Reliance Foundation to replicate Gujarat BIJ success in other states

BIJ began in Oct 2010 as an effort to bridge the rural and urban gap through rural transformation and farmers' empowerment

Having witnessed the success of its Bharat India Jodo (BIJ) project of rural transformation in 14 villages of Surat district, Reliance Foundation, is now set to replicate the project in other parts of the country.

"I am happy to see the progress here that the villagers have achieved in last one year, especially among the women. I am going to talk about your progress when I visit other states," Nita Ambani, chairperson, Reliance Foundation said in an interaction with farmers of Selarpur village in Mangrol taluka of Surat.

She was here on a visit to the village to gauge the progress of BIJ project here.

A flagship initiative of Reliance Foundation and conceptualised by Mukesh and Nita Ambani, BIJ began in October 2010 as an effort to bridge the rural and urban gap through rural transformation and farmers' empowerment.

The programme looks to benefit over 100,000 people from 20,000 marginal households of close to 300 villages.  In Gujarat the BIJ project is being carried out in two clusters viz. Netarang and Radhanpur comprising 14 and 18 villages, respectively.

"With 70 per cent farming in the country dependent on rain fall, farmers in the country have been marginalised. The BIJ programme aims to achieve transformation of rural India through a process of institutionalisation and creation of a sustainable framework for livelihoods, especially farming,"said Ambani.

Apart from Gujarat, Reliance Foundation is implementing same project in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu comprising over 20,000 farming households in close to 300 villages.