As India completes its 62nd year of Independence, it’s time for us to think back on our contribution to the country. Yes, we all have complaints against the government for not doing enough. But it’s also time for us to wonder if our lives resemble independent silos; whether we have become indifferent to what happens around us; whether we run lives mechanically without any time for matters that touch others’ lives.

This year, we explore the work done by Naandi Foundation, an independent trust and the brainchild of Dr. K. Anji Reddy. Founded in 1998, Naandi works on several causes for the under-privileged, with likeminded corporate houses (such as Mahindra & Mahindra), various state governments (mainly Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Nagaland, Haryana Maharashtra and Punjab) and several welfare institutions (Dell Foundation, Google Foundation, Ratan Tata Trust and the World Bank).

Naandi means ‘new beginning’ or ‘dawn’ and that’s what it is working towards. The organization has been able to improve the lives of over 4 million people across India and is in a constant effort to reach out to as many people from disadvantaged communities as possible. Some of the focus areas at Naandi include:

Education for Children
Naandi has initiated the Ensuring Children Learn Programme which is an in-school academic support programme. The goal is to help children from early childhood care to education phase. One of the more popular ones under this is Nanhi Kali, which is a special programme for ensuring the education of the girl child.

Mid Day Meal Scheme
Naandi contributes to the Mid Day meal schemes at Government run schools in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and now Chhattisgarh to serve one million school students hot, nutritious food every day. They have set up state-of-the-art kitchens to ensure that the food is delivered on time and prepared in a hygienic manner. Naandi has tied up with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition to ensure the highest levels of nutrition are maintained.

Drinking Water and Sanitation
Efforts are being made to ensure than everyone has access to safe drinking water and delivers WHO certified level drinking water at Rs. 0.10 a litre to over 500 villages across the country. Villages which face high levels of water pollution can opt for Swajal Centres to be set up in their village in partnership with the state governments and village panchayats.

Sustainable Livelihoods for Small and Marginal Farmers
Under this programme Naandi has enabled over 30,000 small and marginal farmers to improve productivity and gain higher incomes for their farm produce. Apart from providing technical support to the farmers, Naandi’s work predominantly lies in the area of building farmer collectives so that the economies of scale thus produced help in securing better credit facilities, bargaining power and market linkages for the small farmers. Currently, with this effort around 10,000 tiny and landless coffee growers are engaged in organic and fair trade coffee cultivation on previously degraded wastelands in Araku Valley of Andhra Pradesh.

Employment for Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Youth
For the youth from the less advantaged communities who many times drop out or are not able to complete their higher studies for want of resources Naandi runs schools with ‘Employability’ courses. The institution is called the Mahindra Pride School and it trains youth with technical and soft skills that make them employable in the IT, ITeS, manufacturing, hospitality and other organised sector jobs.

Giving Back to Society through the Power of 10
Here, corporate employees and individuals are encouraged to contribute to less privileged sections of the society. The aim is to encourage each citizen to contribute a fraction of their salary (Rs. 10) on a daily or monthly basis to a cause of their choice. The Power of 10 also encourages contribution by way of spending 10 minutes/ hours/ days as a volunteer to support a developmental activity.

To be a part of Naandi’s efforts, you can get in touch with them at -

Naandi Foundation
2nd Floor Imperial Plaza, 6-3-883 Punjagutta,
Hyderabad-500082.
Tel – 040—23415890, 23415741