Caritas India

Caritas India, founded in 1962, is the official development arm (registered under the Societies Registration Act XXI 1860 (the Punjab Amendment Act 1957) of the Catholic Churches in India. Caritas India is a member of Caritas confederation of more than 160 member organizations working in nearly 200 countries, making it the second largest humanitarian network in the world.

Steered by the Gospel principles of love and compassion, and rooted in the commitment for inalienable human rights and social justice, Caritas India has worked in a mission mode, to alleviate human suffering. It believes that there is a close relationship between poverty and the denial of human rights and fundamental freedom, where lack of human rights and fundamental freedom can be both a cause and consequence of poverty. Since its inception, Caritas India has been unique in its strategic responsiveness to emerging social challenges in international and national levels by engaging with social researchers, proponents and the policy makers.

Propelled by the commitment to preserve the dignity and sacredness of human personality, Caritas India has serves the underprivileged sections of the society, hailing from socially excluded communities, the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, and religious minorities by exercising preferential actions for the most marginalised. Resultantly, with a large spectrum of development interventions across the country, Caritas India is recognized as a leading NGO in poverty alleviation through Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction and Natural Resource Management.