About RDS

Mission
The most ambitious mission of the organization is to strengthen the struggles of rural, poor, oppressed, exploited people of under privileged backward communities for their empowerment and survival by developing alternative means of livelihood with full access to education, health care, shelter, safe drinking water and sanitation, income generating facilities, gender equity, availability of basic human rights and self help initiatives.

Vision
The RDS visualizes an egalitarian civil society free from exploitation, oppression that involves all section of people irrespective of caste creed religion in the holistic development of the people, for the people, by the people.

Objectives:
To provide basic education to underprivileged children and mainstreaming in the civil society;
To undertake community based basic health care programmes, water and sanitation programmes, prevention and control of HIV/AIDS/STDs etc.;
To undertake agriculture reform and socio-economic development activities for the tribal indigenous and other marginalized community;
To promote community organizations, women's organizations, net working for advocacy and lobbying for the empowerment of reference communities;
To facilitate women self help group formation, motivation for small savings and micro finance support for poverty alleviation, livelihood development and gender equity;
To undertake community based natural resource and environment development initiatives for enhancing employment and income generating opportunities to the rural poor;
To help the poor students, orphans, handicapped, aged, sick, helpless and indigent persons;
To set up and run vocational training centres for youth and women on various vocations, model education centres and schools, technical institutes, old age homes and day care centres for older persons, short stay home for distressed women, working women’s hostel;
To undertake community based initiatives for development of environment and ecology, national integration and communal harmony,peace and gender justice;
To sensitize and make aware people about basic human rights, rights of women, child rights;
To eliminate child labour system and rehabilitation through education and vocational training;
To establish and run a University for tribal and indigenous community, particularly for "Alchiki" speaking students etc.

Strategy
We believe in peoples' participatory approach in all stages of our development initiatives. Our strategy is to adopt rural development planning and action programme through study-cum-survey with the active peoples' participatory approach. For undertaking action planning, implementation and follow-up initiatives in rural areas involvement of grassroots level peoples' organizations such as self help groups, village health groups, SGSY groups, small and marginal farmers clubs, Gram Samities (CBOs), forest protection committees and local panchayats is must in our strategy.

Strategic Thrust Areas
Establishment of Rights of Tribal and Indigenous people on land, water and forests for food and job security and sustainable, equitable development in quality in life;
Preparing the tribal and indigenous communities to take part in building the community to resist the power of exploitation, become economically self dependant, promote, protect and sustaintheenvironment, become politically sensitive and to have better share in the leadership and decision making process;
Development of local natural resources and egalitarian utilization for social, cultural, and economic self reliance of tribal, indigenous, and other under privileged, and disadvantaged sections;
Feminization of the value system for reconstruction of the Community, Society and the Nation;
Greater community participation for basic health care and preventive health education for all;
Spread of basic and social, environmental education for all children in difficult circumstances;

Project Area
Bankura and Purulia districts of West Bengal State Saraskona block in Mayurbhanj district of Orissa State Mohanpur block in Deoghar District of Jharkhand State

Target Groups
Women, children, small and marginal farmers, land less agricultural labourers and other disadvantaged under privileged sections of Tribal, Scheduled Caste and Indigenous Communities.

Future Action Plan
Development of environment and utilization of natural resources for empowerment of rural under privileged communities;
Nursery raising of local traditional plants and afforestation;
Mobile health services with community participation;
Strengthening of women groups for self help initiatives, entrepreneurship development for social, economic, cultural self sufficiency;
Education programmes for tribal and indigenous children in their mother tongue;
Setting up vocational training cum production centers for rural poor women and youth;
Awareness and intervention programmes among commercial sex workers and their clients to control spread of HIV/AIDS/STDs;
Study cum survey on various social evils and dissemination of scientific information to combat it;
Revitalization of tribal/rural folk art and culture;
Setting up of Old Age Homes;
Setting up of Home for destitute tribal children in difficult circumstances;
Setting up Short Stay Homes for Women;
Organization of seminars, conference on Women's Rights issues and advocacy, lobbying with the national policy makers;
Organization of rural have-nots and sensitization on protection of consumer rights etc.;
Education Programmes for Information Technology (Computer Education) for Rural Youth.
Name of the Office Bearers Occupation Designation
Sri Pranab Kumar Biswas Retd. Serviceman President
Miss Sritikona Kisku Teacher Vice-President
Rev. Kalyan Kumar Kisku Social Worker Secretary
Sri Nikhil Hansda Retd. Serviceman Astt. Secretary
Sri Rabilochan Kisku Retd. I.T.O Treasurer
Prof. Basumitra Singha Professor Member
Dr. Bhairab Chandra Mondal Physician Member
Sri Susanta Modak Social Worker Member
Mrs. Surama Shaikh Teacher Member