THE FIFTH ESTATE •••• • THE FIFTH ESTATE NGOs Transforming Rural India in Environment, Health and Education •••• • CONTENTS Nation-building from the Ground Up 6 Methodology 8 16 •••• • Jury 14 environment education Shortlisted 2017 Shortlisted 2017 1. Development Research Communication 23. Breakthrough 146 28 & Services Centre (DRCSC) 22 154 23 24. MelJol 10 2. Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) 30 25. Urmul Setu Sansthan 162 3. Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) 38 26. Bodh Shiksha Samiti 170 25 29 3 4. Caritas India 46 27. Cohesion Foundation Trust 174 9 5. Centre for Environment Education (CEE) 50 11 4 28. Learning Links Foundation 178 26 2 13 6. Corbett Foundation 54 29. Pardada Pardadi Education Society (PPES) 182 22 7 7. Ghoghardiha Prakhand Swarajya Vikas 30. Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) 186 Sangh (GPSVS) 58 5 31. The American India Foundation (AIF) 190 19 8. International Development Enterprises India (IDEI) 62 24 20 21 32. The Concerned for Working Children (CWC) 196 6 1 12 9. North East Network 66 10. Society for the Upliftment of Villagers 27 & Development of Himalayan Areas (SUVIDHA) 70 HCL Grant Recipient 2016 30 11. World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) India 74 Going to School 200 31 8 Finalists 2016 Bachpan Bachao Aandolan 206 18 health Shortlisted 2017 Barefoot College 208 12. Child In Need Institute (CINI) 84 Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals (ISAP) 210 Prayatn Sanstha 212 32 13. Karuna Trust 92 14. Tamilnad Network of Positive People (TNP+) 98 Pardada Pardadi Education Society (PPES)* 15 15. Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI) 106 17 16. Hope Disability Centre 110 Credits 214 Behind the Scenes 215 14 17. Institute of Public Health (IPH) 114 18. Lepra Society 118 19. Mahila Housing SEWA Trust 122 20. MAMTA Health Institute for Mother and Child 126 21. Mission Foundation Movement (MFM) 130 22. Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) 136 *covered above, also qualified as finalist for 2016 Environment Health Education are spearheaded or funded by contributions from communities in Indian villages, which can be scaled NATION - BUILDING its 100,000+ strong workforce. HCL Foundation and replicated. considers that ` 1 a day and one hour/day/week/ The HCL Grant seeks an NGO partner with month/year/life of community service will make whom HCL Foundation will engage, enhance systems FROM THE GROUND UP a fundamental difference. Thousands of HCL of management and governance, and offer support employees have volunteered and contributed to this for sustainable rural development in their respective •••• • unique project and its various components called My sector. With The Fifth Estate, HCL Grant has Community, My Scholar and My School, located in initiated what will possibly be the first ever sector- cities from where HCL operates. wide, comprehensive compendium of the most HCL strongly believes in the power of grassroot credible NGOs striving towards the empowerment of empowerment. As Shiv Nadar, Founder & Chairman rural India. Volume 1 of the compendium headlines – HCL, Shiv Nadar Foundation states, ‘Our country the shortlisted NGOs from 2016 and 2017 in each A small body of determined spirits fired by an followers were the progenitors of some of the earliest today resolutely stands on the strong foundation category. This will be disseminated across various unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course such organizations after Independence. Successive of four estates – democracy, independent judiciary, networks, providing unprecedented visibility to the of history. governments began to increase the role of NGOs in matured bureaucracy, and free press. These estates NGOs. – Mahatma Gandhi their 5-year plans. There is now a National Policy not only define the fabric of our society but also act India’s range of issues is so multifarious, its on the Voluntary Sector in place, which recognizes as potent drivers propelling India to the next level peoples so diverse, that the search for HCL Grant the contradiction of india is its only the crucial role that community organizations play of growth and prosperity. It is imperative that the recipient cannot be based on the NGO’s project idea, unvarying quality. A repository of an indescribably in mobilizing local resources and implementing growth process that we as a nation subscribe to is however innovative. The process is designed to hone beautiful culture. A political and military power, a the government’s development plans. Inspired by inclusive, and carries forward all sections of the society in on those organizations which have the capacity to steadfast and strong democracy, edging towards being iconic people’s movements of the past, today’s non- across geographies. This is where the community- implement, replicate or scale up their ideas in the field, a nation to reckon with in the world. A bright comet profit people’s collectives have become increasingly led ecosystems are destined to play a decisive role in and make mighty changes to transform and enrich swooshing through the global economic horizon. sophisticated in their approach to progress and building a stronger, future-ready India.’ India’s villages. Abiding by our core DNA: sustained Home to one of the most inventive, ambitious, advocacy, inclusiveness, rights-based approaches The HCL Grant is a recognition of the rise of nation-building, from the ground up. creative, spiritual, and networked races in the known and participatory action. From being teachers of these community-led ecosystems, or the Fifth Estate universe. Yet, 1 million children under the age of 5 die self-reliance, to acting as intermediaries between the – Non-Governmental Organizations. The Fifth Estate of malnutrition in India every year.* Illiteracy, gender authorities and the furthest unreached, to becoming are critical agents of change for India, and have made discrimination, poor infrastructure, low agricultural vigilant influencers of policy and vigorous partners and continue to make meaningful, lasting impact on output, unemployment, environmental degradation, in public–private initiatives, NGOs have become the lives of marginalized communities. The Grant and many such ills that affect India sit side by side indispensable to our evolution as a nation. comprises one of the highest value CSR infusions into with our galloping growth. That shooting star doesn’t The HCL Foundation is the CSR wing of India’s development. About $15 million (` 100 crore) quite reach the distant hamlet that has just one bulb to HCL Technologies. Its efforts are geared towards will be made available, over a period of 5 years, to not- light a whole village. holistic and inclusive community development for-profit bodies who are doing path-breaking work No single government, whatever its mandate, can with a strong emphasis on employee engagement in towards nation building in rural India. realize our Constitutional objectives and rid India development activities. Samuday, one of its flagship The recipient of the first HCL Grant (for of inequity, of hunger, of enslavement, of disease. programmes, has invested heavily to improve education) in 2015 was the NGO ‘Going to School’, But with the succour of civil society, we can make social and economic conditions of rural citizens by which has evolved an unconventional, story-based a big dent in the concerns that plague us. Non- fortifying education, skills training, livelihoods, and teaching methodology now being implemented in governmental, non-profit, independent, and grassroot women’s empowerment. Samuday impacts rural government schools in several states of India. In organizations that represent the will of the people are population in UP, with an aim to build model villages 2016, two more categories were introduced: Health proving to be ‘the small body of determined spirits’ in collaboration with local and state governments. and Environment. Grant recipients in each of the Mahatma Gandhi spoke about. He, himself, had HCL Foundation’s other stand-out programme is three categories are NGOs who are capable of immense faith in non-governmental bodies, and his Power of One, where many development initiatives achieving sustained socio-economic empowerment of *according to UNICEF Report, 2015 6 7 Project Imperatives METHODOLOGY 1. Proposed project to comply with Schedule 7, Section 135, Companies Act 2013. 2. Proposed project to cover at least 1 HCL site for 1 year under project implementation. •••• • 3. Proposed project to be in rural areas only. 4. Applicant organization to implement the project directly. Sub-granting is not permitted. 5. Proposed project could be “Scale up of existing project” or “Replication of existing project / model” the selection of the HCL Grant Recipient a deep investigation into the credibility, good works and or “Fresh project”. NGO is a progression involving engagement at all the systems that fuelled the NGOs, to be certain of their 6. Grant of up to ` 5 crores to be awarded for a period of 3–5 years, including coverage of HCL Site. levels: the impact of the NGO, its governance and its capability to produce inclusive and sustainable outcomes. 7. Grant money cannot be used for infrastructure development such as construction, renovation, people. It is a year long journey planned meticulously, A unique, NGO-friendly, screening model was purchase of fixed assets like land, buildings, and vehicles, among others. implemented with due cautiousness, detail and depth. deployed, a simple yet robust process, scientifically In 2015–16, Going to School, an NGO working in formulated, with multiple levels of assessments. Education, qualified as the recipient of the first HCL Parameters included the originality, relevance and Grant. HCL Foundation and Going to School now have impact of the idea, innovation, scalability, replicability, ‘Our team visited 8 states, 7 projects in 22 days or 528 hours. Travelled more than 20,000 a five year-long partnership, a technical and financial and feasibility. The quantitative parameters included km by more than 20 flights on 6 airlines, which took off or touched down at 9 airports intersection as part of the HCL Grant Programme.