Service that begins with dignity
A few service-minded people from Kothacheruvu, one conviction — that lasting change begins when women are safe, skilled and free to shape their own lives.
A society of the people it serves
Prabhat Rural Development Society was started by a few service-minded individuals to work for the social and economic upliftment of the underserved — agricultural labourers, small and marginal farmers, and the most vulnerable families of rural and urban Andhra Pradesh.
Registered in Anantapur on 30 December 1994, PRDS works from its office in Kothacheruvu across the mandals of Sri Satya Sai District — one of the driest parts of India, where men often migrate for work and women carry the weight of the family alone.
Women and their families are at the centre of everything we do: their safety, their income, their children's schooling, their health, and their voice in the village.
A society is registered
PRDS is registered at Anantapur (Reg. No. 1402/1994) to work for the upliftment of the rural poor.
The first free tailoring centre
A free tailoring centre opens in Kothacheruvu; demand soon brings two more, in Puttaparthi and Bukkapatnam. Anahata Stiftung, Germany, begins its long support.
Holy Cow and Nurse in Progress
With Francesco Tamma — Love in Action, the first 30 women receive cows in March, and nine village girls win full nursing scholarships.
Francesco Tamma Park
About 200 plants take root at the KGBV school complex in Roddam, in Francesco's memory.
Eye Care on Wheels
With KIA India, a mobile eye clinic reaches 37 villages and 1,640 patients.
Thousands of families
Thirteen programmes across Kothacheruvu, Puttaparthi, Bukkapatnam and Roddam mandals.
Beyond the programmes
Alongside the programmes our supporters fund, PRDS runs this work in the villages year after year.
Family counselling centre
At our Kothacheruvu office, women bring problems of alcoholism, abuse, misuse of money and suppression — and find the support to solve them without going to court.
Legal awareness camps
Advocates, police officials and activists explain women's rights and the Domestic Violence Act in the villages, so women know how to seek protection.
Orange Day
On the 25th of every month, a programme to stop violence against women and girls — at home, on the way to school, and in school.
Gender awareness
Film shows in villages, schools and colleges, followed by discussion, and gender training at village level on why inequality persists and what each of us can do.
Leadership for minority women
Under the Nai Roshni programme of the Ministry of Minority Affairs, 425 minority women from three mandals were trained in leadership.
Health camps
Diagnostic and curative camps with qualified doctors and free medicines, and baby-massage demonstrations for first-time mothers every year.
Ensuring a violence-free society for women is a social issue, and the responsibility of all — men and women. Join hands in this movement.— Mother Teresa