PGVS · Since 1985

Who We Are

We are a people's organisation working with the poorest communities of Bihar for land, livelihood and dignity — on Gandhian principles of non-violent action, self-reliance and local governance.

Our story

In 1985 a group of young social activists from the Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Vahini, the youth organisation led by Loknayak Jai Prakash Narayan, began working with the Musahar community in four blocks of Patna district. In 1988 they registered Pragati Gramin Vikas Samiti under the Societies Registration Act of 1860. Our focus widened to all Dalit, tribal and excluded communities, and so did our field area.

41 years of service

Our Vision

A just and equitable society in which every landless and marginalised family in Bihar lives with dignity, owns the land it tills and lives on, and takes its own decisions.

Our Mission

To organise the most marginalised and vulnerable sections of society — particularly Dalit, tribal and landless women — to secure their rights to land, livelihood and social security through non-violent people's action.

From the Secretary

Forty years ago we began in six villages with a single conviction: that the poorest family has the same right to land, work and respect as anyone else. That conviction still guides us. Today our work reaches Patna, Muzaffarpur and Banka — securing forest rights for tribal families, building women's self-help groups, and helping households earn a steady income through goat rearing and farming. None of this is our achievement alone; it belongs to the women and men who chose to stand up for their own rights.

Mr. Pradeep Priyadarshi Secretary, PGVS

How we work

Four principles that shape every programme we run.

Non-violent action

Change won through organisation, dialogue and peaceful assertion — never through force.

Self-reliance

Savings, skills and producer groups so families depend on their own strength, not on charity.

Local governance

Gram Sabhas, forest-rights committees and village groups that take their own decisions.

Women first

Dalit and tribal women lead our groups, our trainings and our claims before the administration.

Our journey

Four decades of standing with the landless.

1985
Work begins with Musahar families in four blocks of Patna district.
1988
PGVS registered under the Societies Registration Act, 21 of 1860.
1991
Ekta Parishad promoted in Bihar as a community-based people's organisation.
2001
A month-long Padayatra from Jamui to Patna through six districts on the land question.
2017
NGO Darpan registration; work widens to forest rights and women's livelihoods.
2025
Forty years of service — Patna, Muzaffarpur and Banka, with 5,619 self-help group members.