News

Dated: 6th May, 2024

SIGMA Foundation conducted a study on child trafficking in the North-Eastern states with focus on Assam. The study was commissioned by the North East Diocesan Social Service Society (NEDSSS) with support from Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Based on the findings, a project named ‘Suraksha’ has been conceived by CRS to combat child trafficking in the state, which is being implemented by NEDSSS on a pilot basis in Sorupani Gram Panchayat of Golaghat district of Assam, before the same is scaled up. The project envisages interventions at the levels of the adolescents, their parents, and the community. The expected result of the project is that the vulnerable children in the ages 12-17 years and their families living in the project area will have improved resilience to mitigate the risks of trafficking.
SIGMA Foundation was selected for conducting a baseline study to assess the status of the risk factors of child trafficking, keeping in mind the proposed interventions to mitigate the risk through the Suraksha project. The field work for the assessment, following a mixed method, has been conducted by SIGMA Foundation in the month of January and February 2024.
The final report has been shared with NEDSSS and CRS. The report provides the status of key indicators for the adolescents, their parents/family and the community level. Several recommendations have been made for successful implementation of the pilot project.

Dated: 30th April 2024

A research paper titled “Groundwater and climate smart agriculture: a reflection from West Bengal, India”, written by Dr. M. N. Roy, Dr. S. Das, R. Mitra and Dr. D. Mukherjee, has been published on 29.04 2024 by Springer Nature B.V. in the leading international cross-disciplinary journal on responses to environmental change, Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change. The article explores the reasons for the low level of adaptation to climate change among farmers and discusses the potential solutions to make climate smart agriculture viable in India, in the context of water resource management. The paper discusses the debate on water markets, the importance of ‘gender-smart’ approaches, extension services, ownership of local government and community participation in ensuring adaptation. The article can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-024-10137-1

Date: 1st April, 2024

This study was undertaken across the three countries of India, Nepal and Bangladesh as a baseline to a proposed intervention project titled MUKTI South Asia funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons implemented by ECPAT Luxembourg and its partners. The study sought to establish a baseline point on the following expected project outcomes:
– Improved coordination exists among state and civil society anti-TIP stakeholders (from community to national levels) to ensure resources are effectively managed and distributed to survivors of child sex trafficking.
Strengthened victim centred services provide more responsive and needs based assistance to survivors of child sex trafficking.
– Using the mixed method design, the study surveyed 375 vulnerable adolescent girls, 116 survivors of child sex trafficking and 223 community level stakeholders. Qualitative data was collected from 90 government and NGO functionaries (in-depth individual interviews), 150 mothers (focus-group discussion) and 21 survivors of child trafficking (case studies).

The study was done jointly with SFC Social Development Forum, a partner of SIGMA Foundation.

Date: 24th February, 2024

SIGMA Foundation is excited to share that a case study on “Self-Sufficient Community – Run Water Supply Scheme at the Foothills of Himalayas: Swajaldhara Piped Water Supply Scheme, Sisodangi Gulma Tea Estate, Darjeeling” authored by Dr. Debasri Mukherjee (Sr. Research Officer), Dr. M.N. Roy (President), Er. Sohini Tarafdar (Research officer), Mr. Rupam Mondal (Field Officer) and Mr. Kabirul Islam (Field Officer) has been published in the dynamic international Case Study series of Everything About Water (EAW) with Magazine title of “Collection of the Best Global Municipal and Industrial Case Studies, 15th A Collector’s Edition Case Study, Special Annual Issue 2023” (REG No; DELENG/ 2001/3092). Everything About Water is India’s First and the Most Read Water & Waste Water Magazine with 52% Circulation, 36 end user industry and 12% international reach. The case study issue showcases practical content from industry veterans, experienced end-users and global water researchers. It also bag’s the title of India’s biggest annual water directory with maximum reach of 77,000 water professional’s readership and year long shelf life.

Date: 22nd February, 2024

UNICEF has partnered with SIGMA Foundation to sustain Open Defecation Free (ODF) status and to also manage solid and liquid waste scientifically, known as ODF plus activities under the Swachh Bharat Mission Phase II. Further, the related services should be improved to make those Climates Resilient and Environmentally Sustainable (CCES). This will be done in 10 selected Gram Panchayats (GPs) of Malda, Murshidabad and South 24 Parganas. First the status of ODF and its sustainability and that of ODF Plus services will be assessed through field survey and that will be followed by 2-days training of the GP officials and other stakeholders to plan for improvement of the system as a part of Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP). Training programme has started from the 19th February in Murshidabad and the same will be taken up in other districts from the week starting from 26th February. The participants are being trained on various aspects of ODF sustainability, ODF plus and CCES and the gap that exists based on field survey by SIGMA Foundation. The second day starts with a transect walk in the village for the participants to identify the gaps after they are capacitated to assess the same in the first day and that is followed by a participatory exercise to document all the gaps and possible improvement. The interventions required for improvement will be done by designing appropriate schemes to be included under GPDP 2024-25 and those for subsequent years. Experts of SIGMA Foundation will mentor the GPs for 4 months to build the capacity of the GPs.

Dated: 9th February, 2024
We are immensely proud to announce that one of our publications by our research stalwarts, Dr. Debasri Mukherjee (Sr. Research Officer) and Dr. M. N. Roy (President) have been published in the globally prestigious journal named World Focus (Peer reviewed) under special issue of COP 28, UAE, Climate Change and Global Warming.
The work was presented in Indian Science Congress, January 2020 and then it went on a journey for international publication. It reflected the community driven action points in Indian context which also supported the COP 28 recommendations.
Publication title is “Decentralized Water Governance Mobilizing Community towards Sustainable Development Goal – 6 by 2030″, January 2024, ISSN 2230 – 8458, E-ISSN 2351 – 5063, US Library Congress Number 909/0345.

Date: 31st January, 2024
SIGMA Foundation was engaged as an Independent Support Agency (ISA) for implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in October 2021 for a period of one year. The engagement has been renewed in 2022 and 2023 and this is the third year of continuous support that SIGMA Foundation has been providing to Aurangabad Zilla Parishad. Several activities have been taken up by SIGMA Foundation from the beginning of its functioning as ISA.

At the beginning of implementation of JJM in Aurangabad district, which started in Gangapur Taluka of the district) the team focused on strengthening the VWSC (Village Water Sanitation Committee) and helped them to open account so that public contribution can be deposited. The team mobilized the people and made them aware of the JJM and the PWSS to ensure that 10% of the fund required to install the Piped Water Supply System (PWSS) is deposited by the potential consumers as their share. Simultaneously, survey was conducted in the command area of the PWSS covering the GP to prepare a layout plan of the proposed PWSS so that every household can be provided with Functional House Tap Connection (FHTC) and the survey data was used to prepare the DPR for the PWSS by Aurangabad Zilla Parishad.

After preparation of DPR, the team visited each Villages in the Gangapur Taluka of Aurangabad District. They were in continuous touch with the Gram Panchayats and the villagers, advised and monitored the depth of excavation for laying pipeline, the bedding of soil, location of cattle trough etc. as per DPR and follow progress using a recap sheet.

The team closely monitored the pipe laying work right from when the layout was given which followed excavation and then pipe laying and eventually provided connection to the water supply through FHTC. About 13000 FHTCs have been provided under supervision of SIGMA Foundation officials since the project started.

The team also remained responsible for uploading the data in the E- Jal Shakti Website and Geo-tagging the source of water and the location of the ESR (Elevated Service Reservoir). The work has been completed in almost 210 villages of Gangapur block.

The other important work taken up by SIGMA Foundation was testing water quality for both chemical and bacteriological parameters and train. More than 500 women (Anganwadi worker or supervisor, ASHA and Jal Surakshak), covering the entire block, have been trained by our team so far.

India accounts for 27 percent of the total TB cases in the world, according to the recently released Global TB Report 2023 by the World Health Organisation. Almost 28.2 lakh people in India got tuberculosis in 2022 with an estimated incidence rate of 199 cases per 100,000 population. India has set a target of eliminating tuberculosis by 2025 and the national strategic plan 2017-2025 sets the target to not more than 44 new TB cases per lakh population by 2025. There is a higher inclination of the TB patients to undergo treatment from the public places.

With this backdrop, SIGMA Foundation in association with SFCSDF is conducting a study across 10 Chest Clinics of Kolkata and their sub units with patients seeking treatment for tuberculosis from these clinics. The study has commenced from 11th December, 2023 and is expected to continue till the end of this month. The study titled “Understanding the status of Tuberculosis and its associated factors in Kolkata, West Bengal” will identify socio-economic, household and behavioural factors other than contextual factors associated with TB prevalence. It will also delineate the treatment pathways (health seeking behaviour, knowledge level, treatment adherence etc.) of the patients in addition to cost factors, Quality of life, stigma and challenges faced in day-to day life.

Date: 5 December, 2023
This November SIGMA Foundation has been engaged as the Implementation Support Agency (ISA) by Public Health Engineering Directorate, Govt. of West Bengal for implementation of community mobilization and capacity building activities at Darjeeling and Kalimpong Districts in West Bengal for implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM). JJM is being implemented in the said two districts by the Neorakhola Water Supply and Maintenance Division of the PHED, West bengal. It is an immense opportunity for SIGMA Foundation to be a part of implementation of JJM in the said two districts and reach out to the communities within the project areas. SIGMA Foundation is already working as ISA in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra for the last two years.

Date: 14 September 2023
SIGMA Foundation was engaged by the PHED West Bengal to be the NGO Contractor under the Asian Development Bank (ADB) assisted WBDWSIP for the district of Bankura. The period of engagement was from June 2019 to December 2022 and the project value was around Rs 1.41 crore.
SIGMA Foundation has successfully prepared and implemented the CAPP (Community Awareness and Participation Plan) and GESI (Gender Equality and Social Inclusion) Plan, which included primary survey and analysis of data. For generating community awareness on the project and associated issues related to water, extensive IEC materials were developed and disseminated. VWSCs (Village Water & Sanitation Committees) were established and made functional in all the 31 GPs of the 4 blocks covered under the project. Training modules were prepared for building capacity of the GP/VWSC functionaries, community members, school students. Training of 478 GP members (with 42.2% female participation) were conducted on AMSDF (Asset Management Service Delivery Framework). 418 VWSC members were oriented amongst which 51.7% were female participants and 38.1% belonged to vulnerable section. Leadership and livelihood training was imparted to 500 community members (49.6% female). A total of 9,173 community members were reached through 124 Master Trainers and awareness was generated on water conservation, demand management and WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene). Training programme on climate change on water conservation was conducted in 31 schools, one from each of the 31 GPs, in which 1240 students (45% girls) participated.
The first Water Security & Safety Plan (WSSP) of the country was prepared for Brahmandiha GP of Indpur block by the experts of SIGMA Foundation under this project. The WSSP was presented before a global audience through a virtual platform in the first E market place event organized by ADB in 2021. SIGMA Foundation got the “Certificate of Appreciation” from ADB Manila for this achievement.

Procedures were developed for giving house connection and day to day operation and preventive and breakdown maintenance. Support was also extended for the Smart Water Management and setting up Customer Care Centres at the GP offices.

The draft and final report was submitted as per schedule.