Mahanagar Gas Limited pledges to undertake holistic development of six villages under the Project Vikas initiative

Will focus on five core areas of development - sanitation, health, education, infrastructure and livelihood

Six villages undergoing the revamp program include Aptwane, Zap, Vavloli, Barje, Adulse and Chikhalgaon which are home to tribal and underserved communities

 by Priya J

Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL), one of India's leading Natural Gas Distribution Companies, has continually been a front runner in encouraging to build a strong community and provide upgraded living experiences to citizens. In its latest step to provide an improved quality of life to citizens of six villages of Sudhagad Pali Taluka of Raigad District - Aptwane, Zap, Vavloli, Barje, Adulse and Chikhalgaon, the organisation has implemented project MGL Vikas, which will focus on providing improved sanitation, good health, quality education, strengthening of infrastructure and enhanced livelihood. The villages are located at around 110 kilometres from Mumbai and are home to tribal and undeserved communities. The project aims to benefit around 7000 individuals from 1194 household across 6 villages.

A recent visit by MGL’s Senior Management team to Chikhalgaon and Adulse and their interaction with the residents of the villages resulted in enthusiasm among the villagers. Chikhalgaon witnessed the inauguration of a renovated school and an Anganwadi. Other community driven activities such as strengthening of water sources, installation of solar street-lights, installation of community dustbins, creation of drainage systems, etc have also been undertaken in these villages. The Senior Management team interacted with students and teachers of the local Zilla Parishad school and inaugurated an Anganwadi in Adulse. This school has observed significant improvement in its ranking and currently stands third in the list of model schools in the district. This is mainly due to the overall support received under the project MGL Vikas.

Some of the key achievements the project has accomplished till date:

• Schools and Anganwadis in all 6 project villages have witnessed significant infrastructural improvement in sanitation facilities.
• Schools have been equipped with modern techniques of teaching (E-learning system, AKAR Module, Experiential Learning, etc.) resulting in significant improvement in ranking of the schools.
• All the villagers now have access to safe and clean drinking water after the drinking water source has been cleaned and strengthened.
• 100% of children of appropriate age are enrolled in the schools.
• 95% of children have achieved age-appropriate learning levels.
• To enhance hygiene, drainage channels have been covered, soak pits and community dustbins have been installed in all 6 project villages.
• The project seeks to promote universal coverage of toilets with equal emphasis on behavioural aspects - more than 80% of households have toilets in their household.
• 68 meetings and trainings of community-based organization have been conducted with the objective of conscientizing and enhancing participation.
• The initiative aims to support and provide families with know-how, inputs and market access for kitchen gardening. 1000 families are currently practicing kitchen gardening.

The community-based intervention intends to empower institutions and community-based organizations by promoting collectivism among the residing members which will enable them to seek resolutions for their challenges. The project is being implemented by MGL through The PRIDE India, an NGO promoting holistic development of the communities through an integrated approach.