About Sanjay

Mr. Sanjay Kumar, the Founder Executive Director of Manjari Foundation, has devoted over two decades to advancing rural development in Dholpur, Rajasthan. He began his career with Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN) and has since worked in Rajasthan, Bundelkhand, Central India, and West Africa.

After earning his B.Tech from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Sanjay joined PRADAN in Rajasthan and spent the first 15 years of his career engaged in grassroots work. In 2006, he was awarded a Ford Fellowship to pursue a Master’s in Sustainable International Development at the Heller School of Social Policy and Management in the USA.

Upon completing his Master’s degree, Sanjay received job offers from the World Bank and several prestigious UN institutions but chose to focus on rural India as his area of impact.

In 2015, Sanjay established the Manjari Foundation to empower women’s groups and address poverty and social issues. He has collaborated with various committees within the Rural Development Department, Livestock and Dairy Department, and Cooperative Departments of the Government of Rajasthan.

Sanjay brings extensive expertise in the rural development sector, including social mobilization, institution building, pro-poor livelihood value chain development, organizational development, advocacy, and public policy formulation. He is skilled in formulating, designing, implementing, monitoring, and supervising development projects.

Contribution to Society

Thanks to Sanjay’s relentless efforts, marginalized women in Rajasthan are now embarking on a new journey of empowerment and family development. This progress has enabled Dholpur to consistently feature in the Government of India’s NITI Aayog’s Aspirational District report and achieve new milestones in development daily.

Sanjay has implemented the Institution Building Model, focusing on a Three-Tier Architecture where Self-Help Groups (SHGs) form the foundational level. This system comprises SHGs at the first tier, Village Organizations (VOs) at the second, and Federations at the third.

The Manjari Foundation, founded by Sanjay, oversees approximately 7,000 women’s self-help groups, 741 village organizations, and 23 federations. The foundation has played a crucial role in organizing and supporting these institutions.

To date, Manjari Foundation’s microfinance initiatives have successfully integrated over 89,203 previously unbanked women into the financial system, organized into 7,000 SHGs, 741 village organizations, and 23 federations. These groups have collectively disbursed loans amounting to over ₹30 crore ($4 million).

Impact on Society

Under Sanjay’s leadership, the Manjari Foundation has made significant strides in empowering and uplifting women, focusing on areas such as livelihood development, education, skill-building, and climate-friendly practices.

Women’s Empowerment: Sanjay’s efforts have led to the successful establishment of 7,000 self-help groups, 741 village organizations, and 23 federations, collectively organizing around 200,000 women. Over the past nine years, these initiatives have generated over ₹100 crore in credit through Gramin Sakhi, providing financial inclusion and self-reliance to approximately 30,000 women in Rajasthan, Bundelkhand, and Uttarakhand, with an interest amounting to ₹10 crore.

Livelihoods and Food Security: Currently, 18,000 families are benefiting from sustainable livelihoods through agricultural and non-agricultural ventures, including micro-enterprises. Under Sanjay’s leadership, numerous micro-enterprises have been established, which collectively generated about ₹3.5 crore in 2020. Products from these enterprises, such as ghee, paneer, mawa, honey, oil, pickles, and spices, are now sold online and in major malls across the country.

1,000k Entrepreneurs Fund: This fund was created to support 10,000 rural youth by providing them with capital and training to start their own businesses. To date, 500 women have received funding to launch their ventures, with plans to assist 10,000 rural youth within the next two years.

Education: The Manjari Foundation has enhanced the capacity of 1,466 school teachers and impacted over 50,000 students. The Dholpur administration is adopting the foundation’s education policy across all government departments.

The Second Chance Education (SCE) program, in collaboration with UN WOMEN, has helped 1,000 drop-out women access higher education and job opportunities while offering vocational training for employment.

Skill-Building & Employment: The employment generation program has trained over 2,000 individuals in various trades, enabling many to start their own micro-enterprises. Additionally, more than 1,000 community resources have been trained as Community Resource Persons (CRPs), reaching over 25,000 members at the grassroots level in the past five years.

Climate Change: The Manjari Foundation has educated and supported over 3,000 people, including marginal farmers, on climate change. Initiatives include water conservation, productivity enhancement, and participatory climate action such as establishing Pani Panchayats, managing natural resources, and adopting climate-resilient practices like water and climate-smart agriculture.

International Contribution

Rural women who once never stood in line for a ration card now hold their own passports. Despite their lack of formal education, they are now training women in countries such as Cambodia, Kenya, Mali, and Senegal, sharing their insights on self-reliance and empowerment.

This model of rural development, championed by Manjari, has successfully been scaled and replicated by these women in collaboration with Camide, a West African NGO, across Mali and Senegal. This expansion has instilled a profound sense of respect and self-confidence among rural women and showcased the effectiveness of this developmental approach on an international level.

Special facts about joining social service

Despite studying in America, he chose rural India as his workplace. He spent his entire youth in empowering rural women. He left his luxurious AC office and started working in the scorching hot Chambal region. As a result, women who never looked out of their veils and never even talked to strangers, now their husbands come to drop them to work. Sanjay created this confidence in the people of the area.

Sanjay, who came from the lower middle class, after doing B.Tech chose PRADAN in Dholpur which was working for the betterment of farmers and women. His parents were hoping that his son would eradicate their poverty and get a good corporate job, but Sanjay’s decision to work in an NGO hurt them a lot. But Sanjay did not give up and called his parents from Delhi to Itarsi and showed them how he was working among farmers and poor families and left the decision of his career to his parents that he would do as he was told.

When Sanjay’s parents, who lived in Delhi, saw that people like him were still struggling to make a living and needed a helping hand, they happily allowed Sanjay to do social work and returned to Delhi and today for the last 22 years Sanjay’s life has been spent in uplifting the lives of people and now he has dedicated his entire life to the empowerment of “villages, farmers and women”.