Development Strategy

Our development strategy is to focus on People's Empowerment and Participatory Planning. To us, man is the focal point for all development. All material and mental development is related to him. To make this development sustainable and lasting we try to make people self-sufficient giving them access to appropriate resources.

Implementation Methodology

To implement the Development Strategy, our organisation has developed a 3-tier People's Organisation to involve the entire community in the development process.

At each tier level, a 50:50 gender ratio is maintained to give women an appropriate environment and forum to get involved in the development process. Representation in the next tier is open to all first tier members on nomination and election process in the same gender ratio. This exercise is surfacing more enlightened Women who can actively participate in mainstream development through local self-governments.

As the community is acquiring infrastructure assets like tube well and sanitary blocks at village level, Sabuj Sangha felt the need of forming and capacitating village level monitoring committees from beneficiary groups to oversee maintenance of such assets, naming them Water and Sanitation (WatSan) Committee. These committees are empowered to collect user’s subscriptions and use the same for regular maintenance of newly created community assets.

Now that the rural operational area has been extended to 24 villages in 4 island Gram Panchayets, a resource support structure with manpower and logistic has been created for each island for better linear coverage. This island support system has been put under a people’s body called “Sundarban Unnayan Mancha” (Sundarban Development Forum) to initiate and implement grass root level People’s Participatory Planning in islands.

Rural Area of Operation

The rural operational area of Sabuj Sangha enfilades 24 villages in Mathurapur II and Pathar Pratima Blocks in Sundarban delta region at southern tip of South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, India. It features a unique estuarine mangrove forested eco system, home to fierce tigers and wily giant crocodiles. Sabuj Sangha has operational presence in several other villages of Mathurapur I block in the same district.

Peri-Urban and Urban Operation Geographical Areas

Sabuj Sangha is implementing its development interventions from its urban unit “Aalor Disha” (Beacon of light) in squatter slum colonies along the railway track from Canning to Baruipur, pivoting on Sonarpur Railway Junction. It is also working in six municipal wards of Kolkata Corporation (101,102,111,112,113,114) to supplement some useful educational development interventions. The peri-urban area falls within the district of 24 Parganas South in the state of West Bengal.