SMART ANDHRA PRADESH FOUNDATION

Government of Andhra Pradesh established Smart Andhra Pradesh Foundation to play a proactive facilitation and advocacy role in achieving the goals of the Smart Village Smart Ward programme and to facilitate the different stakeholders for synergizing efforts, resources, skills and knowledge towards achieving the vision of Smart Village- Smart Ward towards Smart Andhra Pradesh. The foundation aims at an inclusive, sustainable growth of the state with the idea of promoting the happiness and wellness of its people.

The aims and objectives of the foundation are:

To lay the foundation for a sustainable process of engagement with citizens, Non Resident Indians, Non Resident Villagers to lead the developmental efforts in their respective localities.
To coordinate and channel the energies and programs of all the key stakeholders of Governance - State Government, Local Bodies, Industries, Non Governmental Organizations, Community Leaders, Donors, community and social responsibility partners with active involvement of citizens.
To act as a State Level Nodal agency for facilitating, networking and advocacy of “Smart Village- Smart Ward”
To act as a State Level Nodal agency for facilitating, networking and advocacy of “Smart Village- Smart Ward” programme at sub district, district and state levels.

Smart Andhra Pradesh Foundation has an eminent advisory board consisting of leading industrialists from each of the 13 districts, who are also district ambassadors, senior representatives from Reliance Foundation, UNICEF and Tata Trusts.

Vice Chairman, AP State Planning Board ChairmanCEO,

Smart AP FoundationMember Convenor

Special Chief Secretary, Planning Department, Govt. of AP

Member Principal Secretary, PR & RD, Govt. of AP

Member Principal Secretary, MA & UD, Govt. of AP

Member Principal Secretary, HM & FW, Govt. of AP

Member Secretary, School Education, Govt. of AP

Member Director, Accion Fraterna

Member CEO, APMAS

Member Cyient Technologies Representative

Member Unicef Representative

Member Advisor to AP Govt, APNRTMember

Dr. Bollempalli Gangaiah

Chief Executive Officer (i/c)

Dr B. Gangaiah, currently Member Secretary of AP Planning Board is an Indian Economic Service(IES) Officer of 1980 batch. He has a PhD in Economics and an M. Phil in International Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. During his career he worked in several Government of India Ministries of Agriculture, Industries(SME), Rural Development, Urban Development and Planning Commission in various capacities. He also worked on deputation with DFID and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded health projects in India. He worked with the Futures Group International a US based Think Tank on Health Economics during his deputation outside the Government.

Samanuri Kishore

Chief Resource Mobilisation Officer

Over 15 years in various corporate roles ranging from providing investment advisory to institutional clients as an equity analyst (8 years), to building strategic partnerships as a business development associate.

Vempati Nageswara Rao

Administrative and Drawing & Disbursing Officer

Over 30 years of versatile experience in Government services in various capacities.

Korrapati Deepak

Consultant

Graduate of ISB Hyderabad & IIT Roorkee, has about 3 years of cross-functional experience as an Architect and a Sustainability Consultant. He has experience in strategic consulting in Sustainability, Corporate Social Responsibility, Business Responsibility, Climate change and Emission management across various business sectors.

Dr. Dodda Krishnaiah P.

Programme Officer

He began his career as an academician, having 27 years of experience in academics, Government, Profits and Non-profits, International Development Agencies, actively contributing for sustainable social development towards building sustainable communities. He has rendered his services to Central and state governments, WORLD BANK, UNICEF, UNDP, ILO, UNFCCC, CARE INDIA & NGOs in India and abroad. His core expertise includes-Social Impact Assessments-SIA, Social Risk Mitigation-SRM, Social Research, livelihoods. He has managed promotion of high impact Social Enterprises, facilitating Business Social Responsibility (BR) among SME's within industrial clusters. Dr. Krishnaiah, was awarded, Ph.D is on International Relations and Politics-women in Indian politics. And completed M. Phil and MA from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He has published books and development strategy papers on poverty, sustainable livelihoods, WASH and women empowerment.

Bhumireddy Vijaya Kumari

Programme Officer

A development professional with over 18 years of experience in rural development sector in the areas of Capacity Building, institutional development and microfinance. Worked in diversified environment and has significant experience in monitoring, managing and supporting partners in programme implementation in the Government programmes involving Farmers Organisations and SHG federations.

Dr. Kompalli H.S.S. Sundar

Documentation Specialist

Dr. Kompalli H.S.S. Sundar obtained his Doctoral Degree from the School of Social Sciences, Hyderabad Central University and joined the social mission of Late Dr. Hemalata Lavanam and Late Lavanam, the reputed atheist leaders and social reformer couple of post-independent India. He has commendable experience in reform-based rehabilitation programme activities/projects for almost a decade and a half. He had fruitful experience in working with international donor bodies and government agencies like Plan International (UK), HAMU (Humanist Action for Human Rights), Norway, New York Community Trust (NYCT), USA, India Friends Association (IFA), USA, Save the Children Fund (UK), India HIV Alliance, UNICEF (India), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), USA and Government of Andhra Pradesh. He travelled across Europe and America meeting representatives of organisations involved in community service. He is a prolific writer/co-author and published six books (including the famous biography of Hemalata Lavanam published by National Book Trust, Govt of India in the year 2014) and around 50 articles (English and Telugu) on academic and development issues. His recent book entitled In Pursuit of Self Respect: Colonial India in 19 th Century – Dynamics of Social and Political Life in Andhra and Rayalaseema (Manak Publications: New Delhi, 2015; ISBN 978-93- 7831-398- 1) has been considered an epoch-making and authentic work reconstructing the social and political life in Andhra and Rayalaseema during 19 th century. He acted as a resource person/consultant to prestigious institutions like MEPMA, SERP, NCERT, NIRD and various Universities in the country. He served on the Executive Committee of SSA (AP State) for four years. He was a team member in national/international research projects supported by MHRD (Govt. of India), UNICEF, IKEA etc. He has a penchant for writing and social/historical/academic analysis.

Battula Anjani

Accounts Officer

Certified/Qualified Chartered Accountant with overall 5+ years of experience at both corporate and non-corporate level, worked as Financial analyst and undertake responsibilities of entire Record to Report, i.e. Month end Closure, Reporting, Flux & Market analysis, EGOL analysis, Hedging of Financial Instruments, Performing reconciliations & SOX controls, render of PWC Audit Deliverables in Time and supported the Stat team for smooth sign off Financial statements, collaborating with clients and internal teams to deliver services in time, and had hands on experience on SAP, JDE, Oracle, Trintech and Excel.

Gottumukkala Madhu

Advocacy Officer

Seasoned social marketing executive, with over 12 years experience in the development sector

Chintala Shiva Shankar

MIS Officer

Committed development professional with 10+ years of experience in the development sector, especially in the areas of planning, program management, Monitoring & Evaluation, Management Information System and technical support functions at state & district levels. Experience of working on development projects with GFATM, DFID, CDC, USAID, World Vision, TISS, NACO, CHAI, TBAI and India HIV/AIDS Alliance. Proficient in MS Office (Excel, Access, Word, PowerPoint), GIS Tools (Arc GIS, Epi Info & JT Maps) and SPSS.

Srirangam Seshadri

Technical Officer (Partner Engagement)

A social development professional more than 04 years, Experienced in Community mobilization, Social Marketing etc., worked with various NGO's, Social Enterprise organizations.

Karnati Venkateswara Rao

Accounts Assistant

With more than 4 years of experience in preparing and maintaining of proper accounts (tracking and settlement of Income tax, TDS and other related matters, updating the Bank and Cash Payments & receipt entries on regular basis and other support matters), facilitate annual audits and other compliance matters etc. worked with various corporate and non-corporate entities

Mudumala Anita

Partner Engagement Assistant

Over 9 years of Professional Experience, Specialised in Project Coordination includes Preparation of Comprehensive action plans, including resources, timeframes and budgets for projects. Performing various coordinating tasks, like schedule and risk management, along with administrative duties, like maintaining project documentation and handling financial queries. Having excellent time management and communication skills, collaborating with clients and internal teams to deliver results on time.

D.V. Sabitha

Partner Engagement Assistant

Professional having 5 years’ experience in Automobile Industry and 3 years’ experience in teaching field.

Mullapudi Vinodh Kumar

IT Support Officer

IT professional over 2 years of experience in designing sample page layouts, creating and coding web pages, using both non-technical and technical skills.

Srinivas Sajja

Data Analyst

Data Analyst over 10 years of experience in Data Analysis & Mining using SQL with Oracle RDBMS, MS Excel and MS Access database , Excel Spread sheet including programming with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) for MS Office Application suite and Data Visualization with Tableau software.

The Government of Andhra Pradesh is committed to achieving holistic, inclusive and sustainable development of the state. As part of "Swarnandhra Vision 2029” the state has a vision to be among the best three states in the country by 2022, the best state by 2029 and to be a leading global investment destination by 2050. The focus shall be not only on socio-economic development but also on the happiness level in the society. To realize this vision, the government has adopted a mission-based approach to create the appropriate social and economic infrastructure and has initiated 7 Missions, 5 Grids and 5 Campaigns to create awareness, seeking participation of all the stakeholders.

Building on the existing Missions, Campaigns, Grids, Programs and Schemes of the State and Central Government, Government of Andhra Pradesh launched the Smart Village-Smart Ward programme in 2015. The programme focuses on improved resource-use efficiency, empowered local self-governance, access to assured basic amenities and responsible individual and community behaviour to build a vibrant and happy society with the partnership from Individuals, NRIs, Elected Representatives, Corporates and Business Houses, NGOs, Philanthropists etc. A ‘Smart Village/Ward’ encompasses sustainable and inclusive development of all sections of its community, so that they enjoy a high standard of living. The programme targets achieving towards Smart Village-Smart Ward.

Human Development

100% Institutional Deliveries
End all preventable maternal deaths
End all preventable infant deaths
Malnutrition free children (below 5 years of age)
Zero school drop outs upto 12th class

Social Development

End open defecation
End girl-child marriages (girls below 18 years of age)

Economic Development

Home for all – with access to toilet, safe- drinking water, and regular power
Every household has diversified livelihood opportunities and/or micro- enterprise
Every village household has a functional bank account/PM Jan Dhan Bank Account
Every farmer has soil health card, enriched micro-nutrients
Functional toilet, potable water, electricity available in Anganwadi Centres, Govt. Schools, health centre, GP / Ward building

Environmental Development

GP / Ward has trees in vacant land i.e. common land, road side, institutional premises
GP / Ward has functional water conservation and harvesting structures
Functional solid / liquid waste management system

Good Governance

GP / Ward has functional Information Centre i.e. Computer Lab, and MeeSeva Centre
GP / Ward has telecom/ internet connectivity
GP / Ward has functional grievance redressal system
Gram Sabha/Ward Sabha held 4 times a year with 2/3rd attendance
GP / Ward has its own dynamic development plan prepared by community participation

http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/

case studies

https://www.smart.ap.gov.in/case-studies.html

Containing student absenteeism: The Smart ways and means

Local philanthropist and staff members of the ZPHS (Zillah Parishad High School) at Chandrampalem under Chinagadili Mandal of Visakhapatnam district tackled a nagging problem using smart ways and means. The school is centrally located to many residential colonies mostly inhabited by manual labourers and daily wagers. The exacting nature of life and livelihoods often render parents immune to the behavioural attitudes of their school-going children , for most of their time is either lost in manual work or search for gainful work. It has been validated by teachers and local leaders that many students (both boys and girls) betray school and classes to take up wage work along with their parents as and when there is a demand for casual labour force. Children do so to add to the household income. The resultant student absenteeism from school has been a regular feature till very recently. The problem was tackled in a smart and smooth way.

The local philanthropist, T S R Prasad (retired Additional Superintendent of Police) played an important role in making a purposeful connect between school teachers and personality development experts like Dr. B V Pattabhiram to address the issue. They began organising student counselling sessions in the school with an unfailing periodicity. All the students in their early adolescence were asked to attend the classes. These sessions were conducted in a playfully serious manner where life skill education was discussed thread-bear with the students. Hard work finally paid off. When surveyed, the student absenteeism during the year 2012 was about 30%. After six years of counselling sessions the absenteeism today just hovers round 5%. The sea change is possible with support from T S R Prasad and school teachers who have adopted the school as their own and engaged their best efforts. Within a span of six years, more and more students today attend national gaming/sporting competitions and abstain from attending to daily-wage work along with their parents. The social and behavioural change may be abstract, but the result is concrete and perceptible.

Smart Village Smart Ward, the prestigious programme launched by Hon’ble Chief Minister, Nara Chandrababu Naidu harps on 20 non-negotiable development interventions/programmes, and educational improvement is one among them. The effort at ZPHS, Chandrampalem village is reflective of the government’s commitment and future vision. Quite impressed by student achievements and partner contributions, Hon’ble CM, Chandrababu Naidu spent more than a couple of hours with the students in the school on February 5, 2016. This is unprecedented in the history of modern Andhra Pradesh where a Chief Minister interacted with student-learners much beyond the scheduled time allotted and much beyond the imagination of onlookers and administrators. CM’s extended stay in the school is an undeclared social testimony to the contemporary legacy of his own programme, Smart Village Smart Ward.

Constructing a new reality

Ganjikunta village, Vajarakarurur mandal in Anatapur district, recently got the status of “Open-Defecation-Free” village. This was preceded by massive construction activity in the village with the support of Rural Development Trust (RDT), a reputed development agency working in the district. The village has 372 families and all of them have toilets now. This was possible by the concerted efforts of RDT and the Grama Panchayat of Ganjikunta. While RDT focused on toilet construction, Varala Jayendra Reddy, Sarpanch concentrated on other issues related to total sanitation in the village. The coordinated efforts of RDT, Grama Panchayat and villagers pushed the village ahead and now there is no looking back.

“The approach road to Ganjikunta village used to be very filthy, with heaps of garbage, animal waste, bushes on both sides. It was difficult even for an auto rickshaw to move on this road, due to the space constraint and filth. Several villagers were also defecating on both sides of this road. It was a disgrace for the village that this was the approach road. No one felt bad about it. Mr. Jayendra Reddy organized a Grama Sabha and requested the villagers to remove the heaps of garbage/ agricultural waste from this place, No one responded to the request. In fact, they did not care for the “impression” at all., Reddy thought to start acting tough. Organized another Grama Sabha and informed them that if they did not clear the mess on the approach road, would seek the help of the police and request them for necessary action. This sent shock waves in the village. Within a week, all the families shifted the agriculture waste to their farmyards and cleaned up the approach road. Mr. Reddy himself cleared the bushes and the approach road had more space for moving traffic. But people still continued to use it for open defecating.” says Varala Jayendra Reddy talking about the baby steps that the village took towards total sanitation. The Grama Panchayat was tough at times and persuasive when needed. They did not make any false promises and every promise made was delivered on.

“During my term, I wanted to transform the village. I didn’t care whether people called it politics or development. All I wanted was to make a difference. I am not worried about putting people to some inconvenience and push them a little to fall in line. I am not bothered about getting re-elected or votes. I wanted to clean up the mess in the village. Initially, it was hard. Now that people know what I intend to do, it is easy. They all cooperate.” says Varala Jayendra Reddy

The Grama Panchayat organized series of meetings and campaigns for promoting sanitation and cleanliness. The focus was not just on construction of toilets, but also on using the. The firm action of the Grama Panchayat ensured the community realized that the Sarpanch and the Grama Panchayat meant business. The home visits by the Sarpanch, representatives of government departments and RDT staff reiterated the message to each family.

Decision makers in each family began listening to the message and understood that every household had to construct a toilet at home and that there was a scheme under which they could do it. For about six months, (during 2015 and early 2016), there was a frenetic pace of activity in the entire village. All households completed the toilet construction during this period and villagers also started using them. The village is now Open-Defecation-Free. (ODF)

Joining Hands for a Smart Transformation

AV Nagaram is a panchayat with a population of nearly 4300 people. It is located in Thondangi mandal of East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh and is adopted by GMR – Kakinada SEZ under Smart village program of Government of Andhra Pradesh. GMR Varalakshmi Foundation has its own thrust areas like; supporting the initiatives for improvement in educational infrastructure and standards, health and hygiene, skill development, livelihoods etc. Its focus is on both; individuals and institutional services. In fact, even now it is doing the same thing. The difference is that now its work is complimented and supplemented with governmental efforts, making the development process a holistic one.

We have been working here since 2012 and have taken up several initiatives as part of our social interventions. AV Nagaram is one such village. Incidentally, it happens to be the native village of Finance Minister of Andhra Pradesh, who is very keen to develop it as a smart village. Subsequently - Sudhakar, Team Leader of GMR Varalakshmi Foundation

Several innovative health programs are also organised for improving maternal and child health. ‘Saamoohika Seemanthalu’, ‘Balintha Darshini’, ‘Samoohika Annaprasana’ etc are some of such innovative programs. Village Sarpanch along community elders, staff of ICDS and GMR Foundation, local health workers, staff of local PHC etc participate in these events.

The objective of ‘saamoohika seemantham’ is to address the maternal health and neo natal care. It is organzied once in a quarter and in the last two years 8 such programs have been organized in AV Nagaram, where in a total of 250 pregnant women participated, GMR Foundation gives a kit with iron and vitamin tablets along with nutritional supplements like dates, jaggery, chakkilam and ragi powder etc. They are also given some communication material wherein the importance of pre-natal, neo natal care is stressed upon. This is also encouraging institutional deliveries in the villages.

‘Balintha Darshini’ is organized after the deliveries wherein the family is given ‘new born baby kits’, containing dresses that provide needed warmth for the new born. For making these new born baby kits, GMR Varalakshmi Foundation has promoted an enterprising activity among the two women groups of Ramanakkapeta. These women continuously make those kits and supply the same to the Foundation. These are given during the house visits, done immediately after the delivery. Foundation staff along with local anganwadi worker and health worker make these house visits. They explain the new mothers about the importance of neo natal care and breast-feeding. With a focus on arresting infant and maternal mortality rate, community level events are organized for such new mothers belonging to 2-3 villages. Atleast 2-3 such events are conducted in a month. Local staff of ICDS plans the program for the day, in which new mothers are oriented towards baby care and nutritional supplementation etc. Likewise, on the day of ‘Saamoohika Annaprasana’, the young children are given nutritional supplementation in the form of healthy weaning powder, made up with different nutritional food items, along with a cup and spoon to feed the baby. Lot of communication material is also provided to the mothers and their family members, highlighting the importance of maternal and childcare. ‘Aksharaabhyaasam’ is another event, which is organized when the children are admitted in the schools. On such occasions, a kit containing a slate, school bag, workbook etc are given to every child. Local MDO, MRO and other officials also participate in such events and the importance of education is stressed upon.

Grameena Abhivridhilo Mamekam, TadEkam

Guruji suggested Kothuru village, a remote village near Nallamala forest (180 km from Hyderabad and 120 Km from Guntur) to be developed as a smart village. The district collector informed us that Smart AP Foundation selected us as partner for Kothuru village in Macherla. We didn’t know the location of the village. We located it on Google maps and visited the village. During our first visit, we stopped at the school and interacted with the children and teachers. We began our work from the school. In response to the call of Chief Minister N Chandra Babu Naidu to adopt villages, our spiritual leader, Guruji Naushir of Pune who preaches the message of Mahavatar Babaji suggested this village. We don’t know why and how he chose this village and we don’t want to know the reason too. He has chosen us, to work as volunteers in this village. We just try to contribute our best to the village. It gives us immense pleasure to visit this village. The 20 non-negotiable smart indicators are the basis of our work. They are just the beginning.” says B Krishna Manohara Rao explaining about his journey to Kothuru village.

“We do not have any plan. We just responded to the situation. On our first visit to the village, we stopped at the school. It did not have a compound wall and two of the buildings had collapsed. School dropout rate was very high. The students used to sit on the floor. The teachers also did not receive any cooperation from the parents. Unless people are educated, development was not possible. Quality education is the right of every child. So, we decided to improve the education first before we do anything else in the village. We improved the school buildings and compound wall with a gate at a cost of Rs. 4.30 lakhs. We later on also improved another building at a cost of Rs. 2.20 lakhs. We appointed two teachers for English and one teacher for computer science on a salary of Rs. 7500 per teacher, per month. Last year, the school had up to class 8 only. After 8th class, girl children had to go to Macherla to continue their education. But most of them dropped out. We approached the DEO along with the people of the village to upgrade the school to class 10. All these initiatives helped enhance the image of the school. These are our small efforts to improve education.” says B Krishna Manohara Rao.

TadEkam Foundation provided cycles to 23 students who come from nearby villages to this school. They planted trees and provided benches to improve the ambience in the school. They also improved the midday meal cooking place spending Rs. 0.65 lakhs. They repaired the bore well spending Rs. 0.30 lakhs and established RO water plant with Rs. 0.50 lakhs. TadEkam Foundation constructed a primary school building with benches for the children and also provided electricity connection. They spent about Rs. 1.76 lakhs. “It is our privilege to work in this village. We share this success proudly with other teachers in the district.” says Venkateswarlu, the school headmaster.

The efforts of TadEkam Foundation have a positive impact on the other government employees in the village too. The multipurpose health worker attends the sub center regularly, now. Since the village did not have a veterinary hospital, the people had to travel 15 km to Macherla town. They approached the district collector and MP to establish a veterinary hospital in their village. The hospital sanctioned can serve about 28000 livestock. Samba Siva Rao, an NRI residing in USA is inspired by the TadEkam Foundation’s efforts. He came forward to donate Rs. 10 lakhs towards construction of the hospital building for livestock. He wants the farmers in his village to adopt chemical free sustainable agriculture. He wants them to develop model practices in agriculture and livestock management.

TadEkam Foundation paid Rs. 1 lakh for earth excavator to remove the thorny bushes and widen the 4 km approach road on both sides. Gram Panchayat has taken up avenue plantation under MGNREGA. TadEkam Foundation identified 65 households without toilets. Though the Government sanctioned household toilets under Swatch Bharath Mission, they did not come forward to construct the toilets. TadEkam Foundation contributed Rs 3000/- per household to the Government’s grant of Rs. 12000/- (for single pit latrine) and facilitated the construction of toilets. Soon this village will be declared Open Defecation Free (ODF). TadEkam foundation constructed internal gravel roads and a culvert over the small stream in the village at a cost of Rs. 1.16 lakhs. In SC colony TadEkam Foundation has dug a new bore well, provided motor, pipes, electricity connection, drinking water facility at a cost of Rs. 3.20 lakhs. 70 LED lights were provided to all street lights in the village at a cost of Rs. 2 lakhs.

The Little Masters

In reality, they are school going students, but they are recognized as ‘masters’. They are the ‘Little Masters’, who teach their parents, after their school hours. Thanks to their teachers, who motivated them, they have successfully moved past the initial reluctance of their elders and are now in full command. They now command due attention and respect not only from their ‘parent students’, but also from the entire community and even the entire nation. Their efforts found a mention even in the Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi’s ‘Mann ki Baat’, his weekly radio talk to the nation. This unique effort of the students of the Upper Primary School at Dwarapudi, a tiny village in Vizianagaram District of Andhra Pradesh, is now being replicated throughout the district. This effort by the students has contributed to achieving total literacy in the village, at a time when adult literacy programs elsewhere are not yielding the desired results.

“We never thought our efforts would get recognized by the nation. Like all good things that have small beginnings, it also began with a small incident. During a parent-teacher interaction, our teachers noticed that most of the parents were putting their thumb impressions in the attendance register. We realized that most of them were illiterates. We wanted to do something about it, at least get them to be able to sign their names. The next day, we casually asked some of our students why they couldn’t help their parents learn to sign. And how it would make them feel if their parents could sign? This got a few of the students thinking and we used it as the impetus we needed.” says a teacher of the school recalling the early days of the experiment. Neither teachers nor children nor the community expected that their small effort would bring the village such rare recognition.

That incident has shown the students a new path. The students of Dwarapudi village, though a little apprehensive in the beginning, took the cue from their teachers, and the responsibility of teaching their parents and close relatives. They now also help the district administration in spreading the concept to other schools in the district by sharing their experience and motivating other students. Incidentally, the village is just 3-4 km away from Vizianagaram town, falls under the Parliamentary Constituency of Shri. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Minister of Civil Aviation, Govt. of India.

“After the parent-teacher meet, we called some of the students and asked them if it was impossible for them to teach their parents to sign at the least. In fact, we set a condition that their parents should be able to sign in the registers at the next meet, which was a month away. This triggered the process”, says Shantha Murthy, Head Master of the school.

“Indeed, it was a unique and simple approach. The bottom line was the motivational guidance of the teachers and the enthusiasm of the children. A positive impact was made possible without any financial investment of any sort. The approach was– Selection of a few bright and intelligent students from classes five, six and seven and assigning them the task of teaching their parents neighbors or relatives nearby, -to teach reading and writing at the basic level. Each student had to teach at least two persons of their choice; be it their parents or relatives who resided near their homes. They were to engage in this activity after their school hours, after completing their regular studies, homework etc.” explains Mrs. Raja Kumari, CEO of Zilla Parishad. She along with the then District Collector M.M. Nayak steered the initiative by providing the required motivational support from time to time. During one of her visits to the village, she noticed a student sitting in front of the home during the evening hours and teaching the alphabet to the parents. She took a photograph of it and enquired into it. Once she knew what was in execution, she decided to promote it by all possible means, by linking it to ongoing adult literacy programs in the district.

With official support, the informal initiative of the school teachers took the form of a systemic program. A baseline survey was conducted in the village and 280 adult illiterates were identified.40 brilliant and intelligent students were identified for the task of educating their elders. A mapping exercise was done, to allocate two adult illiterates to each student. If the student was found to be capable, he/she was mapped with 3 persons. This way, nearly 80-100 elders were assigned to the students. The others were assigned to the village coordinators of the Saakshar Bharat Program. Interestingly, the children came up with their own teaching methodologies to teach their parents/elders and help them identify alphabets and numbers. Some used newspaper headlines, some movie titles, some others the names and numbers on buses plying in the village to enable them to read and write. They used whatever was available in their natural surroundings to educate their elders. Initially, some parents were reluctant, but the students convinced them by providing instances that their parents could readily use their newfound literacy - to identify the correct bus to board when traveling, to read the movie title and know where it is showing etc.

“I know the difficulties faced by my parents when they travel outside the village. They don’t know which bus to get into. When they watch television, they just hear what is being said. They ask others to read the headlines in the newspaper. They are dependent on others. Sometimes, they get the answers they seek but most of the time they are humiliated in one way or the other. I motivated them by citing all these instances.” says Pravallika, an eighth class student on how she taught her parents.

Soumya, another student adds, “I taught my mother and aunt. First, I taught them to write alphabets on a slate, just the way I learned. Then I asked them to write the alphabets from their memory. After that, I would dictate small words such as names of vegetables, relatives or villages, and encouraged them to read the headlines and titles on movie posters. They slowly lost their initial inhibitions and learned with great enthusiasm.”

“Initially, we were a little apprehensive about making our parents literate. Our mothers showed more interest than the fathers. They were reluctant, as they did not want to be home-bound at the end of a day’s hard work. In such cases, our teachers intervened and convinced them by explaining the benefits of being able to read and write. After that, it was much easier for us to teach.” Says Soujanya, a class eight student. Such efforts have incremental benefits in the village. Some parents stopped taking liquor, as there now had to spend their evenings taking classes from their children. Students like Pavan did not stop with just teaching his parents. Whenever he attends any family gathering, he tells all the elders about the importance of education. Daveed, a seventh class student also does the same, as do most of the “little masters”, a word coined by the local MP and Central Minister, Shri. Ashok Gajapathi Raju. Upon knowing of their efforts, he came to the school and spent substantial time with the students.

“When the students narrated their experiences, the minister was moved and we could

see tears of joy in his eyes. He fondly called them ‘Chitti Guruvulu’, literally meaning ‘Little Masters’”, says Venkata Ramana, a teacher who guided the students. He also narrates how the teachers voluntarily distributed the work of visiting the students’ homes after school to monitor the teaching of the students amongst them.

The district administration also supported the efforts of the teachers by supplying the required teaching material and training the students to teach with the help of these materials. The administration also supplied the study material provided by the Adult Education Department to the learners. All these learners were recognized as literates, having successfully passed the NIOS test.

The district administration simplified the process of learning and teaching by supplying small, pictorial textbooks using the 56 letters of the Telugu alphabet to build small and interesting words familiar for the learners.22 letters that are frequently used were given top priority. These small textbooks made teaching much easier for the Little Gurus. Names of locally well-known villages, festivals, rivers, jatharas etc. become part of the teaching material. Simple tests like fill in the blanks were part of the learning process. Efforts were also made to teach simple mathematics. To make alphabet recognition easier, names of daily television serials, advertisements on RTC buses, promotional materials of various governmental programs and schemes were used. The initial focus was on inculcating the reading habit and then slowly moved to writing words and small sentences. “We are glad that we have an opportunity to teach our parents. We explain to them the importance of education and how it improves knowledge and confidence. Initially, we faced little reluctance, but later, our parents and other elders realized the need to learn. Now they can read the names of the buses, can sign on papers and bank passbooks and read the names of the TV serials. And they are proud of their new capability. Many others are now voluntarily coming forward to learn. It is a great experience for us and we feel happy to be part of this drive”, says Madhulatha, a class eight student.

Expanding the horizons...

Seeing the potential of utilizing school students’ energy and enthusiasm, the MP and Central Minister, Shri. Ashok Gajapathi Raju advised the district administration to scale the concept. Accordingly, a pilot project is being implemented across the mandal. Based on these learnings, it will be scaled up across the entire district. For the pilot, 10 schools (including primary and upper primary schools) were identified. Nearly 580 smart students were identified and mapped to 1028 illiterate elders. The students of Dwarapudi School, divided into groups of 6-8 students, who are well versed with the concept, go to the identified schools in the mandal and orient the students and teachers of the schools. Village coordinators of Sakshar Bharath Program are also involved in this drive.

“Here there is no capital investment, except the energy and enthusiasm of the Student and motivational guidance and dedication of the teachers. We are trying to capitalize on it. The entire education department is also being involved to support, guide, assess and monitor the initiative from an administrative angle, to enable us to take it up at a bigger scale in the near future throughout

the district.” explains Raja Kumari, CEO of Zilla Parishad.

These efforts had several other incremental benefits. The students played a significant role in making the village an Open Defecation Free(ODF) village. They motivated their parents and elders to bring in the necessary behavioral changes to construct and use individual toilets. The district administration constructed 3 bio-toilets and two community toilets in the village. Students took an active role in several of the awareness programs conducted. During this whole process, the students never neglected their studies. When a team from the central government visited the school, some of the children instantly learned Hindi and made a presentation to them in Hindi. They are highly motivated by the support they get from their teachers, Sarpanch, and other village elders too. On several occasions like Independence Day, Republic Day and Children’s Day, school bags, plates, books, shoes, pencil boxes etc. were donated and distributed to all the students. After the mention and appreciation from the Prime Minister, the school got 10 story kindles from the government. A projector was also sanctioned from the funds of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Efforts are being made to provide digital equipment for interactive technology-based learning.

“We are very proud of our children. Their efforts have put our village on the National map. And with the active support of our beloved central minister, we have completed many developmental works in the village. We have also got recognition as one of the best model villages in the country, under Sansad Aadarsha Grama Program. We will try our best to keep up this momentum”, says Srinivas Rao, Sarpanch of the village, with a proud smile on his face.

Documented by: M. Ramesh, WASSAN Foundation

D Palle’ A Brand, Not Just Any Village

Deendarla Palle(D Palle) is an entry point to the Talakona forests, a destination for nature lovers. The Talakona forests are popular for their lush green forest cover and water falls. Of late, the village of D Palle is slowly gaining popularity and is a major attraction, for those who want to learn about smart villages in Andhra Pradesh. D Palle village is in Chinnagottigallu mandal of Chittoor district on the way to Talakona. It has 16 habitations with 563 households. Agriculture isa major source of livelihood along with mango plantations

and vegetable cultivation.

The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh had appealed to everyone, especially NRIs to participate in the re-building of the state in the light of bifurcation. In 2014, Abdul Ali Shaik left his high paying job and came back to his village and started a company called NAVA. The bifurcation of the state pained him and the public appeal by the chief minister was a perfect occasion to move back to Andhra Pradesh. Most of his operations are in Pune, but he decided to operate from his village and employed 12 local youth in his office. For Abdul Ali Shaik, smart village is not just achieving one or two objectives but ensure people start making smart decisions in every aspect of their life naturally. He is completely inspired by GoAP’s, 20 non-negotiable parameters that indicate the level of smartness of a village. His vision is to make the village self-sustainable and transform the people into globally competent citizens without depending on external grants.

Adbul Ali Shaik is an entrepreneur whose journey so far with several unexpected

twists, is an inspiration to the youth of the village. He was born and brought up in a small farmer family, in the village. He completed his polytechnic diploma in civil engineering. At around the same time, he lost his father, who was suffering from paralysis. His poverty did

not allow him to pursue further education and he had to search for a job. He joined a small

computer center on a salary of Rs.1000/- per month. He completed his B.Tech in Civil Engineering through distance education. He worked as Watershed Development Team Member with an NGO called RCDC, at a salary of Rs. 3000 per month for 5 years. Following that, he joined Madhucon as site engineer at a monthly salary of Rs. 15000. He later joined AECOM Company in Doha, Qatar as an engineer and rose to the position of Associate Director through sheer hard work and innovation. He was the Associate Director with AECOM, an American firm when he received much appreciation from the Government of Qatar for his innovations in design and use of technology on the Lusali Expressway project.

He believes that spending money alone will not produce results as Government has been doing for decades. Timely facilitation and establishing knowledge systems can actually help the transformation. In February 2015, he organized a meeting with the people of two Gram Panchayats that are part of one revenue village (but with more focus on D’ Palle Gram Panchayat) to explain his dreams, possibilities and the support required for the development of the village. A “Village Development Council (VDC)” with several sub committees, with tasks and responsibilities defined were formed as a result of these consultations.

The VDC has representatives from every habitation and accommodated all active

members who wanted to work towards the development of the village. The VDC employed a dedicated Village Manager and agriculture support person on a full time basis. The Village Manager works for the development of the village by coordinating with all sub committees, beneficiaries, volunteers and government officers to implement the action plans of the VDC. Abdul Ali Shaik pays his salary. As a first step, sanitation was given top priority and it utilized the opportunity under Swachh Bharath Mission-Gramin (SBM-G) to improve the

sanitation infrastructure in the village. Volunteers (Swachh Doots) were identified to motivate

the people and ensure construction of toilet in every household. The VDC with the support

of the Village Manager and Swachh Doots conducted a baseline survey on all 20 smart

indicators in all 16 habitations of the village. This baseline survey and analysis helped

people understand where the village stood. Abdul Ali believes, these 20 indicators are not

sufficient to become ‘Eco friendly climate responsible village’, and that it is important to

go beyond these indicators.

A master plan was developed with the vision “Complete village nestles into its natural setting, sustaining a diverse, healthy community that values environment”. The vision statement is divided into 4 key missions - Community Well-being, Economic Vitality, Environmental Leadership and High Quality Rural Environment. Each of these key missions have themes, initiatives and result statements. The VDC set goals, smart team sand designed strategies to achieve the vision. Smart teams have a different set of functions, under the Chairmanship of Abdul Ali Shaik supported by P Subramanian, the Village Manager and Raveendra Reddy, Agriculture Secretary. The VDC selected team leaders for each of the four key missions. Two men/ women from the 16 habitations are the members of the VDC. Proactive women from each SHG are identified to motivate other women towards achieving the objectives. The village now has a logo with the name ‘D Palle’to promote agriculture business. The district collector and other government officials are also very cooperative in implementing the plans and achieving the vision of the VDC. The VDC has divided the master plan into high and medium priority projects.

The VDC focused on construction of individual household toilets as a starting point for all round development. It took special efforts to help the poor and laborers in construction by providing additional support and facilitation. The key improvement in the village is the supply of drinking water.70% of the population from eight habitations was facing drinking water shortage. Abdul Ali dug eight new borewells, repaired all motors and pipelines to good condition to achieve 100% assured water supply. Gram Sabha became a strong forum for discussing issues and finding solutions.

Billavaripalli, a habitation of D Palle Panchayat, was in a high risk zone with a11 KV electric line passing through the village. With support from Abdul Ali Shaik, the electric line was shifted to a different location, giving the people a lot of satisfaction and peace of mind. Electricity facilities were also improved in Pichigundlavaripalli, another habitation, by installing four new electric poles to cover 12 households. This Gram Panchayat registered 0% school dropout rate and 100% immunization. The village is getting priority for implementation of government welfare programmes too.

During 2016-17, the Gram Panchayat received 67% less rainfall and had prolonged dry spells. Therefore the VDC plans to promote crop schedules, effective water management and strengthen livestock and agriculture support systems such as seed bank, vermi-compost, vaccination, preventive medical care etc. Red sanders and black berry are suitable alternative

horticulture crops in the area. It has plans to ensure a minimum monthly income of Rs. 10000 for every household, by creating additional income in agriculture, horticulture, livestock and micro enterprises.

Abdul Ali Shaik submitted a few eco-friendly low cost sustainable infrastructure, design and technology options to the Government of Andhra Pradesh. They include infiltrated trenches for storm water, Geo Cell concrete pavements and closed conduit drainage networks with soak way trenches along with potable water networks and solar street lights. This new design and technology improves life of the roads and consumes less material and saves up to two third of the cost. He developed two prototypes of solar street lighting. One of them would be selected and scaled up in across all 16 habitations. He wants to develop android based mobile app that will have compatibility to integrate with Government websites and a core dash board to track progress, opportunities and resources. The other requirements are permanent houses for 65 households and buildings for the two anganwadi centres.

D Palle is a minor Gram Panchayat but it doesn’t have adequate funds to operate and maintain the street lights, water and sanitation infrastructure. VDC wants the Gram Panchayat to collect taxes on the services it provides, such as water, street lights, roads and drains. The VDC wants the government to set up a fast track mechanism to sanction and implement plans and speed up implementation in smart villages on a priority basis. Second request is to give special directions to JanmaBhoomi committees in smart villages to promote necessary transparency, cooperation and coordination between partners and committees. The third request is to nominate smart village partners as a member in the JanmaBhoomi committees.

D Palle received the district level best village award in 2015 and state level best village award in 2016 on the occasion of Krishna Pushkaralu. The village has partnerships with academic and business institutions to put it on a fast track to becoming a smart village. Leland Stanford University and Berkeley University have incorporated a case study of the village in their curriculum.

Constructing a new reality

“During my term, I wanted to transform the village. I didn’t care whether people called it politics or development. All I wanted was to make a difference. I am not worried about putting people to some inconvenience and push them a little to fall in line. I am not bothered about getting re-elected or votes. I wanted to clean up the mess in the village. Initially, it was hard. Now that people know what I intend to do, it is easy. They all cooperate.” says Varala Jayendra Reddy

Meanwhile, the Grama Panchayat made a series of efforts to ensure that all households had access to water and clean all-weather-roads. Funds available under the 14th Finance Commission were effectively used to support this process. Funds from MGNREGS were also used as matching grants for the purpose. A cement concrete road (Rs 1.77 Lakh), protected Water Supply Scheme (0.55 Lakh), extension of pipe line for water supply (Rs 0.08 Lakh), restoration of water supply scheme (Rs 0.13 Lakh), Construction of cistern in SC colony (Rs 0.68 Lakh), new pumping arrangement (Rs 0.78 Lakh), repairing of hand pumps (Rs. 0.04 Lakh) were some of the interventions that helped ensure water supply to every family in the village. Along with twin pit toilets, proper drainage and soak pits were constructed to ensure that the village remains clean and dry.

Varala Jayendra Reddy is immensely happy with his efforts and those of the villagers in this transition and transformation. He now has several new dreams for the village. He has plans to put up bright lights that consume low energy, construct underground drainage system in the village and several other ideas. When quizzed about the possibilities of using domestic waste water from underground drainage system (after preliminary treatment) for crops, he is enthused with the idea and seeks more information about it. “Give me some idea and direction. I would certainly implement it in our village.” He vows it is not an empty promise and guarantees action.

Several houses got complete facelifts during this process. The toilet, the new entrant in to their house, triggered the process of re-construction of the entire house in some cases. No one is complaining! They took this as an opportunity and realized their dreams.A new reality that the villagers have constructed themselves

Celebrating Relationships and Smartness

“The first step to developing relationships with people is that they should accept you as one among them. For this purpose, I started celebrating festivals in the village- Sankaranti, Deepavali, Independence Day, Republic Day, May Day. The local youth, gram panchayat members and others joined these celebrations. In fact they organized these celebrations and we bonded over these celebrations” narrates Tarun Kakani, who adopted Marribandham village, under the Smart AP initiative.

The Sarpanch and Gram Panchayat members are happy that Tarun has adopted the village. “Tarun established a computer center in the Gram Panchayat building with internet facility. The youth of the village are learning to use it. Several details/ data of Gram Panchayat are also digitized. He also organized several health camps in the village and provided medicines. He sent some students from the village to Hyderabad and Vijayawada for some training programs too. Whenever we have any requirement, we look forward to his support. ” Trinath Rao narrates about the support they get from Tarun.

“Recently Marribandham village was declared Open Defecation Free (ODF)village. The credit goes to Tarun, who made the initial investment to kick start the work. He ensured the supply of materials at a lower cost, by purchasing them in bulk.” says Trinath Rao about the new status of the village. He also takes us around to show how the families are maintaining these toilets. These are two-in-one units having both a toilet and bath room. The size is also bigger than the specifications prescribed by the government. Additional funds were provided by Tarun. Earlier, only owners were using the toilets and tenants had to go for open defecation. The owners were convinced to allow the tenants to use the toilets too. With this change in the practice, the village has attained the ODF status.

“Interestingly, the members of MYWA (the Marribandham Youth Welfare Association ) played an important role in the entire process. They made use of various construction management practices, to reduce wastage of building materials. Their services are now being used by villages like Sitarampuram, to build toilets. The villagers should be knowledgeable about various government schemes, should be able to access them and implement them smartly. In fact they should be able to guide others in such processes. This is the vision I have for the village.” says Tarun, happy about the developments in the village.

Marribandham village is able to develop good relationships with government staff/ departments, gain knowledge of various government schemes and benefit from them. The youth from the village is able to support other villages and demonstrate leadership. The Gram Panchayat data is digitized and it also has a Facebook page. “Ultimately, the village should be a peaceful and happy place to live.” concludes Tarun.

A Fist of Determination at Boni

Aruna Shree, Mandal Development Officer, Anandapuram mandal, Vishakapatnam district and general partner for Boni village, was also special officer assigned to the village. She recounts the journey thus, “Boni was filthy and you could not set foot on some of the streets in the village. But there was a spark in the village leadership and strong sense of determination to make a difference. Our assessment was right. This gave me the confidence that we could support the village. We processed the applications, construction of toilets, inspection, payments and everything in record time. The village Sarpanch not only lived up to our expectations but went beyond and innovated on group toilets, using the same government scheme. I also came to know that he was able to mobilize funds and good will for maintenance of these group toilets.

Satya Prasad, sarpanch of Boni village, is perplexed at this behavior of the villagers. Even after construction of toilets within a record time, surmounting considerable difficulties, the villagers are not using them. When he embarked on a mission to convert Boni into an Open Defecation Free (ODF) village, he knew he would have to work against all odds. He was able to sort out each problem but the toughest was changing the habits of the villagers.

Though each of these hurdles were crossed, victory was still elusive. Families continued to defecate in the open. Satya Prasad was disappointed and depressed, but not for long. He realized that construction of toilets was only a small part of the bigger problem. The real challenge was to change the habits of villagers. He was determined to bring about this change.

“Our village had several factions working against each other. Over a period of time, a culture of cohesive thought and action emerged. We pooled Rs. 12 lakhs and constructed a community hall. Of this Rs.6 lakhs were mobilized as donations and the remaining Rs.6 lakhs was borrowed. This hall serves as a venue for meetings, marriages and functions and users pay user charges. A committee manages and maintains the community hall. The loan repayment and maintenance are met from this income. But such collective action could not be translated to an issue like open defecation. This issue required its own strategies and struggles.” explains Satya Prasad on the challenges.

A clean and functional toilet is important to make the switch to a good habit. Boni village found an innovative solution by making use of the social capital of the village. Satya Prasad says, “It was nice that 27 people from our village agreed to donate funds on an annual basis towards maintaining the toilets. They reposed confidence in my efforts and joined me in this mission. I put their names and photos on a banner, displayed near the toilets. These are the real rich people - Sri Manthulu - (Good Samaritans) of our village.”


S No	Asset	Unit	Amount Rs Lakh	Source
1	Panchayat Building	1 No	17.00	MGNREGS
2	Anganwadi Center	1 No	10.00	MGNREGS
3	Concrete Road	0.5 Km	16.00	MGNREGS
4	Repair of Irrigation Tank/ Digging of Canal	1 No	30.00	MGNREGS
5	Avenue Plantation	400 No	0.94	MGNREGS
6	Cattle Trough	4 Nos	0.28	MGNREGS
7	Link Roads		2.50	MGNREGS
8	Toilets	112	16.80	MGNREGS
	Total		98.52

While working on the agenda of converting his village into smart village, Satya Prasad was smart enough to access funds from MGNREGS and 14th Finance Commission, for a variety of programs and assets. All these interventions took place in last two years (2014 onwards). He thinks that MGNREGS is a boon to the village and that he could access these funds, as Boni village had a good will with the district administration. Boni is considered as a special case by the district, as they could acquire the ODF status in record time.

Apart from government agencies, other voluntary organizations and Corporate Social Responsibility Groups have also been partnering with the village. Bright Futures Development Trust started working in the village for promoting support systems to differently abled persons. The organization is in the process of forming a collective of differently abled persons in the village. It wants to link this collective with various government schemes/ programs. Similarly, Corporate Social Responsibility wing of Divi’s Laboratories Ltd is also supporting the village, by establishing a drinking water purification plant. They have also supplied tree guards for the village avenue plantations. Women groups in the village are being trained in the village community hall on tailoring, by another NGO.

Boni village is making progress on several developmental fronts because of the personal interest of the Sarpanch, Satya Prasad. He has not only been investing time but also his personal resources. He has been paying the salary of the sanitation staff from his own personal sources (about 18000 Rs/month). They clean the village streets and drains and dump the garbage in common dumping yard, on a daily basis. “I wanted to prove that I could change the face our village. Waiting for government funds and other support is a long drawn process. I thought I should do whatever I can, with my own resources. Luckily, I am getting support from government, villagers and others too. Most of the investments are for capital costs. But I need to find out a viable solution for operation and maintenance. I received several awards and certificates of recognition. This recognition gives me immense satisfaction. But the challenge is in continuing these efforts.” reflects Satya Prasad.

The clean roads, avenue plants, welcome arches, slogans on the walls and other facilities vindicate the need for a committed leader, to bring about any transformation. The challenge is to hold on to this transformation and not stop.

The Smiles Of Children

My children are settled in the USA. I have grandchildren but I cannot see them every day. My children and grandchildren don’t need my money. What do I do with the pension?The children in the village are also my children. Let me feed them. It gives me a lot of satisfaction to see them smile” says Peddi Samba Siva Rao, retired Andhra Bank Manager. He is providing curd to 168 children every day by spending Rs. 12000/- per month from his pension. He is actively involved in motivating people for ODF, plantation, clean and green environment and temple construction in Abbineniguntapalem.

Makinenei Peda Rattaiah adopted his village Abbineniguntapalem in Pedanandipadu mandal of Guntur district to develop it on all 20 smart indicators in partnership with Smart Andhra Pradesh Foundation (SAPF).He organized a meeting with likeminded local residents and retired employees from the village. Peddi Sambasiva Rao (Retired Manager, Andhra Bank), M Mallikarjuna Rao (Retired MPDO), Oli Sambaiah, Sambasiva Rao, OliPeddi Suresh, Peddi Srinivas Rao, Sambaiah are very active participants along with few other volunteers to make the village a smart village. They formed themselves into a Village Development Committee (VDC).Each of them has taken the responsibility to work on one or two smart indicators. They plan and implement them with the support of everyone.

Peddi Samba Siva Rao, Andhra Bank Manager appraised the mid-day meal programme during one of his visits. The midday meal agency has been providing food as per the menu. But he observed that children could not eat more as curd was not provided. Curd helps absorb nutrients from the food. It boosts immunity and is good for teeth, bones and skin care. It contains sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium, and vitamins like A, D and B2.Therefore, he decided to add curd to the menu. But, the agencies were not in a position to add it to the standard menu as it exceeded the cost. Therefore, he decided to provide good quality curd to all children in mid-day meal. He pays Rs. 5000 per month for 83 children of Zilla Parishad high school, Rs.2000 per month for 25 children of Mandal Parishad Elementary School, Rs. 3000 per month for 40 children of another elementary school and Rs. 2000 per month for Anganwadi Centre.

Whenever he visits the village to monitor the developmental works, he eats his lunch along with the school children. He feels as if he is having lunch with his grandchildren. It also ensures the mid-day meal agencies maintain quality and cleanliness. The satisfaction of a retired employee is a ray of hope to the children!

Ambulance Service

Udhehal is a small village in Bommanahal mandal of Anantapur district, located 25 km away from Bellary and Kanekal. About 20 nearby villages have no bus connectivity, except Udhehal. Emergency health aid was a major concern. Some incidents also lead to loss of life too. In case of emergencies, the auto drivers demand more than what the poor can afford to pay. Taking these pathetic conditions, particularly during emergency situations, into consideration, Maruthi Prasad, the village Sarpanch started an ambulance service. The ambulance collects nominal fees to meet the cost of fuel, depending upon the distance. Maruthi Prasad also shared this information about the ambulance with hospitals in Bellary and Kanekal, so that doctors attend the emergency cases that the ambulance brings in. He is happy to spend Rs.10,000 per month towards salary of driver and vehicle maintenance from his own pocket. The mobile phone number of the driver Ramu and Maruthi Prasad are posted on the ambulance and several other places in the nearby villages to inform people about the service.

“I am happy to drive this vehicle. I am driving to remote villages, sometimes to remote fields and taking the needy to hospitals. I don’t feel that I am just a driver, because, God has given me this opportunity to help people in emergency. I have saved many lives of children, the old, pregnant women. I have attended to many emergencies like accidents, serious illnesses, injuries, etc. Government should improve road connectivity as it is limiting our access to the needy. I could be more efficient if the roads are good. The users of the service complain that sometimes the mobile network is not good. Each case is different and the satisfaction thereby is also different” says Ramu, the ambulance driver. The mobile is always available with the on-duty driver to avoid breakdown of the service.

Total number of ambulance users so far	254
Total Children	17
Total Women	148
Pregnant Women	101

Following are some of the responses from users of the ambulance service.

“I am Madhu, I used this service thrice to get me to the hospital. I just paid fuel cost. This has been a very useful service to several villagers in surroundings villages too.. Once I was severely sick, the ambulance took me to Bellary hospital in time where I underwent a pancreas surgery. Ambulance saved me twice.”

“I am Anjinamma from Udhehal village. I was taken to Bommanahal Primary Health Centre in time at late night by this ambulance. I gave birth to a male baby through normal delivery. The driver takes us very safely and with care.”

“I am Pedda Ramappa. I met with an accident two months back when I was riding a two-wheeler to the agriculture fields in the night. I was hit by auto on the culvert. My right hand was fractured. Someone called for the ambulance and it was present in 2-3 minutes. Everyone in the nearby villages has the ambulance number. I didn’t pay anything except Rs 300/- for the fuel.”

“I am Kavali Sidhappa, aged about 42 years. I have three girls and one boy. Because of this ambulance service, I am alive and able to talk to you today. Couple of months ago, I was working in the paddy field around 4.30 pm. A cobra bit me on the hand. The farmers did some first aid by removing some blood using a blade and tied a towel tightly to the upper part of the hand. They called the ambulance and took me to the Government hospital, Bellary. This is a very useful service and has become very dependable and reliable to all of us. 108 ambulance services is not in function for the last 2-3 years. Now, none of us depend on 108 Government service. The phone number of the ambulance driver is painted at several places and everyone has saved this number on their mobile phones. We are very thankful to this service.”

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Register as a Partner to develop a Gram Panchayat (GP) or Ward of Your Interest

Responsible Citizens/Institutions/NGOs/NRIs/Corporates/Officers/Public Reps who are interested can register to become a Partner by following the steps below:

Create a Partner account with your e-mail ID and mobile number by clicking on this link. Follow the instruction received on your mail
After logging into your account, Fill the Partner Profile form with the required details.
After successful submission of the Partner Profile form, you will see the Partner dashboard.
Click on the Partner a Village/Ward button to view the partnership form
Select the District, Mandal and GP/Ward of your interest, fill in all the details of the application form, accept the terms and conditions and click on Submit.

An acknowledgement email will come to the applicant immediately.
Once approved, an approval email will come with your login and password details, along with Mandal/Municipality and Gram Panchayat /Ward Representative contact details.

Become familiar with the Gram Panchayat (GP)/Ward and its Committee Members.

Once the Partnership is approved, the concerned MPDO/Municipal Commissioner, GP / Ward Committee members contact details are displayed on your Dashboard. Using these details, please contact the MPDO / Municipal Commissioner and Gram Panchayat Committee/Ward Committee members and arrange for a personal meeting with them in the Gram Panchayat or Ward partnered to develop. Become familiar and friendly with the GP/Ward and the citizens. You can also do this step by appointing your representative and /or using latest communication technologies like net meeting/ video chat. The Partner will have to get the contact details of Anganwadi Workers/Helpers, ANM (Health Department), FP Shop Owner, SHG Group Book Keepers, Cluster Resource Person(Education) and Agriculture Officer(AO) of that Gram Panchayat or Ward from the MPDO/Commissioner.

Establish the current conditions of the Gram Panchayat / Ward on the 20 Non- Negotiable Performance Indicators

Partner, along with the Village Ward Committee members will take a view of the present conditions of the GP/Ward related to 20 Non-Negotiable commitments of the program. Partner along with village committee members will do a Base Line Survey to gather the facts of 20 Non-Negotiable Developmental Commitments.
Base Line Survey can be done manually in a focussed group by downloading the Village/Ward Survey/QPA format from the SAPF portal in the Resources section. The group can be the GP/Ward Committee, Ration/FP Shop persons, Anganwadi Workers/Helpers, ANM (Health Department),
Agriculture Officer, SHG Book Keepers, VRO and some active members of that GP/Ward. The data of the manually filled up survey sheet can be entered using the data entry form.
This kind of survey can also be done by professionals for which you can contact partner@smartap.foundation. This can be a minimal first financial contribution from the Partner.

Establishment of Assets/Activities

Once the Baseline Survey is done, Partner along with the Gram Panchayat /Ward Committee should draft a Village Development plan though a visioning exercise, involving all the local community members and important Stakeholders.
This plan would identify specific Activities or assets that need to be created to achieve the 20 Non- Negotiables in the Village/Ward. Partner will be able to list out these key infrastructure gaps on the Village profile form. Partner along with the GP/Ward committee will use subject matter experts to create detailed estimations for each identified Activity/Asset of the GP/Ward.

Apply Government Schemes Available, Understand Sectoral Partner Role and Establish Gap Funding Required

For each of the 20 Non-Negotiable Commitments, there are government schemes available. Sector Partners might also have registered to take on development activities on certain specific sectors/interests. Using the partner login details, you can view these details along with contact details of sector partners. Work with the Village / Ward Committee and the MPDO / Municipal Commissioner and apply these schemes. Perform GAP Analysis and see which assets or activities require additional gap funding. The estimation can be done using subject matter experts.

Bring in Donors for Gap Funding

Partner can submit proposals for these activities/assets on the SAPF portal, mentioning their financial contributions. Partner, along with the Village Committee can invite Citizens/NRVs/NRIs who can view these proposals online and make donations or sponsor for any Activity/Asset and become a Support Partner. SAPF would also pitch these projects to potential donors on various social and media platforms.
Potential donors can view the Assets/Activities by clicking on the donations tab and searching for a specific Sector, District, Mandal, Panchayat or Municipality. All the Assets/Activities along with estimates can be seen. Donors can click on Donate button to register as Support Partners. Support Partners will also be provided with login details. Support Partners can use the login to monitor the progress, view comments of villagers and make payments for the sponsored activity.

Monitor Progress and Report

Partner along with the Village Committee will ensure that the progress is captured and update the activity/progress reports on a regular basis. Partner will look at the measurement of progress in terms of 20 Non-Negotiable Indicators and self declares as a Smart Village once all of them are met fully. If any best practices are followed to achieve a result of any Commitment Indicator, it can be published using the Best Practices Data Entry Form listed in the Partner Login. Awards can be obtained by the government for such best practices and achievements on the 20 Non-Negotiable Commitment Indicators. An officer will also be assigned (depending on the type of project) to oversee the progress and approve your entries on the portal.

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE

List of projects available for donation

×Please login to donate.

Show entries


Drinking water facility in ZPHS Pakki	Education	₹ 1,45,000.00	VIZIANAGARAM	Bobbili	Pakki	24/10/2017
Drinking water facility in Dumbriguda Govt. High School	Education	₹ 1,45,000.00	VISAKHAPATNAM	Dumbriguda	Araku	25/10/2017
Drinking water facility in Gvt. High School Pedavalasa	Education	₹ 1,45,000.00	VISAKHAPATNAM	Gudem Kotha Veedhi	Peddavalasa	25/10/2017
Drinking water facility in ZPHS Jolaputtu	Education	₹ 1,45,000.00	VISAKHAPATNAM	Munchingi Puttu	Jolaputtu	25/10/2017
Construction of a new Health Sub-Center in Guntur	Health & Nutrition	₹ 20,20,000.00	GUNTUR	Bapatla	Bapatla-13th Ward	25/10/2017
Silicon Andhra Sanjivani Hospital	Health & Nutrition	₹ 23,00,00,000.00	KRISHNA	Movva	Kuchipudi	18/1/2018

Showing 1 to 6 of 6 entries

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Donations made towards Smart AP Foundation

Show entries

Date	Name	Amount	Type	Project	District	Mandal / Municipality	Panchayat / Ward
20/2/2018	Anupallavi ammireddy	₹ 52,500.00	Wire Transfer	Silicon Andhra Sanjivani Hospital	KRISHNA	Movva	Kuchipudi
13/1/2018	Yalamanchili Sitaramaiah	₹ 90.00	Online		WEST GODAVARI	Tadepalligudem	Tadepalligudem-1st Ward
28/12/2017	Pavuluri Suman	₹ 1,000.00	Online		GUNTUR	Edlapadu	Thimmapuram
24/12/2017	REDDEPPA NAIDU D	₹ 1,000.00	Online		CHITTOOR	Vedurukuppam	Nallavenganapalle
9/12/2017	MANIDEEP REDDY GALI	₹ 100.00	Online		GUNTUR	Kakumanu	Vallur

Who can become a Partner?

Responsible Citizens, Institutions, NGOs, NRIs, Non-resident Villagers, Industrialists, Corporate, Officers, Public Representatives willing to either donate resources, facilitate mobilization of resources, transfer of technology, provide leadership, implement innovative ideas and work with the community for holistic development of village(s)/ward(s) can register as partners through our website. Partnership is purely voluntary and does not have the same meaning as defined/understood in the Partnership Act 1932.

What is the role of a partner?

The partner would provide professional leadership and work with local communities to achieve desired outcomes of 20 Non-Negotiable points under the Smart Village-smart Ward (SVSW) programme. A Partner might participate in the SVSW program through man/material/financial contributions, resource mobilization, technology transfer, implementation of best practices & innovative ideas etc. This might involve significant amount of time and effort. A Partner needs to coordinate with the Local communities, Panchayat/Municipality and concerned Line Departments in their activities.

Is it mandatory to make financial contributions towards projects to become a partner?

There is no mandate to make financial contributions towards the projects that a partner is working on. A partner can also contribute by utilising their expertise to Facilitate mobilization of resources (labour or material) or providing technology, Leadership or bringing innovative ideas.

Is it Mandatory to work on all 20 Non-negotiable commitments?

It depends on the type of partnership opted, a General/ Lead Partner ensures that all 20 non- negotiable commitments are fulfilled in the partnered Village/Ward. General/ Lead Partner can work with sector partners who can work on one or more commitments as a team.

What are different types of Partnerships?

Partnerships can encompass many different forms of collaboration. Partnerships are defined as voluntary and collaborative relationships between various parties in which all participants i.e partners agree to work together as a team with the community to achieve desired outcomes on 20 Non-Negotiable Points.
General partnership
In this partnership, the partner focuses on all non-negotiable commitments. Partner can opt to work also on areas beyond these commitments. A General Partner will closely work with the Village/Ward committees and the community.
Sector partnership
In this partnership, a partner can focus on one or more non-negotiable commitments i.e., education, health, sanitation, infrastructure, micro-enterprises etc. A partner can focus on as many commitments as one desires based on their interest, resources, experience etc.

I am interested in making financial contributions to SVSW programme, but don’t have time to work on Projects. Can I register as a Partner?

Partnership can be of any kind. One can be a partner to a village/ward/project by just donating money for the projects, without spending time or effort on them. In such cases, concerned Line Department or a Lead partner would look after the implementation.

Is it mandatory for a General Partner to conduct a survey of the Village/Ward and create a Village Development Plan through a visioning exercise)?

The Survey and Village development plan are a good start for interacting with the local community and developing a rapport with the local leaders and authorities. Following this process would give the partner a clear picture of the requirements of people and help in developing a detailed plan for transforming the area into a Smart Village/Smart Ward.
However, if the intervention planned by partner has the support of local community (ex. Gram Sabha, village committee etc.) and approval from local authorities, the partner may carry out his activities without completing the survey & village development plan.

How do I start a project in my partnered Village/Ward?

The first step to start a project is to take the approval of the local community and contact the local panchayat/municipality, informing your interest in taking up the project and your capabilities. In coordination with the line departments or external engineers, develop an estimate for the project with total cost and timelines and submit your proposal by logging into the SAPF portal.
Depending on the amount of your contribution, SAPF will find alternative means of funding for the project through NRI donations, CSR Funds, Institutional grants or Matching grants from Government. Once the required funds are pooled, the partner may start execution, under the guidance of concerned Line Departments.

Will anyone help me in implementing Projects in my partnered Village/Ward?

A partner needs to reach out to the Local authorities and Line Departments before starting a project. Officials from the concerned departments will help you with the process and guidelines to be followed. You can refer to the SOPs on SAPF portal to know the process to be followed for a particular project.

Will I get an ID card as a partner of Smart AP Foundation as authorisation to talk to Government officials, Leaders or General public?

A Partnership is not an employment or contractual relation. Hence, ID cards or any other authorisation will not be provided. Partners can use the print out of their Village adoption confirmation mail as an official document while communicating with government officials. No Partner is allowed to use Government logos, Business cards or any other communication material. In special cases, where the partner needs some identification proof to communicate with officials/community members, they might put up a request to the CEO to issue an authorisation letter.

Partners can always contact Partner support at partner@smartap.foundation or 0866-2494119 / +91- 8008944791 in case of any further queries/concerns not covered in the SOPs or Partner FAQs.

RESOURCES

GOVERNMENT ORDERS https://www.smart.ap.gov.in/gos.html

NEWS LETTER https://www.smart.ap.gov.in/news-letters.html

MANUALS https://www.smart.ap.gov.in/manuals.html

PARTNER PRESENTATION https://www.smart.ap.gov.in/partner-presentations.html

ANNUAL REPORTS https://www.smart.ap.gov.in/annual-reports.html

WORK WITH US https://www.smart.ap.gov.in/work-with-us.html