General Body meeting

We clubbed Governing body and general body meeting on the same day: 18th Nov 2017. Rachit, Rekha, Maggi, Sultan, Kundan, Manju, Dhaneshwari, Satyendra, Sohan, Belam - we all gathered and had a very fruitful time. Here is the brief progress report (May-Oct 2017):

1.           The FCRA renewal for next 5 years, after some effort, was successfully received on 10th June as an online update on the FCRA official website. The Retrieving Women’s Pride (RWP) project began from the very next day and the Manos Unidas was promptly informed accordingly. Manos had requested the their funds back if SMTA could not start the project soon.

2.           He shared about ongoing activities - Minority scholarship program and Open University, Uttarakhand. These two initiatives are progressing as before. There is a public notice from UOU,  that new courses will be offered now only to educational organizations. Under Minority scholarship scheme, this year, the ministry has made it necessary for the schools to verify their students through the online portal. Many schools have no clue and therefore students are suffering. SMTA has explained the process to the schools which have requested for help.

3.           The new proposal for Saarigad watershed was submitted to NABARD in May 2017 but we have not heard anything yet. Rachit suggested that since selection committee must have met in Sept/Oct, we should now find out about the outcome. It was done and nothing has been heard so far. We will be sending another reminder soon or do a follow up visit.

4.           We were informed by NGO friends in Dehradun about an EOI from Swajal in June 2017; SMTA applied for it and was selected as an empanelled agency for Swajal in the state, for Dehradun district, based on our past experince. But recently, we discovered that due to a subsequent ‘political’ decision, this state level empanelment was cancelled. Now, we are waiting for the district level announcement from Swajal regarding EOI etc.

5.           SMTA explored PMGDISHA program, which offers free basic IT training for rural communities to promote cashless transactions, like using OTP, online commerce etc. Like many government programs, people’s response has not been good yet. We may have to rethink it.

6.           SMTA is exploring with social organizations/NGOs in Dehradun, to rent out our halls, for office and/or social development purposes – in consonance with SMTA’s values and principles. This will promote better work environment and upkeep of the Vikasnagar campus, besides generating opportunities and synergy.

7.           Jakhadhar primary school is doing well, especially after the joining of Shri Chain Singh, our old teacher, in May 2017. At present 40 students from the nearby villages are enrolled. Some old students have returned. Recently, it was provided with new sports goods and two computers, which are being used by students.

8.           A blog has been started, which is being updated regularly with news, developments and photographs. It offers updates under RWP (Retrieving women’s pride project) too, as a separate tab. It can be accessed easily at :  https://smtachakrata.blogspot.in .

Please keep checking this space for developments and news!

Peace!