This momentum has not come overnight. It reflects years of steady work by development design organisations like Transform Rural India (TRI), which have helped narrow the gap between rural communities and policy systems. Set up as an independent, not-for-profit organisation in January 2016, TRI completes ten years this month, working to transform India’s bottom 1,00,000 villages into flourishing localities, the organisation has spent the past decade translating intent into action - one community at a time. Today, its work sits at the meeting point of community leadership and system reform, with a strong focus on tribal and underserved regions.
TRI operates across seven states (Intensive work in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and catalytic work in Maharashtra, Assam and Bihar), working closely with 51 district administrations. Through partnerships with more than 2,000 Panchayats, women’s collectives and government departments such as Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Agriculture, and Women and Child Development, the organisation has reached over 10 million people.
The Rural Economic Conditions and Sentiments Survey 2025 by NABARD points to a visible improvement in rural economic activity. About 76.6 per cent of rural households reported higher spending, signalling steady, consumption-led growth. The findings also reflect how government schemes and rural development programmes are translating on the ground, with rising incomes, wider financial access, and growing confidence among rural families.
Further, thousands of rural entrepreneurs have been supported to strengthen local economies and reduce distress-driven migration. Women have been connected with essential gender, healthcare and welfare services through platforms such as Gender Resource Centres. By strengthening grassroots institutions like self-help groups and cluster-level federations, and enabling convergence across schemes, communities have collectively accessed government benefits, resources that might otherwise have remained out of reach. These ground efforts and rural voices are also reaching global platforms through participation in platforms like COP30 and the upcoming 70th Session on the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations.
“As Transform Rural India turns 10, this is a moment of pride and reflection for all of us. A decade of working closely with rural communities will shape our strategy for the coming years where we will focus on co-creating locality-led, place-based transformation,” shares Anirban Ghosh, Lead, TRI.
He added, “In the next 10 years, we will deepen our commitment to gender inclusion by positioning women as core drivers of change, unlock markets to enable rural youth to pursue entrepreneurship, and strengthen our Neighbourhood of Care model as an enabler within the public health ecosystem. Alongside this, we will continue with our multi-thematic strategy and ‘whole-of-society’ lens to fulfill our long-term goal of enabling 100,000 flourishing localities across India.”
TRI also partners with several central, state and local governments, working on education, health and nutrition, livelihoods, gender equity, climate action and more while localising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to drive systemic change from the ground up. The organisation has been instrumental in shaping initiatives such as the ‘Lakhpati Didi Yojana’, which enables women to earn at least Rs. 1 lakh annually, and the ‘Birsa Harit Gram Yojana’, a flagship agroforestry-based livelihood program in Jharkhand.
TRI also runs the annual India Rural Colloquy, showcasing evidence-based research on rural India. Each year, reports focus on key themes such as healthcare, climate action, women’s health, and rural enterprises, helping shape interventions and policy discussions. Additionally, in collaboration with Hindu College, TRI has also launched India’s First Practice-Embedded Programme in Public Policy and Management.
