The following are the criteria on which your programme will be judged:
- Innovation: Original ideas either in the planning, implementation, delivery or outcome of your programmes will be given importance. (For example, a unique irrigation method that uses fewer resources and results in better yield and more profits for the farmer.)
- Replication: Can your programme model be easily replicated irrespective of where it is implemented? Simplicity and minimal social and practical barriers to adoption are key determining factors. (For example, a successful approach to empowering a community in a region that can be replicated in another region without much change).
- Scalability: Programmes that can be readily scaled up to help a greater number of people. (For example,scaling a farmer empowerment programme on agriculture best practices from 100 farmers in a cluster of Gram panchayats to 10,000 farmers across the district.)
- Sustainability: Lesser dependence on grants with a successful strategy of cost recovery and income generation. (For example, after an initial start-up grant, an SHG sustaining itself by the sales of products and services) .
- Community involvement: To what extent is the programme involving the cross-section of the community without any discrimination? (For example, absorbing school dropouts into a programme and using them productively to prevent them from succumbing to alcohol or drug abuse).
- Leadership and Governance: Strong leadership in the organization backed by process driven systems (Experienced leaders, staff members performing their work through proper documentation and reporting of activities, results, meetings and complying with all statutory and standard accounting procedures).
If you’ve been able to achieve qualitative benefits through a few or all of the above criteria and are able to provide quantifiable data to support the impact then you stand a good chance of winning the award.