Community Organization
NASA works for the upliftment of people through participatory development. Each village has sanghams (groups/associations) for women, men and youth at the micro level and all these sanghams have been federated into one association called the Dalit Pragathi Ikya Sangham (Dalit United Front).
Sanghams are formed with the purpose of providing a common platform for the people to meet, discuss and find solutions for their problems. These sanghams promote leadership, unity, and collective decision making. The lkya Sangham plays a vital role empowering people and driving out dejection.
Evolution of Village Sanghams:
In the beginning, NASA started with small groups called Village Sanghams in order to empower Dalits to agitate and organise. Before the intervention of NASA there was no organisation for Dalits in the targeted area. So NASA organised Dalits by educating them about Dalit leader Dr. Ambedkar’s ideology that combats the myths of caste superiority and the sub-human status of Dalits. In the beginning, NASA struggled to mobilise and motivate Dalits. Regular training on human rights and the Indian constitutional and legal provisions was given. The Dalit community in the area was geared up towards systematic struggle to demand its rights and entitlements.
In the process, the Dalit Pragati Ikya Sangham (DPIS) was formed, strengthened, and consolidated. It became an independant area-level Dalit organisation. DPIS is the macro-level federation of all Dalit village sanghams. The central idea in forming DPIS is to forge unity among Dalits at the area level and to create a positive Dalit movement for land rights and to defend Dalits against atrocities.