Organisation
“Supporting Communities for Building Constitutional Values”
SRUTI – established in 1983, is a not-for-profit organisation that works towards social change at the grass roots, across rural and urban India, through its Fellowship Programme. It is committed to empowering marginalised people to lead a dignified life with access to livelihood, resources and build societal values of cooperation and support. SRUTI supports people-oriented initiatives among some of the most disadvantaged communities in India. SRUTI fellows engage in a wide range of activities including awareness building; organising perspective training and capacity building for communities; models and best practices for community-led conservation across rural and urban India.
SRUTI not only facilitates and supports community engagement, but also strengthens it through the intermediary processes of outrach, participation, association, capacity building and solidarity. Cross-fellowship learning is encouraged through collaborative meetings, knowledge exchange, and processes that broaden perspectives and strengthen collective understanding.
Funds for the core fellowship support are raised by SRUTI through individual donations and independent resource mobilisation efforts e.g., scrap collection and other indigenous fund-raising activities. Since its inception, SRUTI has supported the work of 167 fellows at the grassroots in 18 states across India.
SRUTI currently supports 38 fellows, 200+ karyakartas (volunteers/activists) and their groups in 16 states: Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. The current outreach of SRUTI fellows is over 7361 villages and 250 urban clusters covering around 6.8 lakh families and 34 lakh people.
Vision
SRUTI and its fellows believe that directional social change and sustainable economic development can be achieved by enabling vulnerable communities to participate in and shape their own futures. By strengthening the capacities of people at the grassroots to shape and access a society based on the values of justice and equity, a life of fulfilment, dignity and respect can be achieved for all.