About Us
JAKS Srichand Foundation was founded by Ananya Srivastava and Sheel Chandra in New Delhi in 2018, with a vision to promote a society where people of diverse cultures are able to develop and fulfil their economic, social, cultural and spiritual aspirations. The Foundation aims to strengthen self-help groups, federate them and catalyse institutions to address food and livelihood security, health and nutrition, education and other primary entitlements.
Ananya Srivastava, co-founder of the Foundation is currently doing her masters in Developmental Economics from London School of Economics after completing her graduation from Hindu College, Delhi University. Sheel Chandra is currently doing final year undergraduate course in Molecular Biology and Genetics from UC Berkeley, California. Both Ananya and Sheel have been lucky enough to receive good education and opportunities to build up their lives and feel that they should pay back to our society and the less fortunate in our country. The Foundation has been borne out of this burning desire and so far it has been an exciting and rewarding journey.
The Foundation has been following a cluster-based approach to provide, in a targeted area,
- Educational opportunities to all including adults
- Providing skills programmes to earn and sustain their livelihoods/employment opportunities
- Create desired awareness for backward and forward consolidation regarding agricultural activities
- Provide health and nutrition-related awareness and remedies by holding camps
- Other technical, logistic, infrastructural etc.needs that may arise
- Providing opportunities for alternative sources of energy like solar etc.
All these interventions will be provided in a composite manner to ensure the raising of living standards and eventually converting our villages into SMART villages.
In the first phase of the activities, we, at the Foundation adopted a school in village Rawli, Distt. Ghaziabad, UP to focus on rural education. The children, in this school today have a computer lab, a well-stocked library and a playground. Since the school had no toilet facility, it was recently built by the Foundation under Pradhan Mantri Swatchta Abhiyan and was inaugurated by the local MLA. It is a matter of pride for us that during COVID-19 Pandemic since physical classes are not possible to be held, the school has been continuing the teaching with online classes. In the next phase, we intend to expand the scope to interventions in adult literacy programmes, imparting skill development for self-employment options, basic awareness programmes for increasing agricultural productivity etc. The basic objective is to educate, create awareness amongst all stakeholders, empower them and stabilize their livelihood sustenance.
The other two cluster-based interventions that we took up subsequently are in;
- Thann Village and adjoining areas near Dehradun Uttarakhand and
- Mitraon village, Najafgarh, Dwaraka, New Delhi.
Uttarakhand, though comparatively better off than Uttar Pradesh in terms of absolute poverty levels, the bulk of economic activity is concentrated in only one-quarter of the state. Ninety percentage of Uttarakhand comprises of hilly areas and therefore presents daunting challenges for growth with meagre or almost non-existent communication and transportation facilities and high levels of poverty. The Foundation has adopted a cluster of villages in one such difficult hilly terrain in Misraspatti, near Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The Foundation started a learning centre for small children in the age group of 5 to 12 years and has been providing tuitions in English, Maths and Science every day for the last two years. A Common Facility Centre has been constructed last year for the women in poor households, who in their spare time can use the facilities for making pickles, preserved fruit jams etc.. Sewing machines, needles threads and other raw materials are also provided free of charge to these women for stitching and embroidery so that they can sell the products at the local market and earn income. Since no toilet facilities were available in the only available Government school in the vicinity, in consultation with the local Pradhan and Panchayat authorities toilets have also been built and donated by the Foundation. In the next phase, we intend to provide solar street lighting to all nearby villages in collaboration with the local government schemes.
Indian agriculture accounts for 90% of water use in India due to poor irrigation systems. Another cause of concern is water quality. The eventual pressure for efficient use of highly scarce water resources thus raises manifold. Since water scarcity is a major problem confronting Indian agriculture the Foundation has focused on spreading awareness on modern agricultural techniques and sustainable farming especially in northern India. Mitraon village in Najafgrah was adopted and we have set up Srichand Grameen Vikas Kendra there. Pamphlets and write-ups on advantages of drip irrigation system and organic farming are being distributed to all farmers in the vicinity. A model farm is being developed on a two-acre plot to provide practical tips and guidance to the farming community who have hitherto been following flood irrigation system which results in inundation and soil degradation. We have also been holding workshops by experts in the field.
Recent Initiatives
The COVID-19 Pandemic outbreak has wreaked havoc on the Indian economy and has rendered millions jobless and plunged rural India and urban labour force into untold misery. JAKS Srichand Foundation has endeavoured to reach out to the urban poor and migrant labourers to help alleviate their distress and also supplied PPE kits to front line corona warriors like police and security personnel who have been working tirelessly to contain the Pandemic. The Foundation also contributed to PM CARES Fund instituted for the specific purpose of mitigating the hardships due to COVID-19
Considering that the Foundation is a young organization of just two years vintage, we are proud of our outreach in this limited span of time. However, we are acutely aware that whatever could be accomplished are like little drops in a huge ocean. As Robert Frost says we have miles to go before we sleep.
We strive for sustainability and some of our most critical programs for underserved communities depend on the generosity of kind-hearted people and organisations.
Donations to JAKS Srichand Foundation are eligible for tax deductions under sections 12A and 80G of the Income Tax Act.
Together let’s build a vibrant, prosperous India.
Jai Hind!
Sheel Chandra & Ananya Srivastava