Kutch Mahila Vikas Samiti
Rs. 6,789,008 awarded over 30 months to Kutch Mahila Vikas Samiti
Panchayats, or village-level political institutions, have traditionally been male spaces, but in 1993 the Indian Parliament changed the constitution to ensure that 33 per cent of seats in them were reserved for women. Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan (KMVS) is a federation of village-level women’s groups based in the Kutch district of Gujarat. We made a grant in 2006/07 to enable the setting up of a resource centre for elected women representatives (EWRs) in Kutch.
The resource centre, now called Sushasini, today works directly with EWRs in 163 villages across five blocks in Kutch, and through collaborations with other NGOs in 596 villages. It has formed block-level federations of EWRs, and also a district-level federation, where issues affecting EWRs can be addressed collectively. Sushasini also provides training and information to enable EWRs to function effectively.
Capacity building: Though we have made this grant in a project mode, we are in fact supporting the building of an institution, which has required the India programme team to have a different relationship with KMVS, focusing less on outputs and more on building strong foundations.
