acquire the vehicle.

7. Fixed Assets include Rs.30,46,703/- consisting of Motor Vehicle Rs.1,78,008/-, Furniture and FixturesRs.1,31,888/- Office equipments Rs.96,751/-. Electrical fittings Rs.11,538/- Professional equipmentsRs.80,218/- Plant & Machinery Rs.13,23,300/- and Land & Building Rs.12,25,000/- being assets acquiredout of grants received from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), for a programme titled‘Promotion of alternative livelihoods for the poor in the biosphere of Gulf of Mannar’ through the Ministryof Rural Development, Government of India (executing agency) and the M.S. Swaminathan ResearchFoundation, Chennai (implementing agency). These assets remain the property of UNDP and disposal /transfer would take place at the end of the project. The project has ended and in the absence of any specificinstructions from UNDP the assets are still held by DHAN Foundation. Depreciation has been providedas explained in paragraph 6 above on these assets also.

8. Fixed Deposits of Rs.1,36,830/- (Previous year Rs.1,11,830) are under lien with banks 100% margin for thebank guarantee issued by them in favour of CAPART and Government of India.

9. Foreign contribution includes grants in kind being inventory of Rs.4,900 (previous year Nil) being eyeglassesand various used/old fixed assets of Rs.23 (previous year Nil) valued at a nominal value.

10. Previous year’s figures have been regrouped / reclassifed wherever necessary.




Acknowledgement

…Working in partnership towards a common goal generates new learning and solutions. We cherish collaborationas our core value because the collaborative process enables DHAN and our partners to combine our complementaryknowledge, skills, and resources, making it possible for us to accomplish much more than we can on our own. Thedevelopment of a partnership is a continuous process which demands active input from both sides. An effectivepartnership provides a greater chance of continuity, consistency and sustainability for development.

Our Institutional PartnersOxfam Novib, the Netherlands (Oxfam India)

Sir Ratan Tata Trust, MumbaiSir Dorabji Tata Trust, Mumbai

Our Overseas PartnersAmerican Service to India - Rural Learning Journey India Participants, USA

Anand Charity, USACanadian International Development Agency (CIDA)

Eureka Achmea Foundation, The NetherlandsFonds Familie van Beek, The Netherlands

Huguenin Ralapalli Foundation, USAKarunai Illam Trust, New Zealand

Klein Hofwijck Foundation, The NetherlandsMicro Insurance Association Network, The Netherlands

New Zealand High CommissionOxfam America

Rabobank Centraal Twente, The NetherlandsRabobank Hage-Beek, The Netherlands

Rabobank Maas en Waal, The NetherlandsRabobank West-Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, The Netherlands

Rabobank Zuidwest-Drenthe, The NetherlandsStichting Vrienden van DHAN , The Netherlands

Westberg Foundation, The NetherlandsZLM Verzekeringen, The Netherlands

Our Water PartnersCentre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology (CAWST), Canada

International Water Management Institute – RUAF FoundationNational Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development

National Agricultural Innovation Project–ICARPanIIT Alumni India

Water4life Foundation, The Netherlands

We are deeply indebted to the contributions and continued support rendered by ourinstitutional partners, collaborators, resource institutions, philanthropists and well-wishers

in the progress and achievements of the DHAN Collective.

Our CSR PartnersABN AMRO Foundation

Arghyam Foundation, BangaloreBharat Sanchar Nigam Limited

Care Today FundHindustan Unilever Limited

Hitech Arai Limited, MaduraiITC Rural Development Trust

Micro labs, ChennaiRabobank Foundation, the Netherlands

State GovernmentAndhra Pradesh Community Based Tank Management Project

Department of Agriculture, Tamil Nadu and KarnatakaDepartment of Tourism, Tamil Nadu

Directorate of Rural Development, Tamil NaduDistrict Rural Development Agency, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu

Health and Family Welfare Department, Tamil NaduIntegrated Tribal Development Agency

Jala Samvardhane Yojana Sangha (JSYS), Government of KarnatakaMadurai Corporation

MAVIM-Maharashtra Women’s Economic Development CorporationNational Watershed Development Programme for Rainfed Areas

State Health Society, Tamil NaduTamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society

Government of IndiaCentral Water Commission

Coir BoardCouncil for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART)

Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)Ministry of Tourism

Ministry of Urban DevelopmentMinistry of Water Resources

United Nations Agencies / ProjectsFood and Agriculture Organisation

UNDP–Global Environment Facility (GEF)UNDP–Tsunami Emergency Assistance Project (TEAP)

Commercial BanksAndhra Bank

Bank of BarodaBank of India


Canara BankCentral Bank of India

Corporation BankICICI BankIndian Bank

Indian Overseas BankKarnataka Bank

Punjab National BankState Bank of Hyderabad

State Bank of IndiaState Bank of Mysore

UCO BankUnion Bank of India

United Commercial BankVijaya Bank

Regional Rural BanksAndhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank

Bangalore Rural Dstrict Central Cooperative BankKalapatharu Grameena BankNagarjuna Grameena Bank

Pandiyan Grama BankSri Saraswathi Grameena Bank

Sri Venkateswara Grameena BankSri Visakha Grameena Bank

Thanjavur Central Coorperative BankDeccan Gramina Bank

Saptagiri Gramina Bank

Apex BanksABN AMRO Bank

HDFC LimitedNational Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development

Rabo India Finance (P) LimitedSmall Industries Development Bank of India

Insurance CompaniesAgriculture Insurance Company

Birla Sun LifeHDFC Standard Life Insurance

ICICI LombardLife Insurance Corporation of India

Metlife India InsuranceNational Insurance Company

New India Assuarnce Co. LimitedOriental Insurance Company

Star Health and Allied Insurance CompanyUnited India Insurance


Above all, we acknowledge with high gratitude, the contributions by the communities withwhom we are working, for their commitment, ownership and responsibility in the collective

efforts for achieving the mission of poverty reduction

Academic and Research InstitutesAnna University

Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI)Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

Indira Gandhi National Open UniversityIrrigation Management Training Institute (IMTI), Trichy

Kerala Institute of Local AdministrationNational Institute of Rural DevelopmentNational Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA)

Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth DevelopmentTamil Nadu Agricultural University


Dr. Priscilla Daniel holds two Master’s degrees and a Ph. D. in SocialMarketing of Health Education. is formerly the Programme Executive in ECLOF International. She appraiseslarge loan proposals, trains the staff and Boards of NECs. She worked as an educationist for more than 20years and was the Founder President of two NGOs (SUEB – Society for the Upliftment of the EconomicallyBackward - and SIRPI – Social Initiative for Rural Peoples’ Integration) and a Board member of ECLOFIndia. Now she is in the Board of Management of Friends of India at Geneva, Switzerland. She was awardedthe Ashoka Fellowship for Public Innovators in 1991 for her contribution in the field of development.

Dr. Priscilla Daniel

Board of Trustees

Ms. K. Noorjehan, Vice Chairperson, DHAN Foundation iscurrently an Administrative member of Central Administrative Tribunal, Ernakulam Bench. She was theChief Post Master General, Haryana Postal Circle and later became Chief Principal Post Master General ofMaharasthra circle. She was subsequently promoted to the grade of Member, Postal Services Board. She hasover 30 years experience in different parts of the country. She was instrumental in computerising postaloperations in the southern region, and in creating own infrastructure for several post offices. She is interestedin women development, especially the poor and the disadvantaged.

Ms. K. Noorjehan

Mr. R.D. Thulsiraj

Dr. Nirmala Murthy is currently the President for the Foundation forResearch in Health Systems. She holds a Doctorate from the Harvard School of Public Health. She has overthree decades of rich experience in public health, involving, monitoring and evaluation, research and healthinformation systems. She has taught at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. She has worked atMassachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts and Management Sciences for Health, Boston. Shehas been a consultant for various national and international health related programmes of the Governmentof India and the World Bank. She has a number of papers and publications related to health, health policies,programmes and research to her credit. Her areas of interest are health information systems, monitoringand evaluation of health and welfare programmes.

Mr. B.T. Bangera, Chairperson, DHAN Foundation is an MBA fromIndian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad). He is currently the Managing Director of M/s Hi-Tech AraiLtd., an Indo-Japanese joint venture at Madurai. He has over 30 years experience holding senior managementpositions in reputed companies in India. He has been an office-bearer in the Management Associations andConfederation of Indian Industries at different levels. He is keenly interested in education and is a member onthe Board of Governors and Board of Studies of a number of management and engineering institutions.

Mr. B.T. Bangera

Mr. R.D. Thulsiraj, Treasurer, DHAN Foundation is an MBA fromIndian Institute of Management (Calcutta), is Executive Director of LAICO-Aravind Eye Care System. Foralmost 20 years he had been the Administrator of Aravind Eye Hospitals. He was also the South East AsiaRegional Chair for the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). He worked with SevaFoundation’s (a U.S.-based NGO) Board for more than 15 years. He has a number of published papers to hiscredit, and he has presented papers at international conferences on eye care.

Dr. Nirmala Murthy

Dr. V. Abhai Kumar, holds Engineering Master’s degree inCommunication Systems. He received his Ph.D Degree from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. Currently,he is Principal of Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai. He is a senior member of IEEE. He hasco–authored a number of technical papers in reputed journals, International and National Conferences. Hehas more than two decades of research and teaching experience in microwaves, remote sensing, digital signalprocessing and image processing. His research interests include array signal processing and smart antennas.

Dr. V. Abhai Kumar

Ms. N. Shanthi Maduresan is a postgraduate in RuralEconomics and Extension Education. She has over 20 years of experience in Microfinance. She was instrumentalin promoting Federations of Kalanjiam Women SHGs in Ramnathapuram and Tuticorin districts in TamilNadu. She is currently working as a Faculty in Tata–Dhan Academy, teaching participatory learning methods,building People’ Organisation for development and gender. She is coordinating Development ManagementProgrammes in the Academy on microfinance, livelihood, health, and teambuilding for NGOs. She is alsoserving as the Chief Executive of INFOS (Indian Network of Federations of Microfinance Self Help Groups).Her areas of interest are building community based institutions and capacity building for development.

Mr. C. Sudhakar is a post graduate in Commerce and Intermediate inInstitute of Cost Works Accountant of India. He is presently leading Center for Finance in DHAN Foundation.He has about fifteen years of experience in the development sector. He handled management accounting andfinancial management courses for the Tata-Dhan Academy. He anchored training programme for NGOs onfinancial management and legal aspects. He is currently involved in setting up systems for financial accountingand monitoring in the Peoples Organisations promoted by DHAN Foundation. His areas of interest arebuilding capacities of the community based institutions in financial management and developing systems formonitoring and transparency in such institutions.

Mr. C. Sudhakar

Mr. M.P. Vasimalai, [Executive Director, DHAN Foundation] is a post-graduate in Agriculture and a management graduate from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.He has over three decades of experience in development work; he is one of the key people in setting upPRADAN. He was instrumental in setting up DHAN Foundation in 1997. He has specialised in communityorganisation, designing development interventions in the fields of natural resource management and livelihoodpromotion, institutional development etc. He has traveled widely within and outside India and has participated/ presented papers on these themes. He is also holding various positions in national and international forums,working groups, task forces and missions of central and state government on these themes. He wasinstrumental in promoting various network organisations. His areas of interest are institution building,leadership development and promoting various development themes for poverty reduction.

Mr. M.P. Vasimalai

Ms. N. Shanthi Maduresan

Mr. M. Balachandran is a Post Graduate in Agricultural Science and aCertified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers. He is currently the Director of Institute of BankingPersonnel Selection. He is also serving as the Chairman of Star Union Dai-Ichi Life Insurance CorporationLimited. Recently he has been nominated as a member of the High Power Advisory Committee of Securitiesand Exchange Board of India, on consent orders and also as a Director of Small Industries Development Bankof India. He is a member in the Research and Development Advisory Committee of the National HousingBank and Oversight Committee of India Infrastructural Finance Corporation Limited. During the span ofhis 37 years of operational banking, he held positions at various capacities and covered Priority Sector,Corporate Credit and International Banking.

Mr. M. Balachandran


DHAN Foundation - Addressess

Programme Offices

Central OfficeDHAN Foundation(Development of Humane Action)18, Pillaiyar Koil StreetS.S Colony, Madurai - 625 016.Tamil Nadu, INDIATel.: +91-452-2610794, 2610805Fax: +91-452-2602247Email: [email protected]: http://www.dhan.org

Kalanjiam Foundation5, Vellai Pillaiyar Koil StreetS.S Colony, Madurai - 625 016.Tel.: +91-452-2604256, 2608949

DHAN Vayalagam (Tank)FoundationNo.17, Vellai Pillayar KovilStreet, S.S. ColonyMadurai - 625 016Tel.: +91-452-2601673 / 2601683

Tata-Dhan AcademyBoys Town CampusPulloothuMadurai - 625 016Tel.: +91-452-2475318, 2475219

Centre for DevelopmentCommunicationDHAN Foundation7 E, Valmigi StreetS.S. ColonyMadurai - 625 016Tel.: +91-452-4353983

ICT for Poor ProgrammeNo.34/22, Pillaiyar Koil StreetS.S.Colony, Madurai - 625 016.

DHAN People AcademyEllis Nagar ViaPulloothuMadurai - 625 016Tel.: +91-452-2475440/2475305

DHAN Livelihood Initiativewith Funtional Education(LIFE)29.A. VaithiyanathapuramMain Road, Ellis NagarMadurai – 625016Tel.: +91-452-2300084

DHAN People Mutuals22, Pillaiyar Koil StreetS.S.ColonyMadurai - 625 016.Tel.: +91-452-2301510

DHAN Business DevelopmentServices (BDS)La selle Towers50, T.B.RoadOpp. ESI HospitalMahaboopalayamMadurai - 625 016.Tel.: +91-452-2301112 / 4358001

Kalanjiam DevelopmentFinancial Services (KDFS)23. Pillaiyar Koil StreetS.S. ColonyMadurai – 625 016Tel.: 91-452-2301102 / 6505978

INFOSNo.22, Pillaiyar Koil Street,S.S.ColonyMadurai - 625 016.Tel.: +91-452-2300032

INAFINew No.65, First Floor 3rdStreet, Harvey NagarMadurai - 625 016.Tamil Nadu, INDIATel: + 91 - 452 – 2300490Fax: + 91 - 452 – 4358490

Centre for Policy andPlanningDHAN Foundation23, West Park Road, I FloorShenoy NagarChennai - 600 030.Tel.: +91-44 - 26280236

REGIONAL OFFICESTamil Nadu

Madurai Urban/Rural RegionDHAN Foundation50. TB Road, Opp. ESI HospitalMahaboobpalayamMadurai – 625016+ 91 - 452 – 2300569

Madurai Vayalagam RegionDHAN Foundation667/B7, Mohan Earth MoverComplex, II FloorOpp. to PKN Boys School,TirumangalamMadurai DistrictTel.: 91-452-281053

Dindigul RegionDHAN FoundationNo. 1 Vakkil ThottamNear Hospital ColonySanarpatty, Dindigul - 624 001Tel.: +91-451-3296667

Theni RegionDHAN Foundation34, Sowdeswari NagarNear PC Patti Police StationTheni – 625 531Tel.: +91-04546-324449

Ramanathapuram CoastalRegionDHAN Foundation1/372 I street, Nehru NagarCollectrate PostRamnad - 623 501Tel.: 91-4567–231676

Ramanathapuram KalanjiamRegionDHAN FoundationKamudhi Kalanjia MahalirVattara SangamMudukulathur RoadKalanjia Nagar, KottaimeduKamudhiRamanathapuram District

RamanathapuramVayalagam RegionDHAN FoundationSanthanavilas illamKamudhi Road, MuthukulathurRamanathapuram DistrictTamil NaduTel.: 91-4576-320052

Tanjore RegionDHAN Foundation433045 – VOC NagarNear Senthil Kalyana MandapamTanjore – 7Tel.: 91-4362-270353

Salem RegionDHAN Foundation40/423 Chinnappa Chetty ColonySuramangalam, Salem - 636 005Tel.: +91-427-2442740

Kancheepuram RegionThiruvalangadu VattaraKalanjiamOld No.B18, New No.8Alagesan NagarChengalpat - 603 001Tel.:+91-44-27429480

Cuddalore RegionDHAN FoundationNo.49 Dawlath NagarOpp: KNC CollegeSemmandalamCuddalore DistrictTel.: +91-4142 -292234

Karaikal RegionDHAN Foundation4, Ist street,Balaji NagarNear CRC Bus shedKaraikal - 609 602Tel.: +91-4368 - 320215

Nagapattinam RegionDHAN FoundationNo. 6 Anthoniar Koil Mel SanthuNagapattinamNagapattinam DistrictTel.: +91-4365 - 240045

Vellore RegionDHAN FoundationNo 73, I floorBroad BazaarAmbur - 635 802Vellore DistrictTel.: +91-4174 245338

Tuticorin Coastal RegionDHAN FoundationNew Sundaram NagarMadhavan Nagar WestSorispuramKorampallamTuticorin

Tuticorin Vayalagam RegionDHAN Foundation27/12, Gurumbarambarai StreetSouth BazaarPalayamkottaiTirunelveli DistrictTamil Nadu

Kancheepuram VayalagamRegionDHAN Foundation377/1(old 188/1), 3rd StreetNew Colony, Vallam PostChengalpattu-603002Kancheepuram DistrictTamil Nadu044-27429480 / 37403952

PONDICHERRYPondicherry RegionDHAN Foundation45, 4th cross streetMoogambigai NagarII nd Main roadNainar MandapamPondicherry Tel.: +91-413 6538865

ANDHRA PRADESHAdilabad RegionDHAN FoundationBeside Andhra BankMain roadIndervelly - 504 346Adilabad DistrictTel.: Tel.:+91-8731-277501

Hyderabad RegionDHAN FoundationFlat No. 204/A, 3rd FloorAnusha EnclaveNear Vignan SchoolOpp. Line to Survey of IndiaPrashanti Nagar, UppalHyderabad – 500 039040-65169017


Chittoor RegionDHAN Foundation4-442, CB RoadOpp. SBIGreamspetChittoor-517002Andhra Pradesh08572-651767

Vizag RegionDHAN FoundationD. No. 9-36-10Bidhapuram ColonyBesides ICDS OfficeVishakapatnam-530 0030891-6578990

KARNATAKABangalore RegionDHAN Foundation17, Sri Lakshmi VenkateshwaraNilaya,Sri Renganath BadavaneHarohalliBangalore Rural DtKarnataka Taluk

Mysore RegionDHAN Foundation1169, Ist FloorHarihara NilayaNear Vidya Vardaka School3rd Cross, Lalitadri RoadKuvembu NagarVinaya MargaSiddarth LayoutMysore - 23Tel.: +91-821-4242320

Tumkur Kalanjiam RegionDHAN FoundationShree Shyla 1st FloorNear Chami DepotKailasa NagarSiragateTumkur0816-2212550

Tumkur Vayalagam RegionDHAN FoundationC/o.Mohamad Ghouse MaddinNear Shankar Nursing HomeBalagi NagaraSira-572 137Tumkur DistrictKarnataka08135-275234

Gulburga RegionDHAN FoundationC/O Arjun Rao G. MitraH. No.EWS 94Shanthi NagarOpp: Central Bus StandSolapur Clinic opp. RoadGulburgaTel.: +91-8472-250195

MADHYA PRADESHDHAN FoundationC/O Joshi Medical StoreIn front of Jain MAntirSardar BazarSailanaRatlam District – 457 55007413 -279025

ORISSADHAN FoundationSri Sita Rama Niwas, I FloorOpp: Pragadi English SchoolHospital Road, PujariputKoraput. OrissaTel.: +91-6852 - 252916

RAJASTAN &MAHARASHTRADHAN FoundationBlock No 9, 3rd FloorNear Kodadiya HospitalSolapur-413004. MaharashtraTel.:+91-217- 450203

ASSAMDHAN FoundationBarama Branch,Professor ColonyNear Barama BazarBarama – 781 346,Baksa District. AssamTel.:+91-3624- 282440

JHARKHANDDHAN FoundationC/O Mukesh Kr. SinghBye-Pass RoadLatehar – 829 20606565-248423

BIHARDHAN FoundationC/O Anand Prasad SinghWest Church RoadOpp. Kailash ParkGayawal BighaGaya District – 823 001


annual report 2009 - final - dhan foundation · capart council for advancement of people’s action...

Documents