Community-Led WASH Initiatives in Rajasthan Villages

Art by the People: Community-Led WASH Initiatives in Rajasthan Villages” highlights grassroots efforts in rural Rajasthan, India, where local communities take the lead in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) projects. These initiatives empower villagers to design, implement, and maintain sustainable solutions tailored to their needs, such as building toilets, promoting handwashing, and ensuring clean water access. By fostering ownership and collaboration, these programs improve public health, reduce waterborne diseases, and enhance quality of life, showcasing the power of community-driven development in addressing critical WASH challenges.

Water for Women:

Reducing the Burden of Fetching Water in Rural Rajasthan

Water for Women” is an initiative aimed at alleviating the burden of water collection for women in rural Rajasthan, India. In this arid region, women often travel long distances to fetch water, which is time-consuming and physically exhausting. The program focuses on improving access to clean water through the installation of hand pumps, wells, and water storage systems closer to homes. By reducing the time and effort spent on water collection, the initiative empowers women, allowing them to pursue education, income-generating activities, and improved family care. It also promotes community health and gender equality, addressing a critical need in water-scarce regions.

Libraries Reimagined:

The Rajasthan Library Intervention Story

The Rajasthan Library Intervention, led by the Centre for MicroFinance and Tata Trusts, transformed dilapidated school libraries into active learning hubs. Through the Rajasthan School Library Promotion Project, 3,333 schools were revitalized, with trained State Resource Group (SRG) members like Mr. Brijesh Sharma leading the change. Despite COVID-19, Brijesh used innovative methods like Jhola Pustakalaya (mobile libraries) and virtual resources to engage 200+ children, fostering reading habits and community involvement. His efforts exemplify the project’s success in enhancing foundational learning and teacher capacity.

Stemming The Stigma

Menstrual health has been brought front and centre in about 200 Rajasthan villages thanks to an effort that involves the community as a whole

Conversations about menstrual health are uncommon in traditional pockets of India. It was worse in tiny Dhawali, a village in Rajasthan’s Sirohi district, where the topic had long been taboo. That reality caused 48-year-old Sharda Devi Meghwal a lifetime of silent suffering. “We used to wear a ‘timepiece’ during our monthly cycles. It was horribly uncomfortable,” says Ms Meghwal. The timepiece is what local women call an improvised menstrual pad made of thick towel-like material. So prevalent was the stigma that Ms Meghwal didn’t even talk to her own daughters about menstruation. “Before they got sanitary napkins through a government scheme, my girls somehow managed their menses,” she says. Like Ms Meghwal, most of the women in Sirohi’s villages would suffer stoically through period pain and shame, but those days are much rarer now. Hanja Devi Parjapat, a 28-year-old with a young daughter, is clear there will be no hesitation on her part when the time comes.

Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition:

A Journey of Hope and Resilience in Rajasthan

In Rajasthan, vibrant traditions collide with stark realities. Malnutrition looms over mothers and children, casting a shadow of anaemic young women, inadequate diets, and underutilized health systems. This cycle of stunted growth and fragile futures persists—yet hope emerges like a desert breeze. CmF is igniting change, empowering communities and revitalizing health systems. Through education, frontline workers spark transformation, championing breastfeeding, balanced nutrition, and antenatal care. They breathe vitality into overburdened health centers, turning them into sanctuaries of hope. Challenges endure, but every triumph—a thriving child, a nourished mother—propels progress. This is Rajasthan’s story: resilience, hope, and an unyielding spirit, where each step forward radiates brighter than the desert sun.

Fostering Rural Entrepreneurship In Rajasthan

Experience sharing and recognition event with Entrepreneurs, Udhyog Mitras and Training Centres

CmF organized the “Experience Sharing and Recognition Event” with 35 Entrepreneurs (farm and non-farm) & 15 Udyog Mitras and Training Centres at Hotel Airline, Sirohi. During the event, government stake holders including CEO-Zila Parishad, Directors of KVK (Udaipur and Sirohi), RSETI, District Development Manager of NABARD, officials from CISCO including Ms. Rohini Kamath, Mr. Harish and Mr. Dominic were present. The compendium of Case Studies in the form of a Coffee Table Book was also launched. It was heartening to have the entrepreneurs and Udyog Mitras from across Sirohi and Udaipur join and share their journey. (See the Coffee Table Book in "more")

Effectiveness Of ECE Intervention Under NELP

Study of The Effectiveness of Early Childhood Education (ECE) Intervention and Its Impact with Reference to Children’s School Readiness and Performance in Grade-1 Under Nurturing Early Literacy Project (NELP)

CmF commissioned the impart study through the external consultant Dr. Neelima Gokhale to understand and assess the impact of the Early Childhood Education (ECE) intervention. The ECE intervention was planned and implemented under Nurturing Early Literacy Project (NELP) for improving children’s school readiness and fostering & nurturing behaviours related to children’s emerging literacy skills. The study focussed on evidence of school readiness and literacy learning in Grade- 1 children and their teachers’ understanding and expectations of the impact of inputs received at NELP Anganwadis. The results showed significant improvement among children’s overall development including cognitive, socio-emotional, language & communication, reading, writing, numeracy skills and physical development along with physical and social environment in classrooms.

A Flood Of Solutions

The Tata Water Mission has taken the collaborative route to reach the most precious of resources to people and communities in dire need

A regular supply of water is the big reason for the ready smile and positive attitude with which Devibai Grasiya greets visitors to her modest dwelling in Gharat, a village in Rajasthan’s Sirohi district. “I’m happy with what has happened in my hamlet,” says the 55-year-old tribal as she settles down to explaining the difference a tap at her doorstep has made to the everyday lives of her family. “Till about a year back, I would spend three hours every morning fetching water,” says Ms Devibai, who had to depend on two erratic sources for the elixir: a hand pump about a kilometre away from her home and, when that ran dry — which it frequently did — a distant well. “There were constant fights over water and we barely had enough for a weekly bath. I had to send my kids to school unwashed and the schoolteacher was constantly asking them why they were so dirty. It upset me no end.”

Social Arts For WASH In Rajasthan Villages

CmF and One Drop Foundation aim to improve the quality of lives of vulnerable communities in 200 villages in southern Rajasthan through sustainable and equitable access to WASH initiatives led by community and institutional partners

Centre for microFinance, One Drop Foundation and Tata Trusts have partnered to bring safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) to 200 tribal villages in Rajasthan. More than 60% of the population in the 200 project villages situated in southern Rajasthan belong to scheduled tribes communities. These vulnerable groups have poor access to basic services including water, sanitation, health and education.

Mission Gaurav

Social Entitlement Linkage Support for Migrant Households in 5 high migration districts

With support of the Tata Trusts, CmF along with 7 partner NGOs conceptualized and implemented a six-month mission mode program - ‘Mission Gaurav’ to link rural and migrant households with Covid-19 relief schemes and other social entitlements for which they are eligible. Migrant and rural households were linked with a range of schemes covering social security – pensions, BoCW schemes and scholarships, PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, NREGA employment, nutrition scheme linkages for pregnant mothers and children. Liaison with Govt. bodies- worked across 40 different schemes of state and central government. Following key services were delivered- 1. 26000+ households benefitted through Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna; 2. 10500 households benefitted under Social Security (average benefit of Rs. 1500-4000); 3. 18000+ households benefitted under MGNREGA - Wage Employment.

Renewal in Rajasthan

Rajasthan state is the stage for a clutch of impactful social uplift efforts through Livelihoods and nutrition, health and education, migration and skilling

Rajasthan is the largest state in India by geographical size and among the last in its human development index. The first fact is of little consequence; the second is an enduring concern that has defied policies and policymakers for long. The ground is shifting, though, as social uplift programmes that have come through the experiment-implement-supplement-grind take hold across the state Collaborations have been critical in making these programmes effective and self-sustaining for increasingly larger numbers of Rajasthan's populace. The state administration is a key player here, as is the central government. Complementing their efforts are a slew of non-profits, NGOs and philanthropies that have done pioneering work in diverse spheres through inclusive, inventive and durable initiative that are making a difference where it matters most in the lives of people and in the overall health of communities. The Tata Trusts have punched about their weight in contributing to the cause, and in a spectrum of spheres, including health and education, nutrition and sanitation, livelihoods and skilling. There are common elements in the method that underlines each of these: scale and sustainability, measurable impact, community involvement, a focus on women, and governmental "Community support at every level. institutions, women "We have placed households at and participatory the centre of the matrix," says Malika Srivastava, the regional manager for Rajasthan with the Tata Trusts. "Community institutions, women and participatory development are very through inclusive, inventive and important in this context; they are durable initiatives that are making the pathways to progress. Our partners, particularly the state and central governments, are vital to the overall health of communities. process. The Trusts don't own the programmes they have initiated. We all do, together, and equally so.”

It Starts With Water

Water at the doorstep is the first step in a programme that incorporates sanitation, hygiene, menstrual health and more in some 200 villages

The shimmering solar panels are an incongruous sight in Gharat, a remote village in Rajasthan’s Sirohi district. They serve a crucial purpose, though, powering the water pump that supplies 24 houses in the village. That makes the water pump the dream child of the women of these houses. They discussed it for a year, saved for another year to pay for it, and now manage its operation themselves, through a committee of 16 women called a water user group (WUG). The women are part of the Grasiya tribe and, along with the comfort of water on tap, they have added a handful of English words to their lingo: meeting, bathroom, borewell, bank account and more. Both these changes in their lives are due to a water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programme undertaken by the Centre for microFinance, an associate organisation of the Tata Trusts.

Impact Gallery

Visual stories showcasing empowered women and thriving community programs.

Anganwadis- A Strong Start

STEM for Tribal Youth

Climate-Smart Livelihoods

Early Learning, Lasting Impact

Sustainable Growth for All

Skills for a Brighter Future

Dignity Through Livelihoods

🤝 Hands That Hold
In unity, we find strength. CmF binds Rajasthan’s communities with trust, turning dreams into legacies. Hold on—rise up.
Together, We Triumph.