NOT ‘WELFARE’ BUT 'EMPOWERMENT'
Creating active partners in development and not just mere program beneficiaries, enabling people at the grassroots level to voice their opinions collectively.
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GENESIS
CORD traces its beginning in Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda's gratitude
towards the Himalayan people, especially women.
The people of the Himalayas, especially women, have selflessly served the wandering sadhus. This will be our repayment of ṛṣiṛiṅ (debt) to them. I want to serve them.
GURUDEV SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA
In the spirit of universal brotherhood and selfless Sevā (service) as imparted in Vedānta, CORD’s foundation was laid in 1985 in Sidhbari, Himachal Pradesh as Chinmaya Rural Primary Health Care and Training Centre (CRPHC&TC) with a focus on primary, maternal and child healthcare. “Soon enough a well-rounded community-driven and multi-pronged Program based on communities’ needs emerged. It paved the way forward for CORD’s theory of change for harnessing the potential of people to transform rural India,” says Dr. Kshama Metre, National Director of CORD, who has been involved with the Program since its inception.
In 2003, Guruji Swami Tejomayananda made CRPHC&TC a national trust called CORD (Chinmaya Organization for Rural Development). Guruji expounds the spirit of the program,
"CORD is a bond of love and understanding, encouraging a process of sharing which enriches both the giver and the receiver."
Programs
CORD is a pioneer in rural development in India. It involves rural communities – irrespective of their caste, creed and religion – in developmental activities through CORD-nurtured grassroots Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), elected representatives of the Panchayats, various government and other agencies, and interested stakeholders. Some of these CBOs are as follows:
(Women’s Groups)
(Men’s Groups)
(Girl’s Groups)
(Children’s Groups)
HOW IS CORD DIFFERENT?
CORD’s programs in rural development cater to empowering and making communities self-reliant. The uniqueness of the model rests on making the rural communities equal partners in their development, rather than just facilitating developmental projects.
It creates Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) nurtured in each village ward to encourage them to participate at the Gram Panchayat level, a unit of local self-governance.
Further, to ensure the success of its model, CORD puts women at the center stage, and all its programs are facilitated through the Mahila Mandals or Women’s Groups.
CORD facilitates in increasing the capacities of these CBOs to address diverse issues of the community through various thematic programs.
CORD IMPACT
MRS VASANTHAMANI MOH
50 year old Mrs Vasanthamani, who has studied upto the 7th standard is a farmer for as long as...
MRS UMAMAHESHWARI
58 year old Umamaheshwari Kulandaivel started as a conventional farmer 25 years ago. All these years she found that...
RAGHUNATHAN
Raghunathan of Nelvoy Panchayat suffers from severe muscular dystrophy and extremely constrained movement of limbs. His elder sister Kaveri...
REVATHY
Revathy hails from a very poor family from Ramanatapuram village of Pakkam Panchayat. Her father was an alcoholic who...
MAHINDER SINGH
Mahinder Singh is a 56-year-old physically challenged person who hails from Naushera. In 1972, he complained of severe pain...
RINKU
Mr. Rinku who few years back was totally bed ridden, now walks without any support to reach the wholesale...
JHIGARA ORAM
Every human being needs food, shelter, cloth, education, health, sanitation drinking water etc to sustain. To avail these, every...
DAYA DEVI
Daya Devi’s father abandoned her and the family when she was an infant. While her elder sister was raised...
URMILA
Urmila’s alcoholic husband used to beat her every day and even tried to sell her to his drinking mates....
CORD offers opportunities for you to learn and grow. You may provide your expertise to the rural community in India through the following programs.
CHINMAYA VIJAYA: AN ORPHANAGE FOR GIRLS
Chinmaya Vijaya is an integral unique program of CORD in India. Chinmaya Vijaya is a girls’ orphanage at Kaza near Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.
The idea for the orphanage germinated after the tsunami of December 2004. It began in a small building with three girls taken in by the founders Dr. Sumathi Mukkamala and Dr. AppaRao Mukkamala.
Later, built on a sprawling five acres of land donated by Sri Lingamaneni Bhaskara’s family, the orphanage became fully functional in early 2007 under the auspices of CORD.
KNOW MOREBecome the change creator in the lives of rural people in India.
News & Events
National Annual Param Pujya Shri Guruji Puraskar Award
Dr. Kshama Metre received National Annual Param Pujya Shri Guruji Puraskar Award for Women Empowerment on 12th February 2023 from Jan Kalyan Samiti, Maharashtra, affiliated to R.S.S. in Sambhaji Nagar (Aurangabad).
Dr. Thomas Cangan Social Leadership Award 2022
Dr. Kshama Metre, National Director – CORD, received “Dr. Thomas Cangan Social Leadership Award 2022” on 14th September 2022 from Society for Indian Institute of Rural Management (SIIRM) Jaipur virtually.