About Us > Vision, Mission and Strategy > Operational Area

About Us

Shashwat was founded in Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh, by a group of young professionals and alumni of Lucknow University from MSW course. It was registered as a society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. In due course it was also registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 1976, and the Section 12 A of Income Tax Act, 1961.

The initial years were devoted to understanding the dynamics of the society, even as the present senior functionaries of the organisation worked with different reputed organisations of the state. In the meantime, they travelled to different parts of the state and country. This gave them an idea as to what could be the area in which they would work. Luckily, they found the area almost 90 km from the state capital in Sitapur district, which is among the 100 poorest districts of India. They took a conscious decision to base the head office of Shashwat at Mishrikh tehsil of Sitapur district. Gradually, Mishrikh developed as the field area of the organisation.

First organised interventions of Shashwat were in panchayati raj, the system of local self-governance in rural areas of the country. Following institutionalisation of the panchayats through the epoch making Seventy-Third Amendment to the Constitution of India, this was a natural choice because panchayats were going to be the vehicle of development in the rural areas. The interventions with panchayats gave the organisation an excellent opportunity to build bridges with the community on one hand and with the local level officials on the other.

Gradually, primary education, prevention of female foeticide, maternal and child health care and child rights were taken up as these are burning issues in the area. While doing so the organisation has developed professional linkages with a number of organisations. This relationship is only growing with the passage of time.