Today in about 150 villages in the countryside around Munger there is the stirring of a new confidence and optimism about the prospects of their rural society. This sense of motivation and opportunity is the growing response to ITC's Mission Sunehra Kal - a partnership forged by ITC between the village communities and four national NGOs with expertise in vital areas of rural development. Launched in 2004, as a rural initiative piloted by ITC's factory in Munger, the partnership has a common goal : socio-economic empowerment through knowledge and technology transfer.

Each of the NGOs is a leader in its field. BAIF Development Research Foundation-livestock and agri-development, SEWA - employment generation among women, PRATHAM - universalisation of primary education, JANANI - low cost quality health services. ITC's extensive links and relationships with farming communities and experience in rural development reinforces and underwrites the partnership.

On the ground, in these village communities around Munger, ITC is helping to make a vital difference that has slowly but surely made change a viable option.

Every ITC Sunehra Kal footprint is a step towards a better future. Low cost, high quality health care services ensure a productive economic life. There is local educational support which prepares children for the district school system and aims to improve their performance and future employability. For women, there are new on-farm and non-farm employment opportunities to supplement family incomes. For farmers - better crops, higher prices, new markets. More and more Self Help Groups are showing the way.

The know-how and services of these specialist NGOs, each supporting a core initiative of Sunehra Kal, enable the communities to self-organise, adopt change and take ownership of the Mission, thereby making Sunehra Kal sustainable.

In an agricultural context of unsustainable intensification of land use, gross deterioration of soil, water and forest resources, and growing seasonal disruptions of livelihoods, ITC has been investing systematically in sustainable renewal of rural society. A "commitment beyond the market" is a core   principle of ITC's corporate philosophy, integrating the larger obligations of nation building with business development.

ITC's Mission Sunehra Kal has emerged as an effective strategy for social mobilisation and change - securing the family, empowering women and boosting family incomes while simultaneously stimulating agricultural and environmental recovery within the community.