The Chinmaya Organization for Rural Development, known as CORD, is an organization that helps with rural development throughout

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

. It is the service wing of

Chinmaya Mission The Chinmaya Mission is a Hindu religious and spiritual organization engaged in the dissemination of Vedanta, the science of the self as expounded in the Vedas, particularly the Upanishads, and other Hindu scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita. ...

. CORD aims to promote sustainable development in India through activities such as empowering women, helping with

microfinancing Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings ...

, and forming ''Mahila Mandals'' or self-help groups. Rather than just giving aid, CORD focuses on helping people by teaching them necessary skills to be self-sufficient and independent.

History

The beginnings of CORD came from the service efforts of Dr. Kshama Metre, who worked as a doctor in India. Her experience with meeting

Swami Chinmayananda Swami Chinmayananda Saraswati (born Balakrishna Menon; 8 May 1916 – 3 August 1993) was a Hindu spiritual leader and a teacher. In 1951, he founded Chinmaya Mission, a worldwide nonprofit organisation, in order to spread the knowledge of Advaita ...

inspired her to leave her medical practice and join the

to assist in their work in the rural areas of the country. Metre set up health centres for women and children in the village of Sidhbhari,

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

. In 2003, the service efforts of Chinmaya Mission were merged into the organization CORD, so CORD was born.

References

{{reflist Rural development organisations in India