Maharashtra

VANI has been involved in exchanging views on state level networking with civil society organizations. The initial interactions were very encouraging because CSOs felt the need of such initiative in the state.   VANI organized consultative meetings in Mumbai & Pune to identify & discuss the issues concerning CSOs in the state. VANI used available spaces for interacting with larger organizations by participating   in   various   forums    like    PACS,

Maharashtra Drought Forum, EGS Review Forum, Right to Water Campaign, State Social Watch Initiative and CNRI.  Some of the issues that emerged during these interactions are worth mentioning here:

• proposed Amendments to Bombay Public Trust Act;

• state’s attitude towards voluntary Sector and;

• FCMC Bill;

• issues of transparency & accountability in the voluntary sector;

• donor agencies withdrawing support from the state as they consider Maharashtra as a developed state;

• unexplored potential of public-private partnership in social development issues;

• continuous drought in certain parts of State and failure of government to address it;

• promoting volunteerism among the youth;

• challenges and opportunities for civil society in the implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act & Maharashtra EGS and Right to Information Act;

• Implications of Gramnyayalaya bill.

Updates:
 

VANI along with its partner organisations (NCAS /AFARM/YUVA)  formed a steering committee to initiate discussion on the identified issues such as Right to Information, Maharashtra EGS & NREGAS, Bombay Public Trust Act and FCMC etc .In addition, issue based sub-groups have been instituted and consultations on the planning of future strategies to address the issues have begun to take place.

Activities:

A small group consisting of AFRAM, NCAS, IIPLS and VANI meets regularly to firm up the strategy on the issues of BPT-FCMC, NREGA-EGS, GRAMNAYALAYA, RTI & Water Rights.

In previous meetings, advisory groups were formed on all the above mentioned subjects. It was decided to discuss these issues in various network/forum meetings. General activities include:

• Firming up of state network by constituting a steering committee and specialized sub-groups;

• Collaborating with and strengthening different networks in the state;

• Improving information dissemination through a resource centre and a newsletter.   

Workshop Report: 
Two days workshop on RTI Act, NREG Act, Gramnyayalaya (local courts) Bill, FCMC Bill-BPT Act.
 

Future Plan of Action:

Click here for future plan of action

Contact Details 
 

Mr. Ganesh Harishchandra Puranik
State Coordinator, Maharashtra
Email: info@vaniindia.org
 

<< Go Back <<