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Established in 1919 in accordance with the will of Sir Ratan Tata, the younger
son of group founder Jamsetji Tata, the trust is a grant-bestowing public
foundation.

The trust seeks to be a catalyst in development through giving grants to

institutions in various areas. It focuses its grants towards organisations that it
can partner to undertake innovative and sustained initiatives with the
potential to make a visible difference. It also provides grants for endowments,
has a separate programme for small grants and gives grants to individuals for
education and medical relief.

   
 
The bulk of the trustǯs institutional grants are in the areas of rural livelihoods
and communities, and education.


     

The trust focuses on the following key initiatives within the broad areas of
land and water development and microfinance:

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: CInI involves a series of livelihood
projects across the central India region, addressing core issues aimed at
alleviating poverty among tribal communities in a sustainable manner.
RÊ Ô 
: The initiative addresses some of the key rural
development issues confronting the inhabitants of the Himalayas, on a
systematic basis.
RÊ 
  
: This initiative tackles issues
related to seawater ingress on the Gujarat coastline through field
projects and coordination with the state government.
RÊ ^
 
     : The objective is to develop
replicable models for drought proofing in the desert regions of
Rajasthan.
RÊ    
 : The initiative involves a series of
interventions encouraging crop diversification in Punjab and Tamil
Nadu to tackle the negative impact of the rice-wheat cropping system.
RÊ cc  : The initiative consolidates and expands community-
based micro-finance in Rajasthan by strengthening livelihoods and
reducing vulnerabilities. While strengthening linkages between micro-
 finance and development, the trust is also supporting a large
community-based microfinance programme in South India.
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   : The initiative addresses the recurrent issue
of farmersǯ suicides in six distress districts located in Vidharbha region
of Maharashtra through promoting sustainable, improved agricultural
practices, microfinance, development of market linkages, soil and water
conservation and alternative livelihood options.
RÊ Œ
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   : The initiative addresses livelihood issues of the
North-eastern states comprising Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur,
Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

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The trustǯs grants in the field of education follow a focused approach in the
following areas:

RÊ Reforming elementary education

RÊ Nurturing education as a discipline
RÊ Alternative education
RÊ Higher education

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The trust focuses its efforts in the following areas:

RÊ Rural health programmes

RÊ Specialised healthcare services
RÊ Health training and capacity building
RÊ Clinical establishment

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The trustǯs grants are based on the three sub-themes of:

RÊ Citizenship and participation

RÊ Human rights and governance
RÊ Governance in civil society

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Here, the trustǯs grants are focused around the following:
 RÊ Arts institutions and infrastructure, which revolves around
regenerating institutions, theatre infrastructure and advanced learning
in the arts
RÊ Arts and the public domain, revolving around urban spaces and new
design pedagogy
RÊ Arts and the culture industries focusing on new media practices,
researching culture industries, conservation and archiving and
independent publishing in India on bringing arts practice into the
classroom

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The trust has developed and used endowments to sustain mission-driven
institutions that influence positive change in society. It has a formal
endowment strategy with well-set norms and clearly defined criteria that
enable it to identify and appraise deserving institutions.

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These cater to the needs of small, welfare-oriented organisations, and those
needing support to implement innovative ideas. Grants are also given to large
organisations that need funding for strategic planning, focused research
activities or strengthening internal systems.

  

The Individual Grants Programme of the trust provides financial help for:

RÊ Medical contingencies
RÊ Scholars pursuing higher education in India and assistance for
education-related overseas trave