With your support, we lead with confidence and knowledge...
With your support, we lead with confidence and knowledge...
Village Governance
SOVA’s community-level development approach focuses on strengthening the capabilities of grassroots governance structures such as Gram Sabha, Palli Sabha, village-level committees, and Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI). This empowers them to effectively manage local resources, advocate for the implementation of government schemes, monitor initiatives, and safeguard the community from external threats like economic exploitation, social and political marginalization, and discrimination.
The Panchayati Raj Institutions have made significant strides in promoting grassroots democracy and village governance. However, the challenge PRIs face in their day-to-day functioning and delivering their responsibilities is the domination of the bureaucracy over the gram panchayat. The major problems affecting the PRI structure are – incompatible relations among 3-tiers, the undemocratic composition of various PR institutions, political bias, and uncordial relations between officials and the community. The southern Odisha districts have a similar story. Corruption and groups at the village level, casteism, and nepotism in creating community assets are gradually becoming rampant.A lot in the fields of education, health, family planning, land improvement, minor irrigation, sanitation, animal husbandry etc are to be done. Still, instead of concentrating on development activities, the elected representatives are found busy fulfilling their interests and benefiting their caste men or other fellows which directly or indirectly serve their vested interests.
We believe empowering the self-governance system and strengthening community-based institutions through a bottom-up approach form the basis of true governance. Our strategies to enhance local participation create awareness among the communities about the value of participation in making local institutions vibrant and improving the last-mile delivery of government programs. Our strategies incorporate local knowledge and choices in the development of village plans to support inclusive and sustainable development; build the capacities of village-level institutions to identify and address community problems, monitor the maintenance of public infrastructure, and conserve natural resources for holistic village development. We educate communities to promote the usage of digital technologies to widen the reach and benefits of government programs to the communities.
Intervention With PRI Members
Intervention With Youths
Engagement With Traditional System
We promote local visionary leadership, especially women’s leadership in local governance. Through targeted training, mentorship programs, and advocacy initiatives, we build the confidence, skills, and knowledge of elected PR representatives and members of Gram Sabha and support them to effectively address community…
Youth in southern Odisha are isolated and underrepresented in governance across the region. This is often the case in most parts of the state, but the ratio of under-representation of youth in the Koraput, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri, and Raygada districts, is alarmingly high. They are left out of key decision-making proce
The customary practices and traditional norms among the tribal communities are an age-old practice and every tribal community has their established customs in place to guide them and move ahead in their socio-economic and cultural lives. They have a system that decides on behalf of the community and maintains the…
