Progress Report
Connecting the Dots

 

Progress Report Q4 (JFM) 2019

General
  • Added two more villages Badli Ki Dhani and Nagar Bawla in Mundawar Tehsil, Alwar District in the scope of engagement for B2Ic bringing the total villages to 9 for our various engagements.
  • Launched Bimla Vidyarthi Foundation (BVF) that will super-scale B2Ic’s interventions. Foundation is adding more interventions for holistic rural development. B2Ic will be the execution arm of Foundation, will be funded by the Foundation, and will be subsumed by Foundation.
 RUJO: Rural Job Creation

Farm Sector

  • Formation of Farmer Producer Company: This is work in progress. The FPC is proposed to be named as “Pragati Farmer Producing Company” and process has been initiated to register it. Significant time and effort were dedicated in Q4 to organize more farmers to join the FPC. Several meetings with the farmers in various villages were coordinated by B2Ic along with local farmers. The interest in the FPC has gathered significant momentum.
  • We also roped in Mr. Gafoor Khan, an Agriculture specialist of Rajasthan Agriculture Department, who was intrinsically involved in successfully establishing FPC at Sodawas cluster of villages. Mr. Gafoor will be a consultant to B2Ic and he will intrinsically be part of BVF. His experience and knowledge will be immensely beneficial for Pragati FPC.
  • B2Ic facilitated a meeting of farmers representing their villages for selection of Board of Directors for the FPC, a major milestone in establishing Pragati FPC.
  • Initiated process for Government sanction of subsidy for farmers for drip irrigation and polyhouse with a target completion of the process to avail benefit of monsoon sowing season
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  • Mission Drip Irrigation: The process of identifying farmers for funding unsubsidized portion of has been initiated by Pragati FPC. It has been decided that these identified farmers must have Drip Irrigation before the next sowing season in June/July. B2Ic is working towards this target date.
  Non-Farm Sector  
     
  • Stitching Production Center (SPC) for Village Women by Usha Silai School: The Stitching Production Center, which is named Pragati Village Women’s Business Enterprise (VWBU), went on-stream at Pehal village on Feb 26th with 17 women of village Pehal, Raipur and Badli Ki Dhani. The current number of women at the Pragati SPC has increased to 20.
  • The SPC has been fully resourced (stitching machines, infra, people, all material for stitching, etc.) and is fully operational.
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  • These women underwent 10 days training in stitching (full scope) by several experts of Usha at Pehal. Since then, the women are engaged daily for stitching clothes for their family and friends.
  • B2Ic has hired a Sales Person for the SPC who will bring in sales order for the SPC from nearby towns and villages. B2Ic’s plan is to hire 5 such sales person for the SPC as well as for the FPC farmers for bringing sales orders form nearby towns as well as nearest big cities like Delhi NCR and Jaipur.
  • This Stitching Production Center will be collectively owned and operated by village women entrepreneurs. Process for registration of Pragati Village Women Business Enterprise has been initiated, with all participating women as the first shareholder of the company.
  • There is significant interest by mail youth to learn Stitching for earning a livelihood. We have planned to work on it to figure out dovetailing it.
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  • The due diligence for the 2nd Village Business Unit (VBU) for manufacturing of paper plates and saucers to be owned and operated by village youth has been completed. This unit will go on-stream in Q1 (AMJ), 2019.
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  • Nursing Staff and Medical Technicians’ Skill Enhancement Fund: For the capacity building, upskilling and upgrading of nurses, technical staff and support staff, B2Ic has established a Skill Enhancement Fund by granting them scholarships, grants or soft loans. It is envisaged that such financial assistance will prevent the significant financial drain on these underpaid but exceptional nursing staff and medical technicians. This fund will support deserving nursing, technical, and support staff in affiliated hospitals for skill enhancement.
  • B2Ic’s first affiliated hospital for this program is MAX, Gurgaon.
 CODO: Connecting the Dots for Holistic Rural Development
  • Government School at Kohrana for fulsome development: Identified next set of interventions for the development of the school.
  • B2Ic will enable construction of additional toilets for girl students who are a majority in this school. This work will be undertaken during school vacation starting in May end.
  • B2Ic will enable restoring of Water Harvesting structure in the school so that it becomes functional. B2Ic will be engaging an expert to identify the flaws in the current system and enable their rectification. The target is to make the water harvesting system full operational before the advent of monsoon.
  • B2Ic will be establishing two Vocational courses in the School for students of class 9-12th so when they pass out from the school they have at least one skill that they can use for earning a livelihood., Stitching Class for the girls (and boys if they are interested) and Soldering Class for the boys. We will set-up labs for these courses and will provided teachers who will be regularly taking classes for these Vocational courses.
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  • Solutions for Water scarcity: Design work for already identified 2 large dried johads at the foothills of Aravali in Banhad and Khori villages by TBS experts as the first two johads for revival was pushed out to AMJ quarter.
 TWINT: Teach What is Not Taught
  • Rajasthan Government has provided significant material for Activity Based Learning to the Primary Section of the Kohrana school. As part of this initiative, Rajasthan Government is funding one room to be converted into ABG Learning room by painting it with pre-determined images that facilitate learning. B2Ic has decided to replicate it in all the Primary School classes, rather than limiting it to one class. This activity will be completed during summer vacation.
  • For inculcating reading habit, B2Ic has started issuing the books and magazines it provided to the school, to the children for reading at home.
  • B2Ic also engaged in story reading and storytelling classes for the children to facilitate being imaginative.
 KNOPRO: Knowledge Sharing by Professionals
  • Individual counselling of village youth for choice of vocation is becoming one of the key modus-operandi for B2Ic. B2IC counselled several youths for choosing their vocation.