Building Empowered Communities, One Life at a Time
Since 1972, Navjeevan Community Development Society has been working with women and children in remote rural India — providing education, healthcare, livelihood skills, and hope.
We Empower. We Educate. We Heal. We Rebuild.
NCDS exists for the upliftment of marginalised communities in the remotest parts of India. We empower women with skills that earn, educate children that schools have left behind, heal patients who cannot afford care, and stand with families when disaster strikes.
It Started With One Woman, One Village, One Act of Kindness
On 30th October 1972, Mrs. Lilly Vargis arrived in Katra, Jammu & Kashmir, with her husband and children. There she found herself living among a community of manual scavengers — families society had pushed to its furthest edge.
She began taking their children into her home, bathing them, feeding them, and teaching them to read. Then she walked them to school herself and made sure each one was enrolled. That single act of kindness became the foundation of everything NCDS does today.
Read Her Full Story →Our Four Projects
Four focused programmes, one mission: dignity and opportunity for India's most remote communities.
Literacy Project
Free tuition six days a week and scholarships that carry rural students all the way to a degree.
1,600+ students · 53 centres Learn More →Empowerment Project
Silai Saugath tailoring training and digital literacy that turn skills into independent incomes.
500+ women empowered Learn More →Medical Project
Free surgeries and village health camps led by Dr. Babitha Kallemel — at zero cost to patients.
980+ surgeries · 3,500+ screened Learn More →Disaster & Relief Project
From the 2006 Tsunami to COVID-19, we reach families in crisis with food, shelter, and rebuilding support.
2,000+ families supported in COVID Learn More →Real Numbers, Real Lives
Sachin's Dream of Becoming a Teacher
Twelve-year-old Sachin lives in a remote village in Odisha where, until recently, there was no one to help him with his lessons after school. His parents, daily-wage labourers, never had the chance to learn to read.
At his NCDS Open Door Learning centre, Sachin found a teacher, books, and a quiet place to study six days a week. Today he tops his class — and he has decided what he wants to be when he grows up.
"When I become a teacher, I will come back and teach in this same centre."Read More Stories →
How You Can Help
Donate
Your contribution funds tuition, surgeries, sewing machines, and disaster relief — with full transparency.
DonateVolunteer
Join us as a teacher, organiser, medical volunteer, or skills trainer in our centres — on the ground or remotely.
VolunteerPartner
Corporate CSR? Foundation? Let's work together to scale measurable impact across rural India.
Partner With UsOn the Ground in 5+ States
Madhya Pradesh · Chhattisgarh · Maharashtra · Odisha · Jammu & Kashmir — and growing.
Madhya Pradesh
Tuition centres including our 90+ student centre in Jhabua, Silai Saugath training, and free surgical camps.
Chhattisgarh
Silai Saugath tailoring hubs, Open Door Learning centres, and community health screening camps.
Odisha & Maharashtra
Education and empowerment programmes, medical screening, and flood relief response.