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Vikas Sahyog Pratishthan (VSP) is a collective of 16 organisations and individuals that are primarily working on the developmental issues of the poor and deprived sections of society in Maharashtra. VSP and its members are working with a long-term perspective to qualitatively expand and deepen the political and socio-economic space for marginalised communities, particularly in the areas of livelihood and dignity. They work in 19 districts in Maharashtra in partnership with 16 member organisations, 32 Community Based Organisations (CBOs) and 21 alliance partners.

Their programmes in 2010-11 were as follows:

• Capacitating communities in cultivation practices and subsistence: VSP primarily focused on ensuring subsistence and promoting capacity building with youth, farmers, women, panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) and other institutions. Due to their campaigning, 789 farmers from the Konkan region adopted cultivation methods and sowed paddy, ragi and organic vegetables and earned income from selling their surplus produce. Their efforts at gender sensitisation also resulted in 350 male farmers taking the decision to share responsibilities and decision making with women. They legally registered their wives as nominees in land records and home ownership as a result of the intervention.
• Dignity and Livelihood resources for deprived communities: They instituted a programme to enhance capacity building of grassroots leaders, particularly from notified and denotified tribes. VSP deployed 12 fellows in 4 regions of Maharashtra and reached out to 12,297 people. Overall, they managed to provide 1,426 job cards, 704 ration cards, 702 voting cards and 694 caste certificates for members of the community.
• Gender sensitisation: Capacity building and input sessions were conducted to enhance gender consciousness. 9 programmes on gender were conducted with farmers in the Konkan region. 347 farmers were sensitised and made aware of the importance of involving women members of their family in decision-making. 814 villages from 566 Gram Panchayats (local self-government units) participated in their ‘We Can’ campaign that protested violence against women.
• Education: VSP advocated with the government to reduce the ratio of out-of-school children. They brought 4,000 children under facilitation as part of this effort.