About Us
Gramya Sikshan Paryavaran Sanstha (GRAMYA) is a grassroot action organization committed to educational upliftment of geographically underprivileged Himalayan children and conservation of the Himalayan biodiversity especially in the Western Indian Himalayan region.
Villagers of Dumak (one of the most remote villages in Uttarakhand) started Gramya in 1998 primarily to run a secondary school in the village. The school helped in increasing student enrollment of the village in secondary school from below 5% to 100%. Gradually it helped in increasing enrolment of students in senior secondary and higher education from this village and other neighbouring villages.
GRAMYA has also been engaged in environmental activities premierly focusing on environmental education, oak forest conservation and community forest governance. For many years, it was one of the implementing agencies of the 'National Environment Awareness Campaign' - a flagship scheme of the government of India. It has also played an instrumental role in forming the state level organization of Sarpanch (president) of Van Panchayats (Village forest councils) in the state of Uttarakhand. The Uttarakhand Van Panchayat Sarpanch Sangathan formed by GRAMYA has been engaged on policy issues related to community forest governance in Uttarakhand.
Activities of GRAMYA:
Secondary School in Dumak for geographically underprivileged children
Environmental Education and Awareness
Strengthening Oak Forests Ecosystem
Community Conservation and Local Livelihoods Enhancement
Theory of Change
The environment and education are not limited to classroom lectures, debate, discussion and demonstration. To inculcate them in one's life, we must experience, feel and live them. Therefore, our approach is to provide avenues for experiential learning to feel and live. We use modern scientific equipments, techniques and processes to allow our target students followings:
To observe nature and natural phenomenon using equipments like microscope, binocular and telescope
Experiment to decipher natural phenomenon using equipments like soil testing kit, water testing kit and plantation activities.
Board Members:
Prabha Rawat, President
Child rights activist, former chairperson of District Child Welfare Committee, Chamoli
Jeet Singh, Secretary
Envrionment Policy Researcher, Author and Project Management Expert
Mohan Singh Negi, Treasurer
Rural Livelihood Promotion Expert
Umashankar Bisht, Member
Development professional, serves on boards of various organizations
Bharat Singh, Member
Farmer and Social Worker
Sateyendra Parmar, Member
Educationist and founder of PEACE public school, Gopeshwhar
Vikram Singh, Member
Farmer
High School Staff
Mahipal Singh Bisht, Principal
Hukam Singh, Teacher
Anup Chandra Tiwari, Teacher
Narendra Singh Negi