The Greater Role of Trusts and Religious Institutions in Empowering Communities
As the focus of social welfare expands from immediate relief to skills, enterprise and economic independence, trusts, religious institutions and charitable organisations can become important partners in taking opportunities to the last mile.
For generations, trusts, religious institutions and charitable organisations in India have been associated with helping people in times of need. Food, education, healthcare, housing and financial assistance have formed the traditional pillars of charitable activity. But the changing nature of economic vulnerability is also raising a larger question: Can these institutions do more than provide relief and help people build sustainable livelihoods?
The answer could lie in the considerable reach and community networks that such institutions already possess.
Unlike many formal systems, trusts and charitable bodies often work directly within communities. They know the local needs, have established relationships with beneficiaries and, in many cases, possess infrastructure and resources that can be deployed for social purposes. This puts them in a position to complement government and private-sector efforts by helping people acquire skills, find employment, start enterprises and access opportunities.
The idea is not to replace traditional charity. Immediate assistance remains essential for families facing hardship. But alongside relief, there is an opportunity to create a pathway from support to skills, skills to employment, and employment to a more stable livelihood.
Skills can provide a quicker route to earning
For someone who cannot afford several years of formal education, vocational training can provide a relatively immediate route towards employment or self-employment. A person trained in tailoring, electrical work, food processing, repair services, digital services or another locally relevant trade may be able to begin earning without waiting for a long formal education cycle to be completed.
This does not mean that skilling should be placed in opposition to education. Formal education remains critical to long-term mobility. But the two can serve different purposes. Education can build long-term human capital, while vocational skills can offer an earlier entry into the workforce.
The Government's PM-DAKSH programme reflects the growing emphasis on this approach. As of August 2025, government data recorded 1,87,305 people trained under the programme, of whom 73,102 had received employment or self-employment.
For trusts and charitable institutions, the opportunity is to take such possibilities closer to communities, identify those who could benefit and connect them with appropriate training.
Training is only the beginning
Yet a skill by itself does not necessarily create a livelihood.
A person may learn tailoring but not have a sewing machine. A trained mechanic may not have the tools to work independently. Someone with a food-processing skill may know how to make a product but not how to register a business, price it or find customers.
This is where the role of trusts and charitable organisations can extend into handholding.
Their involvement can include helping beneficiaries with documentation, business planning, financial literacy, equipment, registrations, employment opportunities and connections with potential customers.
Research into faith-based social finance has explored integrated models that bring together training, micro-credit, apprenticeships, business incubation and infrastructure support rather than treating each intervention separately.
The significance of such an approach is that it addresses the gap between acquiring a skill and actually being able to earn from it.
Turning charitable resources into productive capital
Finance is another critical link.
For a low-income individual, even a relatively small amount of capital can determine whether a skill becomes an income-generating activity. A sewing machine can turn training into a tailoring business; tools can allow a skilled worker to become independent; working capital can help an existing micro-enterprise increase production.
Trusts and charitable bodies, depending on their institutional structure and resources, can potentially provide seed capital, equipment assistance, grants or revolving funds, while also helping beneficiaries access formal credit.
The larger principle is important: charitable resources need not always be consumed in the form of one-time assistance. Where appropriate, they can potentially be deployed in ways that create continuing income-generating opportunities.
The missing link could be the market
But finance and skills still do not guarantee success.
For many first-generation entrepreneurs, the biggest challenge after setting up an activity is finding customers. A producer may have the ability to make a product but no established route to market.
This is an area where community institutions can potentially use their networks to create linkages with retailers, corporate buyers, institutional procurement, exhibitions, digital marketplaces and larger businesses.
The broader livelihood chain is therefore straightforward: a skill creates capability, finance creates capacity, and market access creates the possibility of sustained income.
Taking government schemes to the last mile
Another important role for charitable institutions could be helping people access government programmes.
India has numerous schemes covering skill development, entrepreneurship, credit, education, housing, healthcare and social security. But the existence of a scheme does not necessarily mean that its intended beneficiary will access it.
Awareness, eligibility, documentation and application procedures can all become barriers.
Trusts and community organisations, because of their presence at the grassroots, can potentially act as last-mile facilitators—identifying beneficiaries, explaining relevant schemes, assisting with documentation and connecting people with government departments or financial institutions.
Different organisations, different strengths
There is also a case for greater cooperation between charitable organisations.
One institution may have the community network to identify beneficiaries. Another may specialise in skills. A third may have expertise in finance or entrepreneurship, while another may have relationships with businesses and markets.
Bringing these capabilities together could create a more effective chain of support. Research has examined models combining CSR, Waqf and Zakat with training, micro-credit, apprenticeships, SME support, business incubation and infrastructure.
The principle is not complicated: organisations do not necessarily need to duplicate one another's work when they can complement it.
There are already several models in practice
India offers examples across different communities and institutional traditions.
The Don Bosco Network's Supportive Education and Empowerment Programme operated 74 remedial tuition centres and reached 2,278 children in 2024–25. More than 95% achieved minimum learning levels and 83% improved their grades. The programme also created children's parliaments, through which children identified 107 community issues, 34 of which were resolved.
The Akshaya Patra Foundation demonstrates how a charitable organisation can work at scale with government and other partners. Beginning in 2000 by serving 1,500 children in five Bengaluru schools, it crossed the milestone of 4 billion meals on April 2, 2024. In FY2024–25, it reported serving 52.6 crore meals to more than 2.25 million children across 23,000-plus schools.
The Waqf system illustrates another possibility: using community assets to create social and economic infrastructure. In 2019, the Ministry of Minority Affairs reported the development of Waqf properties for schools, colleges, ITIs, skill-development centres, hospitals, community centres and business centres. In 2022, the Government reported ₹71.54 crore in loans for 237 Waqf development projects across 16 States, including commercial complexes, hospitals and cold-storage facilities.
The Bombay Parsi Punchayet, with institutional roots going back to 1673, represents an integrated community-welfare model covering medical assistance, education, higher education, hostel facilities, polyclinic services and housing-related assistance.
The Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust's Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment illustrates how community institutions can contribute through physical and economic redevelopment. The project covers approximately 16.5 acres, involving more than 250 buildings, 3,200 families and 1,250 shops. Its first phase, Al-Saadah, was completed in 2020 and accommodated approximately 610 families and 128 businesses.
Religiously inspired organisations also offer examples of livelihood-oriented interventions. Annamrita Foundation, established in 2004, reports providing more than 1.2 million meals daily to schoolchildren in India, demonstrating how a religiously inspired network can operate a dedicated social-service institution alongside government programmes.
At Govardhan Eco Village in Palghar, initiatives include farmer training, agricultural inputs and machinery, women's Self-Help Groups, rural education and youth upskilling. The organisation reports reaching more than 1.5 lakh people since 2010, training more than 7,000 farmers and supporting more than 300 women's Self-Help Groups.
The Art of Living reports more than 4.75 lakh people trained in livelihood initiatives, 1.11 lakh women receiving vocational and entrepreneurship training and 30 lakh farmers trained in natural farming. It also reports reaching more than 70,000 villages and working with the Government of Odisha on 50 model gram panchayats.
Hamdard National Foundation, one of India’s most well-known and respected charitable organizations, beautifully illustrates how commercial activity can be linked to a wider social purpose. It has been a major sponsor of educational, social, and cultural causes.
These examples come from different institutional and community backgrounds. What they demonstrate is not a single model, but the breadth of what trusts, religious institutions and charitable organisations can potentially contribute—from education and nutrition to skills, agriculture, enterprise, housing and community infrastructure.
The larger opportunity is to connect these interventions more closely.
A person receiving assistance today could potentially acquire a skill tomorrow, receive help in starting an enterprise, access finance, find a market and eventually earn a more stable income. Such an approach does not diminish the importance of charity; it gives charity another dimension.
The contribution of trusts, religious and charitable bodies can therefore be viewed not only in terms of how much they provide, but also in terms of what they enable people to achieve.
For marginalised communities, that distinction can be significant. The ultimate objective is not simply to reduce hardship for a day, but to help create the skills, opportunities and support systems that allow individuals and families to move towards greater economic self-reliance, dignity and a more secure future.
The role of trusts, religious institutions and charitable organisations can extend beyond providing immediate relief to creating pathways towards sustainable livelihoods. Their grassroots presence, community networks and institutional resources can help connect marginalised individuals with skills, finance, employment, markets and government opportunities.
When skilling is combined with handholding, access to seed capital, market linkages and awareness of government schemes, charitable intervention can move beyond addressing an immediate need to helping create a continuing source of income. Greater cooperation between organisations can further bring together resources and expertise that may otherwise remain fragmented.
The examples across different communities demonstrate that there is no single model of empowerment. Whether through education and nutrition, vocational training, rural development, healthcare, housing or productive use of community assets, each institution can contribute in its own way.
The larger opportunity is to help people move from relief to capability, capability to livelihood and livelihood to greater economic independence. In doing so, trusts, religious and charitable bodies can become important partners in building not just immediate support systems, but more sustainable, dignified and secure livelihoods for marginalised communities.