Through their long-term association with Pravah, schools have started realizing the immense need and relevance of education for social responsibility. Read more..

Private endeavour has played a critical role in transformation of society and improving the condition of the marginalised. Private philanthropy, defined as donation of time, energy, skills and financial resources for the public good, has complemented and supplemented the efforts of the State towards welfare and development. Numerous individuals and non profit organisations do relevant and excellent efforts. There is however very little public understanding or appreciation of the role that such organisations play or can play in society. The Trust therefore sees it important to build an awareness and knowledge on the non profit sector as an important agenda for enhancing civil society.

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One area of work has been to support efforts that document and build knowledge on the non profit sector. The 'Sir Ratan Tata Chair on Civil Society and Globalisation' at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, supports the work of Dr. Gita Sen in this area and is expected to result in: (a) consolidation and expansion of training programmes; (b) undertaking research activities culminating in case studies; (c) publication of papers in national and international journals; (d) research and planning support to organisations on a need basis; and (e) focused networking and policy advocacy. The Trust's support to Centre for Education and Documentation (CED), Bangalore would help the organisation to build relevant documentation for knowledge and awareness on the non-profit sector.

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Another area that the Trust has been focussing its efforts on is the Indian youth, which comprise about 19% of the total population in the country. High access to opportunities makes urban, metro educated youth a miniscule but privileged number. It is these young people who occupy most influential positions in society. Despite the mushrooming of opportunities for young people today, options for exposure and engagement with issues of poverty, development and civil society are restricted. While there are options available for joining the development sector, there is serious paucity of well-designed, inter-linked and focussed spaces for 'explorers'. To build this interest, the Trust has developed the "Youth and Civil Society" initiative. A clutch of youth-focussed grants have been made to various organisations to: (a) initiate discussion and reflection on roles of civil society, poverty and deprivation; (b) create avenues to explore and know more about the development sector; (c) track the alumni over a longer term period; and (d) engage with mainstream institutions of young people. These include Pravah, Centre for Civil Society (CCS), Partners for Urban Knowledge Action and Research (PUKAR) and Mitra Technology Foundation and Mediact.

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The Trust's grant supports Pravah's school based programme in life skills education and seeding a resource centre for youth centered action, besides augmenting its human resources. It has an intensive approach to engaging youth in social action. It organised Action Bytes in December 2004 to showcase the various action projects that were undertaken by young people over a period of time. A play 'Khichdi Kitsch' was the result of an intensive two-month workshop organized by Pravah, involving both professionals and amateurs.

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The Trust has also supported the Marathi Public Sphere Youth Initiative of PUKAR, towards engaging with the Marathi speaking youth of Bombay and providing opportunities for them to participate in the decision making processes in the city, by collaborating with five partners with background in media, theatre, sports and non-profits. Called Tarunaee, the initiative engages with construction workers, students, children of mill-workers and residents of slum pockets in Bombay to produce texts that are then used to reflect and negotiate their varied ways of belonging to the city. (Read more...)

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The Trust has also supported CCS with a view of encouraging youth participation in civil society through their well designed programmes for college students. The Liberty and Society Seminar (LSS) organised by CCS in Bombay during November 2004 saw students from all over India collaborate over several interactive sessions. (Read more...)

The Trust has also supported The Promise Foundation, Bangalore, towards the preparation and organisation of a national consultation on career psychology in Bangalore. (click here for a detailed write-up on the proceedings of the consultation)

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Khichdi Kitsch’ - a play in Dilli’s own language. Click here to read a report

Mediact Annual Get-together 2004-05 – A report (Click here to read)

Pravah & Appreciative Enquiry 2000 - 2003

Flowing Together at Pravah: An appreciative Enquiry