Projects

With a core guiding principle "Hunger has no identity and hungry seek no identity but food" project "Annapurna" was initiated as a maiden project of Anant Aatm Bodh Jagrati Trust in 2010. Since its inception the objective "Manav seva Madhav seva" of the project remained simple and wholehearted as though the number of beneficiaries kept increasing every year.

"Annapurna" is a perennial project that runs throughout the year. Under the said project food distribution campaigns are held every year since 2010. The campaigns’ timelines were designed keeping in mind the financial and food crisis the local farmers, people from unorganized sector face based on crop patterns and agricultural produce. Around 10 Lakh people belonging to families of small to meager land holding farmers, BPL, homeless and victims of natural calamities from different parts of Uttarakhand received free food so far.

"If you educate a man, you educate an individual. But if you educate a woman, you educate a nation". With this guiding principle project "Shri Vidya" was initiated to provide college/higher education to girls from families of BPL. Eight girls belonging to poor economic background but with strong will to pursue education were identified in 2017 and since then they are being provided periodic scholarships that cover their college tuition fees and expenses for their boarding and lodging. The same shall be continued till they complete their education.

Education to children in rural India still remains a farfetched goal given their economic status and distant proximity with urban culture. With a strong motto "To build a strong India educate the remotest child" the project "Bal Vidya" was taken up in the early years of trust's activities. For this objective local unemployed educated youth were appointed as teachers for a fixed salary. Around 150 children of BPL families are provided free schooling.

As a holistic approach, under the said project the students are encouraged to participate in computer education, sports & Yoga and cultural activities to improve their mind and body. To encourage the regular attendance the children are provided with free meals on a daily basis so that their nutrition and education are taken care of simultaneously. To create sense of private school learning and commonness the children are also provided school uniforms, books and stationery. This project continued till March 2020 and owing to COVID situation the project has been temporarily halted, however feeding the children on regular basis is ensured.

Empowering women is empowering rural India. As long as the women are involved in economical activities the growth of the rural families can be perceived through the lens of micro economics. Keeping this in mind, project "Stree Shakti" was initiated in 2017.

First Self Help Group fully funded by the trust started in 2017 with the participation of 12 women from the farming community in Patri village, Haridwar. They were provided training in sewing for which the equipment was procured. Under the same project training for door-mat making and candle making was also provided to local BPL women in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Once the training period was over and hand-holding period of 3 months was completed, the women became self-reliant and started their own production centre in the trust premises. They were provided knowledge transfer on marketing and selling strategies. The project continued till 2019.

Families involved in unorganized sector often fall prey to local loan lenders and end up in economic trench. Six such families with similar condition were identified in 2017 and 2019 in Patri village, Haridwar and provided financial assistance to start small scale businesses like cow farming. Out of six families four have reached self-reliance and are able to conduct their families well enough even during the COVID pandemic.

Uttarakhand being geographically located in the Himalayan belt, winters are the harshest seasonal drifts that take away the lives of people particularly the elders who are homeless and belong to BPL families. Since 2015 every winter the trust is involved in distributing winter rugs to homeless and to people who live in shacks in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. From 2017 to 2020 our trust has managed to distribute around 40,000 woolen rugs in nearby villages of Haridwar.

Since 2015 the trust is involved in conducting medical camps in the remotest villages of Haridwar twice every year particularly the aged and pregnant women are encouraged to get health check-up done in the camps. For the said activity the trust is in touch with some doctors from Dehradun who has sense of humanity and responsibility towards society. Upon the trust's request they take their work off and participate in a week long medical camps.

On the onset of COVID-19 pandemic this project was paused in 2020, however telephonic assistance to COVID patients by doctors, distribution of sanitizers and medical supplements are being conducted under this project in 2020-21.

Sustainable agriculture feeds on three key principles environmental health, Economy profitability and social equity well-being. The local farmers of Haridwar are mostly into traditional/commercial agricultural practices that are not too environment friendly with usage of excess of external chemicals. As long as there is no inclusion of economic profitability it is difficult for farmers to incorporate natural processes of agricultural practices into the traditional system.

Keeping in view the three goals of environment, economy and social equity, the local farmers are encouraged to grow long-run commercially viable and environmental friendly plants and trees within their landholdings along with their traditional crops. The project of Harita Aaranya was started in 2015 with a group of local farmers by planting seedlings of environment friendly plants that improve the overall health of the soil and increase nutrient absorption of the crop. The project is still being continued with saplings being planted in forest fringes of "Rajaji national park" that shares borders with Haridwar. To offer to increase Bio-Diversity and To improve the dwindling population of farmers best friends "Sparrows" and migratory birds like Teal, Pintail, Pochard, Ruddy shelduck and Mallard artificial bird nests were specially fabricated and placed in the nearby forest ranges and agricultural spaces in Pathri village of Haridwar.

Onset of COVID-19 and follow-up lock-downs has thrown the rural populace into an economic pit. The basic need for nutrition has become a question of survival. To address this crisis the trust had initiated project "Akshayapatra" to feed the families of BPL and stranded migrant labourers during COVID-19 Pandemic. More than 7 Lakh people were benefitted during the 2020 Lockdown. The project is still being continued in 2021 by distribution of dry ration directly to homes of BPL families.

Urbanization, agglomeration and exploitative culture in socio-economic, political, employment, technological, health and educational spheres have turned the beings to show disregard for nature and inner space of human self. Collective wisdom, responsibility and actions taken with foresightedness create a sustainable environment in all spheres and in all walks of life. For creation of such environment it is essential to bridge the gap between urban and country life which shall disintegrate the spaces of disrespect for fellow human beings, materialistic and otherwise possessions and nature.

To inculcate such outlook urban youth are encouraged to have walks and talks with the trust's spiritual master in the country side to imbibe the wisdom of the elders and teachings of the nature. With this hope of augmenting the balance of spiritual and material life the project "Aatm Shuddhi" was started in 2012 and so far, 6000 plus urban families particularly youth have taken up to sustainable living.