Grassroots India

BACKGROUND

Project planning or plan making is essential step before submission of a written proposal to an agency. Planning and writing of the proposals are critical components of project management. Today perhaps there is no agency that does not seek written proposal before sanctioning a project. Thus project planning and proposal writing are extremely important for NGOs and Government agencies that wish to seek sponsorship, funding or just support from national or international support agencies.

Usually the NGOs or Government agencies keep on depending on external consultants, but strengthening own capacities is sustainable and cost-effective way. It is not only the NGO personnel who are generally week in preparing proposals but the Government personnel also lack necessary skills in writing grant proposals.

This residential training will focus more on practice of planning and writing the proposal for getting financial support. The training is fit for NGO managers, government executives and all others who are involved in project management.

OBJECTIVES OF THE TRAINING

• To sharpen the skills of NGO managers, government executives or alike on ‘project planning and proposal writing’; and

• To develop professional competence of participatory planning processes and steps of a project among the project managers and field executives especially belonging to development sector.

VENUE OF THE TRAINING

Hotel Shobla International
Dhalpur, Kullu (Himachal Pradesh) – 175 101
Tel: 01902-222800, 222801
Email: info@shobla.com
Website: www.shoblainternational.com

MEDIUM OF THE TRAINING

The medium of instructions will be mainly English. Participants can speak and write in English, Hindi or Urdu. Those who are engaged in projects planning in the field and execute the projects will benefit more.

LEARNING STRATEGY & FEATURES

• Participatory learning methodologies
• Substantive reflections of participants' own personal capacities
• Group deliberation and experiential activities
• Handouts and reading materials
• Visuals and pictorials
• Residential venue and learning practice without formal time limits

LAST DATE OF REGISTRATION

Deadline for Application: 25 August 2008
Deadline for Fee Receipt: 30 August 2008

Early applications will be given priority. The moment the seats are full, accepting further applications will be stopped. Applicants whose fee is received will only be confirmed with the places.

AVAILABILITY OF PLACES

Total no. of seats: 25

The places will be filled on first come first served basis.

MODULE OF THE TRAINING

Tentative module of the training is as under:

Day.1

• Introduction
• Participatory Planning of Project
- Participatory methods for situational analysis
- Analysis of problems and opportunities
- Analysis of objectives to be addressed
- Preparation of Action Plan

Day.2

• Factors to Consider before Writing Proposal
• Structure of Project Proposal
• Techniques of Writing of
- Summary
- Introduction
- Problem/Need
- Objectives
- Activities and Methods
- Time Plan/Schedule
- Outcomes/Results
- Monitoring and Evaluation
- Sustainability
- Risks and Risk Management
- Other Aspects
• Field Visit to villages and Practical Exercise on participatory planning of project and writing the proposal accordingly

Day.3

• Preparation of Budget
• Presentations of Practical Exercises and Open Discussions
• Preparation of Log Frame

Day.4

• Essential Precautions before Project Submission
• Funding Agencies and their Operational Areas
• Tips of Networking with Funding & Support Agencies

* The module is subject to change. A cultural program will also be organized during the tenure of training.

ELIGIBILITY TO PARTICIPATE THE TRAINING

(i) Your education is minimum Graduate;
(ii) You manage or coordinate the development action while serving an NGO, support agency or government project;
(iii) You have at least 2 years of field experience;
(iv) You have adequate knowledge of English language;
(v) Your application is approved by your Head of Institution; and
(vi) You agree to follow the rules of participating the training and sign the declaration (given in application form).

ACCOMODATION & LOGISTICS

Place of training, Hotel Shobla International, is one of the nicest locations in sacred city of Kullu. It is located in city heart called Dhaalpur where all buses stop and taxi stand exists. Famous Dassehra ground is in vicinity apart from the government offices.

Participants will be provided with the accommodation on TWIN SHARED basis. Rooms are equipped with linen, quilt, chair, table, attached toilet-bath, color TV, etc. Daily cleaning of rooms is ensured.

Water supply is generally adequate in the hotel. However, the possibility of occasional interruption in water supply cannot be ruled out, viewing the scarcity of water in the mountains. Electricity supply is plenty.

Accommodation for participants will be available from 5 pm of 8th September’08 till 5 pm of 12th September’08. Before or after this duration, the accommodation will not be availed by the organizers. Residing in Hotel Shobla International before or after the specified timings will be the responsibility participant at his/her own cost.

To see the glimpses of Hotel Shobla International, please look at the photographs or visit the Hotel's website.

FOOD & REFRESHMENTS

During the training vegetarian food will be served. On 8th September’08, the dinner will be served. From 9th September till 12th September, a bed tea, breakfast, lunch and dinner will be served everyday. No dinner will be served on 12th September. Tea will be served twice during 4 days of the training during sessions.

TRAINING FEE

For Indian Participants

A non-refundable fee of Rs. 10000 per participant is to be paid through DD once the Application is approved. DD should be made in favour of GRASSROOTS INDIA TRUST payable at New Delhi. Receipt for fee amount will be produced.

The fee can also be deposited by cash/local cheque in the account of GRASSROOTS INDIA TRUST. The account details can be obtained from Coordinator Training before depositing the fee.

Above nominal fee is towards the cost of (i) accommodation, (ii) food, (iii) reading material kit, (iv) CD-ROM (to be provided at the end of training), (v) organizing the field visit for practical exercise, (vi) organizing the cultural program, and (vii) general guidance.

A non-refundable fee of INR 15000 per participant is to be paid through DD once the Application is approved. DD should be made in favour of GRASSROOTS INDIA TRUST payable at New Delhi. Receipt for fee amount will be produced.

Above nominal fee is towards the cost of (i) accommodation, (ii) food, (iii) reading material kit, (iv) CD-ROM (to be provided at the end of training), (v) release of official offer letter to facilitate visa process, (vi) organizing the field visit for practical exercise, (vii) organizing the cultural program, and (viii) general guidance.

HOW TO APPLY AND REGISTER ?

Step-II:
If the applicant is found eligible, he/she will be immediately informed and asked to send the amount of requisite fee through Demand Draft drawn in favour of Grassroots India Trust payable at New Delhi. Along with the payment, the applicant should also send the hard copy of Application Form duly approved by the Head of Institution and signed by the applicant himself/herself. The DD is to be sent by SPEEDPOST or AIRMAIL to: Mrs. S. Haleem, Administrator, Grassroots India Trust, 301 H-51/E, A. F. Enclave, Okhla, New Delhi – 110 025 India.

Step-III:
After dispatching the DD and hard copy of the Application Form, the applicant is expected to inform Mr. Chuni Lal at Grassroots Institute on his mobile telephone (09418133427).

* Please note that the candidature for this training in non-transferable. No other candidate would be accepted in place of the applicant.

TRAVEL & TRANSPORT EXPENSES

The travel and transport expenses to Kullu (and venue of training) and back would be taken care of by the participant or sponsoring organization. The organizers will not be responsible for any travel or transport expenses and or arrangements. Applicant is required to make his/her own bookings etc. Moreover, the organizers cannot arrange for receiving the participants at Bus Stand or Airport of Kullu. It will be the responsibility of the participants to reach the venue of training.

HOW TO REACH THE PLACE OF TRAINING ?

There is no train route to Kullu. However, the trains go upto Chandigarh. You can reserve your rail tickets through your booking agent or by visiting: http://indianrail.gov.in/ .

Best way to reach the place of training is to catch bus from Delhi. Regular buses are available from ISBT Kashmere Gate in Delhi to Kullu-Manali. Buses are of several types: ordinary state buses, semi-deluxe state buses, deluxe state buses, deluxe luxury buses, or Volvo buses. One can get buses from Chandigarh also. From the bus one has to get down at Dhalpur (Kullu). Please note that it is better to book buses well in advance due to rush of tourists.

Bookings for different modes of transport may be made by contacting the following:

|| Bus from Delhi to Kullu (13 hours journey)
HP Tourism: 011-23325320, 23324764
TCIL: 011-23416081-85, 23418023

|| Bus from Chandigarh to Kullu (8 hours journey)
*all types of buses are frequently available from Sector-17 Bust Station in Chandigarh (no need of reservation)

|| Flight Connectivity
Various domestic flights are available to Kullu. Kullu airport is located in Bhutar which is 4-5 km away from main Kullu city. Please see the schedule of flights at the link: http://wikitravel.org/en/Kullu and http://wikitravel.org/en/Manali . Indian Airlines, Deccan Air and Jagson Airlines operate from Delhi and Chandigarh to Bhuntar (Kullu)

*Reserve your return ticket from your travel agent in your city/town.

How to Reach the Venue?

The Hotel Shobla International is right at Dhalpur in Kullu. On reaching Dhalpur in Kullu, anybody can guide to reach the hotel.

ABOUT THE GRASSROOTS INSTITUTE

Grassroots institute aims to strengthen the grassroots action for social transformation through mainstreaming innovative learnings. Grassroots Institute is established by Grassroots India Trust (No. UA/972, registered under M. P. Public Trust Act 1951) to support the grassroots action for change through training, research, skill upgradation and professional education. Presently, the Grassroots Institute is in evolution phase and is being operated from Banjar (Kullu) in Himachal Pradesh. For further information about the GI, please visit the links: www.grassrootsinstitute.in, www.grassrootsglobal.net/gi.

CONTACT FOR GENERAL ENQUIRY

MR. CHUNI LAL
Coordinator Training
Grassroots Institute
GIT/SHARA, Top Floor, PO Building
Banjar - 175 123 Kullu (HP), India
Tel: 01903-201201, 222803, 09418133427
E-mail: grassrootsinstitute@gmail.com
Websites: www.grassrootsinstitute.in
www.grassrootsglobal.net/gi
www.grassroots.org.in

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS OF KULLU & MANALI

Manali is hot destination for tourists as it lies on silk route going to Ladakh and Hindukush-Himalayas connecting the Central Asia. There are more than two dozens of attractions in Manali and Kullu for the tourists. Further information can be accessed from the following websites:

Progress of our past trainings on may be seen by visiting the link: www.grassroots.org.in/trainings_progress.htm

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Mr. Hyacinth Viz possesses degrees in Psychology, Philosophy, Theology and Social Science, and PG Diplomas in Mass Media Communications, Business Management and Community Water Supply & Sanitation. He has worked in several countries including India, Thailand, Philippines, USA, UK, Germany, France, Austria, and The Netherlands. Together with partner NGOs and implementing agencies he remained engaged in designing and writing project proposals for Bilateral/Collateral and Matching Grant funding with various national and international organisations for rural and urban development. All proposals carried with them time bound cycles and Logical Framework Analysis. He is currently the Team Leader of ADB-supported Rajasthan Urban Infrastructure Development Program (RUIDP). In the past he was a development consultant serving DFID and Ministry of Health projects. He also acted as Team Leaders of the projects of UNICEF, WARDEMA, Govt. of Rajasthan. He was the Executive Director of Indo-German Social Service Society (IGSSS), Project Officer of Water Aid, Executive Director of SAHAYAK, International Assistant Director of Plan International, Senior Consultant of CNI-SBSS.

Mr. H. Arjjumend attained MSc from G. B. Pant University of Agri. & Tech. in Environmental Science, MRM from Indian Institute of Forest Management (Govt. of India) and few certificate courses from World Bank Institute, Human Rights Education Associates (USA), Green Net (Thailand), Grolink (Sweden) and Transcend University (Belgium). He was Commonwealth Professional Fellow 2007 in Wolverhampton/London. Currently he is Social-Impact Fellow. He has over 16 years experience of development action, research, documentation and media writing. Previously he was Biologist at Wildlife Institute of India (Govt. of India), Research Officer at NCHSE, CCV Fellow of WWF-India, and Sr. Program Officer at PRIA. He taught at Masters level for about 3 years in MC National University of Journalism, Bhopal. He founded People’s Resource Centre, a consultancy and publication group, in 1999, and served as Consultant to large number of NGOs, support agencies and donors. He is founder of Grassroots India Trust. He has supervised about 25 study projects and produced over 30 research/discussion papers and technical reports. He has written over 270 project proposals for variety of agencies/clients. He is engaged in several social enterprises. He is the Managing Trustee and Executive Director of Grassroots India Trust, and leading the establishment process of all other institutions of Grassroots Group including Grassroots Institute.

Ms. Vibha graduated from Lucknow University with Masters in Composite History and BA in Psychology. She has earned several professional courses from USA, UNFPA, Ford Foundation and SARF. She possesses 17 years experience in diverse social development environment: strategic planning with good knowledge of development challenges, equity and gender issues; program management and project design; acumen for capacity building; behavior change communication; results-based management approaches and advocacy. She is well conversant with budgets, audits and human resource matters within program context. She is efficient at delivering results while working with a variety of stakeholders – government, multilateral donors and NGOs. She has worked with the organizations like United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Unicef, State Innovations in Family Planning Services Project Agency (SIFPSA), and Population Services International (PSI) and, most recently, Johns Hopkins University (JHU) – Center for Communication Programs (CCP). Presently she is working as Consultant with Aga Khan Foundation. She practices leading by example and has flair for innovations.

Dr. Soma Bhowmick is currently the Program Manager at Impulse NGO Network, Shillong, Meghalaya with specializations in Project Designing and Consultancy, Research and Documentation on Child Rights Issues, Human Rights, Human Trafficking, HIV/ AIDS. Significantly experienced in educational, social and development sector for nearly 15 years, she has worked as Program Coordinator with Medecins Sans Frontieres – Holland extensively in post–conflict situations. She is a PhD in Public Administration, a Law Graduate and a Trained Teacher and a Trainer of Trainers. Additionally, she possesses considerable computer expertise and a strong background in Peace and Conflict Studies and Human Resource Management. She has been involved in project planning, project implementation, training, evaluation as well as research and documentation of projects funded by Medecins Sans Frontieres International, US Department of State through UNODC, UNIFEM, UNICEF, USAID, UNAIDS, Tear Fund UK, MEMISA-France, etc.

Mr. Milind Saxena is a development professional having more than 16 years of working experience with renowned organizations like Water & Sanitation Program – South Asia, UNICEF, NIPFP, IEG, DFID-PACS, IDS-Knowledge Link Research Project, Water Aid, etc. He possesses an MPhil degree in Social Medicine and Community Health from Jawaharlal Nehru University. His areas of expertise are health economics, environmental policy, water & sanitation, knowledge management. He is known consultant in the field of water and sanitation.