Energy major Shell and Tata Trusts, under the India2022 Coalition and supported by Xynteo, have rolled out the “Stages of Development (SoD) Framework,’ a data-driven tool that would enable start-ups, philanthropists and investors working in rural development to make informed decisions, identify relevant solutions, maximise social impact through an integrated, collaborative approach, the coalition said.
“We need to convert a nation of challenges into a nation of opportunities and innovation and India is working towards becoming a nation of innovators and job creators so that the farthest reaches of the country benefit,” said Ramanan Ramanathan, mission director, Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, while unveiling the SoD Framework.
“The SoD Framework is a unique tool that can help emerging start-ups and innovators to deliver solutions to the challenges and transform them into a million opportunities for development in rural India,” he added.
The SoD framework: https://ruralcollaboration.in/ is a data-driven planning framework which helps start-ups to identify partnerships that will aid in integrated rural development.
It is also a tool for donors, philanthropists, and investors to design rural development programs and allocate funding and investments for maximum impact and social returns.
As per the SoD Framework, a village is classified based on its performance against the socio-economic development indicators, into one of the four categories: Underserved, Nascent, Advancing and Rurban.
Based on the stage in which the target village/area lies, the framework puts forth solutions and delivery models best suited to the target area, as well as synergies amongst the eight core sectors.
These include agriculture and livelihoods; water and sanitation; healthcare and nutrition; energy; finance; education and skill development; communication and digital inclusion; people and goods movement.
This multi-stakeholder partnership has been created keeping in mind the UN Sustainable Development Goals and supporting the Government of India’s strategic priorities.
Nitin Prasad, chairman, Shell Companies in India said, “Access to finance, both for consumers and enterprises, can increase the uptake of several interventions, across different sectors.” He said this collaboration will ensure that decentralised, fit-for-purpose and low carbon energy solutions would be made available to all rural households and rural enterprises.
Ganesh Neelam, head, Central and East North Zone, Tata Trusts and executive director, Collectives for Integrated Livelihood Initiatives, said, “Rural and tribal villages need an overall development approach to make them resilient. The framework allows matching of needs of communities with appropriate interventions, based on a cross-sector approach, from all required stakeholders.”
Osvald Bjelland, founder and CEO, Xynteo said, “The post COVID-19 world will be known as the era of collaboration. An era in which the private sector moved towards enabling social and environmental impact; NGOs adopted systemic interventions and embraced commercial partnerships; social enterprises and innovators moved beyond pilots towards commercially-scalable models; and governments created enabling environments for all stakeholders.”
The SoD framework could potentially be used by any stakeholder interested in understanding rural market needs and viable solutions, the coalition said.
