Gram Bharati Samiti (GBS)

Society for Rural Development

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Gram Bharati Samiti (GBS)(Society for Rural Development) was founded in April 1984 with the aim of "establishing a society based on humanitarian, democratic values and ecologically balanced habitat". It was registered as a charity organization on 28, July 1984. The organization has got special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

Vision
To establish a society based on humanitarian, democratic values and ecologically balanced habitat, a society where every person can live in justice, dignity and freedom. Equal opportunities are available for all to live a peaceful life. A society, which honors every human being without any kind of discrimination based on caste, class, creed, color, religion or gender.

Mission
To organize people, increase their level of awareness and capacity enabling them to exert for their fundamental rights, participate in decision-making process and exercise control over their lives and natural resources. To uplift the level of living of poor people, particularly the rural and tribal communities, specifically the women by making them economically self reliant and ensuring their access to basic amenities like safe drinking water, nutrient meals, general health care, primary education etc.

Objectives
GBS objective is serving the poor rural/tribal people, particularly the women, children, handicapped, those who are affected/effected with leprosy and PLWHA. GBS stands for over all uplift of the community people in order to improve their status in family and society as well by raising their self-confidence and self-esteem and making them economically self-reliant.

Activities:
• HIV/AIDS: It has implemented number of projects for prevention, treatment and family and community based care and support with regard to HIV/AIDS in collaboration with various national international agencies.GBS has been working with tribal women in sex work and the migrating youth in the rural villages with a holistic approach of addressing their key problems in addition to protect them from infection of HIV/AIDS and STDs/RTIs.
• Women´s Empowerment: Empowering the women by organizing them in Self Help Groups (SHG), raising awareness on their rights, combating domestic and worksite violence and making them economically self sustained has been one of GBS´ core objectives. Number of activities are being implemented regularly i.e. health camps, workshop for raising awareness on conserving natural resources, planting trees, adopting health seeking behavior, combating all kinds of violence and protecting their rights etc.
• Environment: It has been campaigning for forestation on farm boundaries, pasturelands, public/community lands etc. and reforestation in deforested areas e.g. denuded hills.GBS pilot project on wasteland development has been recognized and appreciated widely. It is a model project on developing the infertile, undulated and gullied sandy wasteland through conserving soil and moisture, reviving indigenous plant species, stabilizing sand dunes, harvesting rain water, plugging gullies etc.
• Micro Finance: GBS decided to evolve an agency exclusively for supporting the women entrepreneurs to promote their household business activities. Hence a cooperative society named "Gram Bharati Apani Bachatghar Cooperative Society Limited" was established and got registered under the "Cooperative societies registration Act" in 2012. It is motivating the poor rural women to save small amounts of money every month and deposit into their accounts with this society and provide them with loans on reduced interest rates for their domestic or entrepreneurial purpose as well.
• Study and Research
• Heritage Step Wells Restoration
• GBS organize occasionally: Awareness and skill development among adolescent girls; Youth camps on national integrity, peace, nonviolence and environment; Health camp for women and children.

Bhawani Shanker Kusum is the Secretary and Executive Director of Gram Bharati Samiti (GBS).

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