| The NGO is working to bring social transformation through different media such as law, education, health and people's participation. |
| Dastak has identified about 9,500 persons who have lost their livelihood during the riots erupted in the aftermath of Godhra carnage in 2002. |
| "We have identified the people who lost their assets and resources of income through a survey. We have classified the affected people in two groups: 2,500 self-employed and 7,000 daily wage earners," said Kapil Sharma, an activist associated with Dastak. |
| The amount to be raised has not been finalised yet but the overall loss can be estimated at about Rs 2,000 crore of which hotel industry is learnt to be the worst affected area with an estimated loss of about Rs 700 crore added Sharma. The identified people are from Ahmedabad only where the riots went on for long. |
| "We are working on a model where the fund provider would offer soft loans to the riot affected people. In certain cases where investment in developing property is required, the ownership would remain with the bank or FIs. We are also working on a strategy to establish people in a cluster who are not willing to go back to their original dwellings," said Sharma. |
| In case of daily wage earners, Dastak is planning to establish a co-operative where the purchase of inputs can be done collectively at a cheaper cost. The NGO is also planning to approach government agencies engaged in areas such as handicraft to source finished products from such co-operatives. |
| "We have not finalised the list of banks and FIs yet but we will also forward our proposals to government agencies and NGOs," said Sharma. |
| Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, an NGO active in a number of countries and associated with Dastak in rehabilitation project, has shown willingness to help in case the proposal suits its criterion. |
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