Members of Advisory Committee

Dr. Jai Pawar

Dr. Jai Pawar brings with her a rich experience of more than two decades, initially with GEER Foundation and subsequently with Gujarat Ecology Commission (GEC). Since 2007, she has demonstrated abilities to take up challenging tasks at the Deepak Foundation. Her ability to work with team across board and bringing meaningful change via her work is what sets Dr. Pawar apart. Know for her simplicity, confidence, and knowledge she already has a wide acceptance within the Foundation and various government agencies.

She has been successful in creating new avenues and dimensions to the development sectors undertaken by the Foundation in the past. In addition to her core sectors – Livelihood Promotion & Skills Building, Dr. Jai has also exhibited her expertise in diverse sectors and dealing with various donor organizations, be in government or Corporate or any other organization for fund raising.

Shri Sudhir Tripathi, I.A.S.

Shri Sudhir Tripathi, IAS (Retd) was the chief secretary of Jharkhand State from February 8, 2018 till his retirement on March 31, 2019. He was further appointed as the chairman of the Jharkhand Public Service Commission on April 1, 2019 till September 26, 2020.

Shri Girish Sohani

Over 40 years’ experience in Natural Resource Management and Rural livelihoods, Shri Girish Sohani worked on Village Production Systems, Appropriate Technology, Agribusiness and nurturing Farmer Producer Organisations and special involvement in work on Sustainable Development, Circular Economy, and Interdisciplinary Programme Management. He had served as an expert on various Committees of State and Central Government, NABARD, National and International Agencies.

Training of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs)

One of the key components of National Rural Health Mission is to provide with a trained female community health activist ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) for every village with a population of 1000-2000 village in the country. ASHA selected from village itself and accountable of it, the ASHA has been trained to work as an interface between the community and the public health system. The training equips ASHA with necessary knowledge and skills. The training is for 20 days in 4 rounds. These trainings are conducted according to NRHM guidelines. To support district level health officials to complete the task of ASHA training by conducting residential training imparted through accredited trainers and support in achieving the target allocated as per district PIP.

Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs)

While the Foundation addressed different aspects of agriculture in Kawant and Naswadi blocks like capacity building in good agricultural practices and supply of inputs through its previous projects, the challenges faced in collective growing and selling of agricultural produce still remained. The marketing of agricultural produce was carried out through the Farmers Representative Committees (FRCs) at village levels. However, the federation of these FRCs into a Farmer Producer Organization (FPO), could not be done. Further, the FRCs capacity in following the registration and licensing procedure also could not be built. Therefore, it was very important to form new, strengthen the existing and federate all village level groups and take them under a larger umbrella of a FPO. Collaborative planning for cultivation, production and marketing of agri-produce was hence planned through collectives, Farmer Producer Groups, and an apex body Farmer Producer Company.

Nidaan Van

Nidaan Van will have been acknowledged to be useful in providing quality diagnostic services for underprivileged and hard to reach areas where diagnostic facilities/providers are non-existent, non-functional, or inaccessible.
The project intends to achieve the following specific objectives:
• To initiate mobile diagnostic services in rural & tribal communities residing in the remotest area.
• To improve timely diagnosis & referral which reduces morbidity & mortality.
• To conduct timely universal drug susceptibility testing (UDST) for diagnosed TB patients.
• To create awareness by health promotional activity.

Project Karuna (Palliative Care)

The palliative care is defined by WHO as “an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.”
Deepak Foundation is running a 25 bedded palliative care hospice across two areas of Vadodara since 2021 April, with a total number of patients of 558 as on March 2023 with the support of Oncology department of Sir Sayajirao General Hospital, Vadodara as a CSR initiative of Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited and Deepak Nitrites Limited.

Deepak Pathology Laboratory and Diagnostic centre (DPLDC)

Deepak Pathology Laboratory & Diagnostic Center (DPLDC) & OHC is one of the initiatives under the Deepak Foundation (DF). DF is one of the leading civil society organizations established in 1982, under the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950 having its headquarter at Vadodara, Gujarat.
Looking at the vast experience of the Foundation in implementing medical and public health services in rural and tribal areas, we have established a well-equipped quality Pathology Laboratory & Diagnostic Center and OHC with accreditation of NABL in Dahej with a team of expert Lab technicians, Staff Nurses, Pathologists, and CIH doctor.

Mobile Health Units

Mobile Health Units have been acknowledged to be useful in providing quality health care services too hard to reach or underprivileged areas where other health facilities/providers are non-existent, non-functional or inaccessible. In these scenarios, besides improving accessibility of health services for underserved tribal and rural communities, the mobile health facilities also have the potential to act as robust preventive and promotive health care programs for better health and financial protection, as medicines and counselling is provided free of cost to the villagers.

Samaj Suraksha Sankul

Samaj Suraksha Sankul, one of the first Public-Private-Partnership initiative in Gujarat between Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of Gujarat, and Deepak Foundation. The Foundation is engaged in the operations and management of child care institution for boys, “Samaj Suraksha Sankul”, located in Vadodara district of Gujarat. It is a residential and support institute to provide sustenance for holistic development of children with special needs such as physical impairment, visual impairment, destitute and orphans and After care children between 18 to 22 years. The objective of the project is to develop specially-abled and destitute children providing them with education, healthcare along with skilling them to develop into independent capable citizens and be part of our productive society. With these noble causes in mind, our interventions and initiatives are broadly divided into the following three categories:

Education
Medical and Occupational Therapeutic Intervention
Economic Rehabilitation/Vocational Training

Sankul Band

Music is deeply ingrained in all of us in various degrees. Music is something that can be enjoyed by all and sundry alike. Music is a therapy in itself and has the capacity to rejuvenate. We at Samaj Suraksha Sankul always believed that music as a therapy could help its students to relax and with a bit of help, they could add playing knowledge of various instruments to their repertoire of skills. Sankul has a Music teacher who teaches the kids different musical instruments like Guitar, Piano, and Octapad along with vocal music classes. The children totally enjoy it. One day, the idea of a band for the children was naturally cropped up. Why not? The children were already learning music and various music instruments and a music band was a natural culmination for the learning.

We were keen and waiting for an appropriate opportunity for the students to demonstrate their skill sets. Finally, the much-awaited opportunity came knocking. The band of the students, Sankul Band, were invited to perform in Vadodara Marathon. As icing on the cake, MG Motors came forward as sponsors of Sankul Band in Vadodara Marathon. The venue of our maiden performance was at Nyay Mandir where the capacity crowd was enthralled by our students’ superlative performance. All through the performance, the crowd was standing and applauding the students and the crowd response immensely helped and motivated our children. It turned out to be a remarkable and memorable day for each and every one in the Band. The response of the crowd uplifted the mood of the band, and the children drew energy from the crowds’ response and performance turned out to be better than anticipated. Students’ confidence level and motivation to do better was apparent and a natural outcome of the performance.

Sanrakshan Watershed Project

The area suffering from soil degradation, depletion on water table, poor water management practices, decline in crop yield, net irrigated area etc. Rain fed agriculture forms the primary occupation of the village people and 80% of the total agriculture is rain fed.The main objective of thos project creating the beneficiary community, an awareness on the need of natural resource management through participatory watershed management and ownership of the resources available to them for a larger goal creating Sustainable Livelihoods for the Community.

Project Kamdhenu

Deepak Foundation has significantly contributed to women’s empowerment by giving them opportunities to enhance their livelihood. Women in Nandesari, a small, closed community, now have the opportunity to gain new skills and ensure a living thanks in large part to campaigns that support women’s self-help groups (SHGs) and women’s dairy cooperatives (WDCs).

The Deepak Foundation has launched a new effort on the use of advanced reproductive technology in dairy animals to further raise milk output and enhance income through dairy cooperatives. In this project, 100 beneficiaries from women dairy cooperative societies in Nandesari, where the Foundation has been active for the past 20 years, will have their dairy cows selected using sex-sorted semen. A cutting-edge reproductive technology is sexed semen.

Dr. N. C. Patel

Former Vice Chancellor, Anand Agricultural University (AAU), Dr. N. C. Patel did his Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering with specialization in Crop Process Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur in 1993. Recipient of many prestigious awards, he has been the director of key state government corporations. He is guiding the Foundation with his technical expertise in the development of agro-processing equipment and technologies and livelihood initiatives.

Dr. Dileep Mavalankar

Dr. Dileep Mavlankar is the Director of Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar, since 2012. His work experience includes faculty and research positions at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, USA; Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, NY, USA. He has worked as consultant to many organizations, including Columbia University, WHO (Geneva, Western Pacific Regional Office), UNICEF (New Delhi), UNDP/World Bank (India) etc. Since 2005, he is an advisor to Deepak Foundation on its research and development activities.

Shri A. M. Tiwari, I.A.S.

Retired as Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Government of Gujarat, Shri A. M. Tiwari has held diverse portfolios. He held important positions such as Principal Secretary in Education, Social Justice & Empowerment, Tribal Development, and has been the Managing Director of Corporations like GACL, GSFC and GNFC etc. As he has an immense interest in the development sector, he is guiding the Foundation with his technical expertise in the field of livelihood and strategising the implementation activities.

Shri S. R. Wadhwa

A Tax Management Consultant and Advocate, Shri S. R. Wadhwa is the former Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, and Chairman, Income Tax Settlement Commission. He plays a pivotal role in guiding the Foundation towards financial management and achieving its overall goal of sustainable growth in the sectors of public health, skill building, livelihood generation, children with special needs and education.

National Family Health Survey

Deepak Foundation is one of the field agencies selected for collecting data in a total of 19 districts including districts from Gujarat West, and Union Territories of Daman, Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli. The International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, a deemed university and an Autonomous Organization of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare is the nodal agency for conducting the survey on behalf of the Ministry. The IIPS, in turn has engaged several field agencies to conduct field work of the survey.

Suketu Parmar

Suketu Parmar is a student of ‘Organization Cultures’ of various organizations. His focus is to design appropriate ‘Employee Development Interventions’ which will help them excel in their careers. He has an experience of more than 17 years in the field of HR Consulting, Recruitment (Domestic and International), People Management, Staffing and Account Management. He is a Postgraduate in Marketing & Human Resource Management and has done a Management Development Program from XLRI Jamshedpur. He is also a certified consultant of Extended DISC, Finland. He speaks English, Hindi, and Gujarati languages.

His deliverables in HR Systems include Designing / Redesigning the Organization Structure, Roles & Responsibilities Mapping, Developing the Employee Policy Manual, Designing and Implementing the Performance Management System, Doing Competency Mapping. Apart from the HR Systems he also carries the knowledge of Statutory Compliance, US Staffing Industry.

Integrated Village Development Project

JM Financial Foundation (JMFF), with the objective of contributing to the socio-economic upliftment of Palghar district, entrusted Deepak Foundation the assignment of conducting a detailed assessment survey in seven purposively selected villages of Mokhada taluka to develop a comprehensive integrated village development plan. These seven villages of Mokhada block, with a population of 83,453 residing in 17,789 households across 59 villages (as enumerated in Census 2011) were selected in consultation with district-level officials based on key development indicators, which needed improvement. The intervention has been designed based on the findings of the village needs assessment.
Objectives of the project:
• 30% increase in the average annual income of household from Rs 13000/- as per baseline
• 75% increase in access of eligible households to existing Government schemes from an average of 28% as per baseline
• 33% of women engaged in income generation activities out of the total 900 women trained.
• Reduction in number of households having at least one member underweight from baseline data of 67% to 40%

Kalyan Hospital, Jharkhand

Dearth of specialists and non-availability of fully functional health care facility in Arki, District. Kunti has resulted in referrals of maternal and new-born cases and other patients with minor ailments to the district hospital which is situated about 35 kilometres from Arki. Non-availability of services at Kalyan Hospital, Arki results in referrals at the district hospital delaying access of services and low utilization of services. Thus, poor utilization of services stems from poor referral services and non-availability of specialist services which puts a burden not just on the out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) but also hampers universal health coverage.
A MoU between Deepak Foundation and Tribal Welfare Commissioner was done to strengthen health care services provided at Kalyan Hospital, Arki and developing the facility as First Referral Unit (FRU).
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Help Desk (SSG Hospital, Vadodara & GMERS Gotri Hospital, Vadodara)

Public Health facilities usually have long procedures and processes as they deal with saving precious human lives. For hospitals that handle a huge patient load with a high number of critical cases, the chances of mismanagement are high. The risk is higher for public hospitals as several of them operate beyond their originally intended capacity within the limits of predetermined budget, medical supplies, and human resources. It also reduces the quality of care provided at government health facilities. Commitment to improving accountability, transparency, and patient communication through Help Desk services can reduce the number of claims and save lives. Sir Sayaji Rao General Hospital is one of the government’s tertiary health facilities based in Vadodara.

Deepak Medical Foundation

Deepak Medical Foundation (DMF) Nandesari was set up in 1982 to provide medical and healthcare facilities to communities in and around the industrial belt of Nandesari, Vadodara, Gujarat. DMF Nandesari started as a mother and child clinic (MCH Unit) and now has evolved into a full-fledged 28 bedded multispecialty hospital. A fully equipped diagnostic and pharmacy centre is also available at the hospital with a very nominal rate keeping into consideration the economic status of the population in the area. A fully equipped diagnostic and pharmacy centre is also available at the hospital with a very nominal rate keeping into consideration the economic status of the population in the area.
Objectives of the project:
To increase the utilization of multi-specialty health services.
To increase the utilization of diagnostic and pharmacy services.
To increase clientele for occupational healthcare services.

Patient Provider Support Agency (PPSA) under National Tuberculosis Elimination Program

The Government of India has been working on TB since 1962 & launched a program called National Tuberculosis Program which later converted into the Revised National Tuberculosis Program in 1997 which was further converted to National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme, with a goal to eliminate Tuberculosis by 2025.
The project intends to achieve the following specific objectives within three years:
▪ To accelerate the early detection of TB cases in high-risk group.
▪ To ensure patient ease and convenience for providing the sputum sample at health facilities and linking to appropriate transport and testing services.
▪ To institute a mechanism for the collection of respiratory (GA/IS/BAL) and extra-pulmonary samples.
▪ To avoid/reduce the travel of patients, to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure, and reduce loss in referral.
▪ To ensure access to free and quality assured investigations for pre-treatment evaluation and follow-up of DR-TB patients.
▪ To ensure easy access to free X-ray investigation for patients in the public and private sectors.

Skill Training for Palliative Care

Deepak Foundation has established the Institute for Skills Building, Research, and Innovation with the objective of creating a robust and vibrant eco-system for quality education and Skill Training for Palliative Care Attendants.
Objectives:
• To develop a competent skilled workforce for providing quality services in the healthcare sector
• To increase the percentage of youth provided with work opportunities through skills development training.

POSH Training: Undertaking regional level- one day training of trainers on sexual Harassment of women at work place. (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal) act, 2013

Sexual harassment of women at the workplace is an extension of violence in everyday life and is discriminatory, as it affects women’s right to life and livelihood. In India, for the first time in 1997, after the brutal gang-rape of Rajasthan social worker Bhanwaridevi, the fundamental rights of working women were enforced. A petition was filed in the Supreme Court to do. According to the Gazette of India published by the Ministry of Law and Justice on April 23, 2013, “Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Prevention) Act, 2013, every employer shall constitute a committee of work. This committee is known as “Internal Committee”. It is mandatory for the employer to organize workshops or training to sensitize his employees with the provisions of the Act.
Objectives of the project:
• As per the requirement of GRC, the objectives of the assignment would be as under:
• To develop a one-day training module for sensitization on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 based on guidelines of Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD)
• To conduct 10 batches (25 participants each) of Training of Trainer (TOT) as per the schedule of GRC.

Vasundhara

Project Vasundhara started in November 2022 with Corteva agriscience to promote green energy, rainwater harvesting, Restoration of water reservoir and plantation. The main goal of the project is to create awareness among community by plantation of social forestry, construction of rainwater harvesting on public infrastructure, Restoration of pond by desilting deepening and installation of solar streetlights to promote green energy. All activities were carried out with support of community members, PRI members and government officials.

Project Young Scientist (STEM)

Deepak Foundation conceptualized a unique Project Young Scientist – Provide Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics (STEM) learning opportunities and inputs to less privilege communities children in tribal and rural communities. It is designed in alignment of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 to develop specific cognitive capacities, such as critical, analytical, logical thinking and problem solving, social, ethical, and emotional etc. Project currently working. The focus of the programme as one that includes strategic intervention designs to build cognitive competencies that support children so that they get enough exposure and hand on learning opportunities at their learning space.

Health and Education project - Mobile Play Unit

Balwadi or pre-primary schools are the foundation of primary education for any child. The efforts required for the holistic development of the child are much more at this age. Mobile Education Service that caters to less privileged communities, with low educational outcomes and limited access to quality reading and learning materials in rural, tribal, and urban communities. It is designed to ensure exposure to quality reading and learning materials through direct input support. It also at developing children’s necessary competencies in reading, writing, understanding, thinking critically and creatively, developing social and emotional competencies, listening, and speaking with confidence.
Broad Objective: To lay the foundation for proper psychological, physical, and social development of children, by maintaining an acceptable and sustainable educational environment with a special focus on preschool education, through coordinated efforts of project partners and other local bodies.

Skill Upgradation Centre

The Foundation has been implementing some projects such as Sangaath- Facilitating Government Scheme Coverage, Neem Sattva- to improve livelihood opportunities for rural women by promoting and supporting entrepreneurship, Mobile Health Unit- doorstep healthcare services and Deepak Laboratory and Diagnostic Centre- a laboratory that provides affordable, accessible, and reliable diagnostic services as a part of CSR based in Dahej area of Bharuch District. To set-up SUC for skilling industrial workers in the catchment area and for providing entrepreneur opportunities for their family members located in the catchment area, a need assessment survey of industries located in PCPIR region of Dahej was carried out recently (June 2022) based on request from the CED, Surat

objectives of the project identified based on the need assessment survey are as follows:

• To establish a Skill Upgradation Centre that creates proficient quality workforce in various sectors.
• To provide vocational training for the Manual Housekeeping course
• To provide vocational training for the Domestic Data Entry Operator
• To ensure 100% industry exposure to all the registered beneficiaries to provide them hands-on training during internship tenure.
• To ensure that at least 80% of the trained candidates secure certification from government at the completion of course.

Project Surabhi: Establishment of Animal Health Care Centre

Animal Husbandry is a major economic activity taken up by rural households especially in rural areas of Gujarat. Veterinary Hospital/ Dispensary are located 8-10 km away from the villages, and it becomes a difficult job to avail required services and save their animals from untimely death. Currently, Mobile Veterinary Dispensary named as Karuna Animal Ambulance (KAA) project under GVK-EMRI in PPP mode has been operating in many districts of Gujarat with all treatment facilities through mobile van concept covering 10 villages from one location.
Objectives: –
The aim of the project is to establish an “Integrated Animal Health Care Centre” to improve productivity of the local cattle and buffalo through artificial insemination, balanced feeding, veterinary services and management practices.

Deep Jyoti Mahila Credit Cooperative Society (DJMCCS)

the Foundation has contributed significantly to the empowerment of women by providing them with chances for a sustainable income. The promotion of approximately 1500 members in nearly 100 Women’s Self Help Groups (SHGs) helped them develop good saving practises.
The Foundation suggested that “Deep Jyoti Mahila Credit Cooperative Society” (DJMCCS) be established in order to assist these women in developing further.
Objective of DJMCCS:
• 100% SHGs should be active in meetings, savings, loan repayment and book keeping practices.
• 95 % of members should save regularly.
• 60% of the registered women to be involved in different livelihood generation activities with average income of INR 10000 per month.
• No. of SHG Women in IGA should be as per the annual target of 1200 and 1154 has been achieved.

Gram Jal Sanchay

Water is a prerequisite for all the development activities and its conservation and efficient management needs to take center stage for sustainable development. India faces major challenges with declining per capita water availability and stands stressed with rising water demand mainly from the already competing agriculture, domestic and industrial sectors. Water conservation ponds prove a strategic adaptation practice, collecting rainwater and replenishing groundwater reserves during the monsoon.

MDMP Smart Village

“A Smart Village is one which offers access to clean energy, adequate water, basic education, good healthcare, hygienic sanitation, leading to economic prosperity and enhanced quality of life with technologic interventions, in a manner that is environmentally sustainable.”
Smart Village extends the possibilities for making village as one of the model villages with self-reliant and self-subsistence green energy that creates a win‐win for an economy, environment, and local society.

Project Samanvay (Sashakt)

Project Samanvay started in June 2022 with three major components i.e Sashakt (Livelihood), Sangaath and Sneh Sparsh (MHU). Sashakt started with the aim to provide livelihood-based skill training to members of SHG in 10 villages of Savli and create opportunities for income generation activities.

Neem Sattva

Deepak Foundation has conceptualized an innovative project to create livelihood opportunities for 50 rural women in Khalapur district by producing and marketing of neem-based hygiene products like hand wash, soap & hand sanitizer. A group of small and marginal women took a major leap into entrepreneurship by showing their interest for this project and came forward. The activity started by forming an SHG and followed by various training on neem extract, soap and hand wash production.
The specific objectives of the project are as given below: –

• Use natural product like neem seeds/leaves and create income from them,
• Make available neem-based hygiene products like hand wash and homemade soap to the rural community at lower rate.
• Create awareness among the communities about the use of environment friendly hand wash & soap.
• Give a secondary income source of income to SHG members by selling of neem-based hand made products.

Project Kamdhenu

Deepak Foundation has significantly contributed to women’s empowerment by giving them opportunities to make a livelihood. Women in Nandesari, a small, closed community, now have the opportunity to gain new skills and ensure a living thanks in large part to campaigns that support women’s self-help groups (SHGs) and women’s dairy cooperatives (WDCs).
Objectives of the project:
• To use natural selection to attain 90% accuracy of a desired sex (female calf) against 50% possibilities.
• Increasing cows’ milk production
• Increasing the financial situation of dairy producers

Abhivruddhi: CBBOs of FPOs under Central Sectorial Scheme of 10000 FPOs

Govt. of India is implementing a Scheme for Establishing 10,000 Farmer Producers Organisations (FPOs) across the country. The FPOs shall be developed by adopting a cluster approach with focus on a particular crop identified as part One District One Product Program. Govt. of India has appointed multiple agencies including NABARD, NCDC, NAFED and SFAC for implementation of the Scheme. The implementing agencies, in turn, have engaged Cluster Based Business Organizations (CBBOs/NGOs) for ground level implementation. Deepak Foundation is promoting 24 FPOs as a CBBOs in CSS Scheme of 10000 FPOs, Govt of India
Key Objectives:
• To provide holistic and broad-based supportive ecosystem to form new FPOs to facilitate development of vibrant and sustainable income-oriented farming and for overall socio-economic development and wellbeing of agrarian communities.
• To enhance productivity through efficient, cost-effective and sustainable resource use and realize higher returns through better liquidity and market linkages for their produce and become sustainable through collective action.

Demographic Surveillance Studies (DSS)

Availability of reliable empirical demographic data is crucial to understand the burden and trends of key development indices and plan community interventions. One method to improve this is to establish a demographic surveillance system (DSS).
The specific objective of the project is to:
• Assess periodic changes in socio-economic & demographic profile of study population, households, and community overtime in selected three intervention sites.
• Monitor trend of key development indicators over a period of time.
• Design/alter intervention strategies based on changing demographic data.
• Assess impact of CSR intervention using experimental study design.
• Develop evidence-based research papers for policy advocacy.

DSIR, Skill Satellite Centre

“Creating sustainable livelihood opportunities to the tribal women of Kuchai Block, Saraikella District, Jharkhand by establishing a Skill Satellite Centre”
Therefore, MoU was done to Skill development Training to improve health status of the adolescent girls & women & generate livelihood and Training on Backyard poultry and Goat rearing.
A MoU between Deepak Foundation and Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) was done to Skill development Training to improve health status of the adolescent girls & women & generate livelihood and Training on Backyard poultry and Goat rearing.
• Create livelihood opportunities for tribal women through skill enhancement.
• Provide training and awareness regarding Menstrual Health Management (MHM).
• Generate demand through training of tribal adolescent girls and women.
• Create awareness regarding use of biodegradable sanitary napkins and its benefit.
• Train SHG women in production, management, and marketing of sanitary napkin
• Enhancing technical skills to improve the rearing practices of the existing goat & poultry farmers to increase their income.
• Link them to Govt schemes as well as to the potential market channels and sales opportunities.

Strengthening ICDS services to promote the holistic development of children under five years of age.

The Integrated Child Development scheme (ICDS) offers a package of services comprising of supplementary nutrition, immunization, health check-ups, referral services, non-formal preschool education, and nutrition and health education. Deepak Foundation has been supporting and supervising activities of 40 Anganwadi Centres under ICDS scheme of the Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Gujarat, since 1996.
The following are the objectives for improvement in the nutritional status of children (under 5 years) and adolescent girls in line with the Target of the National Nutrition Mission- Poshan Abhiyan during the period of 3 years. (2021-2024)
• Annual 3% reduction in STUNTING (height-for-age) among under 5 children
• Annual 7% reduction in UNDERWEIGHT (weight-for-age) among under-5 children
• Annual 3% reduction in WASTING (weight-for-height) among under-five children
• >80% of children achieve optimal development status and school readiness.
*In line with the Target of the National Nutrition Mission –Poshan Abhiyan

Facility Management & Services Course

Deepak Foundation provides vocational training in housekeeping and cooking skills in Vadodara, Gujarat, and Hyderabad, Telangana. The opportunities for individuals who have completed training are vast in both cities. In India, the opportunities for housekeeping cum cooking skills are vast. With the growing number of nuclear households, working couples, and busy lifestyles, there is an increasing demand for domestic help who can take care of household chores and cooking. Jobs in this field can be found in various settings such as hotels, resorts, hospitals, office complexes, and residential complexes.

Home Health Aide Course

Deepak Foundation has established the Institute for Skills Building, Research, and Innovation-ISBRI with the objective of creating a robust and vibrant ecosystem for quality education and skill development and is affiliated with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). The Foundation has national-level affiliation which makes it eligible for implementing government-approved Home Health Aide courses. The Foundation has one national level affiliation which makes it eligible for implementing government-approved courses.
Objectives:
• Create a proficient quality workforce by providing skills training to 240 candidates from 8 batches with 30 trainees in each batch of the Home Health Aide Course.
• To provide soft skills training to a minimum 80% of registered beneficiaries to increase their employability.
• To ensure 100% industry exposure to all the regular beneficiaries to provide them with hands-on training in Home Care/Hospitals/Clinics.
• To ensure at least 70% of registered beneficiaries are women.
• To ensure that at least 80% of the trained beneficiaries secure certification from the Healthcare Sector Skill Council.
To ensure that at least 80% of the successful Trainees secure wage employment as per the Minimum Wages Act.

Project Sangaath

‘Sangaath’ is an initiative to facilitate entitlements by strengthening utilization of government schemes & services among the eligible beneficiaries. The project has been ongoing in 3 states, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Haryana covering 8 districts, 144 villages and an urban cluster.
The project covered more than 29,000 households and facilitated the eligible beneficiaries with 84,000+ applications. About 67000 (80%) applications for several pre-requisite documents like Aadhaar card, PAN card, Income certificate, Marriage certificate, etc. and government schemes such as national and state social security schemes, insurance schemes, health and nutrition schemes, agricultural and animal husbandry schemes were approved, and the applicants were benefited. The benefits include monetary and non-monetary, recurring, and non-recurring. An amount of around Rs 1,838 lacs has been converged through this project and it is expanding with new benefits.

Nandesari Education Project

Deepak Foundation has been working in the Nandesari Industrial Area since its inception in 1982. The industrial area comprises approximately 50000 population in 10 villages. Nandesari Vidhalaya is supported by the Nandesari Industrial Association comprising all the industries in the estate. It has classes from Pre-Primary section to Higher Secondary (Commerce stream only) section. About 1200 students are enrolled in the school. Also, there is another high school in Fajalpur. It has around 800+ students are enrolled in the school. Approximately 2000 students are studying in these two high schools in 10 villages.
Project Objectives:
Improving the Mathematics, Science, and English subjects’ performance among 8th, 9th, and 10th Standard students of secondary at Nandesari area.

Project Vivek Vidya

It is designed to ensure exposure to quality reading and learning materials through direct input support. It also at developing children’s necessary competencies in reading, writing, understanding, thinking critically Deepak Foundation conceptualized a unique titled “Project Vivek Vidya” – a Mobile Education Service that caters to less privileged communities, with low educational outcomes and limited access to quality reading and learning materials in rural, tribal, and urban communities. and creatively, developing social and emotional competencies, listening, and speaking with confidence.
The objective of the project: The aim of the project is to enhance and improve learning competencies (literacy and numeracy) among children in the age group of 6-15 years in alignment with the New Education Policy 2020 through community-based approaches for a duration of 3 years.

Parasnath Arogya Seva Kendra (PASK), Parasnath hill

Deepak Foundation has been implementing Maternal and Child health (MCH) programs in Madhuban and Dumri blocks of Giridih, Jharkhand since 2017. Deepak Foundation operationalized Comprehensive Emergency and Obstetric Newborn care (CEmONC) center in Dumri tehsil, Giridih, Jharkhand and Health Sub-center (HSC) Madhuban, Pirtand block, Giridih, Jharkhand to improve MCH indicators in the area. In order to maintain the continuity of services, Deepak Foundation has initiated the center at the pilgrimage site of Parasnath hill.
• To serve as a functional health centre in Parasnath hill to provide primary healthcare and OPD services.
• To provide screening of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), malaria, registration of pregnant women for Antenatal Care (ANC) and to conduct awareness generation on family planning services in the community.
• To provide free of cost diagnostic services to the pilgrim population visiting the health centre and population in the vicinity.

Dr. Akash Kumar Lal

Dr. Akash Kumar Lal is the Deputy Director and has been working with Deepak Foundation since the past 9 years. He has domain expertise of Public Health. He has around 13 year of experience in working in various healthcare related projects for Government, International and Civil Society organisations. He has exhaustive experience in healthcare planning, monitoring and evaluation, Quality Assurance Programmes, Project Promotion and Healthcare Research. He has presented papers in various national and international conferences and seminars related to public health.

Ms. Archana Joshi

Ms. Archana Joshi is the Director of Deepak Foundation, a registered civil society organization established in 1982.

Her expertise is in the areas of designing projects aimed at achieving sustainable development goals and developing systems for monitoring and evaluation in various development sectors such as public health & nutrition, women’s empowerment, education, skills building & livelihood, disability & special needs and providing disaster relief and rehabilitation. Her major focus is on developing and implementing evidence based intervention research projects. As the Head of the Foundation, she has been instrumental in:

partnering with various Corporates for implementing their CSR activities since 2012-13
scaling up the operations of the Foundation to establish Pan-India presence
designing and implementing large scale public private partnership projects aimed at achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) since 2005
establishing systems for conducting evidence based research and evaluation
replicating successful models across various locations
promoting women entrepreneurship
policy advocacy

She is a member of the Ethics Committee Technical Review Committee of various academic institutions. She is a member of Internal Complaints Committee on Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) as well as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) in various Companies and Institutes. She is the fellows of Aspire Circle, a not-for-profit forum that promotes social leadership in India through Fellowships and Research with the purpose of building India’s foremost Social Leadership forum (http://aspirecircle.org/fellows/). She was a member of the World Bank – Health, Nutrition and Population Civil Society Consultative Group (WB-HNP CSCG) from 2013-16. Her research papers are published in several international journals and conference proceedings.

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR)

The project aims to benefit the women marginal farmers living in most underdeveloped tribal block, Naswadi in ChhotaUdepurdistrict in Gujarat. Agriculture in these areas has been a difficult proposition because of high inputs cost, low yields and as one of the consequences of fragmented land, lack of nearby markets for sale of the produce. To add to their woes, both these block are riddled with anemia. Their food pattern and cooking methods are such that they result in malnutrition, and increased fuel cost and cooking time, respectively. Further, it is the women who bear the brunt to drudgery.

Transforming Family Base & Alternative

Every child deserves a loving family, a chance to attain his/her full potential, to become an active citizen of the nation. Every child has right to survive, Right to Protection, Right to participation, Right to Development. The Project aims at providing these rights to children. Miracle Foundation and Deepak Foundation have initiated a pilot in Gujarat & Maharashtra. The main focus of the project is to prevent the child family separation. There are various reasons which leads a child away from the family. These reasons of Family and child separation or Potential Vulnerabilities could be any major health issue either to child or the care givers, Economical issues of the family, psycho-social or any other.

Consortium for Inclusive Education

‘Consortium for Inclusive Education’ is a state-level initiative to with a mission of supporting regular schools in integrating children with special needs and ensuring that they continue to receive an equal and high-quality education. This project is funded by Gujarat CSR Authority.

Early Intervention Centre (EIC)

Early Intervention Centre (EIC) was started in March 2018 in the premises of Samaj Suraksha Sankul, Vadodara with an objective of identifying the young children with disabilities. Early Intervention between 0-6 years, can improve their prognosis, enable independent living and lastly, ease their inclusion in the general curriculum schools. Early intervention services are critical for children with disabilities as they lay the foundation for future learning and development. Children with visual impairment are unable to perceive the impact their actions have on their surroundings. The lack of feedback affects a child’s overall development. After a systematic initial assessment, our team uses specially designed tactile resources and modified teaching strategies to help a child learn about the world around and develop concepts. With our early intervention services, we aim to either prevent or lessen the severity of the secondary impairments.

Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS)

Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS) of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, offers a package of services comprising of supplementary nutrition, immunization, health checkups, referral services, non-formal preschool education, and nutrition and health education. Deepak Foundation has been engaged in operating and management of 67 AnganwadiCentres in Nandesari, Vadodara Gujarat since 1996. The Foundation takes up several value added initiatives over and above the activities & services under the scheme, in order to improve the last mile outreach and improving the effectiveness of the Government program. These include providing uniforms to all 3-6 years old children registered at AWC, milk supplementation, providing pre-school education using play way methods, refurbishing and construction of AWC centres, kitchen garden etc

Balwadi Project

With an aim to promote initiatives where every child receives equitable environment for best possible development, Deepak Foundation has partnered with Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Education Board to work towards strengthening of all the Balwadis (408) across 15 clusters in Pune city since 2008.

Farmers Training Under Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA)

Deepak Foundation build capacity of men and women farmers, so that they can further implement knowledge in agriculture land. Training more focus is on non-pesticide management and use of natural resources in farming practices. To develop technical and managerial effectiveness of men and women generation of farmers in agriculture and effective implementation of latest technology in agriculture. Also, educate and empower for them farming, motivate men and women villagers to adopt farming as a profession with technical knowledge and understanding.

Integrated Village Development Project

A dearth of irrigation facilities, lack of improved agriculture practices, and poor management of livestock and migration post-harvest season of household members in the block are some of the major factors that have resulted in poor socio-economic conditions. Underutilization of govt. schemes, especially those who are eligible for coverage under govt. safety net compounds to poor health and nutrition outcomes of the population. Given this background, JMFF and Deepak Foundation jointly developed and the Integrated Village Development Project proposal to be implemented in seven selected villages of the Mokhada block of Palghar district.

Demonstration and Replication of System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method of Paddy cultivation in Tribal villages

The goal of the project is to Demonstration and Replication of System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method of Paddy cultivation in Tribal villages of Mokhada block. The objective is to enhance food security of small & marginal farmers & families through awareness, demonstrations, technical and material support for promotion of SRI, and Sustainable Agricultural Practices. To increase in yield of paddy as compared to present yield pattern& formation of local groups and associations to promote these activities following SRI methods.

Pragati (EkDisha) Project

Agriculture cultivation is done with the age old practices, lack of awareness on the modern technology and package of practices among the farming households, remained agriculture occupation as a primary and primitive source of livelihood. However, lack of financial capital, skilled human resources and supportive infrastructure are the major hurdles in Indian economy to begin with any entrepreneurship. This project is aiming to bring change in attitude and behaviour of the women, farmers and youths from the 240 target households. This project is meant for promotion and application of new technologies of water saving, organic farming, vegetable cultivation, improved dairy cattle care management, building cognitive base of primary students, awareness building on primitive and preventive health care.

Project Neem Sattva

Rural population has low access to good quality products; majorly due to high price, and low availability. On the other hand, long period of lockdown has pushed the daily wagers, industrial workers and agri-labourers into wage loss. In this situation, women folk of the household can support in bearing the expenditure of the households, through enterprises; supplementing the household income. To deal with such situation, Deepak Foundation conceptualized this innovative project to create livelihood opportunities for rural women in Bharuch district by producing and marketing of neem based hygiene products like hand wash, soap & hand sanitizer.

Project Vikas

Entrepreneurship, skills and knowledge are the driving forces of economic growth and social development in a country. One of the biggest challenges faced by our county India is unemployment and a lack of skilled manpower or human resources near the employment areas especially in factories and industries. The reason for the same is a mis-match between the skills available with the human resources, skills so required in industries and the proportion of training institutes so offering such courses. This project aims at bridging that gap. The Main objective of the project is to engage women of Luwara village and youth of nearby villages of Vagra block in various livelihoods activities so as to develop the village economy and increase their incomes through enterprise creation and skill development for sustainability in outcomes.

Project Sarthak

Sarthak is a wellness, skill-building and savings approach towards responsible lifestyle practices and income generation for young people and women in NaviNagari hamlets of Por village. The Main objective of the project is to have a holistic health program for the adolescent and engage women and youth in the targeted areas in various livelihoods activities so as to develop the village economy and increase their incomes through livelihood enhancement and skill development for sustainability in outcomes.

Health and Wellness Centres

Health and Wellness Centre’s Ambheta and Bhensali in Vagra taluka, Dahej, Gujarat are providing OPD services, screening services for Communicable and Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), maternal and child health services, laboratory services, and organize community sensitization/Behavior change communication (BCC) activities in the communities.

Deepak Occupational Health Centre

Exposure to hazardous work environment, toxic chemicals, poor awareness, lack of protective gears, accidents, are the main causes of injuries and deaths in the industries – both organized and unorganized sectors. To bridge the gap, Deepak Occupational Health Centre was established at Nandesari, Vadodara in October 2013 for providing occupational health services to industrial workers of the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) Nandesari and other industrial areas of districts of Gujarat. Apart from pre-employment and post-employment checkups, the centre also conducts health and safety awareness, wellness programmes and canteen audits of industrial plants.

De-addiction Centres

Recognizing substance abuse and alcoholism as a psycho-social medical problem, the approach was to provide a whole range of services including awareness generation, identification, treatment and rehabilitation of addicts. This project thrust is on the preventive education programs and reintegration of the addicts into the mainstream society.

Academic Institutions, Research & Training Centers

National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC), New Delhi

State Institute of Health and Family Welfare (SIHFW), Gandhinagar, Gujarat

Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi

Foundation for Research in Health Systems (FRHS), Bengaluru, Karnataka

Indian Institute of Rural Management (IRMA), Anand, Gujarat

Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH – G), Gandhinagar, Gujarat

Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Baroda Medical College, Gujarat

Department of Pediatrics, Baroda Medical College, Gujarat

Faculty of Family and Community Sciences, M. S. University of Baroda, Gujarat

Parul Group of Institutes, Waghodia, Gujarat

Government Departments

Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of Gujarat, Gujarat

Department of Women & Child Development, Government of Gujarat, Gujarat

Tribal Development Department (TDD), Government of Gujarat, Gujarat

Gujarat Livelihood Promotion Company (GLPC), Dept. of Rural Development, Gujarat

Gujarat State AIDS Control Society (GSACS), Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Water and Sanitation Management Organization (WASMO), Gandhinagar, Gujarat

School Board, Pune Municipal Corporation, Maharashtra

National Commission for Women (NCW), Delhi

Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART), Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Government of India

Professional Associations, National and International Networks and Agencies

PATH Vaccine Solutions, a non-profit organization and affiliate of Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), Seattle, Washington, USA

Sanford World Clinics, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA.

Serum Institute of India Ltd. (SIIL), Pune, Maharashtra.

The World Bank, Washington, USA

Jan Sawsthya Abhiyan- People’s Health Movement (Secretariat), Gujarat

Sajjata Sangh – a network of NGOs engaged in Participatory Management of Natural Resources, Gujarat

Registration

* Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950- No. E.3122-BARODA dated November 22, 1982
Registered under Foreign Registration Act (FCRA), 1976- No. 041960088 dated June 17, 2011
* Our Ethics Committee is registered under Rule 122DD of Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945.
* The Foundation is committed to contributing its share in social development with compliance to the statutory and regulatory requirements, wherever applicable. We are committed to quality, integrity and excellence in all areas of social services. We pledge to monitor our performance as an on-going activity and strive for continual improvement.

Quality Policy

The Foundation is committed to contributing its share in social development with compliance to the statutory and regulatory requirements, wherever applicable. We are committed to quality, integrity and excellence in all areas of social services. We pledge to monitor our performance as an on-going activity and strive for continual improvement.

Naki Rabari writes her future with CCCH course

Hailing from Anjar Bhuj, Gujarat, Naki Rabari completed her graduation from GMN Nursing College in Lakhond Bhuj in 2017. She joined the Certificate Course for Community Health run by Deepak Foundation.

Despite being a mother of a10-month-old baby, Naki decided to pursue the course. Her grit and confidence never stopped her from completing the course. She was facing family-related problems when she had to miss a few classes. She gradually covered the course with the help of her batchmates and teaching faculty. On completion of the course, she is posted at the Community Health Office in Anjar taluka. She is the first woman from her village who took the plunge of enrolling in six months course, leaving behind her infant child with her parents.

11-year tobacco addict’s road to recovery successfully

11-year-old Sameer Rathodiya (name changed), native of Por village, Vadodara district has been addicted to tobacco chewing ever since he was 5-year-old. A student of class 5, lives Navinanagri slums where major percent of the population are daily wagers. Mahesh started chewing Tobacco when he was 5-year-old. Deepak foundation works in collaboration with Godrej (Cartiny) in this area for women empowerment and child life skill development. The Foundation conducts awareness and counselling sessions for adolescents and young adults for their development, education health, nutrition, hygiene (WASH), environment issues, life-skills and various career options. Through Deepak Foundation’s intervention, counselling of more than 70 childrens.

250

250 beneficiaries provided with masks through Mobile Health Units

807

807 families supported through dry ration kits & hygiene supplies in Bharuch & Chhota Udepur district of Gujarat

1255

1255 vulnerable population such as migrants, truckers, senior citizen provided with hot cooked meals in Vadodara and Panchmahal district, Gujarat

1255

1255 vulnerable population such as migrants, truckers, senior citizen provided with hot cooked meals in Vadodara and Panchmahal district, Gujarat

2380

2380 masks, 264 protective suits provided to the COVID-19 warriors (health functionaries), 300 PPE provided to K G P Children Hospital, Vadodara

2955

2955 masks prepared by SHG women trained by the Foundation earning total income of Rs.25760 during the lockdown

20,000 gloves supply facilitated to the Gujarat Medical Service Corporation and 10,000 latex gloves provided to Narmada district administration to mitigate supply shortage in public health delivery system

Samaj Suraksha Sankul

Samaj Suraksha Sankul is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between Deepak Foundation and Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt. of Gujarat, under which Deepak Foundation is undertaking the operations and management of the Institute. Sankul is a residential and support institute for visually impaired, physically challenged, and orphans with a school for visually impaired. Our goal is to rehabilitate children with special needs and enable them to live a life of dignity and independence.

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Jeevan project focused on non-formal preschool education, nutritional food supplements, health and nutritional checkups, and referral to public health centers for medical care Jeevan project focused on non-formal preschool education, nutritional food supplements, health and nutritional checkups, and referral to public health centers for medical care

DEEPAK FOUNDATION COVID RELIEF WORK

Deepak Foundation, has therefore taken the initiative to complement the efforts of the Government in the fight against COVID-19 through an array of relief measures and preventive as well as curative services. The Foundation has been actively providing relief services in over 11 districts across 4 States since the mandatory lockdown came into effect on March 25, 2020.

Dr. Riddhi Mehta

Dr. Ruchi Mehta

Dr Ruchi Mehta is currently head of strategy at Deepak Foundation with a focus on innovative interventions for quality education. She is a promoter of social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities. Prior to this, she worked in London for 3 years advising the UK government on health policies and the corporate sector on healthcare investments. She did her undergraduate degree in Chemical and Bioengineering from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. At Hopkins, she was a researcher for a $40m Synthetic Yeast Genome 2.0 project and has published in a leading journal Science. While in the USA, she was an active member of Engineers without borders (EWB) and collaborated with South African government bodies and local rotaries to initiate projects for adequate water supply for local deprived communities in South Africa. After her undergraduate studies she went on to do her PhD in Medical Oncology/Surgical Sciences at the University of Oxford under the supervision of Prof Sir Walter Bodmer (Ex-Chairman, Human Genome Project) at the University of Oxford. While at Oxford, she was awarded the Marie Curie Fellowship and the Horatio Symonds Scholarship.

Ms. Sushma Bhonsale

Ms. Sushma Bhonsale has experience of managing Accounts and Administrative division since the past 28 years. She heads the Accounts Department and manages finances of large scale projects including government grants, foreign funds, and CSR funds. Apart from handling nearly 35 projects of the Foundation, she monitors and analyzes the accounting data and produces the financial reports/statements in compliance with various laws, handles annual audits, and many difficult legal and administrative matters of the Foundation. In addition to the financial matters of the Foundation, over the years she has also gained experience in managing major HR & administrative issues, legal issues in labour court and charity commissioner office.

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