What is Seva Mandir?
Seva Mandir is an Indian non-profit-making organisation which has been working for more than 50 years with the rural and predominantly tribal population in the Udaipur district of Rajasthan. It focuses on marginalised and excluded communities who live in scattered settlements of remote villages.
It works in some 1,300 villages, influencing the lives of 500,000 people. These are some of the most disadvantaged people in the world – dealing with extreme poverty, degraded land and worsening climate.
Seva Mandir supports them in transforming their lives, patiently fostering lasting changes in education, child development, sanitation, water and sustainable use of natural resources.
Seva Mandir is committed to strengthening villagers’ ability to live as communities, to make demands which benefit the community, and to see those demands are met. It encourages participatory democracy. It empowers the poor, and especially poor women, so they can develop their own voices and their own choices, overcome entrenched interests and the abuse of power, and themselves shape fairer communities.
Seva Mandir’s values of selflessness, modesty and truthfulness are fundamental. They make it a radically transparent and accountable organisation. They enable it to foster local self-development rather than simply delivering externally imposed solutions.
Seva Mandir’s strengths are its broad and long experience, its patience and determination, its constant self-criticism and its restless innovation.
To learn more about Seva Mandir click here.
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