Samaj Pragati Sahayog

Samaj Pragati Sahayog (SPS) is a grassroots organisation that works with women-led institutions in some of the most backward districts of India. Its work covers financial inclusion, watershed development, sustainable agriculture, commodity aggregation and markets, livestock, skill development, social enterprise, health and nutrition, public education, research and community media. SPS describes its path as an alternative model of inclusive development based on equity, sustainability and the empowerment of the most disadvantaged sections of society. It takes inspiration from the life and work of Baba Amte, who rejected charity in favour of empowerment. The base of its approach is building and strengthening women's institutions that support participatory, transparent and decentralised planning and governance. The self-help groups it promoted have since formed registered federations and producer companies that run as independent institutions led by local women.

Headquarters: Bagli, Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, India

Major Areas of Work

• Women's institutions and financial inclusion: Organising women into self-help groups and federations that manage savings, credit and finance under their own leadership.

• Water and natural resources: Watershed development and community forest resource work in drought-prone, tribal areas.

• Agriculture and livestock: Sustainable agriculture and livestock support to strengthen rural livelihoods.

• Markets and enterprise: Commodity aggregation, market links, skill development and social enterprise through farmer and artisan producer companies.

• Health, education and media: Health and nutrition, public education, research and community media work in the villages where it operates.

Major Initiatives and Programmes

• Self Help Groups: Women's groups that form the base of SPS's work and have grown into registered federations, a Bridge Finance Company, a Farmer Producer Company and an Artisan Producer Company, all led by local women.

• Watershed: Watershed development in the drought-prone, tribal blocks of Dewas, Khargone and Amravati districts where SPS works directly.

• Commodity Aggregation: Aggregation of members' produce and connections to markets.

• Community Forest Resource: Work with communities on securing and managing community forest resources.

• National Consortium of Civil Society Organisations for MGNREGA: A network anchored by SPS as a Support Voluntary Organisation, through which it has worked with 122 partner grassroots organisations in 72 of India's most backward districts across 11 states, mainly in the Central India Adivasi belt.

Impact

SPS states that the institutions it promoted have over 40,000 women members through its SHG federations and that its initiatives reach over one lakh households. Its own outreach figures list 661 villages across nine blocks in Dewas and Khargone districts of Madhya Pradesh and Amravati district of Maharashtra. It reports that its self-help groups have formed 14 registered federations.

Partners

Axis Bank Foundation, Azim Premji Foundation, Tata Trusts, SBI Foundation, HDFC Bank, NABARD, ACWADAM, Caring Friends and KCF.

SPS suits people who want to work at the grassroots in tribal Central India over the long term. It is based in the remote hinterland of Bagli, so most of the work happens in villages with women's federations, farmers and producer companies rather than in an office. Its range of work, from watershed development and agriculture to finance, markets, health and community media, gives a close view of how integrated rural development works on the ground. Its role as anchor of a national MGNREGA consortium also links field work to policy and to a wide network of partner organisations. It is a good fit for people who are comfortable with rural postings and want to build community institutions rather than deliver charity.