Information materials

published in vikalpsangam.org

These studies have been conducted and documented as part of the Vikalp Sangam process:

1. Collective farming in Kerala and lessons for Maharashtra – Kudumbashree is an inspiring story of women’s collectivization and empowerment. It made a huge impact on women’s lives and brought them out in public space. This study is about the collective farming programme of Kudumbashree which was initiated in 2010 and which has ramifications for rural women’s farm based livelihoods and perhaps in the long run for farming itself.
2. Retailing, with a World of Difference: Empowering Farmers & Consumers the “ORGANIC FARMERS’ MARKET (OFM)” Way (by Kavita Kuruganti, July 2017) – OFM had several norms laid down at the very beginning which ensured that these retail spaces would not compete with each other but rather cooperate; they would try to cater to (middle) middle class and not just to the elites in a city; they will be as eco-friendly as possible in the running of the shops. This is a win-win for everyone, including the consumers.
3. Traditional Economy of Kondh Adivasi Community of Rayagada, Odisha by Kavitha Kuruganti and Ananthoo, ASHA (Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture) with help from Debjeet Sarangi of Living Farms. The Kondh economy is ultimately about: togetherness, fulfilment of basic needs and social regulation around greed, sharing and cooperation, collective responsibilities, autonomy that stems from close dependence on Nature and not asymmetrical markets, self-reliance as a value, and joint decision-making in the community.
4. Livelihood Security and Village Development through Forest Conservation in Pachgaon is about a small village in the Gondpipri taluka of Chandrapur district in the Indian state of Maharashtra, which has obtained community rights over their traditional forests and since then has done commendable work with respect to forest conservation and management, and livelihood generation.
5. The Niyamgiri Story – The study attempts to present the articulations of the Dongria Kondh about the current model of ‘development’ practiced by the state through wrongly envisaged welfare schemes as also extractive industries. What emerges is their strong view against this form of development, their attempts to counter it, through the Niyamgiri Surakshya Samiti, and glimpses of their alternative worldview. Read the Odiya translation of this case study.
6. The challenge of the Kaikondrahalli lake experience has been to forge new approaches for the governance and management of the urban commons, in a fast growing city where the communities that live around the lake are constantly in flux.
7. Learning in Freedom the Democratic Way: Imlee Mahuaa School is for the children of adivasi communities in and around Balenga Para, a little hamlet in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. It is a strong bleep on the radar of reason showing that things can be different for adivasi communities and their children. आधुनिकता पर सवार वर्तमान भारत में आजकल तमाम परम्पराओं, जीवन शैलियों और सीखने के तरीकों को बहुत जल्दबाजी में एकरूप बनाया जा रहा है. इन हालातों में छत्तीसगढ़ के बस्तर इलाके में स्थित इमली महुआ स्कूल आदिवासी शिक्षा में एक नायाब प्रयोग है.
8. Maati has an alternative vision that is being practiced in a living way. Grappling with issues of male hegemony, mainstream development, and local politics, it has sustained its work for more than two decades.
9. Shaam-e-Sarhad, Hodka: A Community-based Tourism Initiative in Kachchh, Gujarat, and a Gujarati translation of this case study. શામ-એ-સરહદ, હોડકા : સામૂહિક સમાજવ્યવસ્થા આધારિત પ્રારંભિક પ્રવાસન યોજના (ગુજરાતી અનુવાદ). Read a story Experiencing the Banni through Hodka on the Shaam-e-Sarhad initiative.
10. Very Much on the Map: the Timbaktu Collective (2014) focuses on two related aspects: organic farming, and farmers’ producer cooperative, initiated by Timbaktu Collective in a bare and rocky part of arid Anantpur district of Andhra Pradesh. See updated version (2016) of case study here. టింబక్టు కలెక్టివ్:పటంలో ఒక ప్రముఖ స్థానం కలిగివుంది, ఈ కేస్ స్టడీ ప్రధానంగా, ఆంధ్ర ప్రదేశ్ రాష్ట్రానికి చెందిన కరువు ప్రాంతమైన అనంతపురం జిల్లాలో ఒక నిస్సారమైన మరియు రాతి నేలలో టింబక్టు కలెక్టివ్ చే ప్రారంభించబడిన రెండు ముఖ్య అంశాలపై దృష్టి పెడుతుంది:అవి సేంద్రీయ సాగు విధానం మరియు రైతులే సొంతగా నడుపుకోగలిగిన ‘ఉత్పత్తిదారుల పరస్పర సహకార సంఘం’.
11. Strengthening Local Livelihoods with Ecological Considerations in Kachchh, Gujarat discusses a set of initiatives in Kachchh which attempt to secure local ways of living (through animal husbandry, agriculture and crafts and strengthening the linkages between these) with a core belief that local livelhoods can only flourish if they are in consistence with ecological and socio-cultural systems, by Shiba Desor. Translation of the same case study is available in Gujarati – ગુજરાતના કચ્છના પર્યાવરણને લક્ષમાં રાખી સ્થાનિક જીવનનિર્વાહને વધુ સક્ષમબનાવવાની યોજના – શીબા દેસોર.
12. Kuthumbakkam: Laboratory of Village Economics shows how a cluster of villages with their economies networked together in a kind of free-trade zone, rose to prosperity through evolving a self-dependent enconomy. The village has experimented with other innovative schemes like construction with locally available material and inegrated housing for village families of different castes, as also solar energy projects. Tamil translation of the same. Read Ignited Minds: Elango turns Kuthambakkam Village as a Model Village – a story on Elango’s work.
13. Communitisation of Public Services in Nagaland: A step towards creating alternative model of delivering public services? This case study shows how communitisation has been successful in improving public service delivery system in Nagaland and in some cases has even led to communitisation institutions, existing village institutions such as VCs and VDBs and informal institutions such as youth groups, women’s groups joining hands to envision and innovate creative ways of imparting education, health, sanitation in their respective villages.
14. Ecological Regeneration and Livelihood Security through Forest Rights: Nayakheda Village, Maharashtra – a collective process of action for better livelihoods and conservation in a small village on the outskirts of Melghat Tiger Reserve in Amravati district. The developments in Nayakheda have been possible because of a number of reasons including availability of a legal tool in the form of Forest Rights Act, co-operation from the forest department, etc.

Talks by / discussions among Participants of Vikalp Sangam gatherings