Samruddha Gram (Holistic Village Development)
The concept of “Samruddha Gram” (Prosperous village or Model village) aims at providing sustainable livelihoods to target families and improving their quality of life through household and village-level initiatives that enhance overall living standards in the village. The thematic areas of water management and improved agriculture primarily focussed on livelihoods, and the initiatives planned for developing a model village included health, sanitation, empowerment, enterprise development, clean energy, education, functional literacy, digitalisation, and common utilities, all of which are aligned with national priorities.
Livelihood Enhancement through Self-employment
Sponsor: Charity for Goodness Foundation
Location: Gajapati district, Odisha
Major Achievements: The initiative aimed at holistic rural transformation through a range of household and village-level interventions focussed on livelihoods, health, hygiene, energy access, and empowerment. Extensive capacity building efforts included training programmes on mushroom cultivation, beekeeping, tailoring, and fish farming, equipping over 85 participants with sustainable income generation skills.
Vegetable cultivation was actively promoted, benefitting 19 families and generating nearly ₹40,000 in seasonal income. In addition, 8,000 fish seeds and necessary equipment were distributed, enabling 10 families to earn close to ₹39,000 through aquaculture. Health and hygiene were also prioritised — a mega human health camp provided medical care to 254 villagers, while 80 women received sanitary pad kits and awareness training on menstrual hygiene. For livestock wellbeing, 30 farmers benefitted from free veterinary check-ups in animal health camps. Furthermore, seven solar streetlights were installed across all four villages, significantly improving safety and mobility during nighttime.