Adithi’s progress

Adithi’s progress can better be traced through different milestones achieved during different periods of its evolution.

1988-1990 was the infancy of Adithi. On June 1st, 1988 Adithi’s first project – Adithi Rural Training Institute (ARTI) started. Soon, Adithi was entrusted with the task of training Bihar’s Women Dairy Cooperative Societies’ leaders as well as the DWCRA women leaders. Thereafter Adithi was given sanction to establish and run 200 NFE centres for girls and Adithi established Adithi Vocational and Non-formal Training Institute (AVANTI). Soon, true to its overall goal of integrating women to key economic activities, Adithi started its celebrated work in fisheries in Madhubani.

With an aim to diversify its activities with women’s employment, the next steps were the agricultural activities with the sharecropper women as well as the crafts women of Bihar that were conducted during 1991-93. In this very phase, Adithi also started its activities to facilitate various grassroots NGOs in Bihar through Adithi NGOs Coordination Cell. Simultaneously, Adithi also took up activities for tribal women’s development in the present Deoghar and Dumka districts of erstwhile South Bihar and present Jharkhand.

In 1994, the first strategic review of Adithi took place in which we, with assistance from a band of renowned persons of public field, reviewed its direction of work to determine the future course of action. It was during this phase (1994-96) that Adithi undertook a study of female infanticide in some pockets of Bihar that created a sensation throughout Bihar. Adithi also undertook women’s health status survey in Bihar through the network of NGOs. Adithi started its much acclaimed work with the adolescent girls of sex workers in Chaturbhujsthan- the largest red light area of Bihar.

During 1997-99, Adithi started sponsorship project in Sitamarhi and it was in this phase that its second strategic review took place. Adithi became the first NGO in Bihar to be authorised to establish and run a IGNOU study center in Dumka district of the then Bihar.

During 2000-02, Adithi started life skills and income generation program for adolescent girls of sex workers and the child sponsorship program for children supported by Plan International/India in Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi and Vaishali districts. Adithi was also designated the Mother NGO by GoI and it implemented RCH and AYUSH programs in Gaya, Jehanabad, Arwal & Rohtas districts. Adithi established, with the assistance from Population Foundation of India, the Regional Training & Resource Development Center (RTRDC) and provided initiation training in RCH to 100 NGOs in Bihar.

During 2003-05, Adithi started anti trafficking programs, water and sanitation programs and flood relief and rehabilitation programs along with advocating for eradication of female feticide and infanticide.

During 2006-08, Adithi was authorized to establish and run a Middle Level Training Center at Patna for ICDS staff, was engaged in indigenous tourism promotion and worked for women in kitchen gardening and orchard development.

In 2009-12, Adithi got engaged in a big way in flood relief and rehabilitation work in Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Supaul and Madhepura districts. We also started our intervention against TB in Sheohar District with support from ADRA. We took up health sector interventions to reduce IMR & MMR and threw our force in anti trafficking interventions. We started a major project for anti Human Trafficking in Siwan, Gopalganj & Sitamarhi districts with the support of Geneva Global Inc., USA.

In 2011-2012, we implemented a project, in seven Panchayats of Marwan & Kanti Blocks of Muzaffarpur district, named Improving the Quality of Early Childhood Care and Education & Primary Schooling with the assistance of The Hans Foundation. In the same year, yet again intervention against TB in Naubatpur Block of Patna district with support from MAMTA, New Delhi wherein mass awareness and referral services are being provided and this program is continuing successfully. In the same year, Adithi started its work with CHILDLINE India foundation from June in Sitamarhi district as Nodal organization for CHILDLINE Sitamarhi. Under this ongoing program, we have supported all sub-centers and collaborative organizations in different child protection activities.

In 2012-13, NFE Centres and Tailoring Training Centre for Dalit & Marginalized Women and Young Girls was started in two Panchayats of Saraiya Block with the support from The Hans Foundation as a twin intervention to empower marginalized adolescent girls and women socially and economically. In the same year, Adithi was awarded the projects of Block Resource Center (BRC) for Dumka and Sahebganj districts of Jharkhand covering whole of the districts for Water & Sanitation activities. In this year itself, Adithi was entrusted by MII to engage external monitors to assess the Round-II of Yr 2012 of Vitamin A Supplementation utilizing standard checklists in 130 Blocks/PHCs covering whole of eight Districts of Bihar, i.e., Patna, Nalanda, Gopalganj, Siwan, Muzaffarpur, Sheohar, Sitamarhi and Vaishali. In this year itself, Adithi was entrusted with running a Women Helpline in Dumra, Sitamarhi, with the assistance from Women Development Corporation, Bihar.

In 2013-14, two separate projects, i.e., Non-Formal Education as well as Tailoring Training for Dalit & Marginalized Young Girls along with a second project named Family Bee-keeping for Income Generation for Women were started, again with the support of The Hans Foundation in Muzaffarpur district. The Micronutrient Initiative India, too, chose the services of ADITHI to accomplish the updation of the Due Lists prepared during the last round and facilitating the Round I, 2013 of Vitamin A supplementation in all slums scattered over whole of Patna urban area. During this year, Adithi was awarded, the responsibility of implementing the Global Sanitation Fund project for Maner block of Patna district with the aim of facilitating all the Panchayats of Maner ODF and, again, as a consortium partner of Plan India, the responsibility of implementing the Global Sanitation Fund project for whole of West Champaran district with the aim of facilitating all of its Panchayats ODF. In this year itself, Adithi was assigned with Monitoring of SABLA (Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls) in 12 districts of Bihar by Unicef, Bihar. In the same year, we started a project for Combating Modern Slavery in Siwan, Gopalganj & Sitamarhi districts.

In the same year again, Adithi was awarded, as a consortium partner of Plan India the responsibility of implementing the Global Sanitation Fund project for whole of West Champaran district with the aim of facilitating all of its Panchayats ODF.

In the year 2014-15, we started a program with the collaboration of the World Health Partners to strengthen TB control efforts in the western urban Patna by way of facilitating early detection and appropriate treatment for patients of TB. We also continued with Unicef, Bihar for Strengthening Micronutrient Program & SABLA in 12 districts of Bihar. In this year itself, we started a fresh 3yr initiative against slavery and unsafe migration in Siwan, Gopalganj & Sitamarhi districts with the joint support of Freedom Fund & Geneva Global. This project completed its 3-yr period by 2017 and has been extended for a fresh 2.5-yr period for 2018-2020 with more focused program on safe migration, child labor identification, rescuing, repatriation and facilitating pending legal action against the accused by collaborating with DLSA. We are also actively engaged in establishing close linkages with different Government stakeholder institutions for the allied purposes. We are now passing through an 18-month phase of this program extending up to March 2022. In the same year, we have also started Cross Road Project with the support from Justice Ventures International (JVI) under which Adithi and JVI are working jointly to bring freedom, justice and restoration to men, women, children targeted by human trafficking and other forms of extreme injustice. Since May 2018, we with the support from The Ford Foundation, are implementing a 3-year project for the Street Vendors over the municipal areas of Muzaffarpur, Jamshedpur and Varanasi cities.

In 2019, we started a long partnership with The Girls First Fund for our adolescent target groups in some pockets of Dumka in Jharkhand with an overall goal of Child Marriage Prevention. The project is currently passing through two years of implementation phase after successfully completing a year of learning phase.

During COVID-19, Adithi has strived hard to reach relief to its vulnerable target groups in the form of dry ration packets to 3,425 families, besides spreading awareness regarding the protection from the pandemic, equipping 3,759 frontline health workers with complete protective gears, providing hygiene kits to 600 community workers and micro grant assistance in the form of revolving funds to 18 women groups. These areas have been under Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Siwan and Gopalganj districts in Bihar, Dumka and East Singhbhum districts in Jharkhand and Varanasi district in U.P.

That, in very brief, sums up the organizational journey of Adithi.