Development And Justice Initiative (DAJI) is registered in New Delhi as a public charitable Trust and works mainly with urban poor, migrant workers, refugees and displaced people. It is particularly concerned with rights and safety of children, women, and elderly, differently abled people, Dalits, Minorities and Indigenous Peoples. DAJI also provides support to people-led advocacy initiatives and campaigns on bio-cultural heritage, farmers’ rights and environment.
Legal status
Legal status - Registered as charitable Trust No. 1484/ dated 18/03/2011. Registered at Sub-Registrar V, New Delhi
Tax exemption status - Registered under 12A of I.T. Act No. DEL-DR22038-25042012
Registered under 80 G (5) (vi) of I.T. Act No. DEL-DE27743-26042017/ 8456 PAN NO. AABTD5830A
FCRA Registration Number 231661708 Dated 18-08-2017
Vision
A world where all individuals and communities enjoy dignity, peace, justice, equality and opportunity to develop.
Mission
We work to strengthen the capacities of urban poor, migrant workers, refugees, Indigenous People,Dalits and women to improve the quality of their lives and advocate for their rights.
We Believe
In the dignity of all human beings
That caste, gender, class and religion based-discrimination is the root cause of continued inequality
In rationalism and reason
In agency of the human being
We commit ourselves to:
Work for dignity and justice for all. In doing this we follow India’s Constitution and international laws on human rights, non-discrimination, child rights, women’s rights and migrant workers’ rights;
Achieve justice. We work with the poor, migrant workers, displaced people, refugees, and subsistence farmers. We are committed to empower women, elderly, men, children and communities to work together to end poverty.
Strengthen and amplify the voices of women, migrants, refugees and the poor;
Strengthen the leadership of women.
Work as a team with our partners, co-travelers and supporters. We are committed to transparency, accountability, respect and companionship;
Social transformation. We transform as a team along with the people we work with.
We rejoice in our successes and learn from our mistakes.
We work through:
Building capacities of the marginalized communities for self-development and social justice;
Doing research to develop information, communication, training and advocacy tools;
Advocacy with decision-makers
Building alliances and networks of co-travelers, partners, supporters and ordinary people!
Our Trustees
Jacob Nellithanam is a farmers’ rights activist based in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, currently and works for protecting and promoting indigenous knowledge and farming systems. He has been doing this for the last twenty five years and has worked in western M. P. before shifting to Bilaspur. Jacob is associated with several national and international efforts at promoting organic farming systems. He is the current Treasurer of the organisation.
Radha Khan is a social activist and development researcher. She has been at the forefront of national campaigns as the National Coordinator of Wada Na Todo Abhiyan. She has previously worked with women’s organizations such as Jagori and international organization, The Hunger Project in New Delhi. She has been working in the development sector since the early nineties and began work as a young graduate in SWRC (now Barefoot College), Tilonia in Rajasthan’s Ajmer district. She is currently the Chairperson of the organisation.
Rahul Banerjee is an activist-researcher and has played a long stint in different locations across western M. P. working particularly among the Adivasis. He started activist life in Alirajpur and later together with wife Subhadra shifted to Khargone district. He has written extensively on several issues concerning the Adivasis.
Ravi Hemadri has over 25 years of experience in research and advocacy on the rights of Adivasis, Dalits, women, migrants and refugees. He has worked with farmers and workers in different states of India. He was a Director from 2004 – 2010 of The Other Media, Delhi, an organisation that works on human rights, refugee rights and peace issues. He is the current Secretary of the organisation.