Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement - SVYM

12/07/2025

How does one realise he or she is on the right path? If one does not, if the path disappears… it could just be the sign. Being unaware of taking the road less travelled and yet, in complete alignment with the compass within. Witnessing the unfolding of something great on every turn and yet, passing it as trivial. Drawn to destiny or deciphered to cause and effect, it is hard to explain, yet there's not the slightest fear or doubt. 

In the photo, a young community facilitator from SVYM is riding his motorcycle across the great and vast landscape covering the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Kabini backwaters, dotted with tribal settlements, farmland bordering forest land and roadside junctures where wild animals are sighted frequently. 

Every day going up and down this road that stretches roughly 40 kilometers, he may be witnessing the contrast in lives that may span over decades. The last villages on the road do not have access to water and electricity.

But as he gets closer, somewhere someone is associating the sound of his bike’s horn with the coming of good news, somewhere someone is greeting him with a smile that makes him forget the soreness in his back and somewhere someone sees him with trust that in turn becomes his quiet conviction and fuels his hope that things can be better - and he clocks in another day to serve fellow brothers and sisters, with every step the path appears.

05/07/2025

01/07/2025

Do you remember taking your toy doctor kit and fixing the 'ouche' on your grandpa's hand? Checking the heartbeat of a doll that maybe running a fever too? Dashing to your father and asking how to make a little kitten or puppy feel better cuz it is shivering out of cold on a rainy day? Try to fix the broken wing of a butterfly? It is true that a doctor is born long before a doctor is made. It is born in the conviction that healing is a power one must have to show kindness that we all deserve from each other. When the noble intentions become a profession, a doctor is finally made. An answer to a calling that was born way before. Happy National Doctor's Day.

10/06/2025

It was back in the 1990s, we were trying hard to convince Bommi, a pregnant woman living just outside the Bandipur forest, to come to our hospital.

We tried many times and failed. She wouldn’t agree no matter how hard we tried. She would just say …..If an elephant can give birth in the forest, why can’t I?

It was profound to hear those words. It showed how deeply rooted the beliefs of the tribal communities were. The fact that both the tribals and our doctors wanted the same - health and wellbeing of mother and her child - but had such different views became our guiding light to understand and work towards reducing maternal mortality - taking a non prescriptive approach and working along with the indigenous communities.

By the time our very first Reproductive and Child Health Project supported by the World Health Organisation ended in 2002, Institutional deliveries, which were non-existent when we started, had grown to 40%.

Today, virtually every tribal woman in the area comes to our hospitals or a public health centre to deliver their babies. Our Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) with Ashraya Hastha Trust now is written about and studied; Public Health practitioners and academicians are impressed with the falling maternal mortality and improved health outcomes. A recent impact assessment of the project by an external firm highlights the change - achieved over two decades - emphasising its critical importance in remote and inaccessible tribal settlements. Read report -https://svym.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/External-Evaluation-Report-of-RMNCH-A-Program-of-SVYM.pdf

Last year, Suma gave birth to a boy in our hospital. At 32 years of age, her second child came after a 15 year gap. It made her experience motherhood in an entirely new way.

Her first child was delivered at home by her mother on the day of a festival. No one was there to help. Her entire family has a history of home deliveries; Suma herself was born at home, and her mother delivered all five of her daughters without any medical assistance.

Suma and her husband kept trying for a second child. Being able to conceive after 15 years, they didn’t want to leave anything to chance. They delivered the second child at our hospital. It was Suma’s mother who encouraged them to take this decision.

Seeing Suma, now her relatives too have given birth to their babies at Vivekananda Memorial Hospital.

Suma’s decision to go for institutional delivery illustrates a change in mindset, reinforced by positive experiences. Suma’s mother stayed with her during her entire hospital stay. During pregnancy, Suma experienced leg swelling and headaches. The staff at VMH provided medication and made home visits to help her manage her symptoms as and when they appeared.

Such stories are a beacon of light guiding many families on a path of safe motherhood.

In 2024, with Ashraya Hasta Trust and the community, we were able to achieve a 99.81 institutional delivery rate and zero maternal deaths. It is an emotional moment for us all to see how far we have come together.

Mahatma Gandhi said, in a gentle way, you can shake the world. I’d like to say that this is how I see our partnership with Ashraya Hasta Trust.

Coming together to safeguard the most fragile and the most precious. Thank You Ashraya Hastha Trust

04/06/2025

Serve Nation through Education.
Join VSOE Sainik School and play a part in nurturing the future hashtag of our Nation.
The Sainik School is hiring teachers (various subjects). Apply today by clicking on the link. You can also send your application to career@svym.org.in

https://svym.org/careers/vsoe-sainik-school/

hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag

29/05/2025

Tribal women don an apron to show their culinary skills with five different varieties of millets.

After taking a bite of thalipeeth, or thalipattu, a multigrain roti (bread) commonly prepared in North Karnataka, in our case, made by tribal women from southern Karnataka using ancient millet varieties, the rich flavours unravelled more than what meets the taste buds. We started to wonder what the secret magic ingredient used by these enthusiastic women really is? To find out, we set off to follow the trail of earthy aroma.

It was coming from a stall that the women had put up to exhibit various millet based cuisines at an event organised by TATA Consumer Products Limited (TCPL). Our first clue led to the next. We found out that In many ways it was a giant leap for these women who had recently started a Millet Canteen, completely run and managed by a group of eight women on their entrepreneurial debut. The women took training in culinary skills with a core concept of nutritious and healthy food made using five varieties of millet. Many of these millets are no longer consumed, but the women and rural local communities remember their grandmothers preparing food using them. By reviving memories of lost household cuisines, these women are reviving the culture of millet consumption and its health benefits. So now we knew the magic ingredient has a tint of nostalgia, we continued to follow the trail and to our surprise reached a congregation of women - Prakruthi Girijana Mahila Okutta ( Prakruthi Tribal Women SHG Federation). The president of the federation gave us our final clue that the millet that is used by the chefs in Millet Canteen is sourced from local farmers - with many growing a varieties of these hardy grains like barnyard, foxtail, pearl browntop and finger millet for the very first time. We realised it is a circle of many hands working together, from sowing, growing to soaking and cooking to serving and earning - and in each circle the richness of the flavours deepens and supports a whole community of people.
Coming back to a the AC controlled dining hall with soft lights and the clatter of silverware on china at the TCPL event, we feel grateful and proud to be a part of this circle, holding a hand at every step and working together with Tata Consumer Products to make contribute to the millet revolution.

At the event, the tribal women served talipat and navane bisibele bath to the participants and members of TCPL. The preparations were appreciated and many people shared encouraging feedback with the women, a small but meaningful recognition of the effort that had gone into the journey.

Beyond the dishes served, the event gave tribal women a platform to present their skills and promote millet-based, locally rooted recipes and products to a wider audience.

26/05/2025

Where the streets have no name...

but now glow on the energy equity map as the sun sets over Bandipur Tiger Reserve. Tribal hamlets abutting the forest would often go for months without access to electricity in the monsoon season. Any fault in the electrical lines laid over the hilly and inaccessbile terrain would send the communities into a blackout for months, exposing them to potential wild animal encounters and inequalities experienced by all age groups. However, access to solar power at community and household level is creating possibilities for the indigenous communities. It is reducing dependency on firewood often sourced from the forest, minimising human - animal conflict as the elephants and other wild animals hesitate to enter the villages with well lit street and also creating more time and income generation opportunities.

The solar power power project has resulted in 100% electrification of Dadadahalli Hadi and Beddalapura Hadi and has positively impacted 200+ households inhabitied by indigenous tribal communities. The streets with no name in these villages will look like that in a neighbourhood in Mysuru even during the monsoons.

Trellix and SVYM have joined hand with the local communites to reduce energy inequalities in remote regions of H D Kote Taluk in Southern Karnataka with green energy projects.

20/05/2025

Localising the National Development Goals with Ministry of Tribal Affairs

The development goals for our Nation’s development render a framework that enable development organisations, foundations, the corporate and like minded partners to work in alignment with the Govt., participating and collaborating towards both long term and short term outcomes. For the goals to reach the last village, SVYM’s focus on localising the goals by making them contextually relevant has always received support from its partners.

Our partnership with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) has been a crucial one spanning over three decades - towards creating and sustaining access to the equitable and quality healthcare and education of forest based tribal communities in and around H D Kote taluk.

At Vivekananda Memorial Hospital (VMH) in Saragur, our 100 bedded hospital serves as a hub for primary and secondary health care reaching 18000+ tribal community members by extending subsidised care. At the hospital, 10 beds accounting for 10 inpatient admissions are supported by MoTA for tribal patients.

Complementing institutional care are our health outreach services through Mobile Health Units (MHU) that travel to remote and inaccessible tribal hamlets bordering Bandipur and Nagarhole Forest Reserves bridging the accessibility gap. Regular health camps and routine check-ups, immunisation drives and follow-up of patients visiting VMH deliver essential care and connectivity.

Aligning to make education equitable, MoTA has extended support to ensure access to education for children from tribal communities at our school, Viveka Tribal Centre for Learning. Over 550 students from the tribal communities study in the school. The support from MoTA has ensured improved admissions, reduced dropouts, continuing higher education and brought out aspirations in tribal youth to pursue education and break the cycle of poverty.

Together, these collaborative efforts from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs & SVYM has resulted in building the human and social capital of indigenous tribal communities, facilitating community demanded and community owned development.

Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India

14/04/2025

At our tribal school, VTCL, mid day means often begin with a warm serving of Payasam. The rich flavour of jaggery and a hint of cardramom linger on owing to the creamy texture of our favourite sweet serving.

Eating etiquette are temporarily paused, the tongue comes into action and the plate is polished clean.

If you are still having second thoughts of coming to visit us, hope this makes it easy for you to start packing.

Served warm with love, the midday meals for 364 students studying at VTCL are supported by our nourishment partner

We extend our sincere gratitude to Feeding India for their continued support in helping fuel the ambitions of the children at VTCL.

13/04/2025

We are happy to share that the 3-month fellowship of Future Teachers of India (FTI) offered by VTTRC completed with a valedictory program honouring all 28 teacher trainees for successfully completing the program. 

To wish the trainees well as they embark on a career in the teaching field, Swami Mangalanathananda, Maj Dominic (Titan) and Dr Flt. Lt M A Balasubramanya addressed the teacher trainees in the program.

Many teachers have decided to join SVYM’s education institutions and contribute back by teaching children from the rural and tribal communities.

The FTI program was run with financial assistance from . We thank all the stakeholders for making this program a success. Appreciations to the VTTRC team for the high-quality standards. This is the largest batch of trainees successfully completing the program.