The General Assembly of the Vikalp Sangam, consisting of over 80 people’s movements and civil society groups across India, has released a ‘People’s Manifesto for a Just, Equitable and Sustainable India, 2024’, on 18th December in New Delhi. 

The Manifesto, aimed at political parties, government agencies, and civil society organisations and movements at various levels, lists key strategies and actions that need to be taken for securing dignified livelihoods, protecting human rights, conserving the environment and wildlife, democratising all spaces of decision-making, withdrawing authoritarian laws and measures, providing meaningful opportunities for education and health, enabling local self-reliance for basic needs like water, food and energy, and other such actions. These are framed keeping in mind the worsening situation of hundreds of millions of people in India, and of its natural environment. The Manifesto also stresses that in all these, recognition must be given to the power and agency of marginalised sections including women, Dalits, Adivasis, people with disabilities, sexual and gender minorities; and special attention given to the perspectives and needs of youth. The signatories also themselves commit to take actions towards such goals to the best of their ability, while seeking government accountability. 

The Manifesto has been prepared keeping the upcoming national elections in 2024 in mind, but will also be used as a tool for advocacy and action in other contexts, including state elections, local government policies and programmes, and actions by non-state actors including the media, civil society groups, educational institutions and others. 

The Manifesto has been released at a Press Conference at the Press Club, Delhi, at 11 am on 18th December. 

Entire Manifesto

Summary of the Manifesto

Summary in Hindi

Summary in Telugu

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Two essays from the book ‘Alternative Futures: India Unshackled’ edited by Ashish Kothari and K.J. Joy have been translated into Hindi. Please click here to read them.

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Latest People in Conservation: Biodiversity Conservation and Livelihood Security Newsletter is out!

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Latest Hindi People in Conservation: Biodiversity Conservation and Livelihood Security Newsletter is out!

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“While Satheesh’s passing on has filled us with sadness and grief, we would also like to celebrate his life and incredible achievements. At Kalpavriksh we have known him and Deccan Development Society for nearly 25 years, including as one of the core team members of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan process we coordinated. DDS was also one of the initiators of the Vikalp Sangam process in 2014. In this period his work and that of thousands of Dalit and Adivasi women farmers whose creativity, courage, and knowledge flourished in the sensitive enabling environment he helped create, has been a great source of inspiration and hope for all of us. He was a true revolutionary, believing in the agency of the most oppressed section of Indian society to create magical transformations towards food sovereignty, media independence, gender equality and a challenge to casteism, amongst other achievements. We also fondly remember him for his gentle and warm humour, and the way he would always be available for slow conversation, regardless of the pressing commitments of his responsibilities. ” – KALPAVRIKSH FAMILY

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we inform that Mr P. V. Satheesh (77), founder and Executive Director of Deccan Development Society (DDS) passed away this morning. Last rites will be performed on Monday at 10.30 am in Pastapur Village of Sangareddy district.

As one of the icons of civil society activism in India, Mr. Satheesh, through the Zaheerabad-based organisation in rural Telangana, championed issues of agri-biodiversity, food sovereignty, women’s empowerment, social justice, local knowledge systems, participatory development, and community media. The women’s sanghams of DDS and their steadfast adherence to millet cultivation and organic agriculture led the way nationally in offering demonstrable alternatives to the dominant agricultural paradigm. The recent efforts to incorporate millets into the public distribution system owes much to the work of DDS under his guidance.

Born on June 18, 1945 in Mysore, Periyapatna Venkatasubbaiah Satheesh was a graduate from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi and started out as a journalist. He went on to work as a pioneering television producer for nearly two decades for Doordarshan, making programmes related to rural development and rural literacy in the then-united Andhra Pradesh. He played an important role in the historical Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) in the 1970s.

In the early 1980s, Mr. Satheesh, along with a few friends, initiated the Deccan Development Society in the semi-arid Zaheerabad region by collectivizing poor dalit women in the villages for a range of programmes that together challenged hunger, malnutrition, land degradation, loss of biodiversity, gender injustice, and social deprivation. He led the organisation for nearly four decades to become an internationally acclaimed NGO and an inspiring example that has motivated similar experiments in millet revival and promotion across the country.

As the director of DDS, PV Satheesh’s long-standing efforts resulted in improving the livelihoods of thousands of poor women across 75 villages in Telangana. He also led several national and international networks like Millet Network of India (MINI), South Against Genetic Engineering (SAGE), AP Coalition in Defence of Diversity and was also the India Coordinator for SANFEC, the South Asian Network for Food, Ecology and Culture, a five-country South Asian network with over 200 ecological groups. He was formerly Board Member, Genetic Resources Action International (GRAIN), Barcelona, Spain and was also a member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food), Brussels, Belgium. He is also credited with the initiation of India’s first Community Media Trust, a grassroots media centre where non-literate dalit women were trained in film-making to democratize media spaces, and also with the launching of India’s first rural, civil society-led community radio station, Sangham Radio.

He was a tireless worker and leader in the NGO sector who remained committed to his principles and was a generous mentor to many young people. He was recently honoured for his lifetime contributions in making millets a people’s agenda.

His presence will be greatly missed by his friends, family, staff at DDS, and thousands of women farmers in Zaheerabad. The Board of Directors of DDS would like to join thousands of community members and the larger civil society fraternity in mourning the passing of Mr. Satheesh and wishes to place on record his immense services to the organisation and the causes it has been espousing. The organisation intends to continue the activities of the DDS with the same commitment and dedication.
– On behalf of the DDS women Sanghams & Board members.