BRLF to work with HDC to improve HDI in Vidarbha

Nagpur\Delhi

Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation (BRLF), in partnership with the Human Development Commissionerate (HDC), the Government of Maharashtra, has launched a high-impact Human Development Index (HDI) project to improve the quality of life in poor-performing talukas of the Vidarbha region from 1 May 2022 to 30 April 2023.

The HDI project will focus on proper monitoring and effective implementation of the existing schemes for the education and health of the HDC department. It will also enable deeper engagement with the poor community in a cluster approach to planning and implementing smart, innovative, best-suited livelihoods interventions.

The project’s overall goal is to improve in the first phase the HDI of 25,000 poor households (10,000 new and 15,000 in the Tribal Development Department project) residing in Yavatmal, Gadchiroli, Nandurbar-Dhadgaon, Nandurbar-Akkalkuwa and Gondia districts of the Vidarbha region in Maharashtra.

The first phase of the project will be for one year. After completion of the first year, a joint review will be conducted, and based on the project's outputs and outcomes, the decision will be taken for two years, which will start from 1 May 2023 to 30 April 2025.

Speaking about the implementation of the project, Kuldeep Singh, Chief Operating Officer, BRLF, said that this project will be implemented in 23 blocks of Maharashtra by six civil society organizations (CSOs) in partnership with the Tribal Development Department (TDD) and HDC.

The project is expected to (i) improve the living standard and well-being of 25,000 poor households; (ii) improve the well-being of women and adolescent girls by addressing gender-based inequities; (iii) ensure effective implementation of ongoing health and education schemes; and (iv) provide technical support to the HDC department for the implementation of livelihoods interventions, especially in agriculture, non-timber forest produce (NTFP), and natural resource management.

Talking about this collaboration, Nitin Patil, Commissioner, Human Development (HD) Department, said that the HD department would cover ultra-poor households in the selected blocks through this project. “Our partnership with BRLF would help facilitate knowledge management, implementation, and coordination with CSOs and set up monitoring and evaluation frameworks.”

In Maharashtra, BRLF is implementing another high-impact livelihood enhancement project focusing on tribal-dominated talukas of the Vidarbha region in partnership with TDD and CSO partners. Under this State partnership project, targeted interventions are planned to improve the livelihood conditions of the 15,000 most vulnerable ST households. This project was co-created and conceived in consultation with Shabari Adivasi Vitta Va Vikas Mahamandal Maryadit.