What We Do

MYS is dedicated to making a positive impact on the lives of excluded and vulnerable communities. We have carefully designed programs focused on building skills, protecting the environment, improving livelihoods, empowering women, enhancing communication, strengthening local self-governance, and conducting research and advocacy. Our long-term commitment is centered around enhancing the empowerment of tribal and dalit communities. We are committed to:

• Collaborate with Dalit, Adivasi, and other marginalized groups for lasting change.
• We are committed to working with marginalized groups and tackling the root causes of their social, political, and economic challenges.
• Our efforts are concentrated in the least developed regions of Jharkhand and Bihar.

CAPACITY BUILDING & SKILL UPGRADATION

Over years MYS built human and institutional capacities of NGOs and community based organisations, citizen leaders, elected representatives and media in Jharkhand and Bihar. Strengthening individual and institutional capacities is a continuous and ongoing process, which builds on the needs and knowledge of the individuals and organisations involved. MYS follows participatory and innovative training methodology in all its capacity building programmes. The approach focuses on need based motivational learning through experience and practice, combined with clarity on generic concepts.

Programme Objectives:

• Provide the most marginalized groups with access to quality education and skill for gainful livelihood
• Offer education for drop outs and to those who have never been to school to reintegrate students back into the formal education system
• Provide a platform for safe and secure environment conducive to learning & training.

Under Skill development programme a dedicated section has been created. Currently Retail, Hospitality, Beauty Culture, Garment making and Handloom & Handicrafts are offered to students and drop out youths. A Special Coaching & Career Guidance course is also held for SC and ST to enhance their job opportunities in different sectors.

SCIENCE & DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION

Science & Development Communication is a programme to promote and communicate science, technology, and environment among rural, urban masses. Basic idea behind this programme is to stimulate scientific temper among common people and simultaneously create an atmosphere to give expansion science & technology outside the laboratory boundary.

The coverage of science in media is still nowhere near what it ought to be! Moreover the quality and the nature of the coverage leave a lot to be desired innovations in around us are not available in media.

MYS has developed a module for orientation of Journalists on Science & Development Journalism and writing. MYS had successfully implemented several projects on Science & development communication. A band of journalists are created and they regularly writing on the issues related to development, science and technology. Under the project it is tried to inculcate scientific temper, unleash the mystery, myths and misconception and create a logical and rationale thinking on women and child health.

The first strategy is Creation of a network of socially sensitive and development oriented journalists through orientation and capacity building exercises. Second strategy is to build a long term and sustainable relationship with journalists and regularly provide them background support so that they will be able to understand development dynamics and accordingly move towards quality reporting. And third prone strategy is to media study and development and production of IEC materials.

Using this three prone strategy which leads towards media advocacy for policy and programmatic amendment and development, a network of 150 development journalists have been developed, nurtured and activate them on writing and raising the issues. The organization started with work on issues related to print media and has grown over the years as a communications resource centre in Jharkhand and Bihar with the focus on providing technical and background support to fellow development journalists on updating the media trends, writing skills and issues related to most marginalized communities.

The outcome of the development communication was witnessed as no. of stories generated and produced and written by the trained journalists. Till today more than 700 stories generated and published in different newspaper. More than 50 video spots and documentaries had been produced on the issues related to marginalized communities of the state.

Understanding the potential of Social Media, a new initiative had been taken up to develop a process of capacity building exercises to develop and extend all technical support in developing stories and their wider dissemination through Social Media channels for effective and wider coverage.

Programme Objectives:

• Provide skills to enable communication and writing on the people of Jharkhand
• Harness innovative strategies to influence knowledge, attitudes and to give a ‘voice to the voiceless’ to reduce poverty, illiteracy and unemployment
• Generate material be used to influence and lobby the issues in the mainline media Under Media Research all development issues including level of coverage and nature of reporting is tracking and analysed. The key trends can in turn be used for advocacy to tackle the causes of poverty at grassroots level.

ENVIRONMENT & LIVELIHOOD SECURITY

The Environment is a theme that will be top of the development agenda in years to come. We need to start in our local environment to address food insecurity and the threats posed by global climate change.

Programme Objectives:

• Raise awareness in rural and urban areas on environmental issues linked with climate change
• Ensure livelihood security of indigenous communities by using FRA Act, 2006.
• Offer the most marginalized the opportunity to overcome inequality and secure their own livelihood

MYS extends techno-managerial support to farmers and Forest Dwellers. MYS made a linkage with several institutions and develop a supply chain mechanism for maximum price support to farm and forest produces. MYS supports and strengthen FPOs in West Singhbhum, Simdega, Ranchi and Dumka.

Furthermore, Self Help Groups (SHGs) for Women operate in intervention area to give equal rights to women and enable them to start up savings schemes and sustainable businesses.

GOVERNANCE & DECENTRALIZATION

Programme Objectives:

• Strengthen Local Self Governance Institution to enable the decisive participation of the most poor and marginalized sections in the process
• Achieve equality and justice by promoting the participation of citizens in the election process
• Improve and strengthen democracy through advocating Right to Know initiative

MYS work with the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has actively addressed transparency and accountability in governance. Activities included holding workshops, advocacy, media monitoring and scanning the profile of those standing to reveal data such as educational background and assets and liabilities. This led to progress in achieving greater transparency of those in power and crucially, was carried out from the voter’s perspective.

MYS is actively involved with PRIs in several manners like capacity building training to EPRs, handhold support, model creation and campaign for entitlements of poor and marginalized communities. MYS promotes Jharkhand Panchayat Resource Centre (JPRC), for strengthening LSGs. JPRC is actively involved in pre election voter’s awareness campaign (PEVAC) in 2022 Panchayat election. Under the PEVAC campaign the following activities were performed:

Aware & empower communities about their voting rights, Voters engagement in free & fair election & Role of PRIs in Social development and citizen’s entitlements. During PEVAC the use of social media especially mobile technology was realized and recognized.

In Jharkhand and Bihar in selected GPs, MYS extends technical support in transforming Panchayats into Model Panchayat.

Being partner of Jharkhand Vanadikhar Manch (JVM) Manthan actively involved in ensuring rights and entitlements under FRA. RTI help desk is successfully running since five years.

RESEARCH & ADVOCACY

Programme Objectives:

• Explore dynamics of development within the geographical and programmatic areas
• Undertake research to better understand grass roots development and its effect on communities.
• Influencing change agents such as the media, academics and the state through advocacy using from research and study output.

A dedicated desk regularly conduct research and study on development issues related to poor and marginalized communities. The area of research and study mainly focuses on PRIs, Transparency & Accountability, Media, Tribal Rights, and Gender Issues etc.

Manthan seeks to give vision to efforts to enable effective advocacy through publication of documentation and electronic media. Publications in local and tribal languages have had the impact of making communities aware for the first time of their rights and how to access them. Documentaries on our projects have been distributed India and globally to raise the awareness regarding how Manthan is tackling the plight of the most marginalized people in the state.