Spandan Samaj Seva Samiti

About us

Spandan a grassroots organization began its journey of development with nutritionally vulnerable Korku tribe of Madhya Pradesh being troubled by scores of their children dying of malnutrition. The initial effort to draw government attention to this crude reality wasn’t easy neither savored. The years of observations, studies and community learning revealed that ghastly household hunger gnawed at the doorsteps of most of the poor ready to devour more children. The Hunger scenario has loomed larger and has assumed chronic character. The rapid acculturation of a hunter-gatherer tribe that settled at the end of nineteenth century has found it difficult to find the nutrition they had from their earlier habitat. The tribal millets too being forgotten the community nutrition is becoming worse and manifesting with more childhood malnutrition and deaths. 60% of their children under five underweight, 45% stunted and 30% wasted tells the story. Their language and consequently their culture are endangered too.

Spandan has endeavored to address this pathos with a theory of change that strives on one hand to relieve the immediate nutritional emergency while on the other hand has directed its vigor at pro –poor democratically dictated Advocacy & Lobbying to assist nutritionally vulnerable Korku access more food and nutrition round the year as entitlement and not dole out. Spandan led by its founder members Seema and Prakash has been able to develop as a genuinely Mission driven and transparent grassroots organization that has stressed team work and democratic values to achieve its objectives. Spandan also addresses other Human Rights issues like Rights of Shelter less, Women Empowerment and Child Rights. Research, documentation and Media advocacy are ongoing activities of the organization. Seema and Prakash are ASHOKA Fellows based at Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh (India).