Samagra Seva

Project Brief: Asha for Education is planning to support 30 Cultural Education Centers (CECs).
Project Type: Non-Formal Educational Centers (description)
Primary Focus: to go to formal school (description)

Secondary Focus: dropouts

Area: Rural
Supporting Chapter Contact: Silicon Valley
Status: current / ongoing
Project Steward: Abhinav Tyagi
Project Partner(s): Makeshwar Rawat
Other Contacts:
Project Address: , Samagra Seva,North of Animal Hospital,Naya tola Bihari,
BIHAR  811307
Tel: 011 91 9931534537
Stewarding Chapter: Silicon Valley
Sep 2024Silicon ValleyUSD 20203
May 2024Silicon ValleyUSD 20338
Aug 2023Silicon ValleyUSD 9780
Mar 2023Silicon ValleyUSD 41496
Oct 2022Silicon ValleyUSD 6205
Sep 2022Silicon ValleyUSD 10379
Jun 2022Silicon ValleyUSD 1948
Apr 2022Silicon ValleyUSD 10971
Sep 2021Silicon ValleyUSD 2056
Sep 2021Silicon ValleyUSD 9449
Jun 2021Silicon ValleyUSD 2549
May 2021Silicon ValleyUSD 5219
May 2021Silicon ValleyUSD 4925
Feb 2021Silicon ValleyUSD 10379
Sep 2020Silicon ValleyUSD 8506

Total = $164403

The goal of the project is to improve access to qualitative school education for the Musahar children in Jamui district of Bihar. Asha for Education is planning to support 30 Cultural Education Centers (CECs).
To work towards enabling the weakest to safeguard their rights and realize their entitlements with a telling stress on ensuring child rights.
Samagra Seva was established by a group of young persons hailing from the lowest socio-economic echelons of the society who had experienced the pangs of poverty, exploitations and atrocities in their childhood. The organization’s founding members Makeshwar, Rajesh, Kumud and Bhola Tanti come from poor families, and were themselves child labourers, working in a roadside ‘hotel’ when they were just 8-10 years old. Makeshwar served food to customers, and Rajesh worked as the masalchi (preparing spices). Two members from Parivar Sewa, a (Christian Children’s Fund (Child Fund India)) Child Fund India Partner, found them working there and helped them move out and enroll at Pariwar Sewa, Jamui to pursue education. Both boys did well at school and ended up with well-paying jobs when they were older. But this was not th e end of the story.

They started visiting distant parts of the district whenever they had free time, to understand the poverty of their own region. They felt that a major factor contributing to the poverty of marginalized communities was their lack of organization and unity. The absence of educational facilities made the situation worse. Makeshwar, Rajesh, Kumud, and Bhola started organizing meetings in Dalit clusters. They listened more and spoke less. This helped them understand people’s perceptions of poverty, its various dimensions, and possible ways out. These meetings gradually gained momentum and regularity. And that’s how Samagra Seva came into being in September, 1999. Two years after it, in September, 2001 it was registered with the I. G., Registration, Bihar, Patna under The Societies Registration Act, 21 of 1860.

The organization today has 11 board members, including Dalits, tribal, OBCs, and Muslims. They have a staff of 24, that also includes OBCs and STs. Inspired by the values learnt during their stay with the CCF project, the founders of Samagra Seva resolved in the very beginning to pursue their chosen path with honesty, integrity, transparency and equality and have been able to stick to it successfully. There is no hierarchy in the board or the staff; they believe in collective leadership.