There is a moment, just before a field visit begins, when every spreadsheet becomes quiet.
The WhatsApp groups are still buzzing. The dashboard is still waiting for updates. The timeline is still neatly divided into weeks and deliverables. But somewhere beyond the last signal tower—past the narrow roads, the river crossings, the shifting mud paths—there is a home where someone has been waiting. Not for a report. Not for a presentation.
Just for relief. For a chance. For dignity.
That is why “on time” is never just a project-management phrase for us at Mukti. It is a promise.
The real meaning of “on time”
However from my own experience till date I can say that in the development sector, deadlines are often described in financial years, quarterly targets, impact created by the project but in the Sundarbans and across rural Bengal, time is measured differently.
Time is the monsoon turning the soil saline.
Time is a cyclone warning that gives you hours—not weeks.
Time is a child missing school because the day’s wage is more urgent than tomorrow’s exam.
Time is a mother waiting to see if a fever becomes something worse before help arrives.
When I joined Mukti in 2020, after working in public service, corporate roles, and national-level NGOs; I carried a professional respect for systems. Mukti transformed that respect into something more human: an understanding that systems exist for people. And if they do not reach people on time, they do not count.
Mukti defines itself as a HEALER-AID. That breadth is our strength. But it also means implementation is never simple. It is layered, interdependent, and always in motion.
So what does it really take to deliver projects on time in the field?
It takes a kind of work that rarely appears in photographs.
The unseen engine: coordination that holds everything together
If you ever visit our work locations, you will notice something: the field doesn’t behave like a plan. Teams often start their day before 6 a.m., assuming a training will begin at 10. But what if the boat cannot run? What if the school is being used as a relief shelter? What if the women’s group leader has an emergency at home? What if a road disappears after a flood or cyclone?
And still—work must move.
“Coordination” sounds like a formal word, but in practice, it is deeply personal. It is built from relationships: with community leaders, SHG women, frontline workers, Panchayat stakeholders, school teachers, health responders, volunteers, and our own team members who carry the weight of many roles at once.
When coordination is done well, it doesn’t look dramatic—it looks smooth. And because it looks smooth, people often assume it was easy.
It wasn’t. It never is.
Risk: the part of implementation nobody celebrates
On-time delivery is not just “doing tasks faster.” It is risk management—constant, careful, practical.
Some risks are visible: weather, geography, infrastructure, supply chains.
Some risks are invisible: burnout, miscommunication, community fatigue, trust erosion, the quiet discouragement that can grow when progress feels slow.
In my role, I’ve learned that a timeline is only as strong as the people holding it. That is why team care is not separate from implementation—it is implementation.
When our field colleagues work through heat, long travel, unpredictable conditions, and emotionally heavy situations, the “project” becomes personal. They carry stories home with them. They remember the faces. They replay the difficult conversations.
And still they show up again the next morning.
The simplest truth: projects are delivered by people
Mukti’s larger journey has always held a powerful belief: society changes not only through money, but through time, presence, and people coming together.
That belief is the soul of implementation.
So when readers ask me what it takes to deliver projects on time in the field, I don’t start with Gantt charts. I start with human faces:
“On time” is not just a delivery date. It is a message:
We see you.
We are with you.
We will do what we promised.
Because behind every photo of a distribution drive, behind every headline about a program launch, behind every impact number—there is a quiet army of planning, coordination, adaptation, risk management, and learning.
And behind all of that, there is one reason we keep going:
People are waiting.
And they deserve us—on time.
Ankita Kothiyal
Program Director, MUKTI