: ANTODAYA

Quality versus Scale

By Team Blue Posted on Fri 19 Apr 2013, over 11 years ago

Dear Dillip Babu,

Having visited several of the villages your work in a few months ago for a micro hydro assessment, I could not help but notice the synergy that Antodaya holds with local stakeholders. Where ever I visited, community members talked about Antodaya, your late founder, you, and members of your team intimately.

Having worked with communities myself, in the same region, I know it takes great time, commitment, and a willingness to learn from communities (rather than the other way around) to create such open closeness with communities. To maintain the closeness, is a whole another task! So, needless to say, I have been impressed in how the communities perceive Antodaya. (I should add the the communities I visited did not know that I knew of Antodaya, since I was not there with any Antodaya staff or work.)

My assumption is that you have been able to hold growing relationships with the communities because have chosen to focus on Thuamul Rampur, while others such as Pradan and Gram Vikas, work across Odisa, India, and even in Africa now. This does not mean that NGOs with a larger focus area cannot have close ties with the community, but my experience says that the larger the focus, the greater the challenge.

I know firsthand that most large funding comes only when you given the donor large targets. The targets often dilute the quality of work because the staff takes on more work and has less time to focus on the processes used to interface with communities. New staff for new targets in remote areas is often hard to find and even when hired they cannot perform having no local knowledge and hence become challenged within a few months, and resign from working in physically challenging remote regions.

My question for Antodaya:

I have come across few organizations with long experience that have chosen to stay small and focused on a specific region -- such as yours. Has Antodaya ever considered adding more geographic area to its work or more staff? Why or why not?

I am interested in know the values and the operational priorities that small/focused NGOs hold, versus that of large/international grassroots NGOs, and understanding the pro's and con's of both types of approaches.

Thank you.

Quality versus Scale

By ANTODAYA Posted on Fri 19 Apr 2013, over 11 years ago

Dear Dipti ji
I must thank you for putting these encouraging words here.

And I beg pardon that I can not comment on the works of other organisations working with larger target area and I should not.

Coming to your questions I would like to say that you have already answered your own questions in your observation paragraph. Still I would like to share with you that ANTODAYA believes in " Living with the people and Learning from the People" and not to do different things rather do the things differently and to bring some real changes with perfection whatever small it may be keeping our capacity in view. We are having less support for the projects, may be due to the limitations within us, but our wishes are also limited to a focused area till date as we still see these people are languishing with problems. We can not demand that we shall spread over a larger geographic area as DEMAND IS DESIRE BACKED BY WILLINGNESS AND ABILITY TO PAY FOR IT. ANTODAYA desires to spread to bigger areas slowly backed by willingness ------- but not having ability to pay for it .

Even sometimes standing on our firm ethics we do not go for projects / programmes which need lot many compromises with our own ethics. I am citing one example here:

ANTODAYA though pioneered the Self-help group concept in Kalahandi and subsequently got the awards from NABARD as well as Mission Shakti of Government of Odisha never wanted to run Micro-finance Institution (MFI) discarding the offers from different donor partners including NABARD on this subject, as it involves a refined system of Money lending and exploitation of the target community.

Hope my points will answer your questions. If any more you want please feel free to write.
Thanking You again
Yours sincerely

Dillip Kumar Das

water security

By Gram Vikas Posted on Wed 15 May 2013, over 11 years ago

Dear Dilip Babu,
Having worked in Kalahandi for quite some time, how has your experience been on addressing water security at the village level? Have you encountered conflicts around water within villages or across villages? Have you taken measures to address source sustainability, especially during the summer months?

Thanks for your reply. Best wishes for the good work!

Chitra

water security

By ANTODAYA Posted on Thu 16 May 2013, over 11 years ago

Dear Chitra

Greetings from ANTODAYA family.........!!!

On the conflict issues I am to say here that, in few cases it happened (both inter village and intra village) and those are got solved with dialogues in the community itself.

Source security aspect is addressed through protection of forest on the upper side of the source. The villagers are enlightened about the hazards due to PODU cultivation and they have resolved to not to go for PODU (shifting cultivation) near the source of the water. But it has to be more comprehensive and we are yet to practice.

Regards
Dillip Kumar Das