DSC Foundation

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DSC Foundation was established by Development Support Centre in year 2012 under section 25 of Companies Act, 1956 with an objective of providing guidance and necessary assistance in the field of Participatory Natural Resource Management and Livelihoods to the Government Department, Funding Agencies, NGOs, Community Based Organizations and Corporate Bodies by taking up different requirements from them to:

• Promote participatory natural resource management and livelihood programs at the national and international level
• Collaborate with Rural Development agencies i.e. GO, NGO, CBOs and private sector at the state, national and international level to , plan and formulate participatory natural resource and social development projects
• Provide professional, technical and managerial support/assistance in the areas of NRM, formal education , environment and health
• Act as a knowledge centre through capacity building, communication, research and networking activities

Our Services

• Conducting Research Studies, Evaluation and Impact Assessment
• Developing Capacity Building Plans
• Designing and Conducting Training Programs
• Hosting national and international Exposure Visits
• Monitoring and Evaluation

Our involvement covers the whole range of research functions, starting from designing a methodology, sampling, on the ground data collection, data cleaning and analysis, report writing and presenting recommendations to the Govt. for policy proposals.

We are also involved extensively for providing trainings and organizing seminars and workshops to equip, strengthen and disseminate knowledge skills and attitude required by stakeholders for promoting sustainable natural resource management and rural livelihoods.

Capacity building is one of our niche areas. We strongly believe that the success of participatory programs lies in the capacity building of various stakeholders including farmers, NGO representatives and government functionaries. Therefore we provide state and national level capacity building inputs to community based organizations, NGOs, Government functionaries as well as students from various academic institutions by utilizing our rich pool of resource persons including field practitioners, academicians as well as farmers as co-trainers. In addition, the field implementation sites provide an ideal learning ground for the trainees.

Special features of our capacity building services: We take following sequential steps for designing, conducting and post follow up of capacity building programs;

• Access capacity building need of the client and trainee group through project visits, consultation
• Prepare draft training module in consultation of participants & senior authorities of client agency and finalize the module
• Sequencing of topics is arranged from conceptual to practical so that the participants can understand the concepts and its relationship with practices, success and failures gained by different stakeholders
• Comfortable lodging and boarding arrangements for the participants to ensure that they focus on the training sessions
• Conduct training programs through blend of theoretical and practical sessions including exposure visits of participants to successful project sites developed by Voluntary Organizations like Development Support Centre (DSC) and other voluntary organization, Community Based Organizations (CBOs) etc.
• Training is conducted in English, Hindi and Gujarati languages as per convenience of the participants. Deliver training sessions by a multidisciplinary pool of resource persons comprising of trainers and visiting faculties from within the foundation and partner agencies including CBOs, NGOs, Government Department, research institutes etc.
• Use of different methods such as pictorial presentations, group discussions, experience sharing , video films, games, case study, lecture, presentation, role play, demonstration of methods, buzz session, field transect, site visit, mood meter, sample records etc.
• Use of simple and user friendly print and audio visual reference material
• Development of follow post training follow up action plan by the participants to translate the learning in to action.
• Feeding the learning to policy, research and capacity building

PIM Resource Centre

DSC Foundation set up "Shri Anil Shah PIM Resource Centre" at Kansa village in Visnagar block of Mehsana district, Gujarat with the objective of hosting effective exposure visits as Dharoi irrigation project which is in Mehsana district, which has been emerged as the landmark of Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) in the country where more than 10,000 farmers, officers and NGO delegates from various states and countries have visited the successful Water User Associations of this major Irrigation project. The centre is well equipped with basic training facilities and provides excellent learning opportunity to see the exemplary work of sustainable Community Based Organizations, their proven practices and meeting with pioneer farmers and supporting agencies.

Along with this, DSCF also carries out its training programs at DSC Training Centre which is located in Ahmedabad, Bopal and has boarding and lodging capacities for 35 participants, a conference room and a training hall that can accommodate 75 participants.

OUR EXPERT TEAM

Our team consists of dynamic personalities having a wide range of talents with experience drawn from different disciplines. Following are the Governing Board members:

Vitthalbhai Patel, Chairman
Retired Civil Servant and Engineering Consultant, he has served as Secretary-Water Resources, Govt. of Gujarat and was the Chairman of the Central Water Commission. He is known for his expertise at the State and national levels and is invited as a member in several policy making forums.
Shri Patel is involved in DSC foundation`s activities as research advisor and lead trainer.

Vijay Mahajan, Director
Social Entrepreneur and one of the pioneers of the micro finance sector. He has over 27 years of experience in promoting organizations such as PRADAN and BASIX. He served on the Rangarajan Committee on Financial Inclusion and the Raghuram Rajan Committee on Financial Sector Reforms. He has coauthored a book "The Forgotten Sector" and has written more than 60 articles. He is Chair of the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP).

Dr. Sankar Datta, Director
Dr. Sankar Datta, who traversed between development action and academics for more than three decades, was Professor at Azim Premji University, setting up their Livelihood Initiative. He was the Dean, the Livelihood School. He also worked with IIM-Ahmedabad, before joining the faculty of the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA). On direct management of operations he was the founding Managing Director of Indian Grameen Services (IGS). He was also the Spearhead Team Leader in MP Oilseeds Coop Federation, Action Consultant in PRADAN. Dr Datta has been involved in extending professional services for rural development activities, specially focusing on livelihood support/ promotion, working with micro-enterprises, for over three decades. He was a Member of Working Group on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act constituted by Planning Commission and a Member in the Consortium for Management Training for NRLM. He is a member of the Advisory Council of Centre for Management in Agriculture, of IIM-Ahmedabad. He has a bachelor's degree in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry and holds a post graduate diploma in Rural Management. He did his PhD in Economics from Sardar Patel University.

Tushaar Shah, Director
Academician and Expert on Water Management, he serves as Principal Researcher at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). He has served as a member of several State and Central Committees on irrigation and groundwater management.

Mohan Sharma, Director
Agriculture Engineer and Management professional, he has 18 years of experience in the field of participatory natural resource management and rural livelihoods. He has been an action researcher and trainer on subjects such as irrigation, soil and water management, farmer producer organization and institutional development. He has been providing technical services to several states for capacity building of Govt. officials and Farmer Organizations in the field of PNRM. He has a bachelor's degree in Agriculture Engineering and holds Master of Business Administration (Marketing). He is involved in DSC foundation`s activities as research advisor and lead trainer.

Sachin Oza, Administrative Director
Social worker, he has 23 years of experience in the voluntary sector. He has been a trainer on subjects such as people's participation and institutional development. He represents the organization in several policy making forums at the state and national level. He is involved in DSC foundation`s activities as research advisor and lead trainer.

Other than our governing board members, we have a multidisciplinary team consisting of agricultural experts, Training experts, Field technicians as well as Rural Management Team which equally contribute to the organization by providing their different skills and knowledge for serving the community.

MAJOR ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT SO FAR

• Carried out stakeholder consultation study in Dharoi irrigation project of Gujarat and Sanjay Sarovar irrigation Project MP, on the topic of Innovations for "More Food with Less Water" for Asian Development Bank and Lahmeyer International, Germany.
• The Administrative Director provided short term consultancy on PIM and Irrigation Management Support to World Bank assisted West Bengal Accelerated Minor Irrigation Development Project wherein professional inputs were provided for developing holistic process of WUA strengthening, support to NGOs and their monitoring system
• Organized state level workshop on Operationalization of PIM in Orissa at WALMI, Bhubaneswar in collaboration of Water Resources Department, Government of Orissa.
• Organized exposure visits for senior Govt. delegates from Bangladesh on Participatory Irrigation Management in Gujarat
• Organized State level Capacity Building Programs for the Government Officers and Pani Panchayat Presidents of Orissa Community Tank Management Project assisted by World Bank.
• Organized module based training programs for Watershed Development Committees of Shivpuri and Shyopur Madhya Pradesh in collaboration with Rajiv Gandhi Jal Grahan Mission, Bhopal.
• Organized training program for ATMA project Ahmedabad on micro enterprise by women groups.
• Organized several training and exposure visits on agriculture and PIM for NGO workers and farmer Organisation leaders from Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.