Area of Expertise



Research and Training

Ankur has had a multi-faceted experience and expertise in survey, fieldwork and conducting participatory learning exercises. In various programs, including CCA, health and hygiene surveys, training of TCS office bearers and training health volunteers, Ankur has pioneered innovative training by learning from special institutions, improving according to needs and developing its own training material. In our VISION 2000, we aimed at building our institution as a strong and user friendly and HRD center for grassroot level activities.



Formal and Non Formal Education

We established street contact points as non-formal education centers based on the concepts of meaningful education as per the beneficiaries needs. The focus is on training in life skill as well as health care, recreation and counseling apart from training in three `Rs` the method of education are formal and full of innovation as per the children`s needs. The aim is to give them more self esteem and chances for a better future. The `saath-saath` school as the children call these SCPs are aimed at learning with the children rather than make them learn.



Formation, Training and Monitoring of Thrift and Credit Societies

Given the exploitative nature of traditional credit and apathy of financial institutions with respect to the poorer sections of the society, the idea of thrift and credit societies organized and managed entirely by the women of the community may be regarded as the quintessential example of creative respondent supposedly insurmountable problem. Ankur has proudly been associated with helping the community pool its own meager resources for its consumption needs, contingencies as well as for employment generation. The work begin with the organization of six thrift and credit societies at the basti level in Lucknow and 13 in Unnao city. During 2000-2001, 60 new TCS were set up in municipal zones 1,2,3 of Lucknow city taking the number of societies organized by us and run under our guidance to 120.



Child Rights

Ours has been long association with issues of the children, particulary their health and education. But with our experience in the grassroot development in the slums, we realized the unique and disturbing status of children in the poverty ridden areas. Their`s seems to be the right which are the most denied and in their stereotype of `street smart urchin` lies hidden the pain of of a deprived and often voilated childhood. We hence joined hands with several agencies under Childline and Comeback childhood programs, focussing basically on the vulnerable street and working children from 2000 onwards.



Formation and Strengthening of Community Based Organizations [CBOs]

It was through sustained efforts and unflinching faith in the in the inner strength of our true change agents the women at the grassroots that we are able to shape representations of disparate socio- cultural backgrounds into an organized community . Working with the state Urban Development Agency [SUDA] and District Urban Development Agency[DUDA] under the National Slum Development Program[NSDP] and Swarna Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojna [SJSRY], Ankur organized the women from the slums into a three their community based organization under the rubric of Community Development Society.



Making Health intellectually and materially accessible to community

If there is one area that we have regarded as germane to motivating a community for development it is health. However clichéd it may sound, healthy mind does reside in a healthy body as a corollary, in hygienic neighborhood. While we have been conducting sensitization programs and educational sessions related to health and hygiene right from our earlier days, our initiative in the health area received a new thrust and vigor after we studied the almost shocking health related findings during the PLA exercise under the CCA initiative.