Mumbai: Narmadanagar Rural Development Society (Nardes) was established in 1980 with the objective of undertaking various socio-welfare activities to raise the economic standards and promoting self-reliance among poor, economically-marginalised and under-resourced people in the rural and tribal areas of Bharuch district in Gujarat.

The employees and family members of Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers Company Ltd (GNFC) had formed Nardes with the above objectives. This corporate has made an appreciable difference to the socio-economic environment in Bharuch district.

They have not only generated employment opportunities and a township of its own for the welfare of its employees and their families, but also accepted upon itself a social responsibility to better the quality of life in the rural areas of the district through Nardes.

Nardes identified economically weak groups in villages who had already been provided training in tailoring, which helped them in getting financial assistance from banks. In deserving cases it even provided margin money after ensuring that the trainees had the requisite expertise and experience.

Nardes further helped the cause by organising procurement of substantial orders for stitching uniforms for industrial workers of various establishments. With the help of DRDA, the organisation organised a tailoring class for 40 girls at village Mandava in the district.

After successful training for six months, 20 girls were enrolled for the tailoring course examination conducted by the Technical Examination Board, clearing which would lead to better employment opportunities. Nardes has continued with this class and since then have been training an increasing number of girls for tailoring.

Another major activity undertaken by the organisation was to train women from village Zadeshwar in the essential skills of envelope making on a commercial basis. In turn, these women trained others. A group of 50 such women together formed the Mahila Audhyogik Sahkari Mandali.

Many organisations like GNFC, Kalpataru (run by Gujarat Civil Supplies Corporation) district panchayats, cooperative banks and Dudh-Dhara Dairy have placed orders and found the supplies to be of excellent quality. These women have supplied more than 20 lakh envelopes.

They are not only able to use their talents and earn additional income in their spare time but have also become a source of inspiration for other women. Subsequently the group has expanded their activities and started production and supply of commodities like papad, besides envelopes.

Apart from employment, Nardes also provides medical aid, food and shelter, to the needy in the district. Nardes has organised 14 camps so far, where around 12,000 patients have been treated in each one of them. Besides this, around 800 handicapped patients were provided with aids like tricycles, calipers, artificial limbs and hearing aids that will provide them with an opportunity to live their lives with pride and power of confidence.

With GNFCs help Nardes recently adopted five villages in Bharuch district under the Gokul Gram Yojna, sponsored by the Gujarat state government, to realise the dream of transforming villages into hubs of prosperity. In each of these villages construction of classrooms, anganwadi centres, common halls, RCC roads and water supply schemes was facilitated.

Commenting on their work Nardes chairperson Maltiben Desai says: "Over the years, we have initiated and implemented a number of programmes. But programmes like tailoring and making envelopes provide the much-needed employment for villagers."

One of their recent projects was the rehabilitation of Sokhda village in Gujarats Morbi district. The village was devastated due to the earthquake, and Nardes, under a joint venture with the state government, re-established the village at a new site, in 20 acres of land at a cost of Rs 270 lakh. The entire village was re-established in 10 months.

Right since its inception, Nardes has believed that socio-economic uplift can take place only through the realisation of self-reliance among the lesser privileged. Hence, all the programmes and activities of Nardes are aimed at opening such avenues for the rural poor in Bharuch district.