ADATS’ beneficiaries are 902 village level Coolie Sangha Units (CSUs) which are membership based organisations of 39,296 small and poor peasant families -- agricultural labourers, migrant workers, self-employed artisans, and small farmers who do not themselves employ wage labour.
Except when responding to rare emergencies, ADATS does not work with the individual poor, within the conventional social work or charitable mode, in any patronising manner.
Since the Coolie Sangha is a membership driven organisation with a strict internal structure and discipline, membership figures tend to fluctuate. Not all the families/villages are active at all times.
As on today 14,506 families, comprising a population of 75,606 adults and 24,166 minors, are active Members in 483 functioning Coolie Sangha Units.
45% of the current membership belong to the Scheduled Castes & Tribes, 18% to Middle Castes, and 39% to the poor from Forward Castes.
(as on 28 June 2010)
| Member Families | Percent in CSUs | Caste Group | Total Families | Ethnic Cover | ||||
| 7,777 | 45% | Scheduled Castes/Tribes | 18,643 | 47% | ||||
| 2,078 | 18% | Middle Castes | 8,256 | 38% | ||||
| 3,336 | 39% | Forward Castes | 12,370 | 57% | ||||
| 14,506 | 100% | 39,269 | 42% | |||||
Ethnic cover comprises of 47% of the SC/ST population, 38% of middle castes and 57% of the forward castes. Overall, 42% of the population of villages with functioning CSUs are in the Coolie Sangha.