Centre for Humanistic Development

Founded by Dilip K. Sarma in 2001 Vision: To cultivate thriving communities empowered with self-sufficiency, equality, and resilience through holistic grassroots interventions, fostering sustainable development and inclusive prosperity. Mission: To catalyze enabling environments for marginalized groups, CHD employs grassroots interventions, rigorous research, and collective capacity-building. Through targeted entrepreneurship initiatives and self-leadership training, we empower communities, nurture cooperation, and drive sustainable growth, fostering a more just and prosperous society. In its early years, CHD focused on grassroots understanding and institution building, collaborating with partners like Praxis-India, ILRI Nairobi, and UNICEF to prioritize marginalized communities, particularly in remote areas. It provided vision building exercises, livelihood, and management training for NGOs and CBOs, supported by IGSSS and RGVN. Transitioning to entrepreneurship training, CHD empowered youth and women in remote regions, establishing initiatives like dairy cooperatives in Kakopathar and Saral Para. This led to the flagship program, Entrepreneurship Development & Enterprise Creation (EDEC), aiding economic rehabilitation for ex-militant youth from diverse tribal backgrounds, including Bodo, Karbi, and Tea tribes. CHD also supported cooperatives formed by ex-militant youth of ULFA in Kokrajhar District. From 2016-18, CHD collaborated with NRL to train local youth and form JLGs for NRL's expansion. Since 2019, CHD, backed by NRL, has supported 2 women cooperatives, focusing on leadership, innovative ventures, and business systems. With a core focus on Enterprise Building & Efficiency Enhancement, CHD emphasizes social research, institutional capacity-building, and enterprise creation. Recent initiatives include leadership training for cooperatives and FPOs, with a "Self-leadership" program for professionals in progress.