The year that went by in Social Development Sector in India in 2019 & Ambuja Cement Foundation’s Impact

Now, more than ever, there is a need for non-profits to align with the 'national agenda', work collaboratively with the Government and tap into the power of relevant schemes to optimize impact on communities.

In its 26th year journey to develop prosperous rural communities, ACF has not only tailored programs to meet the needs of communities but has strategically aligned with government priorities around water, agriculture, skills and sanitation and has achieved scale and impact as a result.

Water Resource Management & the Jal Shakti Ministry

The National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) says that the National Water Mission is meant "to ensure integrated water resource management helping to conserve water, minimize wastage and ensure more equitable distribution both across and within states." Water has always been an integral focus in ACF's communities and we continue to scale and grow this program - achieving to date:

• 55.60 mcm water storage created
• 1114 RRWHS Installed
• increase in groundwater level in the range of 2-12 meters
• Total dissolved solid reduction in the range of 500-5000ppm in Kodinar

Sanitation & Swachh Bharat

The Swachh Bharat Mission was launched by Government in 2014 to accelerate the efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage across the country. Already working heavily in this space, ACF also ramped up its efforts to achieve 100% toilet coverage in core villages, enhance access to drinking water and promote cleanliness and hygiene among communities. Today, as the Government declared parts of India 'Open Defecation Free', we have achieved the following results to contribute to this national agenda:

• 146 Villages with 100% Toilet Coverage/ODF
• 952 Drinking Water Sources
• 4518 WASH Beneficiaries and 203 Swachta Doots

Skill Training & the Skill India Mission

Skills and knowledge are the driving forces of economic growth and social development in any country. Whilst many developed countries have a skilled workforce between 60% and 90% of the total workforce, in India only 5% of workforce (20-24 years) has formal vocational skills. The National Skill Development Mission launched by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in 2015, aimed to consolidate and coordinate skilling efforts to achieve skilling at scale with speed and standards. In 2015, ACF had 17 Skill & Entrepreneurship Development Institutes and today we have scaled this program to 31 centers across 11 states, training over 55,000 youths

• 55,000 graduates across the country
• Entry-level salary for each graduate averages Rs.8500 per month
• Placement Rate of 75%

Agriculture & the Krishi Vigyan Kendra

The Indian agricultural sector faces many challenges with a high number of small farmers, lack of infrastructure and extreme weather conditions. But in today's day and age, with the advent of technology and new scientific approaches to farming, there is a need for farmers to adopt learning as a daily exercise. The current national government's program to double farmers' income calls for an increase in agricultural productivity, development initiatives, as well as technological innovation. In 2007-08, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) sanctioned the establishment of a Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), to be implemented and managed by ACF. Apart from National Schemes and Projects, ACF also works on state and district level schemes and projects to align with the set targets. The government expects KVKs to aid in the dissemination of information and practices regarding new government initiatives. To date, almost 2 lakh farmers have participated in different activities at ACF's KVK and have adopted new technologies, became entrepreneurs, received district and state-level awards and increased their income as a result.

• 1137 hectares Converted to Drip/Micro/Lift Irrigation across India
• Working with over 2 lakh farmers
• 11 Farmer Federations across India
• Increase from 1 crop to 3 crops per year

Pearl Tiwari is the Director and CEO of Ambuja Cement Foundation

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are the personal views of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Devdiscourse and Devdiscourse does not claim any responsibility for the same.)