About us
VACHAN, a
development group, has been working with tribals in Nashik district,
Maharashtra, for over three decades. Their projects focus on Primary Education,
Primary Health, Livelihood, and Governance. VACHAN has expanded from 20 villages
to 60, highlighting the concentration of poverty in specific pockets with
common parameters.VACHAN has been focused on community health challenges with
similar social, economic, and psychological contexts in the past two decades.
About the people
The population 16000 is spread across villages with less than
400 households per village, with most having hamlets. The area is hilly and experiences
high rainfall, with tribals like Mahadeo Koli and Ma Thakar inhabiting small
hillocks. Farmers grow Paddy, Khurasani, and Ragi on small patches of land.
Some villages are on dam reservoirs, but agriculture is mainly rainfed.
Recently, VACHAN also works with mainly migrated slum dwellers in Malegaon.
Our reach
VACHAN has worked in 409 villages
in Igatpuri, Trymbakeshwar and Peint blocks, extending to Nashik, Niphad,
Dindori, Nandgaon blocks of Nashik District, Pachora of Jalgaon District and
Chalisgaon block of Dhule District. VACHAN is a member of the State Level Core
Committee on child deaths due to malnutrition.
Our Vision:
Empowering the marginalized and vulnerable people
Our Mission:
To empower families in tribal dominant areas and urban minorities with rights to health, education, and better governance for dignified livelihood
Our approach
VACHAN believes that the development of the poor families can
best take place by
· - Encouraging the
community to take initiative
· - Encouraging involvement of women in the development process
· - Emphasizing on the
hamlets away from main roads on priority as they are the most vulnerable
· - Complimenting the
government’s efforts, not duplicating structures / system by creating a
parallel one