Poorest Areas Civil Society (PACS) Programme is the flagship initiative of the UK Government's Department for International Development (DFID), to work with civil society in India to improve the uptake of rights and entitlements by women and socially excluded groups. The five year programme (2009-14) will support civil society organisations (CSOs) to work in the areas of livelihoods, education, health and nutrition by promoting policies, programmes and institutions that are more inclusive at the local, district and state level.
The PACS programme will cover 120 poorest districts across the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal. PACS will target socially excluded groups: scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes (ST), Muslim minorities, women, girls and people with disability.
PACS aims to (i) strengthen demand for improved delivery of services, (ii) make service providers to be more responsive and accountable; and (iii) address the different forms of barriers and discrimination women and socially excluded groups face in claiming services and benefits.
To be eligible for support under PACS, the applicant organisation must:
1. be a legally registered organisation.
2. be a not for profit entity.
3. be registered under FCRA and Section 12A of IT Act.
4. be able to demonstrate that they have good understanding and commitment on the issues and priorities of PACS.
5. not be blacklisted by any state/national/international agency/body.
6. not be affiliated with any extreme religious organisation or activity.
7. not be aligned to any political party.
The duration of the projects should be more than 1 year and can be for a maximum of 4 years.
The estimated annual budget for projects under any of the above categories should range between Rs.10 lakhs to maximum of Rs.40 Lakhs per annum. The scale of the funding will depend on the scale of the project and the outcomes envisaged.
Source: PACS India
