ASSOCIATION OF BHOODAN AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
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Mission Statement
"Empowering Rural Lives, Transforming Communities" The Association of Bhoodan and Community Development (ABCD) is committed to building inclusive, resilient, and self-reliant rural communities. Rooted in the Gandhian values of justice, equality, and nonviolence—and inspired by the Bhoodan Movement led by Acharya Vinobha Bhave—ABCD’s mission is to dismantle rural poverty and inequality through grassroots action that addresses the interconnected challenges of landlessness, illiteracy, economic exclusion, environmental degradation, and social neglect. For nearly four decades, ABCD has worked in Tamil Nadu to uplift vulnerable rural populations—particularly women, children, elders, landless farmers, and dryland communities—through holistic, participatory programs that promote dignity and sustainability. We began with land reform, redistributing Bhoodan land to landless families and enabling them to become self-reliant cultivators. From there, our work expanded to essential infrastructure in sanitation, including the construction of over 9,500 toilets, creating water access in dryland where 90 handpumps were implemented - 3000+ beneficiaries across 90 different villages got safe drinking water, 12 ground-level water reservoirs were implemented - 2700+ beneficiaries got safe drinking water, a community water systems. In the field of education, we launched campaigns aligned with the Arivoli Iyakkam (“Light of Knowledge” Movement), bringing literacy to marginalised adults, especially women, through cultural forms like folk theatre, Villu Paatu, and street drama. Through crèche programs, we provide early childhood education, nutrition, and safety for the children of working rural mothers, freeing women to pursue livelihoods while nurturing the next generation of learners. Health and well-being are central to our mission. We’ve organised health camps, trained local health animators in first aid, and delivered services to thousands of villagers. Our elder care initiative, supported by HelpAge India, provides livelihood support for seniors, helping them re-earn their place in society with dignity and independence. In agriculture, ABCD supports small and marginal farmers with sustainable practices such as organic farming, social forestry, livestock care, and irrigation subsidies. With support from agencies like NABARD and CAPART, we’ve helped farmers access electric motors, build open wells, and manage livestock, boosting productivity while protecting the environment. Through our Eyirser Uzhavam initiative, we are scaling cooperative farming - Farmer Producer Company, eco-friendly practices, farm equipment facilities and market linkages. Our economic empowerment programs focus on women and landless households. We’ve formed self-help groups - 775+ SHG was formed, holding 9730+ women beneficiaries, supported in Crores microfinance. facilitated micro-enterprises like petti shops and goat rearing units, and established milk and dairy cooperatives. These efforts have created reliable income sources and community-led economic resilience. We are also committed to environmental restoration. Over 1.2 lakhtreeshave been planted in degraded areas and along roadsides, supporting carbon sequestration, microclimate balance, and biodiversity.250 hectares developed.Additionally, in the rural housing initiative 115 houses were built, providing safe, disaster-resilient homes and community centres to 115 families from marginalised backgrounds. Whether through AIDS awareness campaigns, disaster relief crèches, or documentation of rural heritage, ABCD ensures that rural development is not just about infrastructure, but about identity, voice, and empowerment. Our approach is guided by principles of community participation, gender inclusion, local knowledge, and sustainable development. We work closely with local panchayats, DRDA, Mahalir Thittam, Social Welfare Boards, and international partners to co-create solutions that last. We envision a rural India where no one is left behind, where first-generation learners become leaders, drylands turn green, rural women empowerment, small and marginal farmers in dryland do profitable, healthy farming, water body resotation happen, thrive with dignity, and every community member participates in building a just, inclusive society. ABCD stands not just for relief, but for renewal through community-led transformation. Our mission is to ensure that development is not a privilege, but a shared right, made real through solidarity, sustainability, and the collective strength of rural people.
About This Cause
The Association of Bhoodan and Community Development (ABCD) is a grassroots nonprofit organisation based in Kadavur Block, Karur District, Tamil Nadu, working to uplift socially, economically, and educationally deprived rural communities. Founded on the values of Gandhian ethics and the Bhoodan (land gift) movement, ABCD has spent nearly four decades transforming some of the driest, most underserved regions of Tamil Nadu into self-reliant, thriving communities. Our mission focuses on the most marginalised groups—small and marginal farmers, rural women, first-generation learners, elderly citizens, and landless families—empowering them through holistic, community-led development programs. Our education program, KARKALAAM, addresses learning poverty and foundational literacy gaps among rural children in villages like Kurumbapatti. Many students here reach middle school unable to read, write, or do basic math. Karkalaam provides a nurturing after-school learning space with trained local tutors, mostly women from daily wage backgrounds, mothers of infants, who deliver creative lessons in reading, writing, and arithmetic. Children also receive nutritious snacks, stationery kits, and participate in arts, sports, and skill sessions, all aimed at building confidence and curiosity. This initiative prepares children to become the first graduates in their families. Donor contributions support infrastructure, teaching materials, tutor honorarium, skill-building workshops and classes, and one field trip per year, helping the next generation break free from cycles of poverty. Our Agriculture program EYIRSER UZHAVAM initiative tackles the agrarian crisis in this dryland region, where thousands of small and marginal farmers face economic insecurity due to poor soil, erratic rainfall, and lack of equipment and market access. This five-part campaign includes organic farming training (with 300+ farmers already trained), model farm creation, FPC (Farmer Producer Company) support, direct market linkages, and a rental machinery bank accessible to low-income and women farmers. These collective efforts promote regenerative agriculture, improve yields, and ensure fair pricing. Donations help equip farmers with training, input, soil test centres and heirloom seed units, certification, which is ICS formation, farm equipment, and connections to ethical buyers, thus restoring dignity and profitability to farming. Our women empowerment program, MAHILUZHAVI, the backbone of agriculture and household economies, yet often lacks formal acknowledgement or support. This initiative transforms farm labourers into entrepreneurs by equipping them with hands-on skills in organic farming, food processing, tailoring, and seed banking. Women receive leadership and digital literacy training, access to microfinance, and are supported in forming Women Farmer Producer Groups. We formally recognise their contributions through awards, documentation campaigns, and storytelling platforms that validate and elevate their roles. Donors can sponsor toolkits, training sessions, start-up capital for rural enterprises, or capacity-building events for FPGs. ABCD also prioritises rural health and nutrition through a two-pronged model. First, our nutrition education program tackles “hidden hunger” by teaching rural women and caregivers to cook nutritious meals using affordable, local ingredients. Second, we are establishing a Community Wellness Centre offering AYUSH-based healing practices, yoga therapy, physiotherapy, and traditional herbal medicine preparation. This health facility is not only a treatment space but also a learning center for holistic wellness, designed to reach over 10,000 rural residents. Donations can support health camps, herbal gardens, yoga halls, and low-cost remedies for common rural ailments. Our environmental initiative, EARTH REVIVAL, directly addresses the region’s water and ecological crisis. Once reliant on seasonal rains, Kadavur’s communities now face severe water shortages, barren fields, and failing crops. Support is needed to restore dried village ponds, remove invasive species like Seemai Karuvelam, and promote agroforestry and community food forests. Over 1.2 lakh trees have been planted, and more than 250 hectares of degraded land are being revived with native vegetation. Future goals include building “plastic-free, soil-first villages,” setting up soil learning centers, and promoting zero-waste rural living. Donations support pond restoration, tree planting, soil training, and plastic alternatives to protect farmland and water sources. We also recognize the urgent need to preserve rural identity, oral knowledge, especially agriculture, and cultural memory through our Rural Documentation Program. In a time of rapid migration and urbanization, the oral traditions, dialects, heirloom seeds, and rituals of villages like Kadavur are at risk of vanishing. ABCD documents elder interviews, rural Tamil idioms, traditional farming techniques, and sacred groves through digital archives, heritage trail maps, short films, and school kits. These efforts ensure that future generations grow up connected to their roots and local wisdom. Donors can fund community archives, documentary production, and learning kits for rural schools. All of ABCD’s programs align with key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Zero Hunger, Quality Education, Gender Equality, Climate Action, Clean Water and Sanitation, and Reduced Inequality. Our interventions are people-led, cost-effective, and environmentally rooted. We work in deep partnership with panchayats, SHGs, government agencies and international supporters. Every step we take is co-created with the people we serve. We invite donors, CSR partners, volunteers, and philanthropists to be part of this transformation. Whether you sponsor a tutor, support a farmer, fund a village archive, or plant a tree, your contribution will have a lasting ripple effect in the lives of thousands of rural Indians. ABCD doesn’t just deliver services, it builds systems of resilience and dignity that enable communities to lead themselves. Let your donation be the seed. Together, let’s grow equality, knowledge, and sustainable change across rural India.