Program Overview

Samavesh Center’s are community-based civic access centres that serve as one-stop helpdesks for marginalized citizens to secure legal identity documents, access welfare schemes, and claim entitlements with dignity. Located in underserved urban and rural areas, these centres are equipped with digital public infrastructure to enable real-time eligibility checks, document tracking, and application processing. Each Centre acts as both a service delivery hub and a citizen support platform, bridging the gap between the state and the street by making public services accessible, accountable, and community-driven.

 

 

These centres are powered by Samavesh Fellows—young changemakers from historically excluded communities, including SC, ST, NT-DNT, OBC, PWD, and low-income groups. Trained as civic entrepreneurs and frontline service navigators, Samavesh Fellows act as first responders for legal identity, welfare access, and civic justice. Through structured mentorship and immersive field practice, they bridge the last-mile gap in governance—much like ASHA workers in the health sector—by translating complex systems into accessible, rights-based support. Fellows not only deliver critical services but also develop leadership, policy literacy, and systemic problem-solving skills, making them catalysts for grassroots change.

The Problem We Are Addressing

Broken Pathways

India has extensive welfare programs and legal entitlements—but for millions, access remains out of reach. Not because the support isn’t available, but because the pathways to access it are broken.

 

Barriers such as:

  • Complex documentation requirements
  • Digital illiteracy and poor internet access
  • Errors in official IDs and certificates
  • Long delays and unclear procedures
  • Lack of awareness about eligibility

 

These systemic issues exclude the very people government programs are designed to support.

What This Exclusion Looks Like

  • A student loses a college seat because her income certificate wasn't issued on time.
  • A woman is denied her pension due to a minor spelling error in her Aadhaar card.
  • A tribal youth misses out on a scholarship because of delayed caste verification.
  • Families remain hungry while ration card applications are stuck in approval loops.
  • Communities are unaware of the 100+ schemes they’re eligible for—simply because no one has shown them how.

At the same time, young people from these very communities, who understand these struggles intimately, are rarely given opportunities to lead solutions.

Why It Matters

India has hundreds of welfare schemes, yet millions remain excluded due to complex paperwork, digital gaps, and bureaucratic hurdles.

Those most affected—SC, ST, NT-DNT, OBC, PWD, migrant communities—often lack the support needed to navigate these systems.

At the same time, young people from these communities understand the barriers but are rarely empowered to lead change.

Samavesh Fellows bridges this gap by training excluded youth as civic entrepreneurs. Placed at Samavesh Kendras—tech-enabled helpdesks—they help citizens access rights, documents, and services, while building a new generation of grassroots governance leaders.

What We do

A) Samavesh Fellows: Civic Entrepreneurs from the Community

At the heart of the Samavesh model are Samavesh Fellows—young leaders from marginalised communities, including PWD, Trans and migrants. These individuals have experienced systemic exclusion firsthand and are now trained to lead change from within their own communities.

 

Who Are Samavesh Fellows?

We select youth between 22–30 years of age with lived experience of exclusion and a strong commitment to social change. They undergo an intensive 12-month training program designed to build leadership and service capabilities.

Fellowship Training Includes:

  • Understanding rights, the Constitution, and active citizenship
  • Learning how to navigate legal documents and welfare schemes
  • Using digital tools for governance and service delivery
  • Conducting community research and needs assessments
  • Leading workshops, mentoring peers,  community Resilience and promoting peacebuilding
  • Conducting workshops and community engagement activities at the grassroots level

Fellows as Civic Leaders

After training, Fellows operate from Samavesh Centres as civic entrepreneurs. They:

  • Enable Access to Over 100+ Schemes and Scholarships: Guide citizens through complex public systems to unlock benefits and entitlements.
  • Organise Awareness Drives and Documentation Camps: Mobilise the community through targeted campaigns on rights, identity, and welfare.
  • Conduct Baseline Research and Data Collection: Digitise and analyze community-level data to support evidence-based service delivery.
  • Bridge the Digital Divide: Serve as trusted intermediaries between civic tech platforms and the people they are designed to serve.
  • Lead Capacity Building and Awareness Sessions: Facilitate community workshops on digital access, legal rights, constitutional values, peacebuilding and welfare entitlements—empowering others to become informed and active citizens.

Samavesh Centre and Fellows

What We do

B) Samavesh Centre: One-Stop Civic Access Centres

Samavesh Centres are public service tech-enabled hubs located in low-income communities. Each Centre is equipped with digital tools and run by trained Fellows to provide citizens with end-to-end support on civic and welfare services.s Samavesh Centres are digital-first community centres that bridge the gap between constitutional rights and everyday access enabled through digital public infrastructure (DOI). Each Centre is powered by trained Fellows and equipped with tools to help citizens access identity, welfare, and education with dignity.

 

Digital Tools We Use:

  • Real-time eligibility checks for schemes and scholarships
  • Application tracking for documents like Aadhaar, caste, and income certificates

How the Centres Work:

We select youth between 22–30 years of age with lived experience of exclusion and a strong commitment to social change. They undergo an intensive 12-month training program designed to build leadership and service capabilities.

  • State Level: We partner with government departments, colleges to ensure alignment with official workflows and redress mechanisms
  • District Level: Nonprofit partners host and mentor Fellows, providing infrastructure like laptops and biometric devices
  • Local Level: Fellows lead mobile outreach in villages, bastis, and urban slums

Support offered by Samavesh Centres

Through a combination of tech-enabled helpdesks and outreach, Samavesh Fellows

  • Facilitate Access to Documents: Aadhaar, birth/death certificates, caste/income certificates, UDID cards
  • Enable Welfare Scheme Access: Ration cards, health coverage (Ayushman Bharat), etc.
  • Support Students & Families: Scholarship applications, education entitlements, and admission-related documentation
  • Act as Community Problem-Solvers: Conducting workshops on constitutional values and peacebuilding at the grassroots, Error correction in documents, form filling, navigating public offices and digital portals

 

Community Mobilisation and Rights Awareness Beyond service delivery, Fellows also:

- Run legal aid camps and awareness drives

- Lead digital and financial literacy sessions

- Facilitate active citizenship workshops

- Promote social harmony through youth peacebuilding initiatives

A New Model of Governance:

Samavesh brings together digital infrastructure and grassroots leadership to create a responsive and inclusive model of public service. Each Centre becomes a civic intelligence hub where citizens are empowered to claim their rights and participate in governance.

From Exclusion to Empowerment:

Samavesh transforms the most excluded into changemakers. Citizens become informed rights-holders. Youth become civic entrepreneurs. Governance becomes people-centred and dignity-driven—from the street to the state.

Testimonials

What do our fellows say

  • "The Samavesh Fellowship gave me the training, confidence, and sense of purpose I never imagined. I worked with communities who are Indian citizens, yet remain excluded from social security and scholarships simply because they lack essential documents like caste certificates or ration cards. Through this fellowship, I was able to support them in securing their legal identity—unlocking access to welfare schemes and creating pathways to upward social mobility."
    Sandeep Kamble, 2023 Samavesh Fellow, Parbhani

Our Impact

Our Numbers tell the tale

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Youth Leaders Trained as Samavesh Fellows

Grassroots changemakers equipped to lead civic access and bridge last-mile governance gaps.

0

Samavesh Kendras Established

 One-stop civic helpdesks operational in underserved communities to deliver services with dignity.

 

0

Students Supported with Scholarships

 Beneficiaries from SC, ST, NT-DNT, OBC, PWD, and low-income families received financial aid to continue their education.

₹1.3 Crore+

 in Scholarships Unlocked

 Government scholarships accessed for marginalized students through mentorship and documentation support.

0

of Scholarship Recipients Are Girls

 Focused effort to close the gender gap in educational access and retention.

0

of Recipients from Ultra-Low-Income Households

 Families earning less than ₹1 lakh annually—underscoring targeted support to the most excluded.

0

Received Support in Transition Years

 Students moving from Class 10 to 11 or Class 12 to college—preventing dropouts at critical education junctures.

0

Government Schemes Facilitated

 Welfare programs accessed for health, education, ration, pensions, and housing.

0

of Scholarship Recipients Are Girls

 Focused effort to close the gender gap in educational access and retention.

Active in 3 Districts Across 2 States

Field-based operations

expanding civic access and justice to underserved geographies.

 

0

of Recipients from Ultra-Low-Income Households

 Families earning less than ₹1 lakh annually—underscoring targeted support to the most excluded.

How Samavesh Advances the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Locally Rooted. System Aligned. Impact Driven.

SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Strengthens grassroots governance through civic helpdesks, legal identity access, and public accountability.

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

Empowers SC, ST, NT-DNT, OBC, PWD, and low-income communities to access entitlements and public services.

SDG 4: Quality Education

Supports first-generation learners through mentoring, scholarship navigation, and academic readiness.

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Trains unemployed youth as civic entrepreneurs, creating meaningful livelihood pathways through public service.

SDG 5: Gender Equality

Ensures active participation of women and girls in civic leadership, education access, and rights-based platforms.

Who We Are

Samavesh is a rights-based organisation and grassroots movement committed to inclusion, equity, and opportunity.

We work with marginalised communities to bridge the gap between policy and people, enabling access to social security, education, and livelihoods.

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