SAMVADA

States

Karnataka

Samvada’s core work since its inception, Sahayana, is a youth empowerment initiative focused on leadership development, livelihood preparedness, and self-awareness. It supports and sensitises college students from marginalised communities with values of gender justice, social justice, pluralism, democracy, and sustainability, while building awareness on constitutional values. The programme encourages youth to chart career paths, enhance life skills, develop leadership abilities and become active citizens.

At its core are five Youth Resource Centres (YRCs) across Karnataka, tailored to local contexts and supported by trained Youth Mentors. These centres create safe spaces for self-expression, self-discovery, learning, and peer connection. Over the course of two years, youth engage in mentoring, career guidance, life skills, English skills, digital skills, and workshops, with ongoing support to navigate challenges and build livelihood pathways.

States

Karnataka

Baduku — Centre for Livelihoods Learning offers residential courses focused on environmental and people-centered livelihood skills, keeping in mind social needs and sustainability. It supports young people from marginalised communities to build meaningful and dignified lives and enter socially significant career fields.

It offers short- and long-term courses in areas such as mass media, waste management, sustainable agriculture, teaching and mental health practice. Through holistic education that combines self-reflexivity, technical skills, and an understanding of society using experiential and participatory methods, Baduku creates an atmosphere of learning with stimulation and care, extending beyond the classroom with mentoring from experienced faculty.

After completion, most students move into employment, apprenticeships, fellowships, enterprises, or higher education. Alumni remain engaged in social and environmental justice, with continued support through mentoring and networks.

States

Andhra Pradesh

Karnataka

Tamil Nadu

Arunachal Pradesh

Assam

Bihar

Goa

Gujarat

Haryana

Himachal Pradesh

Jharkhand

Kerala

Madhya Pradesh

Maharashtra

Manipur

Meghalaya

Mizoram

Nagaland

Punjab

Rajasthan

Sikkim

Tripura

Uttar Pradesh

Uttarakhand

Odisha

Telangana

Chattisgarh

Kanaja is dedicated to generating and disseminating knowledge about youth and youthhood to strengthen youth rights and build youth agency. Working in partnership with young people, it builds youth-centric knowledge and advocates for their rights.

Through participatory research, Kanaja understands the complex social realities of youth, focusing on their physical, emotional, and sexual beings shaped by changing social, economic, and political contexts. It recognizes youthhood as diverse and locates young people at the intersection of multiple identities, engaging them as knowledge creators.

Research explores changing vulnerabilities and aspirations, including studies on youth experiences of education, careers, media, and relationships.

Alongside this, Kanaja advocates for recognising youth as a distinct category with specific strengths and vulnerabilities, working to embed youth rights in policies, programmes, and budgets through trainings, materials, and consultations.

States

Andhra Pradesh

Karnataka

Delhi

Jharkhand

Jammu and Kashmir

Odisha

Ladakh

Chattisgarh

YuWyaan, meaning Journey with Youth Workers, is a youth work promotion programme focused on youth work education and knowledge building. It promotes youth work that approaches youthhood as a site of personal and societal change, and aims to strengthen professional, critical youth work.

Drawing on Samvada’s experiences of youth work over the past three decades and collaborations with organisations across India, YuWyaan works to build knowledge and deepen practice in the field. It engages with youth-focused organisations to enhance their capacities through courses, fellowships, and workshops. Its strategies include training youth workers in multiple languages, organising consultations, documenting youth work perspectives and experiences, and supporting organisations in designing youth work interventions.

The programme aims to create a large number of youth workers who engage sensitively with disadvantaged youth, while contributing to new models of youth work.