About Us

SOSVA – A MOTHER NGO 

Society for Service to Voluntary Agencies was founded in Pune (Maharashtra) in 1984 by a team of eminent doctors under the leadership of Dr Bano Coyaji. Over the next few years it extended its activities to Karnataka, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh. The Northern Chapter, with Headquarters at Delhi and catering to the Northern states of Punjab & Haryana, Capital Territory of Delhi and UT of Chandigarh, was registered as a separate Society in 1999. Later, in 2002, in order to conform to Revised RCH Project Guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the state units were registered as independent entities. SOSVA (North) Punjab (SOSVA), registered in 2002, looks after the activities in the State of Punjab.

SOSVA has been recognized as Mother NGO by Departments of Health & Family Welfare, Social Security, and Women and Child Development of Punjab Government. Since beginning it has been engaged in the promotion and strengthening of the voluntary movement by bringing field NGOs and State Government into an active and mutually beneficial relationship. To this end, SOSVA provides to the Government assured access to reliable field NGOs and a mechanism of positive monitoring of their performance.

Over 80 NGOs are currently working with us; an equal number had earlier been allotted projects by us and several others trained by us, through Capacity Building Workshops.

SOSVA receives funds from the State Government under the scheme for assistance to NGOs. It invites applications from NGOs through advertisements. Deputy Commissioners are also requested to arrange meetings of NGOs  in their districts, with Chairman SOSVA , to apprise the latter about eligibility criteria and the projects for which grants are admissible. Eligibility of the applicants is, thereafter, scrutinized before physical appraisal by Chairman or  Member Directors to ascertain their credibility and capacity. Requirement of funds is projected to the  Planning Department based  on the number of NGOs considered suitable for implementing projects. This is considered by the Apex Committee on NGOs , chaired by the Chief Secretary, and funds are allotted to SOSVA (North) Punjab. Thereafter, projects found suitable are placed before the Sanctioning Committee comprising Chairman SOSVA and representatives of concerned Punjab Government departments, for approval.

The performance of NGOs is monitored during implementation regularly through quarterly progress report, physical visits and video conferencing. Grant-in-Aid is released to NGOs  at periodical intervals subject to satisfactory progress. To guide NGO heads and get their feedback, review meetings are  held  with them.

Two major areas of our focus have been women’s empowerment through Skill Development programmes and Mother and Child Care, through Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) programme.

WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT

Projects for women empowerment mainly cater to women from the weaker sections of society. Skill development helps them to supplement family income through gainful employment.  Training courses are run through field NGOs in skin and hair beauty care, cutting and tailoring, computer applications and home care for elderly and chronically sick. Some NGOs are also supported for creating awareness and providing counseling against the menace of drug addiction and running centres for child nutrition for children from poor families. 

RCH PROGRAMMEE

SOSVA has been complementing the Health Department by hand holding of target groups since 1999 in areas inhabited by the poor where health indicators are relatively low.Under thisprogramme, NGOs create awareness about facilities and incentives available for pregnant women and children. Their endeavour is to improve the health indicators in terms of institutional deliveries, maternal and infant mortality and to provide support to vaccination programme for children. The RCH programme has, in recent years, been expanded to include awareness among adolescent girls regarding personal hygiene and sanitation, health care of the elderly, medical checkup of persons above 30 years of age and Ayurveda camps.

GOVERNING BOARD

SOSVA (N) Punjab has a Governing Board comprising eminent men and women drawn from diverse disciplines bound together by their zeal for the advancement of poorer sections of society. Day-to-day work of the NGO is looked after by a close-knit team consisting of Chairman-cum-Executive Director and seven Member Directors. Composition of the Board as on 06 June 2022  is as under: