About RDA

Rural Development Association (RDA) is a registered non-govt. social service organisation. It has been working in the Western part of Midnapore District (presently known as Paschim Medinipur) of West Bengal since 1980. From 1984 RDA has extended its area of operation in the neighboring Ghatshila Block of East Singbhum District of Jharkhand (erstwhile South Bihar). The West Bengal chapter is known as Midnapore Project and the other one is known as Singbhum Project. In Midnapore RDA had been working in the remote rural areas falling under Jhargram, Sankrail, Keshiary Blocks.Due to Extremist insurgency work in Jhargram had to be withdrawn. Under Singbhum Project RDA is working in Ghatshila and Dhalbhumgarh blocks. All the areas have almost similar geographical and climatic condition. Demographic profile is more or less the same. RDA is registered as a society under the West Bengal Societies registration Act(1961). To receive foreign contributions it is registered under Foreign Contribution Regulatory Act (FCRA). The owners of RDA are its Governing Body, which is constituted of 9 members. They include individuals from academic and social service institutions. The person responsible for day-to-day functioning and decision-making is its Secretary. She is the Executive Director. RDA’s Head Office or Central Coordinating Office is at Paschim Medinipur Sadar (District HQ). In the operational Blocks RDA has Field Offices.

From Secretary’s desk

nandini This is a great opportunity to introduce Rural Development Association to everybody who are interested to know about the social service world and work done for disadvantaged and backward sections of the country. RDA works for the overall development of the socially excluded groups, mostly tribal and Scheduled castes , who cannot reach the share of fruits of development due to lack of self-confidence, awareness, knowledge and skills to participate in the development process. So our first and foremost task is to empower the vulnerable communities to gain ability to understand the causes of vulnerability and help them to change their destiny. Our main focus is to ensure food and income security through judicious use of natural resources, including human resources, to bring about positive changes in their quality of life and empower them to fight for their rights. Our intervention helped the target communities in remote rural areas to get organized and work for improving their quality of life and have clear understanding on their rights and fight for accessing those. Details of the activities and their impact will be narrated briefly in the following pages. I take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to our donors, friends and other institutions and well wishers who constantly inspired us by their valuable suggestions and critical feed backs. I also thank my whole team and also the members of the referral communities whose active involvement has made it possible to proceed forward with our mission to bring positive changes in the lives of the marginalized people. Best wishes for everybody. Nandini Basu Secretary

Mission of RDA:

Socio-economic empowerment of the women through promotion of self-help groups to ensure food and income security and thus bring improvement in the quality of their lives and their families and develop them as self-reliant individuals. RDA actually involves the target communities in the process of their development.

Vision of RDA:

RDA envisions an equitable society where sustainable development and livelihoods will allow tribal populations to lead a better life and people are able to make independent choices and decisions.

Referral communities:

RDA works for the overall development of the socially excluded groups, mostly tribal and Scheduled castes , who cannot reach the share of fruits of development due to lack of self-confidence, awareness, knowledge and skills to participate in the development process. So our first and foremost task is to empower the vulnerable communities to gain ability to understand the causes of vulnerability and help them to change their destiny.

Approach of RDA:

RDA was formed to address the problems of extremely poor and backward communities. A community development approach was necessary for that. From the very beginning RDA realised that women power was to be properly utilised in case of development challenges. Therefore all the programmes undertaken by RDA so far, prioritized women’s interest and there was always an effort to create space for their active participation in implementation process.

Thematic area:


i. Empowerment of rural women especially in tribal areas.
ii. Protection of Child Rights – education, protection and participation of tribal/ other vulnerable children
iii. Youth as an actor of change in their communities and society
iv. Access of rights and entitlement of community
v. Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) and environment protection
vi. Income enhancement through agriculture (High value & non-chemical) and allied activities (Goat rearing and Pisciculture)
vii. Access of safe drinking water
viii. Health and hygiene for young girls and women.
ix. Promotion of FPO / FPC and collective marketing
x. Capacity building of children, youth, SHG members, PRI members and community
xi. Strengthening ecosystem with government and other stakeholders

Values of the organization:

  • Dedication to work
  • Team work
  • Trust
  • Transparency
  • Accountability
  • Integrity
  • Empathy
  • Concerned to community
  • Respect to women and children

Strength of the organization:

  • Team works and dedication to work
  • Very good reputation in community
  • Expertise in training facilitation, community institution building, working with children and youth, SHG and community
  • High retention of staffs
  • Experimentation and adoption of best practices