Founded in 2018, CNIMS Research Foundation serves the underserved rural communities of Lathur and Thirukazhukundram blocks of Chengalpattu District, Tamil Nadu. Adopting a holistic approach, we empower rural communities to mobilize, organize, and work towards their own upliftment. We ensure equitable access to education, health, and socio-economic development with a special focus on women and the marginalized population. Our initiatives have empowered our beneficiaries to break free from the diverse challenges and reshape their future.
read moreAt CNIMS Research foundation, we use an evidence-based, integrated, and multidimensional approach to create a lasting impact for beneficiaries. Our integrated approach ensures that our initiatives lead to a sustainable outcome that can drive transformative change. Just educating and skill training young women will not have a long-lasting impact if the community is not made aware about the importance and value of women’s education and gender equity. That is why, we promote greater community participation and grassroot action. We make sure that all learning through our initiatives is hands-on so that our trainees can effectively apply theory to praxis at their jobs, thus improving their employability. Through partnerships with other NGOs in the area, local bodies, communities, government departments and others, we shall ensure synergy.
Owing to poverty & prevailing gender norms, girls in our project area often don’t go to college. They are married off early and are relegated to a lifetime of domesticity, unpaid care work, and daily wage/ casual work with measly wages. Through multipronged interventions and initiatives, we have been able to change this status quo.
We offer skill development programs such as tailoring, soft skill training, personality development, career
coaching, etc. to young women, helping them augment their skills and improve their employability in formal/
skill-based jobs and pursue entrepreneurship rather than daily wage work.
We regularly organize health camps in the villages in Madhuranthakam and Lathur blocks of Chengalpattu district. We also conduct school-based and community-based outreach programs to raise awareness on and improve the health, personal hygiene, and well-being of rural communities.
We empower rural communities to uplift themselves through regular awareness creation and community engagement programs. Our rural development initiatives span a wide range of areas such as health, well-being, safety, gender equity, rights, and other important issues.
We offer nursing & paramedical training to young women, helping them pursue higher education and formal, paid employment. This improved higher education attainment among girls, ensured financial security, reduced early marriages & early motherhood, and empowered young women.
Having lived in this area and worked with the community in the implementation areas, we observed that the number of girls entering into higher education is quite low. This is owing to the intersectional burden of gender, caste, class, and location combined informational poverty. Lathur and Madhurantakam blocks have the over 40% SC population, among the highest in Tamil Nadu.
Since familial situations, prevailing gender norms, and poverty prevent women from pursuing higher education, they tend to get married early. This leads to early pregnancies and higher fertility rates. They are relegated to domesticity and unpaid domestic and care work. Further, without proper skills and knowledge, these women are only able to access casual or daily wage work that pays them a pittance. This is why we started our journey here.