Spandan Samaj Seva Samiti

Spandan Samaj Seva Samiti was registered in 2002. Their mission is to address malnutrition among the Korku tribe in the Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh and establish a community based malnutrition management programme to establish food security. 

Their activities include:

• Community based Malnutrition Management: The Spandan Ambulatory Care Team addresses malnourishment across 100 villages through proactive early tracking, scheduled home visits, counselling, vaccinations, and hygiene awareness. Each child is monitored through an admission process. Children are screened by doctors and provided with necessary medicines. Pregnant women are provided counselling, outreach, and doctors’ visits. Centres are equipped with toys, recreational material and clothing. Spandan provides vegetable seeds to promote backyard gardens and facilitate a healthy diet for mothers and children. Spandan runs 8 community crèches for children below 3 years. Centres provide a take-home ration for malnourished children, and working mothers leave their kids at the crèches where they are cared for, fed, and participate in early childhood development activities. Regular health camps are also organized to help mothers develop a health seeking behavioral change.
• Biodiversity Conservation: Grain banks have been established among the neediest families. The organisation and the community work together to provide and keep the grains safe. Members can borrow grains when faced with hunger, addressing seasonal peak hunger times. Spandan addresses grievances of members with employers related to delayed wage payment. They work on improving traditional methods of crop revival. Families are empowered through opportunities to sell goods like cosmetics, jewellery, and grains for creating working capital and encouraging tribal entrepreneurship. Spandan addresses seasonal distress migration by providing migrant labourers with insightful sessions on rights, safety, security and care.
• Women Empowerment: Women empowerment is a key area of intervention. It includes capacity building of tribal women with regards to their rights (eg. demanding work under MGNREGS), leadership roles, managing Self-Help Groups, and collective action for development and various legislations related to their safety, security and justice.
• Korku Language and Culture Preservation: Spandan works to gauge aboriginal knowledge, develop philanthropic documents in Korku, organise festivals for promoting the language, and teaching it to the next generation.