The creation of strong and autonomous village institutions
based on democratic principles underpins all of Seva Mandir’s
development interventions. Such institutions are considered
essential for ensuring the sustainability of the development
process. The idea of the Gram Vikas Kosh (GVK) was developed
on the basis of this realization: an innovative concept that
aims to strengthen village institutions through the creation
and management of a village-level corpus fund, formed through
people’s contributions and owned by them.
The fund provides a common reason for people
to come together, to discuss their problems, and to draw up
a development agenda, while simultaneously providing the financial
resources for making the action a reality.
Objectives:
Consolidate
and deepen our work with village institutions, which can become
the base for local development.
Increase
the management and governance capacity of village institutions
to undertake development interventions on their own and with
support from external agencies.
Status:
At present there are 533 GVKs with a total fund of
more than Rs.22 million. More than 40% of these funds
are being held in high interest Fixed Deposit accounts and
efforts are presently on to explore other lucrative options
such as Reserve Bank of India bonds, mutual funds, etc., in
order to maximise the interest that can be earned on these
funds.
The number of village funds brought under the management
of democratically elected village committees reached 360,
an increase of 40 over the previous year. Correspondingly,
the membership base has expanded to include some 40,000 families.
