Over 70% of India lives in villages. More than 50% of India’s villages are faced with extremely poor socio-economic conditions, lack of basic healthcare infrastructure, lack of access to good quality and skill-building education, and in some cases even lack of access to two meals and clean drinking water on a daily basis. Numerous well-intentioned government policies have been developed in the past many decades, but poor implementation, bureaucracy, lack of accountability, lack of understanding and no direct participation by the village residents in the development or implementation of such policies have exponentially exacerbated the gap between urban and rural lives.

Over 80 years ago, Mahatma Gandhi gave birth to the idea of the uplift of all through the scheme of sarvodaya. Jhep Trustees believe in this very principle and in order to expand and apply Gandhiji’s ideas of rural development, Jhep was founded to create a transformative trickle-up effect in rural India so that the rural citizens (including its youth) fully embrace and appreciate rural life.

Jhep Foundation (Niwara) is a public charitable trust, registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act (Registration No. E-1260), and has been granted the 12A and 80G income tax exemption status. Jhep Foundation was founded with the mission: to empower and transform lives in rural and under-privileged areas of India through safe and sustainable living environment and skill-based education.

To further this mission, Jhep’s comprehensive approach includes three primary focus areas: (i) Education; (ii) Empowerment; and (iii) Environment.