NGO

In March-April 2013, Maharashtra suffered from what was probably the worst drought in 40 years. The people were once again at the receiving end of the wrath of Nature, as it took a heavy toll on the lives of the people on the parched lands. It also led to the formation of a youth organization dedicated to helping the victims and finding long-term solutions. This is what began as the Maharashtra Drought Relief Project, and is now called Yuva Foundation.

When one lives in the city and enjoys excellent health care at one’s beck and call, it is difficult to appreciate the hardships suffered by the poor in remote locations of India. SEWA Rural is an organization that aims at improving the lives of these very deprived people. From healthcare to vocational training, they have been providing holistic development to the needy in Gujarat for 33 years now, and even today, they continue to serve the poor with utmost enthusiasm.

Govind Singh Rathore was 14 years old when he realised that in his patriarchal society widows have no status, respect or any rights! Together with his family and friends, he took steps to raise the status of Dalit women in the caste-prejudiced state of Rajasthan, and so Sambhali Trust was born in 2007. This is what they do.

Read about a remarkable organization working from villages in Tamil Nadu, and exemplifying service in its every deed. With various initiatives ranging from orphanages and a school to medical care and an old-age home, it is interesting to note how they manage the many activities, and how these complement each other and come together as one cohesive whole.

Remember the 2004 Bollywood film in which an NRI Mohan Bhargava (played by Shah Rukh Khan) returns to India and is moved by the harsh realities faced by the people in his village to become an agent of change? The name of that film was Swades, and here is an organization called Swades Foundation that shares a similar mission - to bring about change in rural India. To know how they are doing this, read more.

Women in rural as well as many urban parts of Rajasthan may not have much formal education, but the one skill they possess is sewing. With the help of an organization, many of these women now have the opportunity to put this skill to good use and generate additional household income. This is empowering them in ways unthinkable a few years ago, and changing the very fabric of their lives.

There are innumerable construction sites in our cities, but scarcely any arrangements for the education of the workers' children. Nestled among the landscaped villas and high-rise apartments of Gurgaon, Bagiya is one such school. Here we present an interview with the founder, Shilpa Sonal, to know what made her get started on this mission and what all she has achieved in six short years.

TBI writer Anusha Subramanian is currently in Uttarakhand, participating in the relief operations and assisting the locals in rebuilding their lives. She reports from the scene of the devastating floods on the current situation in the affected areas, on the aid provided by the administration, and the stupendous work being carried out by trekkers, mountaineers, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), army personnel and NGOs.

Literacy rate in India might be cited at around 74% (in 2011), but the ground reality is that even among the so-called educated youth, 'employability' remains a key challenge. The main reasons behind this are a lack of communications and other finer skills. This is an important gap that needs to be bridged, and we bring to you an organization in Bangalore committed to doing this from the past several years, with great success.

The Bagariyas of Rajasthan are one of the poorest and least literate tribes in India. While they are barely eking out an existence, their children don't go to school, they have no electricity, or in fact, any facilities that make life easier. Most developmental schemes seem to have bypassed them. But we see here, how a little money and a lot of initiative, can have a large impact on people's lives.