The mission of asha is the improvement of the lives of slum dwellers in Delhi through community and health development. It achieves this through the initiation of long-term sustainable projects that confront and solve the practical and social problems faced by those living within these communities



asha believes it is not enough simply to provide medical care in the slum communities. It believes the only way to bring about real and lasting improvements to these communities is through a holistic approach to community health.



This has led to the development and support of empowerment and self-help schemes directed at the slum dwellers, particularly the women and children. Through the empowerment and mobilisation of the slum communities these people will find the motivation to develop their own environment when previously they felt hopeless without prospect of a better future.

For example, an early project in asha`s history involved the improvement of Sardar Patel basti. Amongst the many problems faced by its community was that of land tenure and housing.

By initiating a project with the input of the community and government, a housing co-operative was founded. The government provided long term licenses for a plot of land and with asha`s assistance arranged finance to construct new houses. The community then organised and undertook the construction of the homes themselves.

This is only one example of how asha`s approach is making a dramatic difference to the people of Delhi`s slums. The success of asha is borne out by the statistic that today, twelve years after its founding. asha has been invited into 30 slums to improve the lives of over a quarter of a million people.



Health is only one area of focus in the holistic approach taken by asha. It makes a difference through complementary initiatives including:







Improved housing - mobilising the Slum Wing into organising and executing housing development programmes

Facilitation of co-operation - between local authorities and the communities

Water - improvements in quality of and quantity of water have led to water taps being shared amongst less than twenty households in most cases. The slum average is between 100 and 150.

Sanitation - every project of asha since 1993 has a community latrine, with an average of 1 per 21 people. The Delhi slum average is 1 per 180 people.

Drainage - installation of slum pumps and brick pavements to divert water into drains

Waste Disposal - organising collection points for refuse collection system, and since 1994, ensuring the city authorities provide sweepers for slum