Canara Bank
a. Canara Bank, a Body Corporate established under the Banking Companies (Acquisition & Transfer of Undertakings) Act 1970, is one of India's leading banks. Despite its banking footfall, Canara Bank continues to heed and follow its founder's words to also be a bank "with an obligation of helping in every possible manner to improve the economic conditions of the common people."
b. Canara Bank has agreed to fund the first Carbon-Neutral Village to help households in Parapur revenue village of Muslapur Gram Panchayat to become part of the global discourse on Climate Change and to take practical steps to cope with and adapt to Climate Change.
SAMUHA is a development organization that works primarily in the South Indian state of Karnataka. SAMUHA's Goal is to improve the Quality of Life of Vulnerable People within defined periods of time.
SAMUHA's name is derived from the Sanskrit and translates as an Organised Group or Society. This reflects our belief that development is best sustained when undertaken through group processes.
From a small, integrated rural development project, SAMUHA has grown to develop core competencies in the following areas:
1. Formal and informal institutions of, and groups committed to working with vulnerable people.
a. SAMUHA has promoted 6 CBOs and 5 development organisations to-date.
2. Integrated Village Development
a. SAMUHA presently works with 51 Siddi communities in Uttara Kannada. Siddis trace their descent to slaves brought in by the Portuguese into Goa from Ethiopia or Abyssinia.
3. Community-based Rehabilitation of People with Disabilitiesa. SAMUHA's disability resource group is known as SAMARTHYA / Potential. b. It runs 2 assessment and follow-up clinics and 3 orthotic workshops. Two of these undertake prosthetics, including the Jaipur Foot, while one undertakes ear moulds and hearing aids maintenance.c. Its services cover all disabilities with small specialised units that cater to the orthopaedically disabled, spinal chord-injured, hearing impaired, mentally challenged and the mentally ill. d. SAMARTHYA also provides horticultural training for PWDs. In addition its runs a residential tailoring class for women who learn a skill and leave as self-confident young women.
4. 0-Pesticide Sustainable Agriculturea. SAMUHA is a founder-member of a national network that promotes NPM (non-Pesticide Management) cropping. It focuses on NPM Paddy. Its integrated crop management system built around its NPM practices has helped farmers to save over Rs 4000 per acre from their cost of cultivation, and another Rs 3000 per acre from farmgate procurement.
5. CDM cookstoves
a. SAMUHA is central to three CDM cookstoves projects: two are registered by UNFCCC, while the third is the accompanying CPA for the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy's Cookstove POA. This is just undergoing validation.
b. The first CDM cookstove project - JSMBT - has just signed an ERPA - Emissions Reduction Purchase Agreement, at € 9.51/CER - with a Dutch Social Carbon Fund - Fair Climate Fund. The two registered cookstove project cover 21,500 households each, while the third covers 19,500 households.
6. Micro Credita. SAMUHA is still trying to overcome the effects of the MFI crisis in AP. It rode through the crisis when banks refused to advance any more loans for on-lending by shifting to SHG Bank Linkages that are serviced by JanaraHana / People's Money, its rural credit resource group.
7. Access to Public Resources
a. SAMUHA undertakes a small initiative to help farmers and labourers in 9 pre-dominantly dry Gram Panchayats in the Deodurg taluk to access NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) resources to green the environment through Trench-cum-Bunds, farm ponds, desilting of lakes and tree plantation. It is able to source over a Crore of resources annually under this legal entitlement to make the drylands, especially of small and marginal farmers less vulnerable to Climate Change.
SAMUHA's work focuses on:
Children. SAMUHA helps children in distress through a child red alert system embedded in the Deputy Commissioner's office in Koppal district.
Women. SAMUHA works with over 1300 SHGs and over 13,000 women to promote thrift, accessing of micro loans and to build credit-worthiness.
People with disabilities. SAMUHA works with over 3500 children and adults with disabilities annually to become independent within the constraints of their disabilities. SAMUHA has promoted 5 OPWDs - Organisations of PWDs in Raichur, Koppal and Uttara Kannada districts - who undertake advocacy and promote disability rights.
People with Distinct Cultural Identities. SAMUHA presently works with Siddis in Uttara Kannada, Kadgollas in Tumkur, Devadasis in Koppal and Manual Scavengers in Kolar and elsewhere in the State.
Rural communities dependent on agricultural. SAMUHA presently works with 24 communities to provide NPM extension, access to institutional credit and with farmgate procurement. The NPM Initiative has helped promote Safe Harvest Pvt Ltd to undertake retailing, and NPM paddy from the Deodurg villages will soon be available in Bengaluru where SHPL has signed a retailing agreement with a supermarket chain.
Climate-challenged Communities. SAMUHA is working with 16,147 households who are presently using 32,294 Chulika biomass cookstoves. To-date, these households have saved 15,595 t/ce in carbon emissions.