Annual Report 2011-2012

Empower Informal Workers & Children

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Contents

Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 4 Education and Child Rights Programme ...................................................................... 5

Pre-primary (school preparedness) ........................................................................... 5

Learning Enrichment Program ................................................................................... 5

Right to Education ........................................................................................................ 6

Achievements ............................................................................................................... 6 Patna Urban Education Intervention ............................................................................. 7

Impact............................................................................................................................. 7 Education for All ............................................................................................................... 9 Bihar Forces - Early Care Childhood Development ..................................................10 Water and Sanitation .....................................................................................................11

Health Scenario in Goanpura Panchayat ...............................................................11 Nutrition ............................................................................................................................12 Child Rights Programme - Children's Alliance for Realization of Child Rights .....14

Impact...........................................................................................................................14

Disaster Preparedness ..............................................................................................15

Early Child Care Devlopment ...................................................................................15

Health ...........................................................................................................................16

Household Economic Security (HES) .....................................................................16

Water and Sanitation .................................................................................................16 Advocacy .........................................................................................................................18 “Samvardhan” - Support Program for Urban Reforms (SPUR) ..............................19 Community-based Savings Groups (CBSGs) ...........................................................20

Programme Achievements of 1st Phase ................................................................23

Village Agent model in 2nd Phase ..........................................................................23 MAST – Market Aligned Skill Training ........................................................................24

Piloting Self Financed Model of MAST in Delhi .....................................................25 Solar Initiative in Bihar ...................................................................................................27 Collective Enterprises ....................................................................................................28

Sanchay, the Thrift and Credit cooperatives ..........................................................28

Angana, the Artisans’ cooperative ...........................................................................28

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Nidan Swachdhara Private Limited (NSPL) ...............................................................29 Important Milestones .....................................................................................................31 Awards and Recognitions .............................................................................................32

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Introduction

In any developing or underdeveloped economy, informal workers represent the most isolated and vulnerable section of the population. These workers do not have direct or close employee and employer relationship which leads to their economic insecurity. To help alleviate the conditions of these workers, Nidan was established in the year 1996. Nidan started its work in Patna taking up the cause of rag pickers, street vendors, domestic workers and construction workers. The workers who derived their livelihood from such occupations suffered from acute poverty and lived in deplorable conditions. Nidan in its work maintained a holistic and scientific approach from the very beginning in terms of advocacy, spreading awareness and economic upliftment of informal workers. Over the years, Nidan has increased its scope and reach, extending to 8 districts in Bihar and cities in other states such as Delhi NCR, Jaipur, Hissar, Lucknow, Bokaro, Dehradun and others and in the process enabling growth of various offshoots dedicated to specific causes. Nidan has brought in major interventions for the informal sector workers and the urban poor helping them in every facet of their lives. It has also ventured into new territories like solar energy solutions and is experimenting with ICT solutions to reach the poor and the vulnerable.

Vision

Nidan’s work is being guided by its vision of establishing a just, democratic, non-violent society where the citizens enjoy their rights (of education, health, and livelihood) without any discrimination (on the basis of gender or class), live in mutual co-operation and perform their optimum responsibility without any hindrance.

Mission

Nidan’s mission is to facilitate non-violent and peaceful collective action, directly as well as through networks and to create, replicate and activate structures and systems which cater needs of poor and deprived so as to eliminate exploitation and provide opportunities for maximum growth.

Goal

To initiate, establish and consolidate people’s institutions, processes and, programs aimed for socio- economic development of poor.

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Education and Child Rights Programme The children of labourers, especially those who are living in slums are the most deprived children in urban set up. This project “Education for Children of Informal Economy Workers” is contributing to the larger vision of Nidan. It also promotes completion of tenth level of education by such children with quality learning. This year we covered 15 slums in six municipal wards of Patna Municipal Corporation. The focus of the project this year has been the Learning Enrichment Program for the children with learning deficit in the III to V grade in government schools. We completed level one of the program and had a final assessment which shows tremendous improvement in learning level of children. The wonderful achievement is only possible due to comprehensive support from America India Foundation. The support is not only financial but also as guidance and on-site support. Pre-primary (school preparedness)

Area Number of centers Girls Boys Total children

6 Wards, 15 slums 30 540 490 1030

10 New Pockets 10 348

Total 1378

The major activities carried out during the year were capacity building of teachers, evaluation of children learning, enrolment of children in government schools and engagement with ICDS Learning Enrichment Program

The program covers 13 government schools in 3 Patna wards and 1 government school in Patna City area and has 30 full-time teachers.

Number Girls Boys Total children

Class III-V 30 839 774 1613 At the beginning of the project we conducted an assessment of learning deficit of grade

3 to 5 children in 13 government schools, leading to identification of children with

learning deficits. After completion of level 1, we conducted an assessment of children

learning level. The children showed remarkable improvement in learning both in

mathematics and language.

Computer and English classes: We conducted English and computer classes for 870

students. The syllabus for computer included use of computers and application software.

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Exposure Visit: A 5 member team from Nidan visited Karnataka and Kerala. The visit

was organized by AIFT and facilitated by Prajayatna and Keral Shashtra Sahitya

Parishad. Right to Education

Sr. no. Activity Concerted areas Broad based action

1 No of SMCs formed 15 50

2 No. of SMCs trained 15 17

3 No. of SDPs prepared 13 2

Prabhat Pheri: In all the intervened slums we organized prabhat pherri with children

from our pre-primary centers to raise awareness on provisions of RTE. Shiksha Choupal: In Phulwarsarif meeting was organized with children in 50

government schools to make them aware with RTE and child rights. We used a Siksha Rath, decorated with slogans and music, for awareness in 50 villages. Interface with Government Officials: We had regular interface with the administration

and different departments which included DEO, Bihar Education Project Council, SCPC, ICDS and others. School Development Plan: We have facilitated SDP preparation in 15 schools to

mobilize them in preparation of school development plan, and involvement in school activities. Achievements

We reached 1457 children in Learning Enrichment program and another 1378 in pre-primary category. Together we reached to more than 5000 children. With supportive coaching, Computer and English learning program, the support to children has been extended to tenth level.

CARE selected our two pre-primary centers as model for study.

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Patna Urban Education Intervention

Nidan is working on the issues of Early Childhood Development (ECD) in the urban area

of Phulwarisharif, Patna. Through this project we are targeting childen in the 3-6 age

group and are running community based 20 ECD centers in the 10 packets/wards of the

intervention area. The project is supported by Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), India. We

started this intervention from 1st Sep 2011 and are working with the children of minority

communities to educate the mothers, community people, community leaders and

aganwadi sevikas on the issues of complete development of children through love,

games, teaching and nutrition.

In this program 5 elements/themes of ECD are at the core of our activities:

Language and cognition development Social development and general awareness Emotional health and maturity Physical health and well being Communication development

Key features of the intervention are:

20 ECD centers functional 20 parents core teams having monthly meeting Total 1048 children benefitting from the intervention Weekly progress review meeting with core team Every month we have 2 days progress review and planning meeting with all team

members

Impact

Children’s learning level has improved and they have started recognizing

numbers, vegetables, animals, alphabets and also do rhymes with action Children carry their lunch boxes Children come clean and tidy to the centers

Community recognized our program and contributed some money to increase

the infrastructure of the centre

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Teachers at one of the ECD center

Children at one of the ECD center

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Education for All

The purpose of the project is to promote an enabling environment for inclusive, quality

and child friendly education for children in the context of the Right to (Free and

Compulsory) Education Act, 2009 in Phulwarisharif in Patna in the state of Bihar, India.

The partner organizations in the project are PGVS, voluntary networks, cultural groups,

media, government department and the Bihar SCPCR and SCERT.

The target group for the project consists of 11,388 children in 50 schools, 310 teachers

and 50 school headmasters; also 240 PRI members, 310 government stakeholders, 300

SMC members and 750 CPC members. Projected number of indirect beneficiaries

include 166 schools, 11750 children, approx. 55.500 community members across 50

villages and 100,000 people through awareness generation and sensitization activities. As part of this program, libraries will be setup in and TLMs will be supplied to all the 50

schools. The major activities in the project are:

1. Establish mechanism in every school for effective use of the library by children 2. Dissemination of School Management Committees (SMC) training module at

Panchayat level for effective implementation of the RtE 3. Publish state status report on the RtE and engage the media on issues related to

education 4. Hold district and state level public hearings on the RtE with participation of

children from marginalized communities 5. Train master trainers and providing support to SCERT for implementing

continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) systems 6. Conduct a research study on the role of ‘Social Identity in the Classroom’, to

understand how it affects learning 7. Support two Cluster Resource Centres (CRC) and 2 Block Resource Centres

(BRC) to demonstrate good practices

As of now, training of 2 CRCs has been conducted and teachers are being encouraged

to participate. Mobilization of parents and children are being caried out through rallies

and other meetings so that they can raise the demand for quality education. CPC

members have been nominated, approval has been taken and it is expected to be

implemented in the coming weeks.

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Bihar Forces - Early Care Childhood Development

Bihar Forces (Forum For Crèche and Children Services) is a dedicated network on the issues of Early Care Childhood Development (ECCD) and women in informal sector. It is registered under the Society Registration Act and is partner of National Forces and State Level Networking. It is a network of organizations and individuals concerned with issues relating to women working in the unorganized sector and care of their children of age group between 0-6 yrs. It was initially a collaboration of 23 organizations and now it has 34 partner organizations working in 32 different districts out of in 38 in Bihar. It has strong presence at grass roots through its member organizations and has wide expertise on different aspects of ECCD. It has had a good advocacy record and recognition in relevant Govt departments. It works with the following objectives:

Sensitize and pressurize society in general and Government in particular to bring in policies, and create structures necessary to meet physical, psychological and social needs of children is age group 0-6 and maternity entitlements of woman in informal economy. In the long term the organisation seeks to achieve the following:- Health care to all the 0-6 children covering immunization and nutrition

Child care including pre schooling including pre-schooling facilities to the target group

Maternity Benefit and Rights of the informal sector women to be ensured Effective functioning of ICDS, health centers, education system etc. in schools A strong community able to ensure its rights Sufficient allocation of state GDP for the target groups

The issues it takes up are birth registration, immunization, pre-primary education, nutrition and maternity entitlement. One of the innovative ideas of Bihar Forces is to use waste land of govt. or private and convert them into Anganwadi centres with private partnerships. Its core activities revolve around:

Baseline in urban and rual area panchayats on ICDS service status: the objective of this baseline was to get real assessment of ICDS Centre and to come out with the current situation

A State level Workshop organize in Patna for the emerging needs and necessity of baseline. The Bihar Forces team, along with the partners started baseline survey region wise, East Bihar, North Bihar, South Bihar, West Bihar and central zone

The output of Baseline survey is strong collection of data at the grassroots. Bihar Forces will continue to function as an effective and powerful group to advocate for Early Childhood Care and education promotion and protection of child rights to survival and maternity protection. It will play the role of strong watchdog and continue influencing the policy and practice of the Bihar State Govt.

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Water and Sanitation

Hand washing is one of the most effective means of preventing diarrheal diseases, along with safe stool disposal and safe and adequate household water supply. Evidence suggests that improved hand washing can have a major impact on public health in any country and significantly reduce the two leading causes of childhood mortality – diarrheal disease and acute respiratory infection. Health Scenario in Goanpura Panchayat

The Gonpura hand wash programme commenced from February 2012 in Gonpura panchayat of Phulwarisharif block of Patna district. The main activity of the progamme was to motivate people in health hygiene and safe drinking water. The results of a health survey conducted during September 2011 in the village of Goanpura in Patna, Bihar indicate that rampant diarrheal illnesses pose the greatest health risk for the community. Continued exposure to these (preventable) diseases impacts the productivity and health of the villagers. To reduce morbidity due to diarrheal illness, issues surrounding water, cleanliness and sanitation need to be addressed. Personal hygiene practices are less than satisfactory in the village. Therefore, a health awareness campaign was introduced that stressed the importance of hand washing after using the facilities, before cooking and before eating food. Community was educated on hygiene and health related issues:

Women were given education on women-related health issues such as delivery, diarrhea, pneumonia, sexual transmitted disease etc.

Wwomen were motivated to take safe drinking water, by covering the water vessel, keeping it in a good clean place and taking water with some handling vessel from drinking pot.

Nidan distributed soaps to 374 households due to which community became aware about hand washing.

The community was then trainined on solar water disinfection (SODIS) technology. The technology involves filling the bottle 3/4 with water, shaking the bottle for 20 seconds, then filling up the bottle and finally tightening the lid. The botle is then placedon a corrugated iron sheet or on the roof top. The bottle is exposed to the sun from morning until evening for at least six hours, and this maked water disinfected and fit for consumption. The intervention will be expanded to health integration in selected districts of Patna city (including Phulwari Sharif), Hajipur and Ara in Bihar, using the Microfinance groups, Savings groups and parents committees. Our plan is to roll out health education process to cover all target groups in the pilot areas. A package of health education and health savings for all target group members in the pilot areas will be developed based on the market research findings and health education on ‘Plan for Better Health’ with the target of reducing the present health expenses. Finally a business model will be developed to sustain the health integration process using cost analysis information during the pilot interventions.

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Nutrition

Nidan is operating 2 Nutritional Rehabilitation Centres in Darbhanga and Vaishali, Bihar; this is a Govt. of Bihar program and Nidan has been enrusted to run the program. The objective of the Nutrition Rehabilitation Center (NRC) program is to reduce severe and acute malnutrition rate in childen in the age group between 6 months to 60 months and capacity building of mothers and families on health, hygiene and nutrition. Each NRC center is saffed by 1 pediatrician, 2 staff nurses, 2 feeding demonstrators, 2 cooks, 3 caretakers/ward boys, 3 security guards, and 2 cleaners/sweepers. Following are the services offered by an NRC center:

1. Latest protocols followed by state on admission, discharge,feeding and medicinal protocols

2. Clinical examination by pediatrician of all the children coming to NRC 3. Anthropometric Measurements such as height, weight, etc. 4. Feeding of admitted SAM (severe and acute malnourished) children (as per

protocol) and demonstration of feeding materials to mothers 5. Feed preparation for admitted mothers, provision of food to mothers, and

administration of medication 6. Child friendly games and puzzles and sensory stimulation of mothers through

educational video 7. After discharge of chcildren and their mothers, there is follow up of SAM children

home visit by ASHA or Extenders. Thorough statistical analysis of outcome indicators is done at NRC. These include growth monitoring, comparative analysis of target weight status of last batches, follow up data extracted from community level and accumulated raw data of admitted SAM at NRC.There are district level monthly co-ordination meetings between Health and ICDS departments to address issues of NRC and CBC NRC is facing the following challenges:

1. Advocacy with different departments at one platform 2. Network: bringing together stakeholders on issues 3. Lack of information sharing 4. Lack of awareness among family and community

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Women being trained on nutrition

Dedicated doctors and nurses of the NRC

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Children's Alliance for Realization of Child Rights

Children's Alliance for Realization of Child Rights started in 30 villages under 8 panchyats of Murlijang block in district Madhepura. Nidan has taken the responsibility to sensitize and mobilize community regarding child rights, child participation and other children based issues. The objective and goals of the program is “to ensure full and meaningful participation of children to effectively engage in planning, implementation and monitoring of child development programmes and be directly represented in local, state and national decision-making and follow up processes.” A two-day residential training cum orientation workshop of the project personnel was conducted to make all the project personnel aware about the project, its objective and its outcomes. In the 1st step, formation of children groups in 30 villages in 8 panchayats was completed through various community meetings, awareness campaigns, and distribution of IEC materials. Main activities in the project are:

1. Formation of children alliance at the village, panchayat, district, and state level. 2. Training of CG, CPC, Children Panchayats, district children alliance and state

children alliance on child rights, child participation, and other issues. 3. Quarterly awareness campaigns. 4. CRSA Mapping

We facilitated the formation of children groups in every village of project area. The basic purpose of the children group is to organize children into child protection and child participation activities. 3 members from each Children Group were elected within the village level groups to become part of the 18-member Childrens’ Panchayats. 24 - member District Children’s Networks has also been formed in the Madhepura district. The 25-member State Child Rights Alliances has been formed with the involvement of children from district networks. The district children alliance training on planning, monitoring and implementation was the most important event in the programme to ensure smooth functioning at the village level. Impact

Total Children Groups formed 30 Total Child Protection Committees formed 30 Total Children’s Panchyat formed 8 Total district level Child Alliance Formed 1 A 3 day training program, from 01/10/2011 to 03/10/2011, was organized at Red Cross Bhawan, Khagariya jointly with the CRF from Khagariya and Madhepura districts. The participants had to first undergo complete foundation training and then specific inputs pertaining to TOT were rated on child rights, child participation, program structure, social mapping, recourse mapping and venerability mapping.

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Child-Centerd Community Devlopment Program This is a major initiative of Nidan in Samastipur supported by Plan India. The areas of intervention range from Disaster Management, Early Child Care, Health, Water and Sanitation to Economic Security. The intervention area is dominated by scheduled castes and OBCs. Among the scheduled castes, the Musahar community is the most backward. Apart from Hindi, people speak the local dialect Maithili. Agriculture is the prime occupation of the people in the area. People also work as daily wage laborers, rickshaw pullers and do petty business. Some of the areas are water logged and flood prone; during rainy season the agricultural land gets submerged in water and no agricultural activities take place at least for six months, which results in seasonal migration to urban area. Basic services available in the communities are govt. run primary schools, early childhood care centers (Anganwadis), a few upper primary and high schools and primary health care center. For any major disease, people go to Block & District hospital. People draw water for drinking purposes from hand pumps and open wells and most of the people go for open defecation. Most of the communities are not electrified; for transportation, people use bicycles, motorcycles, cycle rickshaws and auto rickshaws; only 50% area is covered by bus services. Disaster Preparedness

Nidan has formed Village Disaster Preparedness Committee and trained this committee on disaster risk reduction and concept of Taskforce - Relief Distribution Task Force, First Aid Task Force, Shelter Task Force, and Search & Rescue Task Force. Nidan has conducted a variety of activities with the community in Samstipur:

1. Allocation of First Aid and Disaster Preparedness kits for trainings and mock-drills both at community and school level

2. Orientation and capacity building of the existing community based organizations on first aid, disaster preparedness drills and preparation of contingency plans

3. Training the youth clubs on political systems and their democratic rights to vote at village level

4. Performing child social audit of PDS / MNREGA / MDM / Girls cycle yojna / Kanya suraksha Yojana / Janani Suraksha Yojana / BRGF etc.

Progress and Achievements SHGs and other CBOs formed by Nidan-Plan have grown as an institution of empowerment, especially for women. They raise their voices against social and political injustice in their community or even at Panchayats. In every panchayats these group members take active part in local self-governance and take part in village planning with PRI members. Early Child Care Development

Nidan-Plan has imparted various trainings to the community on ECCD and on nutrition. It has also conducted joint training of health workers, nurses and ICDS workers (AWWs) on ECCD. The use of TLM methodology in schools is able to interest children and enhance their attendance.

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Health

Trainings on health issues include training of mothers on safe delivery, pregnancy care & infant feeding practices, treatment of diarrhea, and capacity building of CDPO, ICDS supervisors, select ANM, & AWWS on addressing child malnutrition. Nidan also organized immunization camps at sector level and promoted Pulse polio campaigns with local health officials at block level. Progress and Achievements The number of institutional deliveries has increased and so has interest on care of pregnant women as well as care of infant. The mothers complete the birth registrations of the babies and follow balance diet during pregnancy. Household Economic Security (HES)

Nidan has formed more than 334 SHGs, 13 clusters and 1 federation and presently capacity building of the members as well as of the community is being carried out regarding Community Managed Micro Finance. HES activities carried out in 22 villages have been a great success – SHGs save regularly, do inter-loaning, and setup micro-enterprises. Community also has knowledge about Govt. scheme like Indira Awas, PDS, Bridha Pension, Widow Scheme, Total Sanitation and Handpump Scheme, Agriculture Scheme, Anganwadi and Disaster Scheme. Some of the trainings imparted to community include financial literacy module at PU level, training for group leaders of SHGs on CBMF and cluster and federation concepts. Other activities include grading of SHGs, identifying potential partners having long experience of vocational training and building partnerships with them, mobilizing and linking underprivileged youth with such vocational training institute for job oriented skill development courses, organizing job placement camp for trained youth and capacity building on grain bank management. Water and Sanitation

Activities being carried out under water and sanitation program include: 1. Workshop at Block level, and Village Water & Sanitation Committee members on the

importance of safe drinking water 2. Training program for children club members, mothers, and village leaders on

importance of safe drinking water 3. Observation of global hand washing day & world toilet day across all the schools 4. Training on use of water testing kit to children group members 5. Consultation meeting with school teachers, SMC members, and village water &

sanitation committee members for developing a school WASH plan at Block level. Progress and Achievements

Community has provided land for installation of community hand pumps 5478 children (2955 girls and 2523 boys) and 42 teachers of seven schools have

been using toilet facilities provided by Nidan-Plan

6842 members of 1057 households benefited from community hand pumps and they are getting pure water

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Advocacy Parliament March for Central Law For the demand of a National Policy for street vendors, we participated in Parliament march on 18th Aug, 2011 at New Delhi, inviting street vendors from all over the country. Nidan’s Executive Director took the lead and strongly called for the implementation of the policy. The government too has acknowledged the importance of street vendors, their demand for vending zone and their rights. Constitution of a town vending committee Patna Municipal Corporation constituted an ad hoc town vending committee chaired by the Municipal Commissioner. Other members of the committee are SSP, SP traffic, road and construction department, Bihar Chambers of Commerce, NASVI, Nidan and other street vendors. Vendors are stipulated to gett space of 5ft. from back portion of main road. Workshop for street vendors A workshop was organized for street vendors on 4th Sep 2011. Executive Director of Nidan focused on the scheme ‘Samvardhan’’, which isbeing implemented by the Bihar govt. and DFID. The ED elaborated how the Bihar govt. in collaboration with DFID under ‘’Samvardhan’’ is trying to beautify Bihar by working on a 6-point formula, including slum development and vending zones for the street vendors. Workshop cum training on Street Vendors Bill Workshop cum training program was organized for woman street vendors on Bihar State Street Vendors’ (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Trade) Bill, 2010: Role of Municipal Bodies, Civil Society and Street Vendors on 26th Aug 2011. The Supreme Court’s order to regulate rules in favor of the vendors was pointed out. Women vendors applauded at Patna University A workshop was organized at Patna University, PG Women Studies, where women vendors were invited to share their work experiences, their struggles and reasons that made them come out of their homes and start vending. Nidan presented its view on Human Rights issues The Department of Political Science, MagadhMahila College, in collaboration with PG Department of Political Science, Patna University, organised a UGC sponsored 2 day National Seminar on “State: Protector or Violator of Human Rights“ on February 25-26, 2012. Sri K G Balakrishnan, Chairman, National Human Rights Commission, was the chief guest of the seminar. Justice S N Jha, Chairperson, Bihar Human Rights Comission, Justice Rajendra Prasad, Member, Bihar State Human Rights Commission were some of the dignataries of the seminar. The theme of the seminar was to ensure everyone the right to adequate food, education and enjoyment of highest attainable standards of physical and mental health.

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“Samvardhan” - Support Program for Urban Reforms (S PUR) Support Program for Urban Reforms (SPUR), also known as Samvardhan, is a program of Government of Bihar supported by DFID (Department for International Development, GoUK) covering 28 towns in the state. The Programme aims to promote economic growth and significantly accelerate poverty reduction in the state by catalyzing identified Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to significantly enhance their capability to provide urban services and attract private investment thereby breaking the cycle of low urban revenues, weak capacity and inadequate services. The programme has one of its major outputs “poor citizens’ livelihood and living conditions improved and voice empowered, especially of women and marginalized communities.” To achieve this, Nidan partners with the Government as a support agency to provide support for community mobilization and livelihoods in Patna. The program strives to assist in the capacity building of the Economic Empowerment & Poverty Alleviation Mission (EEPAM) and effectively implement related programmes like Basic Services for Urban Poor (BSUP) and Swarna Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY). The six facilities to be covered under this programme are water facility, drainage system, street light, community Hall, toilet construction and repairing of colony. The Assignment moves on following broad work strategies:

Mobilizing communities to participate by information sharing & generating awareness on wellbeing & entitlements

Supporting ULBs for implementing poverty reduction and slum development initiatives

Formation of neighbourhood groups (NHGs) in 34 slums Training (Micro-planning)

Our team has already formed 211 NHGs in selected 34 slums of Patna. After forming the NHGs, with the consent of all women, elections for residential community volunteers (RCVs) were organized. Present Status:

Patna Muzaffarpur

Slums intervened All 34 Slums All 32 slums

NHGs formation 211 formed 105 formed

RCVs selection 422 selected 210 selected

Base Line Survey 34 (Done) 32 (done)

SHGs formation 30

Conclusions:

1. As much of the subsidized amenities have gone to high and middle income communities, the restructuring of these progammes and schemes is needed to ensure that subsides are made explicit through strict stipulations and targeted to vulnerable sections of population

2. Urban poverty alleviation is no longer an income growth issue or of transfers. The new thinking is that unless income growth strategy is supplemented by effective

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Micro Finance Nidan was also severly impacted by the Micro Finance crisis in India that originated out of Andhra Pradesh and spread all over the country. Before the crisis, there were many micro finance institutions (MFIs), including some of the biggest names in the industry, providing micro credit in Bihar. However the crisis forced many these MFIs to wind down their operations in Bihar, in line with the rest of the country. This created a large gap between the credit demands from the community and the credit being made available to them by MFIs. Nidan did not have any significant losses in its micro finance operations but its micro credit operations were severely constrained. This was primarily because banks and other financial institutions stopped lending to MFIs for on-lending to their SHG members. Nidan is a member of Sa-Dhan – the leading association in India of MFIs – and has been raising its voice at different forums for the right policies and laws for the Indian micro finance industry. Nidan strongly belives that poverty alleviation is not possible without access to financial services. Key statistics of Nidan Micro Finance Foundation (NMMF) operations: No. of SHGs: 4668 No. of members: 60000 approx. Existing partners: SBI, SIDBI, RMK, RGVN, HDFC, ICICI, Indian Bank, ABN AMRO (RBS) Bank No of districts: 6 in Bihar, 1 in Delhi No of branches: 18 No of staffs 106 Loan size: Min. Rs.3000 & max. Rs.25000 Rate of interest: 15 % p.a. Although Nidan’s credit book shrank and it faced some challenges in repayment from its members, it persevered in bringing financial inclusion to its members. Nidan countered the micro finance crisis through many innovative interventions in the urban as well as rural areas of Bihar and Delhi. Sanchay – Thrift and Credit Cooperative

With time we realized that the Self Help Groups model leaves behind many poor who are unable to cope due to various reasons and thus started registering Thrift and Credit Co-operatives. This was a big success in urban areas where the self help group (SHG) or joint liability group models are infeasible. The Sanchay model took financial services to the doorsteps of Nidan’s members from the informal sector. Every cooperative is governed by the members of the cooperative themselves through an Executive Committee of 10-11 members that elects a President, a Treasurer and a Secretary. The cooperatives have an annual general body meeting and the Executive Committee holds monthly meetings.

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Till date we have registered district level thrift and credit co-operatives in Patna, Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Khagaria in Bihar as well as a state level cooperative in Delhi and we are in the process of setting up six more Thrift and Credit Co-operatives in other states in India. Financial services offered to the members include different deposit schemes such as current account or optional deposit, recurring deposit (RD) and fixed deposit (FD). A range of credit schemes are also offered that include ornamental (gold) loans, guarantor loans, group loans and loans against RD/FD. Key statistics for Sanchay: Total no of members in Bihar and Delhi: 5000 approx. Total savings: Rs 60 lacs approx. Community-based Health Insurance (CBHI)

Nidan launched its pioneering scheme of Community Based Health Insurance (CBHI) in June 2009 in Mahua block in Vaishali district of Bihar with support from Micro Insurance Academy (MIA). In this program, local medical practitioners have been betrothed for primary health care of the insured members who are primarily representative of Self Help Groups and their family members. The intervention encompasses 125 SHGs and 16 clusters in 34 villages of 9 panchayats. The intervention started with awareness workshops, benefit options consultations, training of CBHI officers, and MIS training.Thereafter 1st enrolment began in March 2011 along with information events and hand holding support by Nidan. The benefits package includes testing (blood, urine and stool), imaging (x-ray, ultrasound), health services from designated health professionals (consultations and medicines) and family support during hospitalization (loss of wages compensation). A Coordination Committee called “Swasthya Kamal” was formed to manage the claims process with its elected President, Secretary and Treasurer. It has representatives from each of the SHG clusters and appoints a Swasthya Kamal coordinator to manage the operations of the committee. The Committee also has Swasthya Kamal activists who are responsible for educating the community about the scheme, enrolling of members into the scheme, collecting premiums, keeping direct contact with the insured members and helping them submit their claims. Of the 16 clusters, 6 were engaged in the 1st wave in 2010 while the other 10 were kept as control group. Then in 2011, 5 more clusters were engaged and the rest 5 were kept as control group for enrolment in 2013. Key statistics of CBHI intervention for 2011-2012: No of members enrolled: 1337 No of households covered: 343 Total no of SHGs: 125

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Community-based Savings Groups (CBSGs)

There has been increasing acknowledgement that microfinance agencies are not always able to address the financial service needs of the very poor and particularly those living in remote and isolated areas. Small transaction sizes, sparse populations and poor infrastructure limit the ability of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) to reach areas where much of the world’s poorest and most marginalised population lives.

NIDAN, in collaboration with Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), devised a long-term strategy to create opportunities of financial inclusion through supporting and facilitating innovative Community-based Savings Groups (CBSGs) in Phulwarisharif, Patna, Bihar. Each CBSG is usually composed of 15 to 25 individuals who deposit savings, which are pooled together and then lent out internally at a pre-defined and mutually agreed upon interest rate. A management committee is elected to constitute policies about savings and to ensure a high degree of procedural discipline.

At the end of a cycle, which usually lasts for 1 year, the group closes its books. Members’ savings, plus a proportionate amount of interest earned from the group’s internal lending, are then returned or shared out to its members. At this stage, the group can either disband or reconstitute itself and begin another cycle of saving and borrowing.

With technical assistance from Accion, India, Nidan delivered a Financial Literacy Training (FLT) package to facilitate the savings and lending process. Key financial messages on financial planning, cash flow, budget, savings and debt were imparted to CBSG members during a comprehensive story-based interactive curriculum.

CBSG group meetings are carried out in presence of all members to ensure transparence and develop trust among women

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Village Agent model in 2011-2012

Year 2011-12 of the CBSG programme saw its second phase take off with an innovative community base approach. Nidan facilitated Village Agents (VAs) from within the community and elected by CBSG groups to train new groups. Through the VA model, Nidan mobilised 144 CBSGs at the end of the financial year benefiting 2784 members. These members have accumulated total savings of Rs 30,93,495 and total disbursed loans of Rs 17,11,050.

Progress of 1st Phase

After successful completion of 2 years of the 1st phase of the intervention, results indicate that the CBSG model is sustainable. A total of 270 groups have completed 2 cycles, and 87% of the groups have continued to operate independently. 4982 members benefited from the program in the 1st pahse and they have accumulated savings of Rs. 71,40,184. SHGs

Nidan has been a strong supporter of the SHG model and its role in delivering financial services to the poor and the unbanked. Nidan ensures that women SHG members understand the concept of getting organized, importance of savings, record keeping and the process of inter-loaning. Only after 6 months of regular savings does Nidan facilitate the SHGs with bank linkage and getting credit from banks.

Nidan has promoted SHGs and their clusters in different areas of Bihar such as Hajipur, Bidupur and Mahua blocks in Vaishali district, Musahari block in Muzaffarpur district, Samastipur district and Katihar district. In Samastipur, Nidan is working to build a federation over the next couple of years. In rural areas, these SHGs form the backbone of community relationship with Nidan and all interventions in these communities are facilitated by the SHGs.

Bank Linkages

Nidan has invested lot of energy in advocacy with the central govt., RBI, policy makers and government and private banks for financial inclusion through the banking channels. Important among these is Nidan’s work in East Delhi to link the informal sector workers with different government banks like SBI, PNB, BOB etc. Nidan got great support from RBI in its initiative and has managed to open bank accounts for many informal sector workers, including women. These workers have gone on to avail of savings and credit services from the banks. This has opened new avenues for financial inclusion in urban areas and Nidan’s next mission is to take this initiative to Patna in Bihar. Micro Insurance

Nidan realized that without insurance coverage, informal sector workers are prone to much vulnerability which exposes them to the risk of disruption of their livelihood. Nidan began insurance program in 1999 by linking members with LIC, OIC and NIC; but later went on to forge various tie ups with private insurance companies like ICICI Lombard

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and Bajaj Allianz. It also added insurance products like asset insurance to its offering of life and health insurance to its members.

Nidan runs an annual insurance campign, which typically starts in October and ends by December. The objective of this campign is to insure all its members for the next year so that their life, health and asset vulnerabilities are addressed. For the insurance campaign for 2011, Nidan tied up with LIC for life insurance and OIC for general insurance.

Key statistics for 2011-2012: Total lives insured: 3036 Total no of mediclaims submitted to OIC: 72 Of which, no of claims received from OIC: 41 Total no of death claims submitted to LIC: 42 Of which, no of claims received from LIC: 28

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MAST – Market Aligned Skill Training The urban, semi urban and rural youth from under privileged communities have remained under constant threat of unemployment which has occurred due to high illiteracy rate, high school dropout ratio, lack of vocational education, absence of skill inculcation trainings and nonexistence of initiatives in mainstreaming dropout youth and guiding them towards sustainable employment opportunities. The intervention aim is to reduce poverty and vulnerability of disadvantaged youth through improving their life skills and market based skill training. The purpose of this project is to improve life skills and livelihood opportunities of poorer and marginalized youth, aged between 18 to30. Nidan’s first MoU on skill development was signed with AIF in July 2010 to train vulnerable urban youth aged 18-30. As on 31st March 2012, Nidan has successfully trained 1425 youth in courses like Information Technology Enabled Services, Customer Relation & Sales, Hospitality and Bedside Patient Attendant. 1199 trained youths have been placed in entry level jobs with various employers in the service sector. After community mobilization and area identification, 6 centers were opened in Patna to train target group for MAST program - Nidan’s Training Center, Rajiv Nagar, St. M.G. High School, near Mithapur, Sharda Vikas Mandir, Dundi Mazar, Patna City, Central Public School, Phulwarisharif, XTTI More, Digha and Meridian Public School, Gayghat. The youth placed in different companies are drawing salary in the range of Rs. 2500 to 5000 pm. Nidan has also constitured Mobilization team, Placement cell and Alumni cell. Piloting Self Financed Model of MAST in Delhi

After successful implementation of MAST programme by Nidan in Bihar, a similar need was felt in Delhi. To experiment with the self sustainable model, AIF in collaboration with Central Bank Of India facilitated self-finance model in Delhi. Loan was granted to aspirants, who had to repay in easy installments. This model was started in Tilokpuri and later in Madanpur Khaddar. Mobilization methods like canopies in the markets and in front of schools, campaign “Rath”, “pad yatras”, distribution of IEC material s like pamphlet, posters were employed successfully. First batch started in April 2011 with total enrollment of120 students. This batch was divided into 4 different groups based on the interest and qualification of the aspirants - Customer Relation & Sales (CRS), IT Enabled Services (ITES), Hotel Management (HM), and BPO. As part of training, aspirants were taken to various work places for practical knowledge. These included malls, call centers and hotels. On alternate Saturdays, professionals from corporate sector and media were called for morale boosting and personality development of the trainees. In total, 298 youths, residing in slums, have been enrolled in the MAST program in Delhi, of which 182 completed the training. Further 151 of the youth were successfullt placed with different reputable compnies in Delhi. To support these youth, we facilitated loans for 196 youth of which 145 have repaid their loans.

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Nidan has also trained persons with disabilities under the MAST program. In total, 129 disabled people have been trained in ITES, CRS, HM and PA, of which 72 have been successfully placed with various companies. Nidan organized a job fair in Trilokpuri on 7th April with great success. More than 50 youths were placed in various companies. Another job fair was organized at Madanpur Khadar.This job fair not only catered to MAST students but also to the entire community. It gave big boost to the MAST programme and local youth had an opportunity to get decent work in MNCs. This drew demand from different areas to organize such job fairs for the youth there. The MAST program has brought change in the strategy of Bihar Government in providing skills training under the SJSRY program. Nidan has been empanelled by the Department of Urban Development and Housing Development, Govt. of Bihar, to provide skills training to urban BPL youth.

The alumni of MAST program working in different sectors

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Minister visited the MAST center Participation in a program of Labour Dept. GoB Solar Initiative in Bihar Nidan has partnered with Selco-Solar India Pvt. Ltd. to provide affordable energy solutions to its members in Bihar. The initiative has been launched in Patna and Bidupur block of Vaishali district of Bihar. Nidan’s mission is to enhance the quality of life of underserved households and livelihoods through sustainable energy solution and services. Nidan conducted 15 group meetings to raise awareness among the villagers in Bidupur about the benefits of solar energy and the available solutions. We also educated them about the ill-effects of kerosene on health. The benefits of green energy and its impact on their lifestyle have been demonstrated to the villagers through different sessions. Detailed demonstrations on the functioning of the solar light systems have been conducted at the village level. We have installed 5 household solar light systems in Bidupur and continue to work with the SHG groups for spreading awareness among the villagers. We are also linking the rural bank (Uttar Bihar Gramin Bank) and other banks in the area to finance the solar systems so that people can easily access the the solar light solution and enhance their quality of life.

Executive Director of Nidan Mr. Arbind Demonstration of Solar Light solutions to Singh visits vendors in Patna using the street vendors in Patna

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Collective Enterprises Nidan has always championed enterprises owned and operated by the community so that the community members draw maximum benefit and get empowered. Nidan has promoted many co-operatives and in the process, setup many micro-enterprises. Many of these continue to grow from strength to strength and are playing a very big role in empowering the communities. Sanchay, the Thrift and Credit cooperative

Sanchay has been one of the most successful models for financial inclusion that Nidan has pioneered and continues to promote. Presently district level Sanchay cooperative is registered in Patna, Muzaffarpur and Vaishali districts in Bihar and state level Sanchay cooperative is registered in Delhi. Efforts are on to register a Sanchay cooperative in Samastipur and Madhepura districts of Bihar. These cooperatives are managed by a board of 10-11 members who oversee the functioning, formulate rules and plan the expansion of the cooperative. Every cooperative has a president, a secretary and a treasurer and holds an annual general meeting (AGM). While the 3 Bihar Sanchay cooperatives have been providing financial services like savings, deposits and loans to its members for many years now, the Delhi Sanchay co-operative has also been a huge success, especially among the migrant workers in East Delhi. The Delhi Sanchay cooperative has already crossed an annual turnover of Rs 1 crore and continues to expand in other areas of Delhi NCR. Angana, the Artisans’ cooperative

Angana is a cooperative of women artisans and has a retail outlet in Patna at Boring Road. Angana has also flourished with impressive sales and profit growth. It is one of the very successful models where members of the cooperative completely own and run the show without any outside help. Angana not only provides employment and regular income to dozens of women artisans but also innovates in product design. Its products include, but are not limited to, a variety of gents and ladies cotton and silk kurtas, special “tassar” silk kurtas, “Madhubani” paintings and wal l hangings, jute products like bags, doormats, carpets and other office-use items like holders etc. Angana has its own designer so that it can keep pace with the changing market conditions and produce beautiful products. It has a dedicated customer base that continues to grow in Patna. Moreover it has tied up with companies like HSBC, Reliance, Uninor, Idea etc. to hold exhibitions in their premises and participates in exhibitions in Delhi like “Delhi Haat”. Angana’s current monthly sale is over Rs 3 lacs, but is expected to increase significantly in the next couple of years. A new portal www.angana.in has been developed to take Angana’s products to customers across India and abroad. This initiative will give a big boost to Angana in terms of recognition and revenue so that it can support even more women artisans.

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National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) National Association of Street Vendors of India, a federation of more than 715 street vendor organizations and trade unions across 23 states with a membership of more than 5,00,000, is engaged in raising the issues of street vendors and has been advocating with different institutions of governance for protection of right to livelihood and social security. Nidan is a birth place of sorts for NASVI as Nidan was also started to fight for the causes of street vendors. Nidan has closely worked with NASVI over the years for the livelihood of street vendors. Beginning as a network in 1998, NASVI was registered in 2003 under the Societies Registration Act of 1860 to bring together the street vendor organizations in India so as to collectively struggle for macro-level changes which had become imminent to support the livelihood of around 10 million vendors. Presently, NASVI has 2,92,452 members from 373 organizations in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Manipur, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu. For the last 2 years, NASVI has campaigned hard for the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill 2012 in the Lok Sabha. Currently NASVI is engaging with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, National Advisory Council, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Urban Development and Members of Parliament to ensure that the law gets enacted by parliament. Advocacy with NAC: NASVI took up the issue of the central law for street vendors with the UPA President Sonia Gandhi led National Advisory Council (NAC). The NAC deliberated on the issue in its several meetings. In May, 2011, it recommended for a central law to the Government of India. Posts and Mails to PMO: In June 2011, vendor organizations across India posted hundreds of petitions/memoranda to the Prime Minister’s Office demanding early initiation of the process for law making. Protests in cities: NASVI urged all its member organizations to organize protests in their cities on 14 July, 2011 mounting pressure on the government to initiate process of law making. The protests were held in at least 30 cities. Parliament gherao: The Turning Point: On 18 August, 2011 thousands of vendors gheraoed the parliament demanding central law and a 7 member NASVI delegation met MHUPA Minister with a 10 point Charter of Demands. The minister agreed that the problems of vendors could only be solved through an effective law. Attorney General in favour of Central Law: In October, 2011, Ministry of Law sought the opinion from the Attorney General of India on central law for street vendors and the Attorney General gave his opinion in favour of the central law for street vendors. National Conclave on “Cities for All”: NASVI organized a huge national convention of street vendors on “Cities for All” theme on 19 November, 2011 in Delhi. MHUPA Minister Kumari Selja inaugurated it and announced that the government would bring in central law for street vendors as well as a scheme in the 12th Five Year Plan.

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Nidan Swachdhara Private Limited (NSPL) Nidan Swachdhara Private Limited or NSPL was established as the remedy of pain and grief of waste pickers. In order to provide dignity and livelihood security, NSPL, a solid waste management company was formed in August 2008 under Company Act 1956 with the support of Nidan. The vision of NSPL is “empowerment and upliftment of rag pickers and the marginalized communities to increase their income and dignity in the society and to promote solid waste management in the urban area.” The waste pickers are fondly known as “Safai Mitras” and form the backbone of this organization. NSPL tries to improve the work conditions of Safai Mitras by transforming them into professional service providers. Second objective is to help them get dignity for their work and make them more connected with mainstream society. NSPL realizes that it is important that people don’t look at them as waste pickers but as service providers. With this aim NSPL has appointed waste pickers as board of directors and they are also partners in equity. NSPL has started a cleanliness movement in major cities of Bihar (Patna and Muzaffarpur), Jharkhand (Bokaro) and Haryana (Hissar). The main objective of NSPL is zero waste management by ensuring that dry recycle waste and the organic waste is segregated at the source, i.e. at household level. In terms of numbers, the membership has grown from 6 to 409 in 4 years. NSPL works by first approaching and organizing waste pickers and then training them. Then start the work of recruitment of “safai mitras”, formation of units at ward level and mobilizing municipal staff. Setting up of composting plant, sale and marketing of compost, survey of recyclable market, establishing a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) and sale and marketing of recycle products complete the value chain. The aims for NSPL are:

Human empowerment Creating sensitization in society through seminars, trainings and workshops Campaigning against hunger, poverty, illiteracy, exploitation, gender

discrimination, child labour and other such social issues To take up the task of making urban areas garbage free and making of a green

and clean city Currently NSPL serves 18,500 households and 200 institutions through a team of 409 safai mitras and 48 organizers and ward in-charges. It employs 7 pick up vans for disposing off garbage, has 2 MRFs and two vermi compost sites in Patna

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Important Milestones The Govt of Bihar has announced urban reforms in all the 28 towns of Bihar beginning with stoppage of contract system for collection of taxes from street vendors. Process for permanent shelter for urban poor and for waste management has also begun. Efforts have brought substantial changes in the policy of the governments at the state as well as at the district level. The Board for Construction Workers has begun collection of contribution for welfare schemes for construction workers We were able to influence the Govt. of India and now we have a better policy for street vendors, adopted by the Govt of India in 2009. Government of India also adopted a model law for street vendors and sent it to the states for enactment by the state governments.

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Awards and Recognitions Nidan’s founder and Executive Director, Mr. Arbind Singh was honored at Oxford in England with the Skoll Foundation Social Entrepreneurship award. The award was presented to him by renowned Silicon Valley entrepreneur and Skoll Foundation founder Jeff Skoll and Skoll Foundation chief executive officer and President Sally Obsberg in a grand World Forum Spring Festival.

Mr. Arbind Singh with the Skoll Foundation awardees The Spring Festival and award ceremony was attended by nearly 1000 leading social entrepreneurs, government officials, social finance professionals, academics, development activists and media professionals including former British prime minister Gordon Brown, climate expert from Oxford University Mark Lynas, Professor of Economics from University of Chicago David Galenson, director of Social Finance Limited Ronald Cohen, president of Rockefeller Foundation Judith Rodin, diplomatic correspondent of BBC Bridget Kendall, executive editor of the Economist Daniel Franklin, Alok Jha of the Guardian, CEO of International Development Enterprises Amitabh Sadangi, renowned democracy and human rights supporter and chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC George Soros, internationally acclaimed singer and women and child rights activist Annie Lennox, chief strategy officer of Jeff Skoll Group Noah Manduke and a senior Indian bureaucrat Anjani Kumar Singh. Mr. Jeff and Ms. Sally Obsberg described Mr. Singh as a “visionary social entrepreneur whose spirit and ability has shown that the solutions for the bottom billion in India and around the globe can be found in the bottom billion themselves”. “The organizations Nidan and National Association of Street Vendors of India [that Arbind Singh head and anchor] give informal workers, which make up 93% of India’s workforce and create 64 per cent of GDP, a voice, and, crucially, ownership of their collectives”, they said.

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They said, “Nidan- NASVI champion the informal workers in India’s north and east, who proudly call it their own organization. The organizations organize these workers; incubate sector-based collectives and partner with government to demonstrate that models of rights-based, inclusive growth can work. They advocate, too, from local governance to state and national level governance structures and policy institutions. The Skoll Foundation celebrates Arbind Singh’s team spirit, ability and persistence to get things done where nobody thought it possible and is thrilled to give him the 2012 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.” Speaking at the award ceremony, Mr. Singh said, “Informal workers in India are street traders, domestic workers, construction laborers, market vendors, agriculture workers and more. They toil hard, often in actual waste piles, of garbage and scraps, but broken systems and structures keep them there in a vicious cycle with no forward progress. They are entrenched in a curious nexus of economic and social bondage. To break that bondage, we have learned, one needs innovative methods of organizing, new economic development activities and use of technology, combined with advocacy. That’s how the system gets challenged and changed”. He said, “The informal workers are the backbone of the country’s industry. We work to make sure they are not broken. Years on the ground have taught us that the solutions for the bottom billion in India and around the globe can be found in the bottom billion themselves. Till now we have reached 500,000 of them. There are lots more to do”. Thanking the communities served by Nidan and NASVI, Mr. Singh said, “They have immense faith in us which increases the burden of doing more and more.” He also thanked the vibrant and committed friends and colleagues who work passionately on several fronts.

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Patna

304, Maurya Tower, Block- C, Maurya Lok

Complex, Patna-800001, India

Phone: 0612-2220772, 2220773

Email: info@nidan.in