About Nyas

The primary objective of the Nyas’s activities and programs is to provide a platform to socio-economically weaker sections of the society especially women and youth, to strengthen themselves, be it through education, entrepreneurship, or healthcare. It does this by way of providing various platforms in the fields of education, entrepreneurship and economic empowerment, healthcare, etc.

Ojaswini Samdarshi Nyas is dedicated to raising the quality of education, livelihood and healthcare in the aspirational district of Damoh, MP and creating a long term impact on its socio-economic fabric, for this the Nyas is seeking funds from benefactors both in Bharat and abroad.

The activities undertaken by Ojaswini Samdarshi Nyas include:

Education

Currently, Education is the cornerstone of all Nyas’ activities.

In 2001 the Nyas established Ojaswini College Par Excellence and introduced subjects like – Biotechnology, Microbiology and Computers for the first time in the district. In 2003 the Nyas started a Hindi medium school – Ojaswini Utkrishtita Vidyalaya. This was followed by the establishment of an English medium school – Ojaswini School Par Excellence in the year 2010 (CBSE recognized), Ojaswini Institute of Management & Technology in 2007 (AICTE recognized, affiliated to RGPV), Ojaswini Institute of Nursing Sciences & Research in 2006 (recognized by INC), Ojaswini ITI college in June 2014 (approved by NCVT, New Delhi). The educational institutions were started with the aim to provide quality education to socio-economically weak sections of the society at a nominal fee. The colleges provide access to education and employment for the students and the staff and faculty. While a professional degree has its benefits, it is not for all. This was the reason behind opening the I.T.I. Colleges; to skill the youth in various professions and make them employable, as well as create entrepreneurship opportunities, trades include – plumbing, welding, fitter, diesel mechanic, electrician, and wireman.

In 2020, Ojaswini Samdarshi Nyas established Eklavya University to further enhance the quality of education available to the youth of Damoh. The areas of study include – Engineering, Nursing, Education, Agriculture, Arts & Humanities, Basic & Applied Sciences, Paramedical Sciences, Pharmacy, Yogic Sciences, Performing & Fine arts, among others.

The educational institutions run by the Nyas are a source of livelihood for more than 1000 families and are the single largest employer in the Damoh district.

Healthcare

Vijayant Hospital was registered by the Nyas in 2021. The original scope of the hospital was to provide basic healthcare facilities to the people of Damoh and serve as a mandatory teaching hospital for the Nursing & Paramedical students at Eklavya University. The need gap for quality healthcare facilities encouraged the members of the Nyas to seek funding and establish a green field, state of the art, multi-speciality hospital at Damoh. The process for this is underway.

More recently the Nyas has organised free of cost health check-up camps (Eye, general health and women’s health) with free follow up options.

Ojaswini Magazine

One of the first programs of the Nyas was the establishment of a monthly Women’s Magazine in 1993 called “Ojaswini”, to act as a voice for women’s issues, grievances, and achievements, and to be a positive step towards the empowerment of women.

This Magazine is a triumph in Hindi literature. It has stood for women empowerment and has raised its voice against discrimination and injustice towards women since its inception. Earlier started under the banner of Vasudha Prakashan Nyas, it was made independent of trust and is now published as a venture of Vasudha Publications Pvt. Ltd. The ‘Ojaswini’ magazine highlights women’s strength and speaks volumes about their achievements. It functions as a platform to enable women to share their stories and celebrate their lives.

Ojaswini Grih Udyog

Ojaswini Grih Udyog was established in 2002. It makes and sells papad, pickles, snacks, and spices. Over 10,000 beneficiaries have been trained since inception and have benefited by the skilling and employability endeavors of the Grih Udyog. This small-scale industrial unit was established to teach techniques of food processing and agro-products development of indigenous edible products, and to provide job and employment opportunities for women. Over 50 women have been provided regular employment by the Nyas’s Grih Udyog. The products of the Grih Udyog are marketed as Vindhya Valley products through Khadi Gramodyog and Department of WCD, Govt. of M.P., it is also sold through Ojaswini’s own brand ‘Majedar’.

Stitching & Tailoring Unit

The Nyas also established a stitching and tailoring unit, to provide free of cost training to needy girls and women. Here women are not only trained in the sewing, needle craft, but are also employed to undertake small-scale projects.

The stitching and tailoring unit, and skill development programs provide employable skills to women of Damoh and surrounding districts. The organization has also distributed sewing machines in the past through its employment enabling schemes and micro finance opportunities.

The Nyas has undertaken many marketing and product placement activities to provide a platform for the products generated by the women participating in the Grih Udyog and the stitching and tailoring units.

Ojaswini Mahotsav

The Ojaswini Mahotsav is a celebration of the Ojaswini sprit, where the buyers and sellers of handicrafts and handlooms, automobiles, herbal products, electronics, banking and insurance, home furnishing, clothes, foods etc. come together. Started in 2005, it has now become an annual 10-day event at Bhopal, Jabalpur and Sagar. It is a unique combination of trading & marketing displays & exhibitions blended with musical concerts, ballets, dramas, laughter shows and dance performances, singing & dancing competitions. It is a unique event which doubles up as a platform to promote performing arts and music.

The aim of the crafts bazaar is to contribute to the promotion and revival of local arts and crafts, provide a platform for artisans from across the country, to help crafts people get a fair price for their products, to create opportunities for cross pollination of ideas and techniques, to make local arts more accessible to people, and be an enabler in making handicrafts mainstream products. Through these annual exhibitions, the Nyas also encourages women entrepreneurs and SHG’s.

The main focus of the Nyas for the last 3 years has been to provide direct market linkages of buyers and sellers through its Crafts Bazaar and Gandhi Shilp Bazaar. The Nyas also conducts numerous welfare activities e.g. – health camps, sanitation workshops, etc. Many beneficiaries of these activities include artists and crafts people.

Through its annual melas, the Nyas provides a platform to artists, crafts people and women entreprenuers to exhibit and sell their crafts at a fair price and be able to reach a wider audience. Feedback from consumers is shared with the artists at the end of each mela, in order to help them adapt products to better suit the needs and expectations of buyers. The melas serve as a single point market linkage for crafts people and the public. The Nyas has in the last 20 years created numerous SHG’s, and has also recently started providing micro finance at a small scale (in tune with its financial restrictions) to local artists. To overcome the existing problems, the Nyas aims at forming clusters and better aid the cause of the artists.

Ojaswini Swarshree & Nritya Shree Competitions

To promote talent in the areas of dancing and singing, the Nyas organises the Ojaswini Swarshree & Ojaswini Nrityashree singing and dancing competitions at Bhopal, Jabalpur and Sagar during the Ojaswini Mahotsav. Up till now more than 3000 participants have participated in these competitions. Over the years many celebrated dancers, poets, musicians, comedians, etc. have graced the Ojaswini Mahotsav stage.

Ojaswini Alankaran

Instituted in 1997 in the golden jubilee year of Bharat’s independence, more than 40 social workers, artists, dancers, musicians, scientists and sports women have been awarded with Ojaswini Shirsha Alankaran (in any field), Ojaswini Shikhar Sewa Alankaran (for social service), Ojaswini Udyamita Alankaran (entrepreneurship) and Yuva Ojaswini. Along with it, special State awards are also given to women achievers of Madhya Pradesh only. A felicitation of women achievers in their fields of success. Women achievers like Ms. Nalini Singh, Mrs. Sudha Murti, Mrs. Sushma Swaraj, Mrs. Kanta Ben Tyagi, Ms. Mallika Sarabhai, Ms. Vandana Shiva, Ms. Tessy Thomas, Ms. Veenu Morwala, Ms. Padma Subramanium, etc. have been felicitated with the Ojaswini Alankaran. The honours have been bestowed upon the recipients by luminaries like Hon’ble Shri Narendra Modi, (Late) Hon’ble Shri Atal Bihari Bajpai, (Late) Shri Lal Krishna Advani, (Late) Shri George Fernandes, (Late) Shri Sunder Lal Patwa, Shri Vishnu Prasad, Shri Digvijay Singh, Shri Vikram Verma, Smt. Jayanti Ben Mehta Smt. Mridula Sinha, Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Dr. Raman Singh, Shri Vijayendra Ghatge, Shri Babulal Gaur, Smt Uma Bharti, Shri Kailash Vijayvargiya, , Shri Nitin Gadkari, Shri Kailash Sarang, among many others.

Seminars, Workshops, Camps and Campaigns

Seminars, Workshops, Campaigns, Symposiums, Discussions, Public Hearings, Interactions are organized to create awareness and raise concerns over issues and to promote entrepreneurship amongst youth & women and provide learning opportunities. The Nyas has more than 50 workshops/seminars to its credit in last 15 years on issues like – water harvesting, pollution control, entrepreneurship, healthcare, role of women in local bodies, etc.

The Nyas also periodically undertakes awareness and cleanliness drives to promote swacha bharat abhiyaan, through active debates and dialogue across various sections of the society, including school and college students.