Yuva Rural Association (YRA) was established in the year 2002 and has its head office in Nagpur, Maharashtra. YRA is registered under the M.P. Society Registration Act 1973 from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Though the geographical area as per the MoA/ MoU is the pan India, YRA initially started working in three states namely Madhya Pradesh, Gujrat and Maharashtra. Since its inception, we have been undertaking strategic interventions in the issues related to livelihoods, natural resource management, gender, social discrimination, governance and human rights.
We have been undertaking a wide range of activities starting from creating livelihood opportunities for the poor to protecting vulnerable people including women and children from violence and other social discrimination to making the government schemes available to the people through policy advocacy and lobbying. The various constituency groups that we focus on include small and marginal farmers, landless laborer, Dalits, tribals, women, children, youth, people with disabilities, and people living with HIV/AIDS.
YRA’s Governance is very strong and strategic, spread across India, coming from various backgrounds such as academicians, researchers, international trainers, Agriculturists, Social Activists etc. and quite regular in providing strategic direction to the organization. Right from the beginning YRA works as per the Strategic Plans, well-articulated. The current Strategic Plan 2021-2025 is followed by YRA.
Some of our supporters and donors include Oxfam, SWISSAID, UNICEF, IFAD, Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (KHPT), Rangoonwala Foundation, Dilasa, WASSAN, many Government Departments such as the Women and Child Development Department, NABARD, Ministry of Agriculture and Water and Sanitation Department as also many CSR funders like HDFC, HDBfs, Mahindra Rise, Infosys and EdelGive etc. YRA is very active part of various networks such as the Vidarbha Livelihoods Forum (VLF), Wada Na Todo Abhiyan (WNTA), Voluntary Action Network India (VANI), Vikas Sahayog Pratishthan (VSP), SOSVA Training and Promotion Institute (STAPI). AFARM, Revitalization of Rainfed Agriculture and many more.
Our Genesis was from the formation and establishment of the Resource & Support Centre for Development (RSCD) as a forum in 1994 by various creditworthy organizations in Western India, including Maharashtra. This forum was established to provide support and build capacities of small grassroots organizations, especially from a development perspective, and to provide them with financial and non-financial support. The member organizations of RSCD took up the region-wise responsibility across western India. Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA), Mumbai took up the responsibility of the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra as RSCD’s Regional Resource Agency. Mr. Datta Patil took this challenge and shifted from Mumbai to Nagpur in 1994. A 5-year Vidarbha Development Perspective Plan- 1996-2000 was developed and this plan was implemented during the period 1996 to 2000 through the network called Vidarbha Lok Vikas Manch (VLVM) of 268 local organizations collectively. YUVA as RRA played a very important role in this initiative.
During this period, apart from the efforts through the network, YUVA felt the need for direct interventions in certain development issues in the rural paradigm that local organizations were not equipped for. This paved path to YUVA’s Rural Unit in Vidarbha till 2002 and past VLVM. Strategically this Rural Unit was turned into an independent organization addressing the issues of the Vidarbha region. As a result of this, Yuva Rural Association (YRA) was registered as an independent entity in 2002 to address the issues in Western India – Maharashtra (Vidarbha and Marathwada regions), Madhya Pradesh (Betul, Shivani, Balaghat and Chhindwada districts) and Gujarat (Rahpar and Patan districts). After completion of all necessary legal and statutory requirements, Yuva Rural Association designed its first strategic plan for the period between 2003 and 2007. In due course of time, Yuva Rural Association had to withdraw from Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat due to local leadership and a lack of capable and committed human resources.
In 2011, Yuva Rural Association put all necessary registration in place, and since then has become a completely independent legal entity continuing to undertake projects and programs in collaboration with government, national and international donors with its head office in Nagpur.
The initiatives undertaken by us have been beneficial to a large number of rural poor. We have undertaken a wide range of activities starting from creating livelihood opportunities for the poor to protecting vulnerable people including women and children from violence and other social discrimination to making government schemes available to the people through policy advocacy and lobbying. The various constituency groups that we focus on include small and marginal farmers, landless laborers, Dalits, tribals, women, children, youth, people with disability, and people living with HIV/AIDS
In this wonderful and enriching journey that we have experienced, we have been successful in forming People’s Organizations and People’s Institutions, thus increasing the participation, accountability, and ownership of our target beneficiaries and they have taken responsibility for their own development processes. The members of these POs and PI and the volunteers are assisting in widening the scale and scope of our interventions and this is the biggest strength of the organization. They have helped us in our goal of making the life of rural people meaningful.
The Vidarbha region is one of the most backward regions of the state. The problems in this region are enormous. It is an industrially backward region as compared to the rest of Maharashtra. A large percentage of the people rely on agriculture for their subsistence. The only means to develop this region is by improving agricultural productivity with the development of irrigated agriculture. The only way to do this is to increase the irrigation potential of this region. Only 4% of the area in Vidarbha is under irrigation. The presence of other livelihood opportunities and agro-allied activities such as dairy units, animal husbandry, goat rearing units, processing units etc. are negligible in this region. As a result, the people here are mainly dependent on agriculture which suffers also due to the extreme climatic conditions in the region.
The issue of farmer suicides in the Vidarbha region has been in the news since the year 2004. Since then, it has been seen that in spite of many efforts by the government, the number of farmers committing suicides is still high and on the rise.
The above issue does not start or end with the farmers giving away their lives. The families of these farmers – their widows, children, parents etc. are further burdened. The loans shift to their shoulders apart from the loss of an earning member of their family. Again, initiatives such as the promotion of agro-allied activities and other livelihoods, crop insurance, marketing channels for farmers, financial security, farmer’s package etc. are essential for the benefit of the farmers in the region.
The Vidarbha region has a lot of forest cover and a number of people, especially tribals, are dependent on the forests for the source of their livelihood. The Central Government ordinance in June 1980 followed by the Forest Conservation Act thereafter, created impediments to the development programs in Vidarbha. The other regions of the state did not suffer because there was hardly any forest cover left in those regions. Consequently, a very serious setback to the development of Vidarbha was received in the form of environmental clearance of the pending projects. Even now, the villagers staying in or near the forest areas face huge hurdles due to the stringent measures of the Forest Department and face a lot of issues in undertaking their traditional livelihoods. Recently, the Government has started recognizing the Community Forest Claims but there is still a long way to go before the people get a right to their natural resources. The Government of India enacted Forest Right Act and it is in force. YRA facilitated almost 11 villages for getting the management plans prepared for their Community Forest Right land. YRA is planning to cover more villages in Bhandara and Gondiya districts, provided the current framework does not get changed.
The situation of women and children in Vidarbha has definitely improved over the years but it is still not up to the mark. Even in this century, women in Vidarbha face a lot of difficult situations. They are not given proper education and their social status is considered to be lower than men. Single women (widows, unmarried, orphans), Dalit, tribal and rural women face a lot of problems in society. They do not have any property registered in their names and they are also not financially or politically empowered. Many of these women are not even aware of the various acts, schemes, and policies that have been put in place for their own welfare. Child labor, especially in the cotton growing belt, is also rampant. Children also lack the provision of good health and education facilities. Health and nutrition is also a major problem for the women and children of Vidarbha. According to an MSSRF report, at least 90 percent of women in Vidarbha are chronically anemic and have several vitamin deficiencies. Many women have been forced to work hard for long hours and take care of their fields after the death of their husbands. YRA is an active part of the network of Anemia Free Vidarbha.
In spite of various laws set against dowry in our country, the dowry system is still very much prevalent in the Vidarbha region, especially in its rural areas. Women are physically and mentally abused by their in-laws for dowry and there have been many cases of dowry-related deaths as well. There have also been cases of women who have been abandoned by their husbands. There are cases of bigamy and second marriages without legally divorcing the first wives. This leads to the women being deprived of the rightful custody of their children and also lacking in the share of the house and property.
Discrimination against people, especially the youth, is widespread. Youths feel hopeless, without any direction. People from the minorities such as Muslims, Dalits, and Tribals face a lot of discrimination to date. There are not enough opportunities for the youth in the region. Lack of proper education and lack of livelihoods make these youth undertake socially illegal activities. Government has many programs, and schemes of benefit to the poor but in fact, those do not reach the needy and right people for many reasons.
The above realities are not exhaustive. There are many more problems that the people in this region face even today. It is with the focus on addressing these issues that Yuva Rural Association concentrates its efforts in this region. Currently, YRA is focusing on “Livelihood” from a larger perspective that covers quality education, safe drinking water, WASH, Food and nutrition, health, etc from the lenses of equality, and sustainability as also addressing the SDGs–Sustainable Development Goals. Another focus of intervention is Climate change, soil, and water conservation, Carbon offsetting, Renewable energy, forest conservation, and Climate Smart Agriculture.
YRA believes that the Government is trying to resolve almost all the development issues and have been developing different programs and schemes to address the development issues but not reaching the appropriate people hence YRA has strategically decided to play the major role of ‘The Facilitator’ to enable people to exercise their rights provided by the Government.
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