Ashok C Tanurkar

Mr. Ashok Tanurkar is responsible for administration formulation and implementation of various rural development projects through community participation. Previously, he worked with Hind Swaraj Trust at Ralegan Siddhi for 10 years in watershed development & management, SHGs & UGs and training to field workers, GO/NGO functionaries and farmers where he implemented about 10 projects.

He contributed a paper for a book published by International Institute for Rural Reconstruction and OIKOS. He has been felicitated by the Center for Science and Environment, New Delhi for development and study of India’s traditional water harvesting systems. He has also been felicitated twice by Ralegan Siddhi Parivar for his contribution to the village development.

Mr. Tanurkar is currently the Project Director and Secretary of Prakriti Foundation, an NGO based at Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra which is engaged in rural development through natural resources management, agriculture development and environmental regeneration. Prakriti has many projects to its credit: Watershed development – Constructed check-dams in the tribal block of Ralegaon in Yevatmal district; Tank rehabilitation program – Renovated Malguzari tanks, the traditional rain-fed irrigation tanks, in Dharmabad block of Nanded district; Established Center for Geoinformatics Application in Rural Development (C-GARD) at Ralegan Siddhi.

This center caters to the needs of Govt. Departments, Non-Government Organizations, Community Based Organizations and Panchayati Raj Institutes, which are working as Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs) in the rural development sector. Specifically, it helps in: Preparation of Action Plans, Imparting training to field level functionaries and Support in backend processing.