Veddis Sandbox

Integrated Livelihood Development Program is facilitated by SPECTRA, funded by Veddis Foundation. Evolving out of our sandbox project in Rata Khurd, implemented between 2013-2018, this model aims to reduce poverty sustainably and facilitate rural development by empowering women as agents of change. Working with 5000 households across five Gram Panchayats in Rajasthan, this project expanded as our sandbox, where core tenets of the model are being continuously studied for attracting philanthropic funding towards this cause and where relevant, using these insights to recommend policy changes in flagship government programs such as the Rural Livelihood Missions.

Central to the model are the following:

• Mobilization of women into Self-Help Groups and facilitating access to formal credit
• Trainings on various livelihood, financial and empowerment modules
• Developing community champions that families can rely on for livelihood support
• Facilitate demand-led convergence with government schemes
• Convergence with Panchayati-Raj Institutions to leverage public funds

An endline study conducted in 2025 revealed a 1.7x difference in income between our intervention areas and control areas with the median income increasing by ~4.6x between the intervention period. With other key metrics improving including formal borrowing, increased say in financial decision making in the households and leveraging of public funds towards GP level development, this intervention proves valuable for SHG-based models with key focus on communitisation.