Prantik Sundarban Welfare Association

The people of Sunderban often migrate to big cities to work as daily labourers or household-help. Strict lockdown during Covid forced them to lose their source of incomes. 

So Prantik Sundarban, a NGO, set up a community sewing room, trained individuals, and started making masks, sanitary pads, bags, and other clothing materials. The finished product is often sold to in Kolkata or presented to various Exibition centers or expos. The money earned are used to procure raw materials and expansion of the pilot project.

In 2022, we plan to open a vocational school to train the locals with sustainable conservation techniques, digital marketing and financial management. This will encourage them to set up their own small business and improve the financial condition. The high participation of women in our activities will help us achieve UN Sustainable Development goals of Gender Equality, Responsible consumption and production and no poverty.

While the metros of India gear up to compete globally, the rural areas still lack opportunities. Every year, millions of people migrate to cities in search of better opportunities. Most of them are employed in unorganized sectors with minimum social securities. The huge urban migration also stresses the resources of the cities.

90% of the population living in Sunderbans are dependent on agriculture, fishing or honey collecting. They often have to go deep into the forest for their livelihood and often lose their lives in the process. The region is also prone to cyclones. Forcing these marginalized people to migrate to cities. 

The solution provided by Prantik Sundarban Welfare association plans to bridge the gap between rural and urban and create opportunities in India. So that people from rural India won’t have to migrate to big cities, leaving their families behind. Internet penetration has helped rural India come closer to urban India, however lack of proper training and financial knowledge is hindering their growth. This is specially relevant to people of Sundarbans who depend on forest and tourists for their livelihood. Because of lack of financial literacy and dependency on middle men, the rural population is not fairly rewarded for their hardwork.

Digital marketing and financial knowledge will help them expand market for their products and generate higher revenue and reduce dependency on middlemen. Once the rural population starts generating decent revenue, the migration will reduce, thus reducing the stress on the cities moving towards sustainability.

The solution is targeted to the poor, marginalized people of Sunderbans and nearby rural regions. Majority of the population living in Sunderbans are dependent on agriculture, fishing or honey collecting. They often have to go deep into the forest for their livelihood and often lose their life in the process. The region is also prone to cyclones. These marginalised people often lose their houses during season cyclones. So, huge chunk of this population is migrating to work in cities as daily labourers or household helps. Limited mobility during Covid affected their income severely and pushed them towards severe poverty.

Most members of Prantik Sundarban welfare association come from Sundarbans and understand the problems faced by the rural communities. The team also comprises advisors from Engineering, Management and other science backgrounds. Poised citizens from diverse fields are working together to solve their problem.

Currently, Team Prantik Sundarban Welfare association is training people in the Community Sewing Homes. Digital marketing and financial literacy will help generate higher revenues and bring employment to more people.

In addition to that, Prantik Sundarban Welfare association is also involved in plantation and conservation of mangroves. The 6 subunits of the organisation is working closely with the local people in the remote islands to raise awareness. Through Youtube live sessions the team plans to organize seminars which people can attend from remote islands too where experts can guide locals on best practices.

The solution is targeted to the poor, marginalized people of Sunderbans and nearby rural regions. Majority of the population living in Sunderbans are dependent on agriculture, fishing or honey collecting. They often have to go deep into the forest for their livelihood and often lose their life in the process. The region is also prone to cyclones. These marginalised people often lose their houses during season cyclones. So, huge chunk of this population is migrating to work in cities as labourers or household helps. Limited mobility during Covid affected their income severely and pushed them towards severe poverty.

Most members of Prantik Sundarban welfare association come from Sundarbans and understand the problems faced by the rural communities. The team also comprises advisors from Engineering, Management and other science backgrounds. Poised citizens from diverse fields are working together to solve their problem.

Currently, Team Prantik Sundarban welfare association is training people in the Community Sewing Homes. Digital marketing and financial literacy will help generate higher revenues and bring employment to more people.

In addition to that, Prantik Sundarban Welfare association is also involved in plantation and conservation of mangroves. The 6 subunits of the organisation is working closely with the local communities in the remote islands to raise awareness. Through Youtube live sessions the team plans to organize seminars which people can attend from remote islands too where experts can guide locals on best practices.

Subodh Mondal, Executive Director

When it comes to innovation or uniqueness there are multiple aspects that needs to be considered.

The first thing is that the team members are from Sundarban. They are the local heroes hence they understand the particular problems also the social aspects better than others. The unique combination of people from management background, researches and local heroes makes Prantik Sunderban welfare Association a multi dimensional problem solver.

The second thing is the work that team is doing. The organisation started in 2020 in the midst of Covid. It started as a team for raising funds and providing food to the migrant labourers who were hit worst during the lockdown. It quickly adapted to providing training for the community sewing rooms.

In 2022 the team plans to start the vocational training centers to train the local in digital marketing which will help them expand their market and at the same time generate local employment in the region. The team is also going to host Youtube live sessions to raise awareness and train the local for mangrove conservation. Mangrove forest being great carbon sink could be used in future for Carbon trade.

Our solution involves Edtech, Digital Marketing involving social media and other digital platforms.

In short time Prantik Sunderban has gained huge traction, primarily because the Welfare Association is by the locals and for the locals. Their hard work and ability to take responsibilities. The team understands the importance of technology for the development of Sundarban and believes in progress of the community as a whole. The community sewing homes has been popular among the people as a better alternative to depending on the forest or working as migrant workers. The locals have taken the mangrove conservation initiative by heart and has joined Prantik Sunderban in their conservation efforts.

Internet penetration has made mobile broadband available to masses at cheap rate. The team wants to use this opportunity to upskill the locals. The team wants to start with training the locals in digital marketing and SEO. This will help the locals increase their trade and create more jobs locally. Through various social media platforms the team wants to raise awareness and conduct live sessions on best conservation practices by professors and other professionals. Mangroves are great carbon sink and Sundarban is the largest mangrove forest. However huge chunk of the forest has been lost since the colonial times. With proper conservation efforts and management the mangrove reserves can be used for carbon economics. Prantik Sunderban Welfare Association in its vocational trainings wants to include financial courses which will help the locals manage their small businesses and participate in the digital future.

India is a young country with median age of 28 and around 65% of the Indian population lives in rural areas. In order to reduce youth unemployment, young people in rural areas will need to:

• get sustainable jobs
• remain in their jobs

To achieve these, young people will need to:

• increase their job-specific skills and experience
• become more work-ready
• become more motivated to work.

 During the Covid and cyclone Amphan and Yaas, team Prantik Sundarban Welfare Association could help more than 3000 families.  The Community Sewing homes launched during this period could also attract young, especially female population. The six subunits of the organization in various islands have also received positive feedback from the people in its effort of mangrove conservation.

 Prantik Sundarban Welfare Association has members from diverse background willing to share their knowledge and skills with the youth. It is our strong belief that the vocational training centre will help them to increase their sales, expand the market and share their experiences with others.

In the short run, the rural youth will gain the digital skills they need to participate and prosper in the digital and technology-driven economy of the future. Which will in turn will help the communities achieve the sustainable development goals.

According to the Department of Sundarban Affairs, Govt. of W.B. record of 2011 census data the total population of Sundarban was around 4.5million. around 40% of this total population population is comprised of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. A huge population that has been historically deprived of development. Majority of them lying below poverty line.

Our development goals are aligned to UN Sustainable development goals. Gender Equality, Responsible Consumption and Production  and No Poverty. In Sunderbans the participation of women in economic activities is higher than the national average. During first and second wave of Covid, Prantik Sundarban could help more than 3000 families through its relief programs. The community sewing rooms, vocational training programmes will help these rural population in exploring newer ventures with responsible production and bridge the distance from the consumers.

In 2022, we plan to expand our training centres to other villages and scale up the participation to move towards a sustainable future with zero poverty.

We are using the following metrics:

1. Number of villages we have connected with
2. Number of Community Sewing Homes

3. Number of people involved in each of the community sewing homes

4. Number of trainees registered for our vocational training program

5. Number of trainees actively participating 

6. Number of people started their own venture with our digital training

The primary barrier is the financial barrier. The Prantik Sundarban Welfare association primarily runs on donations. The members contribute through their time and effort.

The team is currently in land acquisition phase to setup the vocational training school. Huge investment is required for the initial setup.

It goes without saying that there is also political barrier. Often everything that goes in the rural areas are handled by strongmen. However since the team comprises of locals and the huge popularity among the locals make this barrier not so significant.

Another barrier that could arrive in future is the scaling up of the solution. As an organisation grows it often becomes difficult to manage.

Team Prantik Sundarban raises regular fund raisers through crowdsourcing platforms such as Milaap. The prize money from the MIT Solve challenge will be used directly to setup the training school and library.

Involvement of stakeholders helps overcoming the social and political barriers.

Within two years Prantik Sunderban is able to setup 6 subunits. Which are mostly managed locally and independently. We believe this model will help us overcome the scaling up challenge.

As of now there are around 50 people working with Prantik Sunderban Welfare Association. All of them work on voluntariy basis.

The members of Prantik Sundarban welfare association. Most of the members are young in the age group of 25-40, highly educated having Masters degree and some even PhD. The members understand the challenges faced by the local community and hence are best suited to raise forward and solve the local problems.

In the advisory committee Prantik Sundarban has professors who has dedicated their lives for the betterment of the Sundarban mangroves. Other than that there are advisors from engineering, science, arts and management backgrounds. This diversity enables the team to run the vocational training school once the initial setup is done.

Other than that the six subunits of Prantik Sundarban Welfare Association works closely with the local communities. The collaboration with the local communities helps in smoother execution.

Prantik Sundarban Welfare Association is an organization by the locals for the locals. The community sewing rooms provide a source of income for the local underprivileged. And the mangrove conservation program helps in community and biodiversity conservation. Setting up the vocational training center will serve 3 key activities- 

1. digital awareness, 
2. expansion of local businesses and 
3. financial planning.

The people of Sundarban have been exploited since colonial times and have been deprived of proper development. The solution provided by the team is targeted towards the underprivileged yet motivated problem solvers who will play crucial role in the development of rural communities. Through the performance metrics, the team keeps a track on the effectiveness of the solution and adapt to it when and if required.

There are three reasons why Prantik Sundarban Welfare Association decided to participate in the challenge.

1. Branding - The Solve Platform is a great opportunity for small Organisations to get great exposure. It helps the social entrepreneurs a platform to put forward to the masses.
2. Expanding client base - The guidence of the Solve Team will help Prantik Sundarban expand their client base which will help the development of the community.
3. Financial - The prize pool will help the organisation in setting up the Vocation Training school. It will also help the organisation practice it pitch for other similar grants.

These reasons will help the organisation overcome the barriers and push the community towards a sustainable future.

1. Branding - The Solve Platform is a great opportunity for small Organisations to get great exposure. It helps the social entrepreneurs a platform to put forward to the masses.
2. Expanding client base - The guidence of the Solve Team will help Prantik Sundarban expand their client base. The team can collaborate with bigger ornaisations to sell the services and products to newer markets. It will  help the development of the community as well as biodiversity conservation.
3. Financial - The prize pool will help the organisation in setting up the Vocation Training school. The team will require a capital of 20,000USD. The prize money will help cover part of the cost. It will also help the organization practice its pitch for other similar grants. The organizations plans to apply for Azim Premji grant. Solve challenge will be a good practice for the local grant application.