Lok Kalyan Sansthan

Lok Kalyan Sansthan works in Barmer, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Jalore districts of Rajasthan. The major focus, however, is on Barmer and Jaisalmer, as these are most deprived and disadvantaged areas in Rajasthan with scarcity of even minimum resources necessary for human survival.

Barmer and Jaisalmer districts are situated in the western Rajasthan’s Thar Desert which is economically and politically backward with no or very less vegetation. Land is covered by large sand dunes. The climate is very hot, and strong and sandy winds blow throughout the day.

Like other deserts, this area also has scarcity of water. The water table is very low and whole population is dependent on rainwater for drinking and agriculture purposes. They all store water for their whole year requirement. For long this area has faced continuous droughts. Land has dried up and there is no fodder for the animals.

The people of this area are facing the problem of livelihood, drinking water and other basic minimum needs. The scattered population is deprived of health, education, transportation, and other basic amenities. Dalits and women rarely take part in local governance, which is their constitutional right.

Problems of people residing in rural areas are compounded by scattered nature of hamlets, called dhanis in local parlance. Most of the dhanis are without basic support facilities like drinking water, transport, primary health services, primary education facilities, etc.

The local development machinery is often found to be not very responsive to the felt needs of the community. Lackadaisical approach of the bureaucracy, coupled with presence of structured deficiencies prohibits the outreach of development to the needy and oppressed section. The human development indicators are low for these districts as revealed by the development indicators of three blocks of Barmer and Jaisalmer districts.

Development Indicators

[Source 1991 Census]