Starting in 2021, the Global Institute Of Sustainable Development and local government authorities have begun collaborating on a pilot project to achieve SDG goals in India.
Located 185 km or 115 miles North-West from the state capital Kolkata. Our two pilot projects are in the nearby villages of Simulia and Mahula, both part of the Sattore gram panchayat, within the Bolpur Sriniketan Block in Birbhum District, West Bengal.
Our goal is to develop Simulia and Mahula as model villages and to then replicate our success and learnings onto other villages within the Sattore gram panchayat, as well as those within the larger Birbhum District of West Bengal in India.
In 2021, only 5% of villagers had access to tap water.
In 2023, we’ve connected every home with a freshwater tap. We also provided free water for a local high school and hostel for tribal children.
Over 10% increase in agricultural income for 612 farmers, a majority from Schedule Tribe and Schedule Cast communities.
521 small and marginal farmers were trained on the use of mulching to grow vegetables, leading to a 25% increase in profit margin and 10% in productivity.
In 2021, 40% children less than five were found to be stunted, defined as being too short for their age as a result of malnutrition.
In 2023, 88% of malnourished children were removed from the severely malnourished category, and 60% of children turned to normally nourished.
All Women committee to ensure the effective operation and maintenance of new water supply system. Empowered to set a monthly tariff to generate funds for maintenance and repair.
631 Women from local families also supported with vegetable seeds and saplings for kitchen gardening, helping them add more nutrition to their family’s diet.
Located in the western part of West Bengal near the border with Jharkhand. The Bolpur-Sriniketan block is spread over an area of nearly 335 sq. km, representing 1 of 19 blocks within the Birbhum district.
As per Census 2011, the Bolpur Sriniketan block is home to nearly 50,000 families, with a total population of over 2,00,000 adults and 20,000 children.
Amongst all citizens, 6% live in urban areas while a majority 94% living in rural areas.
Amongst all adults, nearly equal men, and women, over 85,000 are engaged in some kind of productive work.
With 70% of the working adults being able to earn for more than 6 months in a year, and 30% only being able to secure jobs in marginal activities that secure their livelihood for less than 6 months in a year.
Further, the district reports having nearly 27,000 agricultural labourers working for over 11,000 farm owners or co-owners.
Lastly, as per another survey carried out in 2005, nearly 40% of the households in the area were found to live below the poverty line.
Farmers in this region are dependent on a single crop, paddy, to meet their needs for the whole year.
With a few other crops grown on a marginal basis, the production of cereals, pulses, and oilseeds is known to be not adequate for the region.
Leading to food scarcity for 3-4 months in a year, and inadequate nutrition for the local population, especially growing children.
Only 5% of the villages in the block have tap water connections.
The main source of drinking water is shallow-depth tube wells that are often found contaminated with bacteria. Hence, waterborne diseases are very high, especially diarrhoea among children.
Water from nearby ponds and drains is used for other domestic purposes including cleaning utensils, bathing, and washing vegetables.
With tube wells and ponds running dry in summer, the use of river and drainage water increases.
This leads to a myriad of diseases amongst the local population including skin infections, eye infections, diarrhoea, and other bacterial infections.
As per the 2011 census, amongst the 156 villages in the block, 81 have no medical facilities, with only 1 village having a community health center.
With low awareness about good health, hygiene, as well as minimal affordable healthcare, infant and maternal mortality rates here are high, and over 40% of the children aged below five were found to be stunted.
Load shedding is a common problem across the rural areas of the block, which interrupts both domestic and industrial activities.
Access to computers, the internet, and other IT-related facilities is not available in the rural areas of the block.
Children often travel, on average 6-10 kms to access computers or the internet when needed.
Child marriages in the district and block are known to be significantly high.
The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2015-16 report revealed that in the district, 51.3% of the women get married before turning 18.
Moreover, 24.9% of women aged between 15-19 are already pregnant or mothers.
Also, landless families of the block are known to mostly work as daily wage labourers in agriculture, and at construction sites in nearby semi-urban areas.
A significant number of youths from these villages migrate to Kolkata, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, New Delhi, Mumbai, and other cities for employment, mostly in construction as daily wage labourers.
Men, often leaving behind the women to fend for themselves and the children. Or young mothers also migrating to work in the cities as manual daily-wage labourers.
Achieve zero poverty and hunger, and school dropouts.
Help secure safe and portable drinking water.
Promote healthy hygiene practices.
Eliminate discrimination between gender, caste, and religion.
Setup waste management and resource conservation initiatives.
Facilitate self-reliant and sustained livelihoods for everyone.
Supporting marginal farmers to increase productivity and food security from the current 6-8 months a year.
Providing access to safe drinking water by bringing a freshwater tap to everyone’s homes.
Training women’s support groups to grow vegetables to enhance nutrition and facilitate cash income.
Supporting poor families children, those most at risk of dropping out from school, to continue their education.
Introducing computers to local youth at a new IT center. As well as collaborating with regional research institutions to addressing local problems.
Supporting the Gram Panchayat to govern with peace and equality. As well as supporting local villages to generate lesser pollution.
Training passionate local community members to further raise awareness within the district on health, hygiene, environment, and gender justice.
Meeting and sharing learnings with other districts, state, national, and international stakeholders to maintain continuous improvement.
Within the first 2-3 years our goal is to develop Simulia, Mahula, and other villages of Sattore as a model gram panchayat in sync with global and India-specific SDG goals, implementing projects in collaboration with the government and other stakeholders.
After developing our model gram panchayats in sync with SDG goals, we aim to focus on providing advisory and implementation support to the government and other stakeholders to design similar SDG-based projects that look to replicate our success at scale.
The Global Institute Of Sustainable Development (GIOSD) has been established as a Not-For-Profit organisation, committed to working with the government, civil societies, private sector players, NGOs, and communities to help make India a significantly better place by 2030.
Designed and detailed to be a global blueprint towards a better and more sustainable future for all by 2030.
India committed to adopting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs in 2015.
Our vision is a planet free from hazards and pollution, where everyone lives together with equality, prosperity, and peace forever.
The Global Institute of Sustainable Development is on the lookout for donors, sponsors, and volunteers to help achieve our goal of developing model gram panchayats and blocks that demonstrate innovative ways of addressing the problems prevalent in society.