Creating Synergy Leaders join hands
K R Lakshmikantan

Two leading non-government organisations committed to the cause of sustainable development and livelihoods recently adopted a formal agreement to co-operate with each other in the planning and implementation of strategies in pursuit of their common goal.

Development Alternatives signed a Protocol of Collaboration for action on sustainable development and livelihoods with Gram Vikas, a grassroots voluntary organisation with headquarters at Mohuda village near Berhampur in Ganjam District of Orissa. The main mission of Gram Vikas is integrated rural development encompassing the various components of rural life such as habitat, health and hygiene, drinking water and environmental sanitation, basic education, natural resource management, livelihood generation, and community action for development.

Gram Vikas with its beginnings in 1971 moved to Mohuda in 1977 and has since played a vital and effective role in integrated tribal and rural development in the area.  Major achievements of Gram Vikas include the large number of village based credit institutions now operating under the ownership and management of communities.  These facilities have greatly reduced the dependence of tribals on moneylenders.  Gram Vikas is a key player in the National Biogas Extension Programme under which it has installed and commissioned nearly 60,000 biogas plants, representing about 75 per cent of all plants installed in Orissa. 

The protocol of collaboration was signed on 25th February 1997 at Orchha (near Jhansi) by Ashok Khosla, President, Development Alternatives and Joe Madiath, Executive Director of Gram Vikas.  Urs Heierli, Counsellor and Head, Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation was also present on the occasion.

Under the umbrella of the above protocol, two memoranda of understanding were signed between the two organisations for immediate action in two specific fields.  The first one was to identify Gram Vikas as a partner for Development Alternatives in an Action Research Programme, supported by Swiss Development Agency for Co-operation, in the area of energy efficient sustainable production of construction materials, specifically in the demonstration of Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln technology and its dissemination.  The other MOU was signed between Gram Vikas and Decentralised Energy Systems India Pvt. Ltd. (DESI Power), a company in the Development Alternatives group set up for promoting decentralised independent rural power producing units based on renewable sources of energy.  The MOU covers actions regarding establishment of IRPPs in the Gram Vikas area of operation for generation of power based on local biomass through the gasification route.

Following the signing of MOU, the DA team visited the Gram Vikas headquarters between March 1 and March 5, 1997 for discussions and planning further steps for the implementation of the VSBK project in the area.  The team also included the Chinese and Swiss experts on VSBK technology.  q

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