- By Ridam Sharma
- Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
100+ Renowned Indian NGOs and Their Visionary Founders: India has a large network of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that address numerous social issues, from education and healthcare to environmental concerns and disaster management. These NGOs play a key role in elevating unprivileged communities and bringing social welfare initiatives to transform society into its better version. NGOs like Goong have been working for more than 25 years now to provide for less fortunate rural families. They also collect and redistribute clothes to underprivileged communities.
Indian NGOs And Founders (Image Credit: Canva)
One of the most popular NGOs in the country is Smile Foundation, which was built in 2002 by Santanu Mishra and works in almost 25 states. This NGO majorly focuses on education, healthcare, and livelihood programs for underprivileged children and women. CRY (Child Rights and You) is also one such NGO, which was established by Rippan Kapur in 1979. The NGO is there to provide better health care, nutrition, education, and abuse for children by collaborating with small NGOs. Currently, CRY is working in over 19 states across India.
Several NGOs are also constantly working over decades to improve the education sector of the country. For example, the Pratham non-governmental organisation was started by Madhav Chavan and Farida Lambay in 1994, is one of the biggest education NGOs in India. It is making significant efforts to provide quality education to disadvantaged children. On the other hand, Nanhi Kali is an initiative by Anand Mahindra that funds the education of poor girls. There is also an NGO named, Akshaya Patra Foundation, which runs the world's largest NGO-run meal program for schools and serves wholesome meals to millions of children every day to promote attendance and learning of financially less fortunate children.
Check out the curated list of 100+ well-known Indian NGOs and their founders:
| NGO Name | Founder(s) |
|---|---|
| World Vision India | Robert Pierce |
| Akshaya Patra Foundation | Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada |
| Butterflies India | Rita Panicker |
| Child Rights and You (CRY) | Rippan Kapoor |
| Nishchaya Foundation | Deobrat Mishra, Jean Marie Grillon, Sujeet Singh |
| Deepalaya | T. K. Mathew, Y. Chackochan, P. J. Thomas |
| Child In Need Institute | Samir Chaudhuri |
| SaveLIFE Foundation | Krishen Mehta, Piyush Tewari |
| Evangelistic Association of the East | Geevarghese Cor-Episcopa Athunkal |
| EVidyaloka | Satish Viswanathan, Venkataraman Sriraman |
| Sahodari Foundation India | Kalki Subramaniam |
| Save the Children India | Sudarshan Suchi |
| Sanjhi Sikhiya | Simranpreet Singh Oberoi |
| Goonj | Anshu Gupta |
| Gurshaahi | Arpit Arya, Kulwinder Sharma, Paramjot Joga, Sharandeep Singh |
| Panjab Digital Library | Davinder Pal Singh |
| HelpAge India | Cecil Jackson-Cole, John F. Pearson, Samson Daniel |
| HOPE (Hold On Pain Ends) Charitable Trust | Mahesh Parameswaran Nair |
| Katha | Geeta Dharmarajan |
| Lepra | Leonard Rogers |
| Maher | Lucy Kurien |
| Maitri Pune | Anil Shidore |
| Mobile nurseries | Meera Mahadevan |
| MITRA | B.G. Deshmukh |
| MOHAN Foundation | Sunil Shroff |
| Narayan Seva Sansthan | Kailash Ji Agrawal 'Manav' |
| Pratham | Madhav Chavan, Farida Lambay |
| Prayas | Amod Kanth |
| Prerana | Pravin Patkar, Priti Patkar |
| Project Nanhi Kali | Anand Mahindra |
| Salaam Baalak Trust | Praveen Nair |
| SERUDS | Mallikarjuna Gorla |
| Seva Mandir | Mohan Sinha Mehta |
| Shoshit Seva Sangh | J. K. Sinha |
| Sree Ramaseva Mandali | S.V. Narayanaswamy Rao, S.N. Varadaraj |
| Shaheed Bhagat Singh Seva Dal | Jitender Singh Shunty |
| Tulir | Vidya Reddy |
| Church's Auxiliary for Social Action | Sushant Agarawal |
| Leaf Bank | |
| Akanksha Foundation | Shaheen Mistri |
| CHD Group | Dr. Edmond Fernandes, Cynthia Fernandes |
Additional list of NGOs:
| NGO Name | Founder(s) |
|---|---|
| Smile Foundation | Vikram Singh Verma |
| Give India Foundation | Atul Satija |
| Care India | Dr. S. S. K. Nair |
| Nanhi Kali | Anand Mahindra |
| Helpage India | Cecil Jackson-Cole, John F. Pearson, Samson Daniel |
| Goonj | Anshu Gupta |
| Child Rights and You (CRY) | Rippan Kapoor |
| Pratham | Madhav Chavan, Farida Lambay |
| Akshaya Patra Foundation | Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada |
| Save the Children India | Sudarshan Suchi |
| Aangan Trust | Meenal Sinha |
| VSO India | Dr. John M. McCulloch |
| Shiksharth | Richa Sharma |
| Udyogini | Neelima Mishra |
| Asha for Education | Dr. Geeta Dharmarajan |
| Child In Need Institute | Samir Chaudhuri |
| ActionAid India | Harsh Mander |
| SEWA (Self-Employed Women’s Association) | Ela Bhatt |
| The Banyan | Vanita Sundaram |
| The Akanksha Foundation | Shaheen Mistri |
| Gharaunda | Anil Kumar |
| Vatsalya | Dr. Ramesh Bhatia |
| Chetna | Dr. Rajesh Kumar |
| Nirmaan | Anirudh Singh |
| Kiran Society | Dr. Asha Shukla |
| Gramin Vikas Sanstha | Ramesh Chandra |
| People’s Action for National Integration | Dr. Babu Rao |
| YUVA | Shailesh K. Bansal |
| Pahal | Sandeep Kaur |
| Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action | Pradeep Kumar |
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