In a Country like India with its vast Population "human development" should be at the core of all developmental effort. The priority sectors which contribute towards realisation of this goal are health, education, literacy, basic needs including drinking water, housing and welfare programmes for the weaker sections including employment.

Sustainable Development is the internationally accepted goal of the 21st Century. The term implies that all developmental activities must be so undertaken as to ensure sustainable use of the physical and biological resources of the planet, the country and the region. For ensuring this, environmental degradation is to be prevented.

It is ironic that poverty and environmental degradation are inter-related. On the one hand, environmental degradation contributes to poverty through worsened health and constrained productivity of the resources upon which the poor rely. On the other hand, poverty constrains the poor to act in ways which damage the environment. In addition, the poor also lack the resources for alleviating the causes of environmental degradation and for avoiding the impacts of environmental degradation.

Rural poverty is linked with low productivity, unemployment and underemployment. For reaching the goal of full and sustainable employment, the emphasis needs to be shifted from wage employment to building up of productive assets in rural areas with appropriate integration of several development activities and enhanced involvement of people through peoples' institutions.

Integration of sectoral development programmes could be achieved through development of micro development plans in consonance with the state and national level macro- plans. For best results, the micro-plans must be developed, with the involvement of people, around the locally available physical and biological resources, and implemented through people's institutions, development institutions and voluntary agencies. Also, ownership of the resources must be passed on from the governments to the people. 

VOLUNTARY ACTION

Development of institutions and organisational capabilities in the backward regions of the country and the delivery system for development programmes require strengthening to deal effectively with problems of development and redistributive justice. The Eighth Five year Plan document of India accordingly considered the scope for voluntary action unbounded as they are able to operate more efficiently than the formal organisations over a wide range of activities including anti-poverty programmes, training of rural youth, promotion of safe drinking water, rural housing, promotion of science and technology, wasteland development, health care and family welfare, education, welfare of women and children and programmes for the weaker sections like Scheduled Casts & Scheduled Tribes.

DR. D. SWAMINADHAN RESEARCH FOUNDATION [DSRF]

Dr. D. Swaminadhan Research Foundation (DSRF) is a non-profit and non-governmental forum established in 1995 by three former Members of Planning Commission, Government of India – Prof. Dr. D. Swaminadhan, Dr. Jayant Patil and Dr. S.Z. Qasim – with the laudable objective of contributing towards development based on eco-friendly, pro-poor and gender equity parameters. It is registered as a Society and as a Trust under Indian Societies and Trusts acts. Social Action, sustainable development, social empowerment, application of advancements in science & technology for rural development and promotion of human values are the focus. The Foundation has been recognised by the Department of Scientific & Industrial Research, Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (SIRO) and by the Ministry of Finance for the purpose of Income Tax Exemption. DSRF is also registered with Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India under the Foreign Contributions (Regulations) Act of 1976.

THE GOALS

Become an effective instrument to contribute to development based on eco-friendly, pro-poor and gender equity requirement.
Hold strong conviction for and undertake voluntary social action.
Act as a Fora facilitating involvement of dedicated and socially committed scientists, technologists, social scientists and social workers for voluntary social action with a view to contribute towards improving the quality of life of the poor.
Undertake and promote relevant education, research, innovations and extension activities.
Form a competent educational, research, consultancy, technological, innovations and social action agency with a reservoir of expertise and experience in its relevant fields, and the necessary capability to harness multi-disciplinary, interrelated technological know-how.
Act as a technological brain-trust, a trouble shooter, a long term planner and become a partner in progress from concept to complementation - and beyond.
Serve the cause of development by offering expert services, almost totally and comprehensively in all the five fundamental fields viz. water, power, agriculture, industry, and human resource on which the edifice of development rests.
Harness and foster the vast and varied experiences that India has gained in the broad fields and to build on it and expand the horizons of knowledge.

THE STRATEGY

The strategy to fulfill the objectives and achieve the goals is three fold: 1. The Foundation to act as a NGO undertaking developmental programmes and projects and also encourage interaction and cooperation among NGOs by creating a NGO Network; 2. Strengthening its Institutional mechanisms - Mahatma Gandhi National Institute of Research and Social Action (MGNIRSA) and Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Advanced Studies(JNIAS) for academic and research potential and 3. Formulate a Ten-Year Perspective Plan covering the period 2015- 2025 to further actualise the goals. The Perspective Plan follows a 3-phased action strategy: Phase-I, the impact phase covering 2015-2020; Phase- II, the metamorphosis, will cover the period 2020- 2023 and Phase-III, the directional phase, will cover the period 2023-2025 and lay the Foundation for futuristic perspectives for the ensuing decade. The Perspective Plan has been delineated in terms of projects, schemes and programmes envisaged for the period.

OPTIMISTIC NOTE:

POVERTY, GENDER INEQUALITY AND ECOLOGICAL IMBALANCE ARE OUR ENEMIES. TECHNOLOGY, PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION AND VOLUNTORY SOCIAL ACTION ARE OUR ARMAMENTS. PROSPERITY FOR THE POOR, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND GENDER EQUITY ARE OUR GOALS. WE ARE AN ARMY OF HOPE AND SHALL SUCCEED IN THIS MISSION.