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Rural Livelihoods & Communities

The Indian economy has grown rapidly over the past decade, with
real GDP growth averaging 6% annually. Social indicators, such as Click here to
poverty and infant mortality have also improved during the last ten Enlarge
years. Despite this somewhat positive outlook, over 300 million
Indians are classified as living below the poverty line. Since India resides in her
villages, it comes as no surprise that more than three fourths of the 'below the poverty
line' population are based in rural areas. Improving the quality of their life would
require meaningful funding, besides appropriate measures to improve the health and
socio-economic conditions of the rural people.

The Government of India (GoI) continues to make huge investments in rural India, in
an effort to improve the quality of life of the rural masses. However, many of the
interventions are supply driven and are generally unsustainable. It is now commonly
accepted that the involvement of the rural community in all facets, from planning to
implementation to post-implementation operation and maintenance is imperative if
interventions are to be sustainable. Consequently, the government is now gradually
shifting from being a 'provider' to becoming a 'facilitator' thereby increasingly
involving panchayats, community based organizations, and non government
organisations in the development process.

In view of this backdrop, enhancing rural livelihoods remains a key test of the State,
besides continuing to be a major theme in the Trust's grant portfolio. To facilitate the
above, the Trust portfolio is focused on adding value to the sector through innovations,
initiatives, and support to institutions working towards providing sustainable
development to rural India. From the perspective of developing effective strategies and
programme management, the Trust supports focussed initiatives in two broad areas: (a)
Land and Water Development; and (b) Microfinance. Within each focus area, the
Trust has initiated a few key initiatives that have improved the lives of the people,
through high quality interventions.

Water Sector Research

Central India Initiative

Kharash Vistarotthan Yojana

Himmothan Pariyojana

Reviving the Green Revolution

Drought Proofing in Rajasthan

Sakh Se Vikas – Rajasthan Microfinance Initiative

Research on Micro Finance