Founded: 2001
Headquarters: Banda, Uttar Pradesh
Geographical Focus: Uttar Pradesh
Lives Impacted: 15,000
Organization Overview:
Vidhya Dham Samiti (VDS), primarily works with bonded and farm laborers and economically poor communities of Dalits, Other Backward Classes, Muslims & small percentage of Scheduled Tribes in the drought-prone, remote and rural regions of Bundelkhand. Its mission is to empower people through education, health care, livelihood creation and access to social justice.
Founded: 1985
Headquarters: Deoghar, Jharkhand
Geographical Focus: Jharkhand
Lives Impacted: 374,000+
Organization Overview:
Chetna Vikas was set up by a young team of social activists on the Gandhian principles of Swaraj (Self-Rule). It works with women, children with disabilities and school dropouts, as well as informal labour from tribal communities – Santhal, Birhor, and Kol tribes in the Dumka, Deogarh, and Banka districts of Jharkhand and Bihar. Key focus areas for the organization are livelihood & income generation, youth empowerment, inclusive education and community rehabilitation centres, and resilient child protection governance systems support.
Founded: 2005
Headquarters: Hyderabad, Telangana
Geographical Focus: Andhra Pradesh, Telangana
Lives Impacted: 405 (weavers)
Organization Overview:
Chitrika Foundation supports perishing weaving communities by mobilization, capacitation, and support with tech-based management systems, marketing, and financial services with the aim of enhancing ownership, economic returns, and market procurement.
Founded: 2005
Geographical Focus: Mizoram
Organization Overview:
Cod Nerc focuses on building community leadership through the collectivization of target communities into Farmer Producer Organizations, Self Help Groups, Joint Liability Groups, and women’s groups. They focus on building the institutional capacities of such groups, including training in financial management, compliance and strategic planning with the objective of building independent institutions. In addition to this, they have also created pathways for community members to play a key role in decision-making pertaining to Cod Nerc’s programs by forming decision-making groups for each program they run. By mandate, these groups have representation from the communities that these programs serve, along with specialists and staff who take collective decisions on program financing, implementation and planning.
Founded: 2019
Headquarters: Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
Geographical Focus: Madhya Pradesh
Lives Impacted: 90+
Organization Overview:
The Criminal Justice and Police Accountability Project (CPA Project) was founded in 2019 as a research and capacity-building intervention. CPA aims to create a society the voices of Bahujan communities are represented and treated with dignity through India’s legal justice system.
Founded: 2004
Headquarters: Jaipur, Rajasthan
Geographical Focus: Rajasthan
Lives Impacted: 200,000+
Organization Overview:
Dalit Manavadhikhar Kendra Samiti (DMKS) founded in 2004 in Jaipur focuses on addressing caste-based violence. The organization works institutionally to combat violence and customary practices prevailing in Rajasthan. DMKS works towards building awareness and agency within the community for impactful implementation of existing laws to bring about social justice and address the unique challenges of vulnerable communities.
Founded: 1986
Headquarters: Khordha, Odisha
Geographical Focus: Odisha
Lives Impacted: 63,000
Organization Overview:
Darbar Sahitya Sansad works in rural Odisha with farmers and migrant workers from tribal communities (Kondh, Lodha and Juang tribes), Dalit, and OBC (Pradhan, Behera, Barik, Ojha, Maharana, Sahoo) communities, with the mission to build their confidence as well as capacity to enhance their socio-economic condition and agency.
Founded: 1994
Headquarters: Delhi
Geographical Focus: Delhi
Lives Impacted: 150,000
Organization Overview:
Deepshikha Samiti started out under the as part of a collective of community-based organizations, and later became an independent organization with the aim of improving the socioeconomic status of women and the transgender community through policy advocacy, skill development, awareness raising, and community mobilization.
Founded: 1989
Headquarters: Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh
Geographical Focus: Uttar Pradesh
Lives Impacted: 200,000
Organization Overview:
Development Association for Human Advancement (DEHAT) aims to ensure the right to survival, development, protection, and participation of children and their families in underdeveloped districts of Uttar Pradesh, near the Indo-Nepal border, that are human trafficking hotspots. It works on the thematic areas of child protection, livelihoods, education, and health services, with Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, and minority communities in the region.
Founded: 2001
Geographical Focus: West Bengal
Organization Overview:
The organization aims to empower children residing in and around red-light areas to break an intergenerational cycle of forced entry into sex work and has created a safe space for children within these vulnerable communities to report any form of distress. Diksha has enabled this through a model focused on building youth leadership who are trained and mentored to become the first points of contact for any child in a situation where they are feeling unsafe. Youth leaders and women’s collectives built by Diksha are now trained to address community issues and sensitive cases independently, especially in areas like Kalighat where sex work is prevalent.
Founded:1985
Geographical Focus: Gujarat
Organization Overview:
Disha has created new community-based institutions based on the principles of equity and freedom, where all citizens are empowered stakeholders, thereby able to influence policies that affect their lives and livelihoods. These community-based institutions are robust and actively working to improve the economic and social conditions of marginalized communities, including daily-wage labour, tribals, Dalits, landless persons, and women.
Founded: 2011
Headquarters: East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya
Geographical Focus: Assam and Meghalaya
Lives Impacted: 30,000+
Organization Overview:
Diya Foundation came out of the personal experiences of Martin Rabha around violence, tribal drudgery and discrimination faced as a migrant worker’s son. With capacity building as the base approach, it works with pottery makers, fishermen, tea tribes, Rabha and Garo tribals and minorities. Along with improving economics, Diya Foundation also work on health, gender equality and bridge education.
Founded: 1984
Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
Geographical Focus: Maharashtra
Lives Impacted: 50,000+
Organization Overview:
ASVSS works with Dalits and Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribe (VJNT) communities in the drought-prone region of Solapur. By fostering leadership among youth and women, the organization focuses on building interventions through community consultations and developmental processes based on equality, liberty, and social justice.