About
Founding:
Founded in 1985 under the leadership of Mr. Kumar Ranjan, Chetna Vikas is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, registered under the Societies Registration Act and Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.
Geography:
Chetna Vikas works in the rural regions of India's Jharkhand State; specifically, in more than 450 rural villages of Jharkhand's Deoghar and Dumka Districts.
Goal:
The organizational objective is to strengthen people's organization, advocacy and awareness, and to equip them with adequate infrastructure and technical knowledge to undertake and sustain their own development initiatives.
Values:
The motivating force behind all Chetna Vikas activities is Gandhian ideology as it pertains to the alleviation of human suffering and injustice, and the development of vulnerable people.
Vision:
Chetna Vikas envisions a progressive and sustainable rural India, wherein all people live peacefully and with dignity, enjoying social, political and economic equality as well as the right to livelihood, to freedom of expression, and to equal opportunity for public participation.
Mission:
Chetna Vikas' mission is to empower the poor, disabled and disenfranchised in rural regions of Jharkhand State to achieve the Gandhian principle of "sarvodaya" (universal uplift). To this end, Chetna Vikas employs rights-based, people-centered, grassroots and participatory methods: to eliminate socio-economic inequality; to promote health, nutrition and well-being; to facilitate self-reliance; to enable local self-governance; to ensure natural resource management; and to promote people's advocacy.
Target groups:
The organization supports tribal, poor, economically disadvantaged, and rights-deprived sections of society, with particular emphasis on subsistence farmers, women, children, and the disabled.
Objectives:
- To promote awareness of health, hygiene and nutrition among rural masses.
- To facilitate holistic well-being and development of women and children.
- To educate women about their rights and reduce gender inequalities.
- To promote agriculture activities for food and livelihood security.
- To develop entrepreneurial skills for youth self-employment.
- To create awareness of pro-poor, rights-focused government programs and policies and to ensure benefit of these.
- To enable local self-governance and active participation of all stakeholders.
- To empower NGOs and CBOs to undertake development initiatives.
- To organize and assist people's organization and advocacy.
Strategies:
- Rural health, sanitation and nutrition
- Maternal and reproductive child health
- Pre-school child development
- Women's literacy
- Rights and well-being of persons with disabilities
- Agri/Horti/Flori/Herbiculture
- Natural resource management
- Micro-enterprise development
Methodology:
Chetna Vikas' work is always based on the expressed need of a vulnerable community, and only after the need has been voiced by the community itself. Once a request is made, Chetna Vikas holds a meeting with the villagers and also refers to secondary data and the opinions of stakeholders. On this basis, it is determined if a project proposal is feasible. Projects are implemented by a Project Team and internally monitored by a Monitoring Cell, which includes village representatives. Upon project completion, village beneficiaries are assisted to fulfill any additional requests they may have through their own efforts (e.g. labor contribution and leveraging government resources).
