While the society has forgotten the art of hand spinning and is being drawn towards the manmade nonrenewable fibres, this 62 year old mechanical engineer has taken it as his life's mission to pass on the art of spinning to the next generation and create awareness about this art which is a nature friendly, slow, simple life style and far away from the consumerist.
Post retirement, Madhav chose to fascinate his dreams and to make people aware and learn the art of spinning with his dedication and much ease. He has been travelling to various parts of India, visiting schools, NGOs and corporate offices conveying the importance of the Khadi and spreading the art of spinning. He has conducted workshops for about 2000 people, out of them around 200 have taken up spinning as their profession. He has also authored a booklet called "Art of Spinning".
For Sahasrabudhe, spinning cotton into yarn is simply an art, which should be enjoyed thoroughly and he knows that the same technique can mean different things to different people. He believes this art of spinning needs to remain alive as this enriches the culture and pride of India.
Madhav has been associated with Nai Talim School in Sevagram for last 7 years, where he teaches Physics and Mathematics to 9th and 10th Std students and also helps them refine their spinning skills. Nai Talim is a Gandhian system of activity based learning with a philosophy that work and knowledge are not separate. Sahasrabudhe follows his passion and is in a noble mission to travel around the country trying to restore the glory of the time tested art of spinning.
In the world of people with materialistic mind set, this sexagenarian donated his own pension money for building a bridge in his village. In October 2016, Rout tired of waiting for the completion of a bridge, selflessly donated his savings and pensions towards building a 270-foot-long bridge across the river that links Kanpur village to Daneipur in Kendujhar district of Odisha.
Initially due the absence of the bridge, nearly 1200 inhabitants of Kanpur village faced many troubles and hurdles for commuting. The farmers in the village had to tediously row across the water or take long detours on foot to get to their farmlands.
Rout's dogged determination has provided the villagers a ray of hope that was left unseen. Keeping aside his own dream of possessing a car, he has selflessly dedicated his entire fund towards the construction of the bridge.
For his noble and humane initiative for public good and helping the common cause, Gangadhar Rout has won the hearts of people in his village.
While most of the people use their pension money for their social security, Gangadhar Rout from Odisha is an exception. This veterinary technician, after his retirement, invested all his retirement benefits and savings of more than Rs. 12 lakh to build a 270 foot long bridge over Salandi river that helped the people of the village.
Born in slums of the industrial estate in the Marketyard, Gultekdi in Pune, Mr. Amar realized the wondrous impact of education at a very young age and dreamt of getting educated and making others educated as well. The 34 year old had a vicious taste of poverty since his childhood but with a lot of hustle he did attain his education from Sant Namdeo Pune Municipal Corporation School. After joining as a volunteer for the Rashtriya Saksharta Abhiyan and educating illiterate women in the neighborhood, his efforts were acknowledged by the Pune Municipal Corporation and allotted him the whole Gultekdi ward.
Mr. Amar started the "Each One Teach One" campaign and around 450 students from different slums joined him to achieve the target within a year. And this led to the establishment of Bal Shiskshan Manch at Sant Namdeo School where he had started his journey in the year 1998 at the age of 17. In the past 18 years, Amar has worked with over 1000 students transforming the lives of people in slums by decreasing the rate of tobacco addiction by 50%. Thanks to his efforts the children whose future would have otherwise been painted with shades of grey, have coloured their lives with rainbow with the ink of education. His story is inspiring for many.
He joined National Service Scheme and started teaching around 25 illiterate men and women in his neighbourhood as a volunteer for six months. His was work was acknowledged by Pune Municipal Corporation and was asked to take the responsibility for the entire Gultekdi ward which had nearly 1500 adult illiterate women.
Everyday 100 students, brimming with an undeterred enthusiasm, fill the two classrooms and participate in the educational activities. Few of his students are part of institutes of repute. A few of others have been meritorious in getting scholarship to get enrolled in foreign universities as well.
While most of the youngsters' aim at joining a reputed MNC and to have a settled life and prosperous career, Ramveer left his job to revive the beauty and freshness of the lakes and ponds in his village. Being driven by the plight of the ponds and lakes, this 26 year old man took it upon his shoulders to be a change maker. Realizing the seriousness of the issue, he organized a Jal Chaupal in his village in 2014.
To take up the leadership, Ramveer quit his job to give new lives to the rivers turned into dumpsters. He became a sensation over internet by trending the #SelfieWithPond, inspiring hundreds of youth to clean up polluted water bodies in their locality and save the depleting water bodies as well.
He believed in creating a bond between the villagers and the water bodies so that the inhabitants could feel the importance of it and give efforts to save them. This movement started from one small village and spread like a wildfire across 50 villages in past 5 years. With this, Ramveer could successfully revive around 12 ponds in UP. A dream which was perceived by just one person is now being dreamt by hundreds of other young volunteers, thanks to the countless and selfless efforts of Ramveer, who didn't just provide the dreaded rivers a new life but also the youngsters and communities a social cause to advocate for.
Ramveer has innovated double filtration system, in which all water entering the lakes would have to pass through a mesh of wooden planks and then a mesh of grass. The mesh of wooden planks help to stop bigger items like plastic bottles and the subsequent mesh then filters the incoming water further. Ramveer, along with volunteers encouraged farmers to raise 10000 slush-eating fish, which will help to clean the lakes of slush made up of small finer particles.
Young entrepreneur Shriti Pandey abandoned her settled life owing to the extra fire in her belly to do something different for her own country. After completion of her Master's in Construction Management in USA, she continued staying in New York City to work with a consultancy firm, but there always was some unsettled feeling within her. In 2016 to pursue Youth for India Fellowship, required her to work in remote villages for 13 months and then it was home calling for Shriti.
She had witnessed unemployment of majority of engineers in small cities and towns without any motivation and direction, so she decided to become a source of inspiration for them. Rather than setting her start up in some Metro, she decided to start it in her own hometown. Knowledge, passion and in pursuit of chasing her dream where the factor that inspired this young lady to go against all odds and set her startup. Shriti initiated her startup Strawcture Eco in Gorakhpur to enable affordable housing for all.
At Strawcture Eco, Shriti is dedicated towards making living spaces more functional, aesthetically desired, environment friendly and affordable for all. The firm, under her leadership is capable of building a whole house in just four weeks span using compressed agri-fibre panels and steel structures.
Shriti has turned her dreams into reality and wishes to partner with the government and build houses for people under various Goverment scheemes. The compressed agri-fiber panels developed by Shriti reduces 50% build time, reduces cost per sq ft by 20%. The building material is also termite proof, fire retardant, no wastage and 100% Recyclable. A farmer can make additional income Rs 25,000 from a one-acre plot of land by selling its straw instead of burning it.
Anand born and brought up in the city deserted his home, career and dreams and decided to make the remote Tons Valley in Uttarakhand accessible to rest of the world. In 2008, Anand stumbled upon the Tons Valley during his journalist career and after 5 years he returned to the region not to embrace the natural beauty but to realize the plight of the communities living there. Due to the uneven terrain the villages there had no access road which explains the unavailability of proper healthcare, educational, electricity, employment facilities.
Anand's determination could overcome the denial and distrust of his family to set an example that little efforts can make big differences in the society.
Anand established a community health centre in the Tons Valley, providing primary & affordable medical services. The firstever health centre in the valley offers several medical services on all seven days of the week and is equipped with oxygen cylinders, nebulisation, basic diagnostic facilities like blood testing kits, ECG tests, trauma care and urine analysis. He invites senior medical experts regularly to organise health camps in Tons valley on a pro bono basis. The clinic also deals with the longstanding two health crisistuberculosis and nutritional disorders with special emphasis on children, pregnant women and elderly, by appointing two fulltime doctors.
He also runs an afterschool skill development unit in the remote village of Kalap called the 'Kalap Unschool', which works to fill gaps in primary school education for 90 local children. To provide employment, Anand trains the youth in the region to become local guides by promoting responsible ecotourism as a means.
He indigenously developed a polythene making machine at a subsidised cost of sixty seven thousand rupees, when company made machines were priced at Rs. 4 lakh. Additionally, this agrarian innovator has developed several other utility machines like the pomergranate de-seeder, garlic peeling machine, tobacco leaf cutter, paddy thresher, cane stripping machine and several other mechanised machines.
After her preeclampsia went undetected, she was operated within 26 weeks of her pregnancy and as a result her baby had to spend a month in the ICU. Sumona had these unsettled feelings about the situation. She knocked at several doors of medical professionals, mothers who lost their babies due to this condition, medical institutes and hospitals in search of the answer for nearly 18 months. But to her astonishment she wasn't the only one who had suffered the condition but around 10 million pregnancies were being affected globally. Due to the lack of proper detection tools for the disease, the infants fall prey to developmental anomalies and mothers suffer from risk of hypertension.
She developed two affordable early diagnostic devices for the detection of pregnancy-related complication called Preeclampsia and launched Prantae Solutions, a biotech startup with a primary focus on pregnancy healthcare and other related disorders.
Sumona developed a smartphone based kidney monitoring device named, ProFlo-U which can detect protein even at an ultra-low concentration of 30mg/l while another detection platform EyeRa looks into more sensitive genetic biomarker for early prognosis of the disorder. Sumona has projects for several other neglected diseases pipelined for early detection. The common thread that weaves all these projects together is that they are affordable solutions for neglected yet harmful disorders.
Under the Startup India initiative by the Government of India, Prantae Solutions along with support of Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion has filed 12 trademarks of which 11 are sanctioned and 2 patents are filed while 1 is granted. Out of 3 design registrations 2 are granted. Sumona's innovations aims to save all the pregnant women, fighting preeclampsia in a bid to bring a new life into this world.
Child marriage is illegal in India but unfortunately over around 40% of this ill practice is still taking place in the country. After facing many challenges since her childhood, Dr. Kriti Bharti has now become a fearless crusader against child marriages in Rajasthan. Child marriage is a social evil which has several side effects such as higher infant mortality rate, higher maternal mortality rate, sexual offences, domestic violence along with psychological, health and educational restraints along with many others on the girl child.
With an aim to bring social justice to children & women, Kriti started Saarthi Trust in 2011. Annulment of a child's marriage is not an easy task as it is a malignant disease that still prevails in many parts of the country. Trying to obstruct, it leads to thousands of death threats, attacks and several oppositions but amidst all the chaos what matters the most is the safety of a girl child.
Dr. Kriti solely through Saarthi Trust is continuously working at two fronts. At one hand she actively works with the legal system to stop the child marriage and on the other hand she is taking out the victims from child marriages through Child Marriage Annulment and rehabilitating the children and providing them a better future. She has made history by annulling the first ever child marriage in India in 2012.
Dr.Kriti Bharti has successfully annulled 40 child marriages and stopped over 1200, despite death threats and attacks. She has also rehabilitated more than 6500 children and 6000 women. She had made more than 13000 people to take oath to not to solemnize child marriages and be a part of Kriti's mission. Kriti's bravery and phenomenal efforts even got her name included in the Limca Book of Records. Her inspiring journey even is a part of the CBSE curriculum as well.
At the age of 24, Darpan Inani has already created history by becoming India's only visually impaired chess player to win international gold at Creon Open in France in his rating category. He is the highest rated visually impaired chess player in Asia with an Elo of 2117. Even though blind chess has been in existence science past 20 years, he enjoys playing against sighted players and defeating them as well.
At the age of 3 after being diagnosed with Stevens - Johnson syndrome, Darpan lost his eyesight and spent next six years of his life in hospital undergoing several surgeries with a hope of reversing his eyesight. After joining a regular school Darpan couldn't compete against his classmates in outdoor sports like Kabaddi, Kho Kho. His father figured out that he could play chess and taught him the basics.
Darpan when 13, played a local tournament against a sighted boy and this attracted chess player Zahir Bhatkar in the audience who trained him and motivated him to continue playing chess. He received professional training at first from international chess master Shekhar Sahu and then by Srinath Narayanan, a grandmaster from Chennai.
He doesn't just play chess, but also plays musical instruments and pursuing his chartered accountancy and has cleared his intermediary exam in first attempt. Darpan is not just an inspiration but also a matter of pride for the country.
Darpan also assisted in the Project Checkmate—an initiative to take blind chess to the corners of India, inspiring visually impaired players to pursue their passion in the game. He has been featured in the award winning Chess documentary film 'Algorithms' directed by Ian McDonald. 'Algorithms' is a documentary on little known sporting field of Blind Chess in India. Besides Chess, Darpan is also an avid Tabla and Harmonium player as well as is a yellow belt holder in Karate.
If you have the spirit to work for your dreams, age becomes merely a number. Even at the age of 76 years, Sister Jyoti has become an inspiration for many women. She has successfully encouraged over 3000 women in her district to become self independent. Thanks to her efforts that women from different villages are interested and inspired for attaining education and empowerment as well. Women from around 40 villages are now working alongside the men on the crop fields and are earning their livelihood.
Sister Jyoti has been helping rural women in Bihar's Saran district since 2001 to fight poverty and lead a life of dignity. She has been organising the illiterate and poor women in the villages and teaching them to make small savings and circulate the funds among themselves as loans with nominal interest. In 2008, she started micro credit system with 12 women's groups and a shared capital of just Rs.35000. It has now grown to 130 groups, having a cash flow of Rs. 2 crore. More than 2000 women have formed 'Ekta Sangharsh Vahini' which has been registered as a civil society organization.
Jyoti came into the city of Bihar 20 years ago and after witnessing the living condition of women in the place she decided to reside there and help these women live their life with heads high.
Dedication and hard-work of Sister Jyoti has gained her several laurels. Jyoti has become a means of recognition for women and has illuminated their life with self-respect, dignity and self-confidence and that resulted in wonderful outcomes. With her commitment and consistent efforts she has successfully fought non-cooperation, language barrier and other difficulties and has become a change maker for rural women.
With a motive of shifting the foundation of society from selfish-competition to mutual cooperation, this team of young Film Maker, Writer and Journalist is trying to make a difference in this materialistic world. REST OF MY FAMILY is a travel based, non profit organization which treats the entire society as their own family.
From exploring different rural/tribal parts of our country to residing with them, identifying the troubles faced by them, providing them with solutions by collaborating with local organization and funding partners also closely observing the execution, this team is leaving no stone unturned to bring in a better future for the derailed section of our society.
REST OF MY FAMILY presents the real issues through films, photo stories and other artistic collaborations. It is primarily involved in documenting culture and life of rural and tribal communities besides making art based collaborations. It has launched 'The Forgotten Songs Collective' (TFSC), a multi-media art collective under its Artist Connect programme in which Rest of My Family Bengaluru, Karnatka an artist travels to remote tribal settlements and works towards reviving and celebrating tribal and folk music of India through musical releases and audio-visual performances.
First project under TFSC was on Biate tribe, one of the oldest tribes residing in remote villages in Assam and Meghalaya with rich culture and music. Field recording of Biate songs, performed by Biate singers and electronic musician Vinayak^A has been completed and documented in the film Biate: The Forgotten Songs, which was released on January 8, 2019.
In photo documentation and film making, REST OF MY FAMILY has also covered issues of drought hit farmers in Maharashtra, Devadasis in Koppal, Lambani community in Chincholi, Adivasis in Bastar as well as Bonda tribe in Odisha. Besides its work in the field of art and culture, Rest of My Family also takes up various development projects in the rural and tribal areas.
Operating from the Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu, 'BOSS' is a voluntary organization working for various welfare and developmental activities since 1995. In the past 24 years the organization has worked for upliftment and betterment of downtrodden people with special abilities and marginalized sectors like women and children. The prime focus of the group has been providing employment opportunities to women by setting up micro enterprise units, micro credit and saving units besides providing entrepreneurship training as well. BOSS also provides education, health and welfare facilities for the children. Since its inception BOSS , has been helping poor people become self-reliant by using local resources to achieve social reformations. In the due course the organization has worked across hundred deprived rural Dalit villages in Southern India.
Buddha Outcast Social Society in the has been successful in providing job opportunity to poor girls through skill training, safe drinking water to 56,000 needy people through installation of tube wells in about 20 villages, legal support to 500 victim women and eradicating child labour by providing education to 450+ Dalit children and 2 lakhs tree saplings plantation.
Buddha Outcast Social Society believes in people's strength and capacity to facilitate their own process of development. The organisation is working for the Dalits to champion their causes in social structures and linking them to the mainstream.
Loktak Lake in Manipur, the largest freshwater lake in the country is now the home for the first ever floating school in the country. It is referred as the lifeline of Manipur and plays an important role in the economy of Manipur. People living around it are mostly uneducated and depend on fishing as a meagre source of income.
The villagers are unable to send their children to school located in far flung places. In order to address the issue, the Loktak Lake Fishermen's Union in collaboration with a local organisation has set up a floating elementary school, first of its kind in India. The school is situated at Langol Sabi Leikai of Champu Khangpok village, in Manipur.
With an aim to provide education to school dropouts who were rendered homeless due to phumdis evacuation, the school also aims at adult education. The Loktak is considered the lifeline of Manipur as it is a potential breeding site for birds, an essential source of livelihood for the fishermen, contributor of water for hydropower generation, irrigation and drinking water supply and now the importance of the water body is further heightened by being a host for the first ever floating school in the country.
Currently the school is providing education to 25 students from class I – III by engaging two local teachers. The school aims for expanding its classes up to 8th. The school is a revolutionary measure and aims to bring about radical changes in the fisherman society.
The school not only caters to the need of the children but for the illiterate adults as well. It provides education to school dropouts and the children of fisherman folks, who could not send their children to any other school away from the village.
Natural Solutions is a scientific and technical firm with a vision to help Mother Nature in healing herself and mission of supporting ecofriendly initiatives. It was established in 2003 by Dr Ajit S Gokhale. Ajit through his firm has successfully ended annual drinking water scarcity and drought like conditions in over 200 villages across India since 2003.
Backed by extensive ecological and industrial experience, the firm has developed expertise in successfully meeting the demands of water harvesting as well as waste water treatment. Other than this, it also holds expertise in meeting the demands of organic solid waste management. The flawless implementation of well defined processes as well as capability to deliver area specific solutions has also helped it in emerging as leading player in environment friendly solutions.
Four rivers in three Districts in Konkan and Mina River of Narayan Gaon are being rejuvenated under its guidance. The firm has also rejuvenated 11 big water bodies (ponds and lakes) of 3 to 39 acres in Maharashtra, UP and Odisha. The team has pioneered the techniques of cordoning off the springs, subsurface and field bunding and has innovated and demonstrated time and the technique of flange vented bunds and is improving it further as Nisarg Mitra removable bunds. Besides adopting various interventions like gabion wire mesh, canopy, grass bed, check dams for high rainfall area and contour trenches, staggered trenches and other recharge methods in low rain fall area, the firm has given its expertise on conventional rainwater harvesting to 1200 housing societies in Mumbai.
Reed bed system by Natural Solutions is a unique wastewater treatment. This has a water treatment capacity from as low as 500 to 1500000 litres or even more. The firm has so far succeeded in setting up over 100 eco-friendly wastewater recycling systems all over India.
When most of his friends at IIM Ahmedabad preferred joining large corporates, Kaushlendra preferred to urbanize the poor engaged in agriculture and food sector. He spent his entire prize money to explore the feasibility of entrepreneurship in agribusiness and this led to the establishment of Kaushalya Foundation where Kaushalendra is the cofounder.
The Foundation has undertaken various developmental research and implementation projects as well as consultancy assignments in partnership with government, non-government, organizations and multilateral agencies.
The Foundation has categorized a program named Climate Smart Agriculture wherein it provides a platform to the farmers to interact with the scientists, farmer institutions, educating the farmers about the scenarios and helping them execute it. The Foundation carries out Sensitization program on value of collective action, which is being done through intensive efforts of the group to educate the farmers; enhancing social solidarity, productivity, marketability and value addition adhering to the principles of sustainability and best practices; organizing groups to provide demographic details, livelihoods, credit history, health and educational status to help build and consolidate a database; Integrating the communities into the markets for realizing the value for productivity and developing dedicated partnerships.
Kaushalya Foundation over the years has helped over 55,000 farmer families, over 1000 roadside vendors, 250+ fig formations and more than 16 FPOS. It has been working for professionalizing the agriculture value chain by promoting best practices and providing good health, wealth and prosperity from farm gate till food plate.
In 2008, it launched a special initiative 'Samriddhi' - a comprehensive vegetable supply chain system aimed to eliminate all intermediaries and middlemen in the existing distribution system, benefiting poor and marginal farmers and vendors. The Foundation has introduced Refrigerated Push Carts for sale of vegetable and worked to organise the highly unorganized vegetable market. It has set up collection centres in hinterland of Bihar for collecting vegetables.
Trestle labs enable people and communities to unlock their aspirations by building assistive technology solutions. Developing products which excites, motivates and engages users to go beyond their perceived limits, Trestle Labs aims to make world's resources inclusive and empowering every individual to attain their own as well as collective aspirations. Their innovations Kibo App and Kibo XS are making education and learning more accessible.
Through Kibo App one can access over 8.5 lakh books supports over 6 file formats including scanned PDF, immersive learning experience with smart navigation and reading, can capture or open images and get them read out through audio which is a blessing for visually impaired.
Kibo XS is compatible with mobile and web interfaces which is used to read multiple Indian languages in real time. The tactile buttons with unique arch opening make it easier to operate and is light weighted and can be easily carried around. There are over 150 self learnt chapters and few university courses made accessible.
Kibo uses image processing and deep learning based character recognition that models to read text across multiple Indian languages in real time. Instead of Braille or audio books that deliver a linear reading experience, print disabled individuals can experience unified reading and learning on the go.
Kibo reads text across multiple Indian languages – Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Malayalam, Punjabi & more. It can seamlessly connect with Laptop, PC or even Smartphone through Kibo Web and Mobile apps respectively. The device and application makes significant difference in the lives of people with print and learning disabilities, which includes blindness, visionimpairment, dyslexia, autism. It reduces the content access time from 2 months (in case of audiobook recording) to less than 2 minutes.
Waste pickers or garbage collectors are the real messiahs who sabotage their own health cleaning, picking and the recycling the trash. They are never given adequate respect or proper treatment but Hasiru Dala is a social impact organization that focuses on justice for waste pickers in the areas of identity rights, access to education, healthcare, housing, skill development, and livelihood opportunity and involved in multi tier policy advocacy.
Nalini Shekar and Anslem Rosario cofounded Hasiru Dala as a Trust in 2013. With growing demand for predictable income by waste pickers, in 2015 Hasiru Dala Innovation was started to create more and more livelihood opportunity.
The organization provides its members ample opportunities and much deserved role in the society as green collar workers who work for keeping cities clean and mitigating climate change by enhancing recycling. Between the two sister organizations they have created more than 1000 predictable income jobs and 50 micro entrepreneurs, many of whom are filing income tax returns.
They are now working across several cities and strive to alleviate conditions of waste pickers. It advocates for streamlined waste collection, retention of waste pickers as formal green collar waste workers for urban economies and work towards the sustainable waste management services to the citizens.
Hasiru Dala has impacted more than 10,000 waste pickers, meeting about 4,000 waste picker families each week. The organization is working to ensure predictable incomes for waste pickers for improving the Quality of life. Hasiru Dala Innovations is a social enterprise for the waste management. From the garbage pickers made 20 entrepreneur in solid waste managment who are paying income tax.
Established with a mission of "a world where it never hurts to be a child" for the protection and development of children on the street, The Hope Kolkata Foundation is working towards creating a just and equitable society where people can live their life with dignity. Hope is ensuring the rights of children, ensuring a quality life for most vulnerable section in the society, empowering women through social and economic development and supporting local institutions working for the betterment of underprivileged children and families by providing technical assistance.
The Foundation has already protected 8147 children, 12087 are under childwatch. Besides, it is providing health care facilities to over 48888 and educational provisions to around 63,729 children through its holistic programme. Through vocational and skill training programme 42711 youths have received employability and are supporting their families. Over the years the Foundation has changed lives of more than 2 lakh street children through Holistic Education, Health Care and Protection, Vocational Skill based programmes.
Four players (Anjali Paswan, Jabir Ali, Millie Singh and Tarak Sardar, between 14-18 years of age) from team HOPE were selected to play for team North India North in the Cricket World Cup 2019 held at London, conducted among 9 different teams across the world comprising of street connected children. These young players aspire to build their career in the sphere of sports.
The Foundation trains the street children in various sports to change the mind-set of children and to create a disciplined life and imbibe the team spirit among them. Four children nurtured and coached by the Foundation participated in the Street Children Cricket World Cup 2019 held at London. Now thousands of street children are learning cricket with an inspiration. Apart from Cricket, it organizes support for other sports like Football Martial Art(s), Swimming and Kabbadi round the year for the underprivileged Children.
Jagriti is a non-profit organization working for the empowerment of poor, rural hill women mainly in three valleys of Kullu district in Himachal Pradesh. It works through a network of Women's Savings and Credit Groups. Presently it manages over 140 groups with an active membership of over 1400 women spread across 25 panchayats in the district, some in Chamba.
Some of the major programmes by Jagriti include conservation of threatened medicinal plants/trees, ecological sanitation, conservation of traditional crops, conservation of indigenous bees, education and nutrition programme, value addition to local fruit and forest produce etc.
Jagriti's work revolves around promoting new and alternative income enhancement opportunities, encouraging adoption of drudgery reduction and energy efficient devices besides conservation and sustainable harvest of non timber forest produce from the wild. It has successfully developed value added products from locally available semi wild fruit like apricot and peach and also supports marketing of disappearing traditional crops such as buckwheat, millets etc.
The organisation trains women in various aspects of the production processes like collection methods, harvest schedules and removal of only mature plants after the seeding season. Women are also trained to process and value add the local produces such as using seeds from the wild apricot and other trees to produce oils, soaps, teas and dried herbs like mint and basil for sale. Jagriti has established a community-owned and managed for-profit brand called Mountain Bounties to market the products created by the women. Mountain Bounties products are also available online, providing improved marketing and market access to rural women.
With a vision of making the society free from ill-health, illiteracy and poverty Swasthya Swaraj was incepted in the year 2013, when the founder Dr. Aquinas Edassery decided to set on an expedition searching for the poorest, most neglected and suppressed sector in our country and then ended up at Kalahandi, Odisha about which she had read long back in a book "Where everyone loves Drought".
Currently Swasthya Swaraj comprises of 45 enthusiastic full-time staffs and 6 part time staffs out of which more than 50% staffs are local adivasis belonging to vulnerable tribes of the state.
In the past years the group successfully has reduced infant mortality rate from 152/1000 to 107/1000 live births. Under five mortality rate has been reduce from 284/1000 live births to 142/1000 live births. The occurrence of Malaria epidemic has declined significantly, Scabies controlled to level zero and Tuberculosis detection and treatment rate is dramatically increasing.
Educational provisions for the tribal children and awareness programs for adolescent girls have all been enhanced. Being guided by the principles of Justice, Equity, Integrity and Compassion, this team has transformed the lives of the unreached tribal group in an unimaginable way.
Swasthya Swaraj also organises education programmes for grassroot level workers, field animators, community nurses, staff nurses, lab technicians and medical students. It has developed a chain of primary health workers known as Swasthya Sathis to reach out the remote villages. The Swasthya Sathis act as primary level contact point and refer patients to the health centre for primary treatment. For higher treatment, the patients are referred to the District Hospital. It regularly organizes malaria control programme, TB Control Programme and focuses on Maternal and Child Health. Swasthya Swaraj has become a ray of hope in this remote tribal dominated area having no proper communication and no medical services.
In 1980's when the city was losing its greenery due to rapid urbanization and the concerned authorities could conclude by giving a report that merely few thousand trees could only be planted which highly disappointed the Government, this is when Mr. Neginhal came into picture.
After a thorough dissection of the obstacles Neginhal left no stone unturned of greening the city in next five years. From setting 8-10 nurseries all across the city to growing plants up to 6 feet tall or replacing the concrete tree guards to wooden guards with a mere cost, Neginhal's efforts replenished the green cover of the city for sure. Apart from being an environmentalist he also is a prolific writer, his experiences as a forest officer has been penned down by him on several field books. He can rightfully be referred to as the pioneer of urban forestry.
When he was transferred to Bengaluru, he had made a dent in the areas of Wild Life conservation and was known for his leadership in Bandipur Sanctuary. He has also succeeded in establishing first Wolf sanctuary in India at Melkote.
When at Bengaluru with the responsibility of making the city green, he was the Wild Life Officer in Shimoga. Bengaluru was a different Challenge. While the concerned authorities were planning 2000 trees per year, Sethuram started with a challenge of planting 15 lakhs trees in the city and 2 crores in the suburban areas that year and ensured 90% survival.
Considered something of a legend in the department, Neginhal is known to have chastised officers for erroneous decisions even after his retirement and was welcomed for it.
The 91-year old former deputy conservator of forests is credited with many a firsts – inclusion of Bandipur in the list of tiger reserves, authoring the first ever management plan for a tiger reserve among others. But he is majorly famous for his unrivaled efforts in making Bengaluru green, which is why the city still enjoys some bit of shade.
Lakhimi Baruah with a noble mission of empowering women from underprivileged sectors, started the Konoklota Mahila Urban Cooperative Bank (KMUCB) in the year 1998. KMUCB, the first all women bank in Assam has been instrumental in mobilizing the women in the state. The bank aims to mobilize unorganized resources and increase per capita income of weaker section of the society.
Lakhimi was born in the small village of Golaghat, Assam and had to drop out from college due to financial constraint. In 1967, she got her first job in a bank. During her association at the bank she realized the plight of women who could not reap benefits of banking services.
After a decade of working in the region, she felt the need of bringing in change by opening a bank. With an initial seed capital of Rs.8 lakh, KMUCB currently has more than 42000 accounts with a working capital of over 13 crore and almost majority of its customers are illiterate and belong to the marginalized sectors of the society. Without much paperwork and facilities like recurring deposits from small amounts at Rs. 20 is also being used by daily wage labourers. Lakhimi has been awarded with Nari Shakti Awards from former President Shri Pranab Mukherjee for exceptional contribution for empowerment of women in 2016. Lakhimi plans on reaching larger number of women by opening more branches.
When at Bengaluru with the responsibility of making the city green, he was the Wild Life Officer in Shimoga. Bengaluru was a different Challenge. While the concerned authorities were planning 2000 trees per year, Sethuram started with a challenge of planting 15 lakhs trees in the city and 2 crores in the suburban areas that year and ensured 90% survival.
Lakhimi has been phenomenal in rescuing over a hundred underprivileged women from penury and helped them become financially independent, with her microfinance institution. Even though she is 70, Baruah works constantly and is at the bank every day. A woman of courage, she continues to inspire other women to earn their own living. Lakhimi breaks all odds to continue her quest for women empowerment.
Named after the forest goddess from Aranyaani hymn from RigVeda, this organization develops and maintains natural food forests that supplies pristine, healthiest natural farm and forest products. They don't just provide good food but also a healthy life for the consumers. The team believes that Aranyaani is the mother of all sylvan things and delivers the refined goods from the womb of the mother nature. The vision of the team is to create as many possible eco friendly farms and provide unadulterated products to the society.
While creating Food Forests, the soil is not tilled instead seed balls, which are basically seed wrapped up in soil materials, are sown into the land. This helps in maintaining nitrogen cycle of the soil and its fertility.
First hardy trees like the banyan and peepal are planted at the centre of the land. Next, fruit bearing trees are planted surrounding the trees planted at the centre. Then, vegetable shrubs and bushes are planted between the enormous trees and fruit trees. Finally on the outer circumference, lentils and legumes are planted.
Aranyaani directly manages more than 1800 acres of pristine food forests and in addition guides villagers in 40 villages located in MP , Chandrapur in Maharashtra and Bithoor in UP. The organization also mentors remote village communities to preserve nature around them and create food forests. They produce and supply a wide range of products including vegetables like cherry tomatoes, okra and brinjals; fruits like custard apple, medicinal herbs, mono floral honey, grains, cereals and pulses; wild poultry and fishery as well.
The man-made food forest has now more than 175 species. It has not only helped to create an organic trend among people, but has also multiplied the farmers' income in the region. Aranyaani has recently started to sell its food online.
An extremely passionate educationist Dr. Mathur is the CEO and founder of the Million Sparks Foundation (MSF) which started with a belief that every student deserves a great teacher. Dr. Mathur has been instrumental in providing a platform called ChalkLit through which one can acquire and also impart knowledge. The organization aims to impact the learning outcomes of 300 Million School children by capacitating 10 Million teachers by 2025.
ChalkLit creates free and open mobile and web learning tools, curates and develops world class content from various sources, and organizes it for relevant curriculum, topic wise. It is offered to state education departments, and school bodies to run high quality online capacity building programs for the continuous professional development of teachers and school administrators. Under her leadership, the Foundation has partnered with six State Governments, many curriculum bodies and NGO partners, impacting 2.5 lakh teachers and 15M children in 80000 schools.
ChalkLit enables a thriving community of teachers through its personalized social peer-to-peer micro-learning platform, to interact with each other and mentors. The platform provides both academic and co-academic classroom transaction focused lesson plans and structured training modules for K-12 teachers and is suitable for just in time consumption on smartphones. The content is developed in partnership with experienced teachers and practitioners using content curated from over 4000+ quality sources.
Dr.Mathur has also developed a computational model for development of neuronal circuitry for human vision as a part of her PhD thesis. She has contributed with her advices to several startups and nonprofit organizations in the field of education. This platform has been very effective in continuous professional development to teachers at huge scale, resulting in improved teacher motivation and preparedness which is highly correlated to the student learning outcomes.
The city of Bengaluru was also named as the city of lakes because of its numerous beautiful water bodies. Unfortunately the 262 water bodies recorded in 1960, has now declined to 81 and subsequently to 34. 38 year old, Anand Malligavad has begun his mission of rejuvenating 45 lakes by 2025. Anand, after months of observation and research achieved his first success by gifting Bengaluru its prized lake. In 45 days with very less funding and help of companies and communities, Anand rejuvenated a 36 acre water body i.e. Kyalasanahalli Lake.
Almost 4 lakh cubic meters of mud was removed from the lake without help from any industry experts, architects or engineers. The mud so desilted was utilized in creating 5 different islands of 110 diameters each across the lake in next 15 days. These islands serve as the nesting ground for the bird with plant in between.
About 18000 saplings, 3000 fruit bearings of 22 varieties, 3000 native species of plants and 2000 medicinal plants now cover the lake area restoring its natural bounty. After successfully restoring Kyalasanahalli Lake the one man army headed towards his other targets and transformed a 9 acre area of Lake Vabasandra near Bommasandra in a span of 2 months into 30 ft. deep water reservoir. He also rejuvenated the 16 acre Konasandra Lake, which was considered to be the most poisonous lake in the city within a span of 3 months.
With a motive to revive the remaining 43 lakes in the city Anand has devoted his life for lakes by resigning his highly paid job. Anand's innovative efforts have inspired many people to understand their responsibility. This has helped in recharging the ground water and facilitating for multiple cropping pattern for more than 10000 farming families. As of today within 2.5 years he is able to rejuvenate 4 lakes with 38000 saplings planted with the help of corporates and NGOs.
In India, 66% of its population resides in rural set up and over 13% people in India are struggling with some sort of mental illness. About a decade ago, Dr. Manoj Kumar left his psychiatric practice in UK and returned to India to take care of the mental health of rural population. With 15 years of psychiatry practice in UK, Dr. Manoj Kumar set up the Mental Health Action Trust (MHAT) in Kozhikode in 2008 to aid his vision for improving mental health of rural India.
MHAT has a network of more than 1000 volunteers across 54 centers in the districts of Malappuram, Wayand, Kozhikode, Palakkad, Thrissur, Allepey, Kasarkode and Kottayam to provide good quality, comprehensive, free mental health care to the poorest of the poor. In case of any health issue, the family members contact the volunteers, who are available round the clock. The volunteers analyze the problem, and depending upon seriousness it is dealt by the volunteer itself or passed over to the trained professionals. The volunteers are trained thoroughly by the medical professionals and some qualified volunteers are allowed to take therapy sessions as well.
Thanks to technology Dr. Kumar even interviews his patients through video conferencing (Telepsychiatry) in regural intervals.
The services to the patients are provided free of cost. Dr. Kumar and his team own several success stories in the past few years and have brought mental healthcare to the doorsteps of several villages in Kerala and is ready to spread its wings wide and far.
Dr. Kumar's community treatment model for mental healthcare has been applauded nationwide and internationally. Besides benefitting more than 4000 patients, he has been successful in increasing community sensitization about mental health and developing community support system for psychiatric patients. He was selected as an Ashoka Fellow in 2017 and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK.
Saans, the world's first neonatal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) device that can be powered in multiple ways through direct source electricity, including a vehicle's electrical supply a rechargeable battery, compressed gas or even manual air pumping, is developed by Nitesh Kumar Jangir.
In a hospital Nitesh saw a new-born baby with a common respiratory problem lost its life while being transferred to the tertiary care hospital from another smaller hospital, in an auto rickshaw. At the same hospital, he also witnessed a man who was recovering from a head injury, had contacted infections while on long term ventilator care, worsening his condition. Disturbed by these two incidents, Nitesh did a deep dive into the problem and developed these two devices —one that assists babies in breathing and another that helps prevent ventilator-related infections.
Saans was created to tackle avoidable deaths of premature babies from respiratory distress syndrome due to lack of complex medical equipment. In Nitesh Kumar Jangir Bengaluru, Karnatka areas where electricity supply is erratic and availability of resources at public hospital is limited, this innovation will supply crucial support to the premature babies.
Nitesh Jangir is the co-founder of the Coeo Labs, an innovation driven company solving unmet clinical needs in case of emergency and critical care. Saans was developed in 4 years time span and was provided to several district hospitals of India which lack Neonatal ICU facilities as well as to some medical colleges. It is comparatively 3 times cheaper than other machines. Innovations like Saans and VAPCare are all set to become the life saver of thousands of neonatal kids.
'Saans', has completed a clinical evaluation and is now ready for commercial use. VAPCare has been used in hospitals and has been effective so far in preventing the onset of ventilator associated infections. It is the only device that can auto detect secretions and automatically push in mouthwash and remove the fluid regularly. VAPCare is compatible with all ventilators machines and is non-invasive.
Josephine, is fondly known as the 'Queen Bee' and 'Florence Nightingale' for her unique contribution in empowering women and augmenting their economic independence. What started out, as a means of supporting her husband in troubled times is today a flourishing Woman Entrepreneurship Model. She received her initial bee keeping training at Madurai's Krishi Vigyan Kendra and now regularly imparts training and mobilises women to take up bee keeping, which was otherwise a male bastion.
Her tryst with bees started way back in 2006, and today besides being a Bee Entrepreneur she is also a Healer. Her close association and experiential learning with bees not only led to the development of therapeutic honey but also made her a sting therapist of repute, for treating High Blood Pressure and Arthritis. She is a successful woman entrepreneur and economically supports a work force of over 300 and is a role model for women across India.
An author of three books on Bee keeping and Sting therapy, she has helped 420 women set up honey bee farms and trained more than 50,000 people under the National Honey Mission. Many SHG groups have adopted her model and empowered the lives of women with secondary income in the rural hinterland of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Owing to Josephine Selvaraj's consistent efforts over the years, over 20,000 women have received free training on bee-keeping and have embraced bee framing as an avenue for sustained livelihood.
Gazi Jallaluddin, 65 year old taxi driver in Kolkata had to stop his studies due to poverty, but today runs 2 schools and an orphanage in his native Sundarbans. A victim of the rampant migration from village to cities owing to abject poverty, young Gazi had to beg for alms on the busy streets of Kolkata. At the tender age of 13, he worked as a rickshaw puller but with hard work he became a taxi driver and was able to eke out a decent living.
Having navigated his life through hardships, he nurtured a desire to help children from his native village Sundarbans who were being accustomed to the same travails.
He thus embarked on a mission to empower the downtrodden in his community through education and training that would impact their quality of life and secure their livelihoods.
This resulted in the formation of the Sundarban Driving Samiti. The unique training model not only trained youth to become able drivers but also espoused that the beneficiary of the training program in turn trains two more in their circle and thereby form a human chain of learning. The chain still continues and today, there are 300 boys from the Sundarbans driving taxis and earning their living in Kolkata. Towards the goal of providing basic education, he set up Sunderban Shikshayatan- a cooperative charity that is run by contributions from gainfully employed taxi drivers for fund raising for establishing schools for primary education of the poor and orphans in the community.
Gazi Jallaluddin's unique initiative has impacted the lives of over 1500 families. Today his school has a strength of 425 students and 21 teachers and is growing from strength to strength, on the back of his earnings and charity from his community as well as philanthropists.
Subhashini Mistry, is an extraordinary woman in deed. She was all of 33 when her husband died of a stomach ailment. She could not afford the treatment. Penniless and with four children to raise, she harboured a dream of building a hospital for the needy. She worked as a house maid, on farms, as a bricklayer and selling vegetables by the roadside for more than 40 years to raise Rs 300,000 to build first a basic shed then a modern concrete structure.
She faced hardships all her life, be it the early demise of her husband or the fact that she had to put two of her children in an orphanage since she could not educate them. She overcame all adversities of life, through her hard work, perseverance and brought to fruition her dream of building a Hospital for the poor and needy in memory of her departed husband, who died due to lack of medical care.
Today at 80, she is still actively involved with the hospital and her younger son Ajoy, a doctor is carrying forth her mission at the hospital.
The 100-bed hospital in Hanspukur, in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal was opened in 1993, since then it has treated more than 250,000 patients free of cost, saving countless lives.
Anup Ranjan Pandey, a theatre personality and musician from Chhattisgarh, conceptualized the Bastar Band by involving people of several tribes like Gonds, Marhias, Bisonhorn, Halba, Bhatra, Parja Murias, Dorla, Abujmarhias and Dhurva, from the heartland of India. Each of the tribes has a unique dance form, which is being preserved, protected and promoted by this connoisseur of tribal art.
The deterioration of peace and erosion in the performing art traditions were the compelling factors that incited him to work to salvage these art forms from the threat of extinction and catalyzed the foundation of Bastar Band.
Bastar Band, a music and dance band from Bastar, Chhattisgarh, aims at taking different tribal dance forms and music to the doorsteps of the urban folk. The band tours different parts of the country in an attempt to showcase the beauty of tribal dance forms of tribal people living in Bastar and also to create interest in it so that the dance form is passed on to the next generation.
Anup has been working for the cause of protecting and promoting tribal dance and music forms for over 22 years. The 125-member ensemble Bastar Band plays at least 50 ancient instruments and sings from its repertoire of 150 songs across the state and all over the country, spreading the message of love, peace, brotherhood and ecological harmony.
A budding social entrepreneur, Vikash Das is known for his innovations in democratizing rural non-farming sector & building sustainable impact enterprises. He is the founder of Vat Vrikshya, a social enterprise which aims to facilitate the development process to improve the quality of life of tribal women through participatory action and entrepreneurship so as to ensure sustainability.
Vikash is the chief change maker at Vat Vrikshya, prior to which he was working as IT Security Analyst in IBM Corp. Bangalore. He always wanted to do something that empowered the most vulnerable communities in the tribal region and bring equitable and inclusive growth. He followed his heart and founded 'Vat Vrikshya'. This is where it all began!
His guiding tenet –is to transform the socio-economic scenario of India by nurturing entrepreneurship among women in rural India and encouraging them to be the change agents in their communities.
What started in just one village has now expanded and spans across four states of Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. The enterprise provides women with vocational training, soft loans, expert advice and market linkages to help develop supplementary sources of income. The tribal women are mentored on concepts of savings and networking through leadership, marketing skills along with financial literacy. It also tracks their progress and has reached out through training and intervention programs to 17,000 marginalized women communities.
Vat Vrikshya is working with 2300 women artisans and has directly impacted the lives of thousands of villagers due to the ripple effect of broad based community development programs.
Mr. Uddhab Bharali, a farmer in Assam has the unique distinction of developing more than 85 engineering devices for different purposes in agriculture. An innovator par excellence he has to his credit over 105 innovations, with 53 registrations with National Innovation Foundation. Out of these thirteen have been commercialised.
Mr. Bharali set up a research workshop to help local communities and industries solve their technological needs in his hometown of North Lakshimpur on the banks of the river Brahmaputra. He started to design machines and devices that would help small scale farmers to increase their productivity and revenues.
Many of the innovations are popular in foreign countries too. He has been acknowledged for his unique forte and advises agencies like the Central Silk board, North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCRMP) and other Institutions across India. He also believes in sharing his innovative experiences and has technically trained over 50 youth from rural areas, who are in turn impacting their agrarian communities.
He indigenously developed a polythene making machine at a subsidised cost of sixty seven thousand rupees, when company made machines were priced at Rs. 4 lakh. Additionally, this agrarian innovator has developed several other utility machines like the pomergranate de-seeder, garlic peeling machine, tobacco leaf cutter, paddy thresher, cane stripping machine and several other mechanised machines.
Sarabjeet Singh is a Shimla based philanthropist who selflessly takes the responsibility of providing solace to both the living and the dead. At a time when even paid drivers were not keen on doing it, this Good Samaritan ferries the abandoned dead and living for free.
At first he started out by assisting the Gurudwara in organizing blood donation camps and continued doing so long after the Gurudwara stopped. He also set up a free canteen for cancer patients and their attendants at Shimla's only cancer hospital. Other than the canteen, five Roti banks have also been started to collect fresh roti's everyday from volunteer families who serve the community. The free canteens are a huge respite for the patients and attendants, especially the poor, who are already bogged down with the high cost of treatment.
All the blood banks in the state have his phone number and know they can rely on him in case of an emergency.
Singh has also been running a free 24X7 funeral van service to help the dead in their final journey, be it night or day. Till date, Singh has ferried more than 5,000 bodies. For the last 10 years, he has also been organizing blood donation camps and has collected more than 20,000 units of blood for Shimla's hospital.
Murugan, who hails from Kerala, an auto driver by profession. However, he is no ordinary rickshaw driver, for he ferries the hurt, incapacitated and needy for free.
Belonging to a poor family in Chengotta district in Tamil Nadu, his parents migrated to Idukki district in Kerala in search of work. They eked out a living as plantation laborers who could not afford educating their son. Given the abject poverty, he spent his childhood doing odd chores to supplement their income and be able to give exams through the Open school system. He completed secondary level education and learned to drive and became an auto rickshaw driver.
Having lived on the streets for the better part of his growing years, he has been ferrying and rescuing the poor, sick and mentally challenged from the streets and leaving them in the care of hospitals, shelters and old age homes, since 2002. He institutionalized his public service under the NGO – Theruvoram. He also started to provide shelter, food and medicine for the orphaned street children. This self taught citizens' noble work and acclaim soon spread, such that in 2013, Theruvoram was given the responsibility of running the social justice department's shelter for homeless.
Over the years Murugan has been able to rescue, rehabilitate and help over 8000 children and poor. His NGO is actively working in 17 districts of Kerala to save the lives of homeless, injured and destitute street children.
Malavath Poorna (currently 16), was the youngest girl to climb Mount Everest at the tender age of 13. She hails from a small tribal village and learned mountain climbing at her school, showed immense potential got formally trained and completed the dangerous Himalayan mountaineering journey on May 25, 2014. Having achieved this feat so early in life, she is already a role model for tribal children. Hailing from Nizamabad, this poor Indian farmer's daughter shed joyful tears at the summit after a grueling climb across difficult terrain overcoming personal fear. She reminiscences seeing dead bodies of mountaineers during her climb, the gruesome sights did not deter this young girl from scaling new heights.
The aim of her expedition was to inspire young people and students from her tribal background and encourage them to take up sporting activities and show their mettle. Since then she has represented India in various international expeditions and brought laurels for India.
Scaling Mount Everest is incredibly taxing and over 250 people have died trying to climb it. Altitude above roughly 26,000 feet is considered death zone, since there is not enough oxygen to sustain human life.
Akash Chaurasia a 29 year old & resident of village Tilli, district Jalna Madhya Pradesh hails from a very small farming family. Having done his senior secondary he has invented a multi layer farming at a field of 3 Acres which he has taken on rent.
This true son of the soil, got through PMT (Medical Entrance) in his state but instead chose to follow his heart and championed the cause of safer crop yields through organic farming. His family beckoned him to pursue Medicine but he did not give in and continued on his journey of developing techniques to maximize output.
He developed a unique four layer farming technique where four different crops are sown in the same piece of land harnessing the sub soil, top soil and using climbers and creepers for variety in layering. In this technique, that has been endorsed by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sagar - with the same amount of fertilizer, water, labor and money, four different crops are grown. He uses organic farming techniques, by which the produce is four times more and the expenses are 4 to 5 times less. This is a crop intensive and high density cropping technique which yield maximum yields with optimum utilization of resources.
This young farmer believes in sharing his experiential learnings with the farming community at large. He has trained 32 thousand farmers from all over the country in his farm in Sagar Madhya Pradesh. He has prepared 42 agricultural models all across the country in different parts. He has given training in 19 universities on organic farming & multi layering techniques. He has been able to generate INR 10.5 lacs per acre-an incredible yield.
Sachidanand Bharati, was born in 1955 in the Uttrakhand region to a mother who was the first woman panchayat leader of the region. When he was older, Bharati became involved in the Chipko movement.
As a leader in the Chipko movement, Bharati mobilized cross-generational, non-violent environmental uprisings and groups across Uttrakhand and was instrumental in reversal of forest lands and 4.3 million hectares of land from commercial use back to agriculture and forest use land. Bharati initiated successful dialogues and nonviolent confrontations between hill communities and the government. It led to policy reversal and the retreat of state presence from indigenous, green turf.
Following the deluge in Uttrakhand in 2013, he stepped up not only his reforestation pursuits but also augmented water conservation programs. Towards this, he mobilised women from the Mahila Mangal Dals because women responded to the call for reforestation and water management intuitively and emotionally. Today, there is an active collective of more than 15,000 women in 150 villages, who are committed to savvy water management in the Himalayan region.
In an area where the recurring narrative is that of mass de-forestation, dying springs, lost rivers, landslides and associated environmental disasters his efforts have given new hope to numerous groups in the Uttarakhand terrain.
Being stirred to action, on account of the deplorable condition of women in the rural hinterland in Odisha; a group of committed and dedicated young women workers started Maa Ghara, in 2004 to work for the upliftment of womenfolk. Maaghara is on mission to strive for a society where there is respect and safety for each women. The Organization has a two pronged approach- Sensitization & Advocacy on one hand and field services on the other. The dedicated direct field service includes rescuing and rehabilitating trafficked and sexually abused victims and giving them temporary shelter, food, healthcare, legal support and various trainings for capacity building. The Organization manifests itself as a shelter which is a transit home for these victimized women until they get legal remedies and are economically secure.
The Organization has a participatory model which encourages volunteers from amongst women in the neighborhood communities of the victimized girls thereby forming Community Vigilance for corroborative action. These women groups stir into immediate action and cohesively work towards insulating the victimized from repeat adversity and endeavors to secure her rights. As part of the preventive paradigm – they reach out to vulnerable sections and sensitize them against existing social crimes, which include trafficking, child labor, domestic violence and physical abuse.
Over the last decade, the holistic efforts of the Organization have resulted in the rescue and rehabilitation of thousands of distressed women across age groups in Odisha.
Maa Ghara's unique activation model has become a state wide people's movement to stop atrocities on women and restore their human rights with dignity. It has 7 women helpline counseling and legal advice centres in 7 districts of Odisha. There are about 10,000 women members working as peacemakers in the remote and tribal villages across Odisha.
WE4YOU is a charitable trust, set up by 7 young minds, all of them engineers working in Odisha, Delhi, Bengaluru, who are committed to providing accessible education to visually challenged students, enhancing their skills and educating them for gainful employment. The idea struck the engineers when they volunteered to lend their voice to blind students and assisted them with the scripting of answer sheets during their 10th examinations. This gesture culminated into WE4YOU.
Formal education for the visually impaired has been a grave concern, and this unique initiative could perhaps be the answer for providing basic to formal or technical education with the help of voice books for the visually impaired in India. Their outreach model involves volunteers who lend their voices to these Audio Books.
Their interventions also include disseminating these Audio Books to their intended community of students both in schools as well as colleges. This unique intervention uses IT and IT enabled services wherein volunteers can make these audio files on their Personal Computers at their own convenience. These files are then scrutinised and pass the rigors of institutional accreditation before being acknowledged as an Audio Book.
They have been awarded by the Odisha government for Innovation in Education in the Disability sector. Their network of volunteers is growing enormously in other parts of India and is impacting the lives of thousands of visually impaired individuals across Chennai, Gurgaon and Bangalore.
While the country is home to 12 million blind students, there are only 10 Braille Press units in India, which is not enough to meet the demand. Educating the visually impaired through Audio Books is an innovative mode of intervention. Till date the organisation has converted more than 500 books into audiobooks in Odia, Hindi and English language.
GSKVM is a non-government voluntary organization, operates in Jharkhand across the districts of Latehar, Garhwa and Palamu.
The cases of tuberculosis are rising in Jharkhand, with over 34,000 new cases being reported in the state. Armed with a vision to support the government's efforts, to curtail the disease, GSKVM implemented a TB care and Control project which was supported by WHO, in collaboration with the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program.
The focused approach of community based case finding strategy which involved screening of the entire community in Palamu across demographics has become a role model of outreach by a NGO. They have reached out through awareness camps to a mass in excess of 10,000 in their operative geographies. The most cost-effective way to stop the spread of TB in communities with a high incidence is by curing it. TBDOTS (directly observed treatment) is the name given to the tuberculosis control strategy recommended by the World Health Organization. A unique aspect of their outreach was the hand holding and support rendered for individuals suffering from TB to complete the prescribed treatment program.
Tuberculosis, the silent killer; kills 5 lakh Indians every year, making it a big challenge for India to achieve its goal of being TB free by 2025. Through a multipronged approach of sensitization, advocacy, preventive and remedial action and adherence to treatment modules, this NGO has been able to impact 3152 individuals directly within the first year, till date 12,181 individuals have benefitted from the program.
Khamir was established in the aftermath of the Bhuj earthquake. Khamir is a not for profit promotional platform for the crafts, heritage and cultural ecology of the Kachchh region of Gujarat. The organization aims to serve as a cultural resource centre that enables artisans to conserve their traditional way of life by creating sustainable livelihoods centered on their craft.
The name stands for Kachchh Heritage, Art, Music, Information and Resources. Khamir means 'intrinsic pride' in Kachchhi, the local language. In Hindi it means 'to ferment' an equally apt name given the constant fermentation and cross pollination of artistic activities that play out within the organization as well as in the Kachchh region at large.
This joint initiative of Kachchh Nav Nirman Abhiyan and the Nehru Foundation for Development, was incepted in 2015. Today, Khamir strives to create a democratic and empowering space - a common roof under which a range of stakeholders can exchange ideas and collaborate. It serves as a platform for the promotion of traditional handicrafts and allied cultural practices, the processes involved in their creation, and the preservation of culture, community and local environments.
Khamir is committed to the vision of a vibrant, sustainable Indian craft sector in which crafts and artisans alike are highly valued by people worldwide. At present they are working with 150 craft units in Kachchh region impacting the lives of about 3000 artisans.
ALOMBRO MAYU YAKU CHI AMEY AROGA commonly known as AMYAA NGO stands for social transformation. The service of AMYAA working in targeted rural areas of Eastern Region of Arunachal Pradesh has been basically to redefine the lives of the poor by facilitating sustainable livelihood opportunities. Strengthening the grassroots groups (NaRMGs, SHGs, and Farmer's Clubs) through frequent capacity building and training has been the primary focus of AMYAA. The Organization encourages inclusivity and believes in enabling the community members to be responsible for their own development through active participation at all levels of the developmental process.
The Organization is headed by Mr. R K Paul and has been credited to have formed the first All Women Cooperative in Arunachal Pradesh.
In the district of Lower Dibang Valley, AAMYA has promoted a District level federation The federation comprises of 48 SHGs from 20 Villages and was set up with a vision to act as catalyst for viable socio-economic development of the region. The federation has already set up a SHG rural mart for marketing of local handloom and handicrafts products. AMYAA has promoted 20 farmer's clubs to be organized into Producers Organization for systematic marketing of the agri-horticulture products.
HMIC, has the unique distinction of founding the first Roti Bank of its kind in Maharashtra. This bank is situated on the busy Jinsi-Baijipura Road in the heart of the Aurangabad city. The idea behind the bank was to ask people from well-to-do families to spare and deposit home cooked rotis with vegetarian or non-vegetarian food, which would then be ferried to demarcated areas, from where the poor, unemployed and needy could withdraw it respectfully without resorting to begging.
The organization initially mobilized 100 donors to provide food security for the under privileged through this unique initiative.
As word of the bank spread, membership at the centre shot up and now HMIC boasts of 350 members and about 200 donor deposits are recorded daily. To open an account at the roti bank, the donor has to fill up a form and obtain a code number. The details of the depositor are stored under this number. The bank operates between 11 am and 9 pm and maintains strict hygiene and tagging of the food and consumables.
Drawing strength from the success of the Roti Bank, HMIC has launched a Kapda bank on the same lines.
This bank only deals in freshly cooked food items and today feeds over 800 people daily, while duly maintaining strict quality control and hygiene standards.
Astha is an organization that aims in creating and providing opportunities for interaction between the "able" and the "differently able" worlds. This unique approach enables the participation of both these worlds and enhances the quality of life of the targeted beneficiaries.
Mr. Sunil Jain, himself being wheel chair bound is the Founder Trustee and Chief Enabler of Astha. A Chartered Accountant by profession, he mentors and guides para-athletes to reach excellence in their chosen Sports and achieve success. Inkeeping with the agenda, Indian Wheelchair Tennis Tour (IWTT), a division of ASTHA is working towards the single minded objective of advocating the participation of an Indian contingent in this Para Olympic Sport in the next 3-5 years.
India with a population of 200+ lakh differently-abled people got just 12 medals in the Para Olympics. There has been no concerted effort to develop competitive wheelchair tennis in India. ASTHA has successfully conducted India's first AITA ranked wheelchair tennis tournament wherein 34 players participated. In the second series, this number will grow to 46, since 12 more individuals have been trained.
Krishiyog, a unique initiative, under Advaita Organics - provides end-toend support to small and marginal farmers to make their farming profitable and sustainable. These unique interventions across Andhra Pradesh include access to institutional credit, input procurement, crop management, agri-extension services and marketing support. It is currently working with farmer groups to deliver the services to its members. Also they are working on a model where the farmer group can engage local resources to deliver services, thereby providing employment opportunities and augments rural develeopment.
Advaita Organics works towards creating a more efficient and sustainable agricultural supply chain that increases farmer incomes. They solve problems using technology, and make agriculture more sustainable, even as they make organically grown, pesticide-free agricultural produce, an inherent part of the daily urban lifestyle through easy access.
The cumulative impact of these interventions in drought prone and challenging environments where farmer suicides are common occurrences is noteworthy. The tangible impact is reflected by a 4% reduction in interest rates for farmers, a 10% improvement in yield and Improvement in Net savings per crop for a farmer with 2 acre farm is approximately Rs 12,450.
Building upon the cultural heritage of worshiping Surya - the Sun God as the ultimate source of energy and celebrating the very experience of life through a large gathering in Kumbh, For past six years, Simplified Technologies for Life has been passionately working to ignite young minds through experience driven transformation. They have designed a unique festival called SuryaKumbh which is internationally acknowledged as the World's Largest Solar Festival, SuryaKumbh has reached over 120,000 school children from a small tribal hamlet of Jawahar to ultramodern city of Dubai. The uniqueness of SuryaKumbh lies in the way it creates a flavourful fusion of science and festival that positively impacts everyone involved across age groups to harness solar energy in everyday lives.
Simplified Technologies for Life was established in 2011 with a vision of taking solar energy to every home in India, given the abundance of sunlight in India. The idea was to use solar cooking as an entry point and empower the users with an experience that would inspire them to lead a more sustainable life.
While SuryaKumbh is designed to introduce a family to the power and possibilities of solar cooking through a child, the real beneficiaries are rural women who will escape the drudgery of collecting wood, be less exposed to harmful emissions and effectively harness the free energy of the Sun efficaciously.
Dr. Prasanna Kumar Patasani is a Scholar, Philosopher, lyricist and an eminent literarian. He has been a Parliamentarian for the last five terms and is currently serving as a member of the 16th Lok Sabha of India.
He is best known for his unique contributions in the field of literature and has authored numerous books on poetry, philosophy, spirituality, travel and psychology. Besides being a PhD and D.Litt , in order to satiate his spiritual cravings, he joined the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram at Rishikesh and embraced yoga and spiritual practices and became a strong proponent of yogic practices and transcendental meditation. He travelled the world extensively professing the impact of yoga and meditation in controlling the scrounge of social crime. For his contributions to the cause of World Peace, he was awarded with the Messenger of Peace, at the International Conference of Association of Future Humanity at Oxford (UK) in 1989. Dr. Patasani has also addressed the Colloquium on the subject – 'Towards a Democratic New World' in Paris.
He has to his credit over 70 books of Poetry, philosophy, spiritualism and psychology, many of which have been translated into major Indian languages. He is the Founder of Abadhut Group of Rebel Poets, his literary renditions reflect the struggle of the common man for survival.
Dr. Patasani is the founder of 18 Educational and Spiritual Institutions and President of about 75 similar Institutions. He has pioneered the development of Bhubaneswar and the state of Odisha into an educational hub.
Based in Bangalore, 37 year old Shalini, lost all her four limbs owing to a rare bacterial infection. Back in 2013, she had just returned from vacation in Cambodia when she suddenly fell ill. What started off as a fever quickly developed into something far more serious and Shalini, who was also pregnant at the time, was suddenly on the brink of death and dealing with multiple organ failures.
Doctors diagnosing the illness in Bengaluru, however, thought it was dengue. They could not have been more wrong. In the course of the next few months, she had a miscarriage, both legs and her left hand amputated, following which her right hand just "fell off."
Having gone through the rigours of mainstream medicincal procedures, she finally turned to Ayurveda, that helped her in the healing process. And not before long she regained her physical and mental strength, with her husband Prashanth Chowdappa by her side.
Inspite & despite all adversities, she fought back with an indomitable spirit and today is a role model for not just the differently abled but to the entire humankind.
JSPL Foundation salutes the indomitable spirit of Shalini Saraswathi, a Quadruple Amputee, who has overcome adversities and is a source of inspiration to us all.
Today she is a writer, motivational speaker and a sports enthusiast. This trained Bharatnatyam dancer is an avid blade runner and even runs marathons. She is a true beacon of hope, endurance and epitomizes the indomitable spirit.
and energy conservation through his cartooning and paper presentations in national and international conferences/seminars/workshops. He has been doing many innovations in environment and energy conservation awareness in Rajasthan, undertaking special efforts in collecting information on clean technologies appropriate for rural areas and has communicated them to villages through exhibitions, demonstrations, education and trainings. He has made untiring efforts through his national environment awareness campaigns, in 16 states of India and is involved in regularly organising exhibitions/seminars/ training programmes. He is also motivating institutions to become environmentally more aware to save the future of students and the community at large. As a result, institutions are showing keen interest in greening their campus and the surroundings, enhancing the capabilities of teachers in environmental teaching helping them update themselves with better education. As a result of his efforts, his name is included in the Limca Book of (National) Records for year 1998 for exceptional contribution to environment cartooning. He also received the National Child Award in 1999.
Through his cartooning, conferences, seminars and paper presentations across 16 states of India, Ankur Singh has dedicated his life to generate awareness about environmental issues.
a 79-year-old civil engineer from Ladakh has created several artificial glaciers to help people deal with water scarcity in this cold mountainous region. The Artificial Glaciers- simple, cost effective and potential means of water harvesting at higher altitude in regions having cold climate, is an intricate network of water channels and small dams along the slope of mountains at a high altitude of 13,000 feet and above. The water from the mountains' streams is directed to these mountain slopes through channels and stores it in the form of ice during the long winter period. With the onset of summers, when farmers need water for sowing their crops, the Artificial Glacier, by virtue of being at a lower altitude than natural glaciers, melts early and provides the much needed
The Artificial Glacier created by Chewang Norphle is a simple, cost effective and potential means of water harvesting at higher altitude in regions having cold climate.
a renowned urologist and transplant surgeon started the deceased organ donation program in 1996. He founded MOHAN Foundation (a not-for-profit) in 1997 with the objective of increasing deceased organ donation rate using possible tool, technology, methodology and process to actively engage community, civil society, religious leaders, policy makers and the government at large to bring about the much needed change, thus,
paving the way for deceased organ donation in India. He is called the "Father of Deceased Organ Donation in India" for actively promoting it as founder and managing trustee of the Foundation
Dr. Sunil Shroff has worked actively with central and state governments to augment organ donation by creating a unique "Indian Model". Through his transplant coordinators' training programs, in South East Asia he has trained more than 930 transplant coordinators in India as well as in Bangladesh contributing to more than 70% of the deceased organ donations taking place in India and saving more than 3,500 lives.
Owing to Dr. Sunil Shroff's efforts, deceased organ donation rate doubled to 0.34 per million population in 2014 from 0.16 in 2012 in a country that had almost no donations taking place 17 years back.
Patel Genabhai Darghabhai, has made several leaps in his lifetime, despite obstacles. After passing his secondary education, he got engaged in his own farming business. But, what is remarkable about this simple man is that despite being differently-abled, he achieved notable feats. Due to his disability, he wasn't in a position to perform traditional agricultural operations; in effect his farm income from traditional farming was around Rs 10,000 per annum which was insufficient for even routine expenditure. After surveying and consulting agricultural scientists, he decided to grow pomegranate a horticultural crop in all his landholdings.
His family members differed as none of the farmers in his own area had ever done this sort of a thing, but none of this deterred his resolve. While other farmers grew moderately, his unique initiative of growing pomegranate in 5 hectare land produced 53902 kg of pomegranate with the net profit of Rs. 3,14,21,100/-
Genabhai has travelled to many districts and several states to spread his tale, inspiring everyone by his resolve and strength to achieve what had seemed impossible.
Patel Genabhai Darghabhai's unique initiative of growing pomegranate in 5 hectare land produced 53902 kg of pomegranate with the net profit of Rs. 3,14,21,100/- against the expenditure of Rs. 61,32,400/-.
has changed the lives of many hearing impaired people. They teach deaf- dumb kids, instill confidence in them to go out and face the 'normal' world, and leave no stone unturned to make their voice heard. Along with imparting knowledge, the couple also submitted a proposal to the state government for the rights of the deaf and dumb to create a special police station that could pay attention to people with hearing impairment, as there was no deaf friendly police station in India earlier to lodge a complaint in sign language. After getting an approval from the government an existing police station, Thana Tukoganj, Indore was transformed to address the complaints of these specially challenged with the help of trained volunteers and the Purohit couple.
The initiative made this community aware that they can also lodge a complaint like a normal person and if a complaint is lodged in any police station/court, it will be felicitated with the help of sign language experts. After the opening of the police station, many victims got justice and culprits were sentenced by court.
10 JSPL Foundation Untold stories of Courage www.jsplfoundation.co.in The first deaf and dumb friendly police station in India, an initiative by Gyanendra and Monica Purohit, has attended more than 1,000 cases in the last 13 years in Madhya Pradesh.
Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." Niengkhohoi Haolai Sitlhou (AHOI), who hails from Assam and is currently based in Gurgaon, works towards the livelihood and vocational skill training of individuals from the North-East region of India so that they can become spa operators in premium hotels/resorts. AHOI started a venture called Oriental Senses, way back in 2008 with the sole purpose of providing training on spa therapies and generate employment for people from the North-East where employment options are limited. Oriental Senses is an end to end business model of hire- train-groom-employ all under the same umbrella.
At Oriental senses, AHOI assures good quality of work to be delivered with the help of strong and rigorous in-house training and also makes sure that there is high sense of trust and security for the employees. To start this venture, AHOI even sold her house. Most of the staff/trainees working with Oriental Senses are educated with the maximum qualification of higher secondary. Hence, the program is designed in a way to benefit those who did not have the privilege to finish school or college due to financial constraints.
In the last three years, AHOI has personally trained and provided employment opportunities to more than 100 youth from the North-East at her own expense in the spa and wellness industry.
is working continuously for the development of visually & physically challenged students through the setting up of the "Snehankit Association for Non Seeing Friends" in the year 1999 in Pune. Other than a hostel for the blind that he has set up, Rahul has also started new projects and activities which were unavailable to the visually challenged in a city like Pune. He migrated to Pune in 1997 from his village Panchrukhiya in Ahmednagar district and completed his graduation, post graduation, B.Ed., M.S.W., M.Phil in the open merit list of Pune University facing several difficulties due to his visual impairment.
A meritorious student at school and college and a social worker, he makes life easier for blind students who come to Pune for higher education. He also established a computer training (MS-Office and MS-CIT) centre for the physically handicapped believing in the power of technology in the lives of the visually impaired. The facilities he installed in the hostel are the result of his hard work. A digital library set up by him gives access to books and the hostel is well equipped with all guidance and support system including scholarship
Apart from the hostel for the blind in Pune, Rahul Vasantrao Deshmukh guides visually impaired students in choosing the right place to get remedial help for academics through his organisation Snehankit.
is a man of few worldly possessions. A former teacher living in the Gundegaon village of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, Bhapkar has cut through seven hills in the last 57 years to make a 40-km road.
At the time of Independence, there was not even a 'paywat' (walking trail) connecting Gundegaon to the adjoining village. Bhapkar, who worked in the Zilla Parishad School at Kolegaon from 1957 to 1991 found people from his village crossing three other villages to reach the school. Bhapkar Guruji then initiated the project to make roads in the mountainous rural areas (40 kms till date) where the government had no schemes and help was limited, using all his own earnings.
After his initiative, the route to Kolegaon via Deulgaon which was 29 km long has shrunk to just 10 km after making a kuccha road cutting through the hill. He also paid wages from his pocket to those who helped him with the work. Bhapkar spent his entire post-retirement earning and pension to fund the road work. Besides working with spades and shovels, he also hired heavy duty excavator machines for expediting the road work.
The road, built by Bhapkar Guruji and completed in 1997 has since benefitted over 1, 75,000 people from 19 villages.
was founded in the year 1999 with a mission of partnering with local communities to conserve nature in the Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Ganjam districts of Odisha. The organisation focusses on direct action on the ground to protect endangered species and their habitats; restores and conserves degraded mangroves forests; strengthens and helps vulnerable communities become more resilient to the impacts of natural disasters and climate change. The organisation has also been at the forefront of implementing environmental restoration and sensitising the community on mangrove eco-systems and its effect on their livelihoods.
APOWA has undertaken a unique project on 'Community Stewardship in Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Management of Mangroves in the coast of Odisha. The project adopted a model approach for community participation in mangrove resource management and restoration. This well-considered model directly engages local community and has proven extremely successful.
Initially started with 10 villages, the interest in community mangrove forests has rapidly increased to more than 48 villages after APOWA's efforts. APOWA has also received any awards for their outstanding work in protection of environment & conservation of natural resources.
APOWA's mangrove conservation project has directly benefitted some 24,000 people from 42 villages in Odisha.
Action in Rural Technology and Services (ARTS) registered as a society under Societies Act 1860, works to promote and strengthen livelihood systems in a sustainable manner by natural resource management through people's participation in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh.
The organisation also ensures livelihood, education and health rights through strategic objectives including pro-poor governance, addressing poverty needs of deprived and marginalised communities, enforcing rights of women and girls in the district.
ARTS has initiated a unique project-Maathota in 1,000 acres of land in Srikakulam district aimed at the holistic development of the area by enhancing the environmental economy and livelihoods of tribal communities through major activities including Horticulture and Agriculture development, soil and moisture conservation, water resource development, women and child development etc.
The project has reduced the drudgery of 540 women by providing safe drinking water in the area through gravity flow of water in 22 villages. The project is further expanding in 4,975 hectares under the Integrated Water Management Programme (IWMP) with the support from the Government of India.
The Maathota project by ARTS has been instrumental in transforming the lives of 1,032 farmers in 41 habitations of Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh.
New Delhi by a group of agriculture and management professionals with the belief that capacity building of small and marginal farmers would help enhance their livelihoods and income resulting in better quality of life for rural communities. Based on extensive learnings from the field, over the years, ISAP's work has evolved to include integrated farming, farmer aggregation and market linkages into a comprehensive sustainable rural livelihoods approach at the National level.
The organisation has developed an applet- 'Decision Support System (DSS) for trainers. This DSS is named e-KrishakSahyogi (e-KS), an 'electronic companion of the farmers'. Trainers carry tablets with installed e-KS applet to help diagnosing problems of pests or disease infestation in the field. The app also comprises of animation videos to educate farmers on proven cropping techniques and advance farm technologies.
ISAP has also implemented OCPF- Integrated Farming System (OCPF-IFS) project in the state of Rajasthan. Under this project, ISAP is working with 9,600 farmers. These farmers are being provided agriculture extension support including farm advisory, field demonstrations and exposure visits, value addition at the farm gate, and market integration through Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs).
ISAP's applet 'Decision Support System' (DSS) named e-KrishakSahyogi (e-KS) enables extension agents help farmers in diagnosing problems of pests or disease infestation in the fields.
1988 in Maharshtra by Dr. Vinod Shah, M.D. and a renowned gastroenterologist. Janaseva works with the motto of helping the helpless, elderly, disabled, disaster stricken and the destitute at the State level. Under the organisation's project 'Smart Cities', Janaseva is giving medical care and school education to street children. It is also working towards building the future for these neglected children and creating an all-inclusive healthy beggar free society. It works for their personality development by teaching them good manners, hygiene, cleanliness and thus giving them a good future.
The Foundation provides vaccination to street children essential for their good health. Its initiatives have helped children to stop begging as they have their basic needs of education fulfilled. The Foundation is also involving senior citizens, young volunteers from colleges/IT Camps to teach the children.
Under the organisation's project 'Smart Cities', Janaseva is giving medical care and school education to street children in Maharashtra and is working towards building the future of these neglected children thereby creating an all-inclusive, healthy beggar free society.
involved in rescue, rehabilitation and repatriation of victims of human trafficking from India, Bangladesh and Nepal. The Foundation ensures that the victims regain all their human rights by rescuing and rehabilitating them from their inhuman situation.
In 1995, Mrs. Triveni Acharya, a journalist, who since childhood was revolutionary and always attempted to struggle against unjust and anti-social situations, co-founded the NGO to ensure that the victims of trafficking regain all their human rights.
The process of rehabilitation at Rescue Foundation starts with investigation to verify the identity and location of a particular missing complaint or reports of existence of minor girls in a particular brothel. Rescue raids are then conducted based on the information. After producing the rescued girls in the court, healthcare is provided by the Foundation to identify and treat them for any disease and illness, including HIV.
The Foundation provides legal aid to these victims by prosecuting perpetrators. It also imparts vocational training to teach them money earning skills helping them to sustain themselves after repatriation.
Rescue Foundation has also commenced expansion plan of Delhi Protective & Rehabilitation Homes in the surrounding cities like Agra, Mathura, Meerut and these will become operational by October 2016.
Till now, over 300 girls have been rescued and 700 girls rehabilitated and repatriated by Rescue Foundation.
was set up with its head office in West Bengal to provide affordable primary healthcare services in remote rural areas of the country, where healthcare delivery by the state is either sparse or completely non-existent. The Foundation runs a chain of 10 primary healthcare centers providing low cost primary healthcare equipped with four departments, namely general medicine, eye, dental and homeopathy services to low income groups at Rs 60 as against market rate of Rs. 300.
The presence of the RHCF clinics within the village premises and availability of medicines at an affordable cost has enabled people to avail healthcare in the early stages of illness instead of spending large sums of money at a later stage. The services particularly benefit women, and daily wage labourers whose health is largely ignored.
Apart from benefitting patients, the clinics also generate direct employment for doctors and support staff, particularly women facing dearth of employment option in villages. The generation of employment indirectly benefits the families of those who have gained employment at the RHCF Clinics.
Since the inception of RHCF, over 11 lakh people have benefitted from their services across four districts and 50 villages of West Bengal and 12 Municipal Wards in Kolkata.
with its head office in New Delhi works for the betterment of lives of people with disabilities. It works for all types of disabilities through all stages of rehabilitation – Early intervention, Inclusive & Special Education, Skill Development and Employment.
Sarthak has also initiated providing employment opportunities for the disabled. It undertakes three major activities to generate employment for Persons with Disability (PWD) –
i. Training programs ii. In House Placement Openings, andiii. Job Fairs
Under the training programs for Persons with Disability (PWD), it conducts several trainings like Computer training, Language skills training, Profession related training (Industry linked training), Employability training - Tech Mahindra SMART Centre.
For In House Placement Openings, the employment team at Sarthak from its data base aligns the candidates as per the requirement of the companies. The candidates are interviewed and placed through in-house placement outfits. It also organises Job Fairs for the disabled wherein job seekers (people with disability) and the job providers (companies which hire PWD) come on the same platform for hiring.
They also have a Job Mapping service where experts from Sarthak visit the organisation to analyse and map opportunities for people with disability.
Sarthak has so far organised 300+ in house placements and supported 20+ organisation in identifying jobs for people with disability.
the brainchild of Mr. K. Sai Baba based in Telangana (Former Ranji Trophy Cricketer) backed by 35 years of experience in Sports, aims to identify young talent (especially among the less-privileged children) to groom them into promising sports stars of the future.
Started in 1991 as a Non-Profit & Non-Commercial Organisation, SCF promotes sports and builds the health and character of the youth by providing free scientific coaching to more than 70 percent of its 600 trainees with a majority of them being from the underprivileged section of the society.
Over the last 5 years, as part of its ongoing efforts, SCF has launched an ingenious project 'Build India Through Sports' (BITS) to spread awareness about Sports in Government Schools covering underprivileged street children, orphanages and slum areas supporting infrastructure for continued sports activity.
Through BITS, SCF has adopted many Government Girls High Schools in Hyderabad and have trained over 4,000 girls in various sports so far by transforming them through various awareness programs.
It is the only Sports Organisation in the country having IT exemption under 80G and FCRA approved by the Government of India.
As part of its BITS project, SCF has reached out to more than 50 Government schools in Hyderabad covering 25,000 children where a substantial percentage of students have had no exposure to sports activities before.
was formally launched in 1998 as a learning and development organisation with a mission to empower women at the grassroots. SSP's work in partnership with the Government of Maharashtra initially began in two districts, Latur and Osmanabad to turn the earthquake crisis into a process of rebuilding homes and communities.
SSP also works to promote empowerment of women as leaders and entrepreneurs through self-help groups, social enterprises and community led initiatives. It offers a wide range of skill-building, livelihood generation, finance and health-enhancing opportunities to rural women, youth and communities at large.
All these initiatives have been supported by its robust social enterprise ecosystem –Sakhi Unique Rural Enterprises (SURE) in rural marketing and distribution, Sakhi Social Enterprise Network (SSEN) in skills and entrepreneurship, Sakhi Samudaya Kosh (SSK) in innovative finance and Sakhi Arogya Samudaya Trust (SAST) in preventive health services. Combined, they offer a formidable range of initiatives in clean energy, safe water and sanitation, climate resilient agriculture, food security and nutrition by partnering with Sakhi women networks impacting over a million in low-income communities
SSP's continuous growth has resulted in the formation of federated network of 5,000 SHGs with over 1 lakh women from rural communities spread across 14 climate-threatened rural districts in 4 States (Maharashtra, Bihar, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu).
is a voluntary non-profit organisation founded in Keonjhar district, Odisha in 1993. The organisation is committed to the upliftment and empowerment of the rural population – especially of Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Primitive Tribes and Other Backward Classes in the District.
WOSCA has developed a mobile phone based information management and monitoring system called 'Tracking livelihood Entitlement for Rural Communities' (TERcoms) to track the efficacy of entitlement delivery under social protection schemes to rural poor in order to strengthen the demand and supply side of service delivery.
WOSCA's village volunteers monitor entitlements under three major social protection schemes- Targeted Public Distribution System, Pension and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Schemes on real time basis at service delivery points sending delivery acknowledgment to central server through mobile. Uptake Reports on these entitlements are generated monthly and shared with the community and the Government for action and remedy to strengthen the service delivery mechanism at district level to cover left out beneficiaries gain access to PDS and Pension schemes.
Since 1993, WOSCA has continuously been expanding its reach, covering Banspal, Keonjhar, Saharpada, Patna, Joda, Hatadihi, Harichandanpur and Ghatagoan, Jhumpura and Champua block of Keonjhar District with a total population of 25,589 households in 219 villages.
to patients who are diagnosed with advanced cancer in New Delhi and areas around it. The organisation is run by a group of palliative care experts committed to enabling a caring and supportive society around cancer management. It supports cancer patients (>65% belong to the socio-economicall backward sections) by providing them informed and compassionate medical, nursing and emotional care.
Starting with only 6 patients in 1997, the program has now expanded and is looking after 1700 patients and families at any given time.
CanSupport's palliative care programme for cancer patients has benefitted nearly 70,000 cancer patients and their families in the Delhi NCR since 1997.
in the state of Tamil Nadu is engaged in core and large scale welfare activities, since 1992. It implements public-service initiatives called 'Action for Rural Rejuvenation' in health, 'Isha Vidhya' in education and 'Project Green Hands' in environment, which serve as outstanding models for human empowerment and community revitalisation.
Isha outreach has also identified the fundamental gaps in healthcare and prepared an innovative project by rejuvenating 'AYUSH' (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) practices in India. It seeks to improve the health of the rural populace of the Kolli Hills Block in the district of Namakkal of Tamil Nadu state through a holistic approach involving a unique combination of Ayurveda, Siddha and Naturopathy.
In the last five years, Isha's programmes have reached more than 4,600 villages and benefitted 7 million people in 33 districts of Tamil Nadu and parts of Karnataka, Pondicherry and Kerala.
– slum dwellers, jail inmates, below poverty line individuals, victims of war and natural disasters – through educational and development-related endeavors helping them become responsible citizens.
The organisation also runs a Life Skills Programme- "Drishti" in three districts of Rajasthan- Kota, Baran and Jhalawar since 2005 to build the capacity of young adolescents (12-14 years); helping them make informed choices about their health and behaviour through a comprehensive Life Skills Programme. It also facilitates teacher's education on issues relevant to adolescence to ensure their continuous development.
Drishti programme has covered 1,526 government schools offering schooling to children of Classes VII & VIII, training 2,087 teachers with the help of 236 Master Trainers and reaching approximately 4,85,000 students.
based in New Delhi has been working in the field of intellectual disabilities for over 31 years, catering to more than 300 children with autism and cognitive impairment.
The organisation offers Individual Educational Program to students with special needs, aimed at their social and economic independence. The programme incorporates special education, regular academic program through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), therapeutic interventions and vocational trainings.
Tamana has developed a Microsoft Kinect based application under its HOPE (Have Only Positive Expectations) programme for enhancing the cognitive and (fine/gross) motor functions of children with autism.
works with women of marginalised communities in Madhubani and Supaul districts of Bihar. Its' initiatives are designed to achieve holistic empowerment of women by addressing issues such as education, health, livelihood and interest in social and political activities. It also aims to break the culture of poverty and backwardness among the marginalised women by providing them with farm and non- farm based vocational trainings and to facilitate their involvement in income generation activities.
GPSVS has directly impacted 10,000 poor families and 64,000 people from 60 villages of Madhubani and Supaul in Bihar.
by establishing rehabilitation and development centre through its activities like education and skill development in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu.
Isha outreach has also identified the fundamental gaps in healthcare and prepared an innovative project by rejuvenating 'AYUSH' (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) practices in India. It seeks to improve the health of the rural populace of the Kolli Hills Block in the district of Namakkal of Tamil Nadu state through a holistic approach involving a unique combination of Ayurveda, Siddha and Naturopathy.
The organisation has also launched a mobile based Village Based Rehabilitation Initiative (mVBRI) for providing early intervention therapies to differently abled children. Under this program, with the help of tablet based user friendly apps, rehabilitation experts train parents of physically challenged children in the rural communities. The apps focus on topics such as gross and fine motor development, speech and language skills, and feeding techniques.
Amar Seva Sangam's Early Intervention initiative has benefitted 46 children in the last two years with overall beneficiaries of the organisation reaching 9072 persons in Tamil Nadu as on March 2015.
Tamil Nadu, initiated a unique venture- 'Food Waste' to reduce food waste and address the issue of hunger among the underprivileged. 'Under the project- 'Food Waste' a hotline number and a well-equipped food collection Mini Van -'FOODIVA' operates in the City. Upon a call received from the donor, volunteers reach the collection points to pick up the excess food. The collected food is then distributed amongst the food deprived communities.
The Organisation has also reached out to around 50,000 students teaching them food waste auditing and managing food waste in their campuses.
This successful model of 'Food Waste' for Coimbatore city and the programme now feeds 3,000 people every month.
works for the cause of Rural Development in Warangal and Anantapur districts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh through his innovative project - 'Sustainable Ground Water Management through Social Regulations and Local Governance'.
His programme addresses the problems of recurring droughts and depletion of ground water resources in Warangal and Anantapur districts by implementing simple and cost-effective techniques for 'recharging dry borewells'. The project also finds technological solutions to 'rejuvenate dried up wells' and to save crops, within the affordability of a small farmer.
Around 3,317 families are direct beneficiaries of R. V. Ramamohan's unique project which assures, improved access to potable drinking water as well as water for sanitation. A total of 178 farmers have also befitted from augmented recharge to ground water.
based out of Guwahati, is working towards the cause of education and skill development of parents of children with hearing disability.
Based on her own struggles with her disabled child and interactions with other parents, she set up an organisation - Dikshruti - a resource centre for parents in June 2012. The organisation provides services like parent counselling, motivation, early intervention including stimulation support, remedial educational support and skill building of parents free of cost.She has also been working with the local government to issue disability certificates, simplify procedures of accessing hearing aids and scholarships for deaf children.
Sangeeta Doloi has successfully has reached out to parents of 40 deaf children in the last three years.
'H. H. High School' in Brambe village with his own money that provides free quality education to orphan and underprivileged children.
The school is engaged in creating awareness among the village children and their parents about the importance of education through a number of awareness programmes and unique initiatives. Shahid is also running a programme called 'REACH2teach', identifying kids who are unable to continue school due to monetary issues helping them continue their education.
Working for the cause of education of orphan and underprivileged students, Shahid Shadab Hassan through his school at Brambe provides quality education to more than 500 children in Ranchi
