CII Communique - December, 2010

development initiatives
philanthropy, into a
strategy for inclusive and
participatory community
development.
CII organized a 3 day
Industry Mission to a few
villages supported by Usha
Martin Ltd in Ranchi on
18-20 November.
The Krishi Gram Vikas
Kendra (KGVK) which is
a not- for-profit arm of the
Usha Martin Group invited
observers to view the
tangible transformations
in the lives of the rural
masses made by the efforts
of KGVK, which they have
coined ‘Total Village Management’ (TVM) – an approach
to bring about effective delivery of the best possible
solutions to the village populace and embrace them to
be a part of the transformation process. To make this
happen, this 38 year old organization, under the Public
Private Partnership model, initiated a convergence
strategy to work on the 8 pillars of integrated,
equitable and sustained development, comprising:
Natural Resource Management, Health & Hygiene,
Education, Renewable Energy, Livelihood, Capacity
Building, Resource Mobilisation, and Infrastructure
Development. Setting a challenge for itself, KGVK
is committed to the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) to
adopt TVM in 350 villages
within its operational
areas in Jharkhand, thus
contributing to global
poverty alleviation in
line with the Millennium
Development Goals.
The inclusiveness of
this model is evident as
right from the planning
stage, it is the villagers,
who choose the village
development committees
and plan the development
activities with the guidance
and assistance of the
KGVK staff. They adopt
problem-solving tools like a simple matrix comprising
5 Ws and 1 H, which is ‘what, why, when, where, who
and how’; Plan-Do-Check-
Act and Pareto diagram for
optimal choice, etc. These
simple tools are used by
the village communities to
effectively deal with all the
issues they face.
T h e c o m m u n i t y
e n g a g e m e n t a n d
o w n e r s h i p o f t h e
development process
has been ensured by
an army of 2000 strong
Sahiyyas (friends in the
local dialect), who are
the grassroot health
volunteers connecting the
homes and communities
to the government functionaries and health care
systems. There were serious nutrition issues with the
expecting mothers which resulted in low birth weight
of infants. The Sahiyya model was successful in
imparting the right knowledge and advice to resolve
the issue and lower the birth mortality related to
nutrition.
The visible impact in the villages like Karma Patan
(Ormanjhi Block, Ranchi), and Silwae (Namkom
Block, Ranchi) with banners held high at the entry
of villages declaring 100% immunization, 100%
institutional delivery, total eradication of malaria,
has been possible only because of the dedication of
grassroot workers who
criss-cross the villages
each day (walking 10-15
km on foot) to ensure
each household has
awareness for improved
living and access to
resources for economic
sustenance.
A chain of ‘low cost high
quality’ schools at Sonahatu
village is not only the centre
for quality education but
is also used to mobilize
community initiatives like
the ‘Newly Weds Camp,’
and ‘Saas Bahu and Pati
Sammelan’ aiming at involving the family in decisionmaking
processes.
Communiqué December 2010 | 55