Rajiv Gandhi Foundation

The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation undertakes its activities by collaborating with other Non-Govemmental Organisations (NGOs) and Government bodies. When a project is approved by the Foundation, it enters into a written agreement or Memorandum of Understanding with the partner organisation(s). The Foundation then undertakes full or partial funding of the project and undertakes the monitoring, coordination and assessment work as necessary. The execution of the project is normally the responsibility of the partner organisation.

In the selection of project models or proposals, the Foundation gives preference to projects

Which have social or economic relevance, are innovative, tend to cover gaps in other ongoing programmes and do not fall within the traditional sources of support.
Which have the potential of being replicated successfully in different parts of the county?

iii. Which have clear and identifiable objectives and which lend themselves to periodic evaluation and monitoring against specific performance indicators?

Which are inherently sustainable in the long run and do not depend on external funding for all times to come.
Which encourage the participation and involvement of the people for whom they are meant?

Project proposals being given to the Foundation should contain the following features

Name of the project.
Objectives of the project.

iii. Area of coverage and target population.

Components/description of the project.
Study design/implementation strategy and the machinery for execution of the project.
Outcome variables/performance indicators.

vii. Time schedule for implementation giving a realistic chart of completion of each activity/ phase so that firm indicators are available for evaluating the progress.

viii. Details of the budget estimates (separately for recurring and non-recurring and separately for each head) along with justification for each item of expenditure.

Social or economic agencies of the project.
Other funding agencies to which this project may have been submitted.

The Foundation does not extend assistance for construction of building, purchase of land or purchase of vehicles.

In the case of NGOs, the project proposal must be sent along with the following documents about the NGO

Nature of organisation (Trust, Society, etc.) along with date and number of registration and certified copy of the registration order.
Certified copies of the formation documents (Trust Deed/Bye-laws/Rules & Regulations/ Names & Addresses of Trustees or Governing Body Members/Objectives, etc.)

iii Copy of the last published Annual Report, auditor’s report and balance sheet.

Certified copy of the last audited statement of accounts.
Brief history or back ground of the NGO along with brief description of earlier projects implemented/ executed by the NGO.
Name and biodata of the principal investigator(s).

vii. Signed declaration by the principal investigator or the head of the NGO accepting responsibility for the contents of the project proposal.

WOMEN & CHILDREN’S WELFARE UNIT

Programme Vision

We believe that women and children be full participants in the development process. Our programmes aim to

Support families affected by conflict
Rehabilitate street children
Empower disadvantaged women
Support women and children in the North-East.

Guidelines for collaboration in Projects for Women & Children

After decades of development, it has been recognised that women and children have remained marginalised in the development process, even through they are primary users and managers of natural resources. Shri Rajiv Gandhi believed that problems were best solved by involving those who were directly affected by them. Thus women and children should directly participate in solving their own problems. The Foundation endeavours to evolve innovative projects to make women and children participants and beneficiaries of the development process and utilise their traditional knowledge base to make development projects more efficient and ecology friendly.

Rather than duplicate the efforts of the Government of women and children, the Foundation hopes to fill in the gaps between the voluntary agencies working at the micro level and the State which operates at the macro level, by working closely with Government, voluntary agencies and individuals. Essentially, its role is that of a catalyst. It welcomes innovative projects which are potentially replicable in other parts of the country.

The Objectives are :

Rural sector

In this sector, the emphasis has to be placed on reducing the burden of fuel, fodder and water collection on women and children and hence providing them with more time to engage in income generating programmes. The strategy comprises :

Implementation of income generating programmes for women belonging to specially disadvantaged group(s). The organising agency is required to become a partner with the beneficiary in setting up of self-employment schemes for a suitable period, after which women should be able to sustain the programme on their own.
Development of an integrated approach to natural resource management with women as primary actors in the utilisation and management of natural resources.

iii. Adoption of a holistic approach for the empowerment of women belonging to specially disadvantaged groups through education, awareness creation and skill formation.

Evolving replicable models for promoting the participation of women in entrepreneurial and economic activities, production of value-added goods and services, professional careers, activities related to social reform and in the democratic and constitutional institutions of the countly.
Development of participatory wasteland and natural resource regeneration schemes involving women and Panchayats.

Urban sector

In this sector emphasis is to be placed on :

Development of rehabilitation and counseling facilities for street children.
Support to orphans, children with special problems and children belonging to specially disadvantaged groups through education, counseling, etc. to help them reach their fill lest potential.

iii. Development of support systems to schools to increase enrolment of slum and street children and combat the school dropout syndrome.

Initiatives to control, reduce and eliminate child labour in industries.
Development of replicable models for the empowerment of the girl child.

The following type of projects will not be considered :

Awareness raising camps.
Creating of village balwadis.

iii. Village sewing centres.

Income generating training programmes shall not be considered unless a guarantee is provided by the concerned that they will set up small scale employment programmes for the majority of participants as part of the training programme.
Individual request for monetary help.
Outright grants-in-aid to organisations shall not be considered. It is only for specific projects.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS 2003-2004

Healing the wounds of conflict

Rehabilitating street children

Women’s empowerment

Completed first phase of support to 159 Self Help Groups (SHGs) of women under the Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana in Sultanpur District, Uttar Pradesh. Formed 462 SHGs in second phase of project.
Income generation cum sill development project started in militancy affected areas of Budgam District, Kashmir
Project ‘Jagriti’ launched to combat violence against adolescent girls and women in Delhi by organising capacity-building and gender sensitisation workshops in schools, colleges and hospitals.

LITERACY UNIT

Programme Vision

Our goal is to support projects that

Promote education
Encourage education of girls, tribals and children in slum areas
Promote children’s literature.

Guidelines for Collaboration in Literacy Projects

Providing literacy to all was among the topmost concerns of Shri Rajiv Gandhi. He considered literacy an essential prerequisite for implementing the development tasks before the nation and for the effective functioning of a democratic society. It was this conviction that led to the launching of the National Literacy Mission on May 5, 1988. The promotion of literacy was therefore, adopted by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) as one of its priorities.

Rather than aim to duplicate the large scale efforts of the National Literacy Mission, the RGF supplements and strengthens the areas which may merit closer attention, by working closely with various Non-Governmental Organisations, individuals and the Government. The aims and objectives of the Literacy Unit encompass the following strategies and spheres of activity:

Developing programmes aimed at reinforcing and sustaining the literacy movement both through direct service as well as extension activities and awareness building.
Evolving programmes geared towards development of post-literacy skills and entrepreneurship.

iii. Producing suitable printed materials for neolith rates which would weave in the locate specific cultural threads into learning material, so that it is interesting and attractive to the reader and which may, wherever possible, be evolved by the local people at regional and village level to meet area specific needs.

Supporting innovative, field-based projects geared towards universalisation of elementary education with a special focus on marginalised groups of children.
Encouraging collective experience sharing and exchange of ideas, through seminars, workshops and other public fora by providing support to voluntary agencies engaged in the promotion of literacy and/or elementary education.

PANCHAYATI RAJ

Programme Vision

Rajiv Gandhi ushered in the Panchayati Raj revolution in India through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act. Our goal is to keep faith with his vision by focusing on

Advocacy campaigns to promote Panchayati Raj as originally intended.
Training strategies to increase the capacities of elected Panchayat members, especially women, and enhance their performance.
Monitoring the implementation of the Panchayati Raj Act.

Strengthening the Role of Women in Grassroots Democracy

Commenced a project ‘Strengthening the Role of Women in Grassroots Democracy’ to build the capacities of elected women Panchayat members to help them discharge their statutory responsibilities effectively. The project also aims to create a well-trained cadre of trainers with the aptitude to communicate with adult women learners.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY UNIT

Programme Vision

The Foundation supports programmes that harness science and technology to the everyday needs of the people. It focuses on initives which use science and technology to-

> Improve the lives of the poor

> Promote rural development

> Project the environment

Guidelines for Collaboration in Science & Technology Projects

The Foundation will generate activities and support ideas in the field of science and technology that meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. The application of science and technology in the service of the people, particularly the poor and the deprived, in areas of greatest social and economic need, was of special interest to Shri Rajiv Gandhi. The Foundation will concentrate its activities on practical programmes of bringing the benefits of science and technology to the common man.

The Foundation recognises that funding for science and technology programmes is at present available from several national and international agencies. It will, therefore, support projects of scientific and social relevance which fall outside these traditional sources of support, or which are innovative and yet people-based in nature.

The Foundation will identify appropriate people/voluntary agencies/institutions working in the field of science and technology and encourage/support them in their activities.

In the area of Science & Technology, the Foundation will give preference to

Projects which have direct relevance to the lives of the people for whom they are meant.
Projects which aim at improving the quality of life of the poor and needy people living in the urban and rural areas, especially in the under-served and backward areas.

iii. Projects which reach the benefits of research done previously to the people in a systematic and phased manner.

Proposal in the Science and Technology sector must contain a review of relevant scientific information/ situational status report.

HIGHLIGHTS 2003-2004

Aromatic plants project launched in Dehradun district, Uttaranchal to promote small enterprises in the aromatic plants sector.
Small farmers are being trained to cultivate, process and market aromatic plants and their oil.

DISABLED PERSONS’ WELFARE UNIT

Programme Vision

We work towards enabling the disabled to develop their potential and face the world on equal terms. Our programmes promote.

Recognition of the equal rights of the disabled.
Self-reliance through independent mobility and vocational education.
Employment generation.
Physical, psychological and medical rehabilitation of the disabled.

Guidelines for Collaboration in Projects for the Welfare of Disabled Persons

Shri Rajiv Gandhi was deeply concerned about the welfare of disabled persons. He firmly believed that all impediments to their full and equal participation in nation-building should be removed. The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation has, therefore, decided to concentrate on the well fare of disabled persons as one of its primary objectives.

Since its inception in May, 1992, the Disabled Person’s Welfare Unit has actively promoted the cause of the disabled through various projects and programmes across the country. On the basis of our objectives, it is proposed that in the coming years, as we march into the 21st century, the Foundation should work:

To create high awareness, especially by encouraging advocacy and self-help groups.
To promote employment generation for the disabled, particularly in rural areas.

iii. To match the needs of potential employers with the capabilities of disabled people and set up systems for this purpose.

To promote vocationally-oriented education and training to create skills in the disabled so as to make them self-supporting.
To promote efforts for the physical, mental, psychological and medical rehabilitation of disabled people.
To support developmental efforts in the field of rehabilitation to encourage and sponsor action oriented research ; and

vii. To support projects aimed specifically towards the welfare of the rural disabled, women with disabilities and the severely/multiple disabled.

Rather than duplicating the work of the Government and Non-Government Organisations, the Foundation would like to fill in the gaps in the ongoing programmes by taking up innovative projects that demonstrate an integrated approach for improving the quality of life of the disabled. The Foundation would like to function as a catalyst by working closely with Government, voluntary agencies and individuals.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS 2003-2004

Equal rights for the disabled : Accessible environment

Rehabilitation of the disable

Revived collaborative effort, Lifeline Express: hospital on rails providing free surgery, medicines and assistive devices
Distributed 3 0 sponsored motorised three-wheelers to orthopaedically disabled individuals.
Distributed Braillers to four educational institution.
Organised two legal literacy workshops on the rights of the disabled.
Supported workshop for launch of the ‘Disability Reduction Project (DRP)’ in Bargarh Disctrict, Orissa.

HEALTH UNIT

Programme Vision

Our goal is to evolve and support innovative public healthcare strategies that are accessible and affordable. Our programmes focus on

Health planning and prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases.
Health promotion, empowerment and development with emphasis on primary healthcare, adolescent health and policy advocacy.

Guidelines for Collaboration in Health Projects

The Foundation recognizes the health of the people of India as a developmental imperative and as integral to the effort to realize Shri Rajiv Gandhi’s dream of a strong and self-reliant India. It is, therefore, committed to support purposeful initiatives which are likely to advance health care and foster health promotion, particularly among women and children.

The Foundation recognizes that funding for health care delivery and health care research is at present available from several national and international agencies. It will, therefore, support projects of scientific and social relevance which fall outside these traditional sources of support.

Specifically, in the Health Sector, the. Foundation will give preference to:

Projects which aim at improving health care delivery in rural areas, especially the under served or backward areas through appropriate health technologies.
Projects which have multi-sectional approach/innovative strategies and involve people’s participation.

iii. Projects which promote and evaluate, in a scientific milieu, the integration of alternate systems of medicine, particularly traditional systems of Indian medicine, with the esternized model of national health care system, using modern medicine.

Projects which aim at developing/strengthening the skills of grass root level workers for community health management.
Projects which promote the highest level of health through optimum utilization of available resources and sustainable mechanisms in health care.
Projects which foster health promotional activities at the community level, with emphasis on empowerment through information dissemination and participative decentralised micro-planning.

The Foundation will not subsidize or supplement individual Or group health care as relief activity but will only fund projects which specifically address issues in accordance with the listed guidelines.

The proposal must contain a review of relevant scientific information/situational status report for an operational programme.

Project proposals may be submitted to

Adviser/Programme Officer (Concerned Unit), Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Jawahar Bhawan, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road, New Delhi 110 001, Tel: 091-011-23755117,23755118,23312456,23312458, 23325980, 23755128, Fax : 091-011-23755119, Email : rgf@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in , Internet: http://www.rgfindia.com