Seva Mandir

Seva Mandir works in 626 villages of Udaipur and Rajsamand districts, situated in the Southern part of Rajasthan. The rural population consists primarily of tribal (68%) and other disadvantaged communities whose resources are severely limited. The area is characterized by rocky and hilly terrain, low rainfall and extreme temperature variations (4-48 deg C). Map of Udaipur

The local population continues to remain dependent on the natural resource base for a large part of its livelihood needs. Today, the forested and common lands, which constitute 72% of the total land area, are excessively degraded. Only 13% of the land under cultivation has some form of irrigation.

Exploitation by private interests and the resulting collapse of traditional resource management practices, coupled with several successive years of drought, have left the ecosystem, and the people whose lives depend on it, in a bad way.

These problems have been compounded by the failure of the various levels of government and traditional institutions to address or respond actively or effectively to the needs of the communities affected.

With widespread illiteracy, high incidences of morbidity and mortality, high levels of chronic indebtedness, and a degree of economic insecurity that forces people to migrate for employment for long periods at a time under unfair and high-risk conditions, the people’s capacity to engage in, let alone take charge of, their own development process has been severely attenuated.