The project would enable farmers form into associations to take up agricultural cooperatives for making agricultural operation cheaper making inputs affordable and for the sale of agricultural products more profitable. The project would promote the starting of 3 Agricultural Cooperative Societies with a possibility of providing revolving agricultural loans.

Women’s Self Help Groups

Sodara being the pioneer in starting self-help groups known as Deena Sodari Vimukti Samgams (Poor women’s emancipation groups) in the area it can be convincingly stated that they have been and shall continue to be the backbone of the Sodara programmes in the villages. The project would provide opportunities for socio-economic empowerment, especially of women through Self Help Groups and Micro Credit Societies. There is a great need for further mobilisation, animation and coordination of women’s self-help groups. Therefore, project shall directly organise and animate 100 self-help groups each with 15 women reflecting and discussing about causes for their poor status at home and in the society and how they could overcome the problems. While creating awareness among the members and animation of the groups with the help of trained animators the economic empowerment shall be done through small savings and by providing revolving loans for economic self-reliance by taking up individual or group projects for income generation. . Each group is run by a president, secretary and the treasurer as the office bearers. They are all democratically elected by the group. They are accountable to the group. The women leaders shall oversee the running of the SODARA education, health and other programmes, especially with regard to the regularity and punctuality in running these programmes. SODARA Farmers’ Associations with 15 marginal farmers who are the landowners of continuous and contiguous lands will be re-activated and expanded. The members would jointly explore the possibilities for the development of their lands and cultivation and would play vital roles in land-connected activities outlined in the project. Youth Clubs: Influenced misleading ideals and lack of role models coupled with unemployment and illiteracy, the potentialities of the youth power is not often channelised for their own development or for the good of the society. The youth power shall be harnessed on positive lines by forming youth clubs. They would play leading roles in the implementationof the SODARA programmes. Games and sports including the conduct of tournaments at various levels also will find space in the scheme

The SODARA projects shall propound the founding principle of SODARA that all human beings are born equal and are created in theimage and likeness of God with inalienable and respectable personal conscience, freedom and human dignity, instil self-acceptance and self-confidence and promote leadership among Dalit youth. Efforts shall be made to create awareness among Dalits and the general public about human rights with special reference to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by UNO and under Articles 14, 15, 16, 25 and 341 of the Constitution of India. Efforts shall be continued to create awareness among the elected representatives and Parliamentarians about human rights and to end all discrimination against Dalits on the basis of gender, religion, region and language. Awareness materials in respective languages will be provided. Seminars and Consultations at National Level will be held at New Delhi and at State levels, especially in the Southern States. Advocacy and Lobbying will not only create awareness among Parliamentarians, social service workers, human rights activists, mass media persons etc. but also help to impress upon the policy makers to make decisions in favour of all the sections of Dalits, Tribals, OBCs and Weaker Sections.

The project aims at enabling those below poverty line struggling to survive, find the basic needs of food, housing and drinking water. Since the Central and State Governments have numerous welfare schemes for their amelioration SODARA shall enable them to avail them without pilferage, disparity or discrimination. There will be an intense mobilisation of the people to avail such schemes. Special focus will be made for the old-aged, widows, pregnant women, old-aged, handicapped persons to obtain government pensions. Housing: The project shall enable families to secure financial assistance from the Government to construct permanent houses for the homeless people. Since the amounts sanctioned do not normally match the actual expenditure for putting up atleast two room concrete roofed houses ways and means shall be explored to secure completed houses. Helping the people to constructfamily toilets will be a priority. While training in income generation avenues would enable the youth to gradually seek financial assistance or bank loans, the families below poverty line need immediate relief and a permanent source of income. Helping each family through a Dairy Farming Scheme to secure 2 milch-buffaloes could help them to become economically self-reliant. Government or private milk chilling centres will be approached to collect milk from the villages. SODARA shall continue to render emergency relief services in natural calamities and grave necessities with the help of government and other agencies.

Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel has been providing space for the main SODARA office in the last 25 years. Now it is imperative for Sodara to have its office withinfrastructural facilities for administration, coordination and training programmes. Sodara is much known for its commitment to transparency, accountability, grass-root level participation, anti-corruption, decentralisation of responsibilities and democratic set up in the implementation of the various projects and programmes in the past and the future programmes will have to enhance such a reputation. Therefore, intense training programme will be conducted to deepen the conviction and commitment of the personnel involved in the implementation of the project to personalise the vision and aims and objectives of the project and of SODARA. The training is expected to equip the personnel to beprofessional in methodology and in the process of implementation while equal importance will be given for regular supervision, monitoring, coordination, evaluation, documentation and reporting. There will be regular meetings, consultations and interactions with all the stakeholders.

Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel has been providing space for the main SODARA office in the last 25 years. Now it is imperative for Sodara to have its office withinfrastructural facilities for administration, coordination and training programmes. Sodara is much known for its commitment to transparency, aSODARA must confess its drawback in not formulating professional documentation or utilising the much needed social media. While we have been promoting partnerships sufficient efforts were not done to secure sponsorships for the programmes and activities. CEBEMO was the main partner in the successful implementation of early programmes in the villages. Rural Development supported by the Governments of India and Andhra Pradesh sponsored the megawatershed project. SODARA hopes to continue its networking with Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel, CHAI(Catholic Health Association of India has 3000 Member Institutions in India), AIUCMER (All India United Christians Movement for Equal Rights), the Government Departments specially connected to rural development, dry farming, education and health, National Forum for Justice and Peace, Deena Sodari Vimukti Sanghams etc. SODARA’s linkage with Seniores Italia, ICRA (International Catholic Rural Association), Rome, Coady International Institute, Canada etc has been rendering professional approach to social action programmes. For various programmes in developing dry farming, we hope to get further guidance from with the world famous ICRISAT and CRIDA. SODARA will continue to network with committed NGOs with the similar aims and objectives and commitment. May request you to kindly donategenerously for the implementation of the SODARA projects.