Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Volunteers for Rural India

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Volunteers for Rural India (VRI) is a small registered UK charity (charity no. 285872, formerly known as IVCS) whose aim is to raise funds for rural development projects in India, and to raise awareness of rural development in India by enabling people to experience grass roots development through direct involvement. It is non-political and non-religious.

Contents

History

VRI was formerly known as Indian Volunteers for Community Service (IVCS). IVCS was established in the UK in 1981 to give people from the West an opportunity to experience rural India. Although initially aimed at people of Indian origin living in the West (resulting in the name of the charity), interest was shown by people of non-Indian origin and so the entry criteria were opened up to allow people from all backgrounds to join. It was renamed 'Volunteers for Rural India' in 2010 to reflect this fact, and to highlight its focus on rural India.

Aims of charity

  • to raise awareness of rural development in India through direct involvement.
  • to raise funds for rural development projects in India.
  • Current work

  • It runs a scheme which enables members of VRI to visit rural India at a project in the village of Amarpurkashi, Moradabad district, Uttar Pradesh, where they can assist with a rural development project there and learn about other development projects in India.
  • VRI raises funds to support a number of projects with the intention of contributing towards sustainable human development in rural India.
  • It works chiefly through its partner project in India, registered in India as the Society for Agro Industrial Education in India and also known as the Amarpurkashi Project
  • For example:

  • VRI supported a local village to start its own secondary school. This venture was initiated by the villagers themselves, who were concerned that there was no local school for their children and it will continue to support this school until it is self-financing.
  • VRI runs eye camps for cataract care
  • References

    Volunteers for Rural India Wikipedia