GTI plays a significant role as a gender resource organization in engendering all the partners of PACS project. The operational duration of PACS with GTI is for 3 years starting from January 2004. The project will be implemented in 6 states namely Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.

Development Alternatives in consortium with PricewaterhouseCoopers(P) Ltd. are implementing the Poorest Areas Civil Society (PACS) Programme with support from the British Government's Department for International Development (DFID).

The project goal is to develop the capacities of PACS grass root organizations and to ensure that the gender issues are main streamed and integrated in development process both at the organization and programme implementation levels respectively.

The project objectives are:

1. To enable participants of all Civil Society Organisations of PACS project from 6 states to understand the gender framework and integrate it in their project, policy, planning, monitoring and implementation.
2. To establish Gender Resource Centers
3. To develop Gender Training Module
4. To organize Advocacy workshops at District, State and National level for sensitization of different role player in development process

The base model for PACS is established at Kanpur-Dehat (UP). Some experiences/ our learnings from Kanpur-Dehat are:

Our base model aims at capacity building of the Civil Society Organizations for gender mainstreaming in the development process. The process and experiences of the gender mainstreaming is being documented so that it could be shared and replicated in the development process of other PACS partners in six different states.
Gender Mainstreaming requires a wide range of activities therefore, realizing the various limitations of the study we have identified four thematic areas on the basis of the objectives of the PACS project as well as need of our own area. These thematic areas are:

a) Local Governance
b) Women’s Empowerment
c) Social Cohesion and
d) Self Initiatives

Basic information related to the present statues of the thematic areas is being collected by Community Level Workers in project villages of Shwarankhera Block of Kanpur Dehat District.
While studying the status of women in the Panchayati Raj system we came to know that although there are 33 percent seats reserved for women their participation is merely symbolic. There are many cases where women Pradhan (village head) act as rubber stump and her responsibilities have been taken away by the male member of her own family. There are six committees in the Panchayats such as administrative committee, planning committee, education committee, construction committee, health committee and water management committee in which women are members. However, in the maximum number of the cases women members have not any information about her role and responsibilities. They are not called for the meetings but official quorums are filled by getting their signature or thumb impressions

During the study many members told us that all these mismanagement is being done by the Pradhan and the secretary of the Panchayat even then they can not raise this issue as they do not want any type of enmity with the Pradhan in the future.
In such a situation, development of the village is not feasible as stakeholders of the development are not aware and they are scared and not willing to stand against the existing corrupt system.

Realizing this fact we strongly felt the need of establishment of alternative development system by forming collectives of women, poor and marginalized section of society to create pressure the existing development institutions. The pressure groups, known as Parivartan Mahila Swalamban Samities ( PMSS), are tool for mainstreaming gender in the development in which we play the role of capacity builder of the Samities to make the development process more gender sensitive and pro poor.