Society for Service to Voluntary Agencies (North) Punjab

Society for Service to Voluntary Agencies (SOSVA) was founded in Pune (Maharashtra) in 1984. The Northern Chapter, with Headquarters at Delhi and cat Read moreering to the Northern states of Punjab & Haryana, Capital Territory of Delhi and UT of Chandigarh was registered as a separate Society in 1999. Later, in 2002, the state units were registered as independent entities. SOSVA (North) - Punjab, registered in 2002, looks after the activities in the State of Punjab. It has been recognized as Mother NGO by various departments of Punjab Government and Government of India as under:    a.    Health and Family Welfare Department of Punjab for Reproductive and Child       Health programmes in the State of Punjab.   b.  Department of Social Security and Women and Child Development, Punjab, for     women and child development and drug de-addiction programmes in the State     of Punjab.   c.   Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for Reproductive and Child Health     programmes in Ajitgarh, Patiala and Rup Nagar districts.   d.   Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Department of AYUSH for the         promotion of Indian Systems of Medicine in Ajitgarh and Rup Nagar Districts. SOSVA has since beginning been engaged in the promotion and strengthening of the voluntary movement by bringing field NGOs and State Government into an active and mutually beneficial relationship. To this end, SOSVA provides to the Government assured access to reliable field NGOs and a mechanism of positive monitoring of their performance. Over 100 NGOs are currently working for SOSVA. An equal number, no longer working for us, had earlier been allotted projects by us and several others trained by us through Capacity Building Workshops. SOSVA receives funds from State Government under the scheme for assistance to NGOs. It identifies credible NGOs in a transparent manner after evaluating their credentials and recommends them for assistance to the Sanctioning Committee. During implementation the performance of NGOs is monitored regularly and review meetings are held to guide the NGO heads.   Two major areas of our focus have been mother and child care through Reproductive Child Health (RCH) programme and women's empowerment through Skill Development programme. Under RCH programme NGOs create awareness about facilities and incentives available for pregnant women and children. Their endeavour is to improve the health indicators in terms of institutional deliveries, maternal and infant mortality and to provide support to vaccination programme for children. SOSVA has been complementing the Health Department by hand holding of target groups since 1999 in underserved areas where outreach of health services has been poor due to inadequate infrastructure. It has also been encouraging hygiene and sanitation among adolescent girls.    Projects for women empowerment mainly cater to women from the weaker sections of society. Skill development helps them to supplement family income or get gainful employment. Training courses are run through field NGOs in skin and hair beauty care, cutting and tailoring and computer applications. Some NGOs are also supported for creating awareness and providing counseling against the menace of drug addiction and for running crèches for children of working women from poor families.  SOSVA’s primary sources of funding remain Government grants. We get grants both from the Government of India and the Punjab Government. These funds may be given either in our capacity as a mother NGO or as a field NGO. GOVERNING BOARD   SOSVA (N) Punjab has a Governing Board comprising eminent men and women drawn from diverse disciplines, bound together by their zeal for the advancement of poorer sections of society. Day-to-day work of the NGO is looked after by a close-knit team consisting of Chairman-cum-Executive Director and five Member Directors.