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Pragyan Sankar Foundation

Organisational profile · 2026

Pragyan Sankar Foundation emblem — a tree of life with family figures, gold and teal wings

Pragyan Sankar Foundation

প্ৰজ্ঞান শংকৰ ফাউণ্ডেচন

Knowledge for Harmony, Action for Impact.

Advancing Livelihoods, Skills & Sustainable Communities

A Section 8 non-profit in Nagaon, Assam, working with rural and marginalized communities across Northeast India on skills, livelihoods, environmental conservation, and waste management.

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H. No. 254, Raidongia, Haiborgaon, Nagaon, Assam – 782002, India

Women from a Nagaon village at a Pragyan Sankar Foundation community meeting

With communities in Nagaon district

Field photograph · August 2026

  • Section 8

    Companies Act, 2013

  • 12A & 80G

    Provisional · AY 26–29

  • NGO Darpan

    AS/2025/0758877

  • Based in

    Nagaon, Assam

Who we are

About the Foundation

Pragyan Sankar Foundation is a Section 8 non-profit company headquartered in Nagaon, Assam. PSF works across skill development, livelihood generation, environmental conservation, and solid waste management to empower rural and marginalized communities across Northeast India.

Incorporated on 30 July 2025, the Foundation is led by a core team with over a decade of combined expertise in national skilling programmes and entrepreneurship initiatives — strengthened by first-hand experience in building an agricultural startup and in documenting the lived realities of rural livelihoods. This blend of programme delivery, entrepreneurial grounding, and grassroots research underpins PSF’s pan-India mandate for inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development.

Vision

A society where every individual — regardless of background — has access to sustainable livelihoods, quality skills, and a healthy environment.

Mission

  1. 01Promote sustainable development by disseminating knowledge, building community capacities, fostering institutional partnerships, and implementing inclusive, innovative field models.
  2. 02Implement targeted interventions that enhance the quality of life and socio-economic well-being of underprivileged and marginalized populations.
  3. 03Advance research, vocational training, and knowledge exchange in sustainability, healthcare, and social welfare, in collaboration with government agencies, academia, and civil society.
  4. 04Promote sports and physical fitness, and establish specialized nursing and allied healthcare training institutes.
  5. 05Promote women’s empowerment by strengthening skills, entrepreneurship, livelihood opportunities, leadership, and economic participation.
  6. 06Support the preservation, upgradation, and market linkage of traditional handloom and handicrafts, with a focus on sustainable livelihoods for artisans and weavers.

From the field

Photographs from Nagaon

Community meetings and village visits published on the Foundation’s Facebook page in August 2026 — including gatherings at Bamunijan and Chaparmukh.

  • Women from a Nagaon village seated in a community hall while a PSF facilitator leads a meeting

    Village meeting with women participants

    Community hall, Nagaon district

  • A large group of women seated under a bamboo shed in a green village, listening to a PSF facilitator

    Awareness session under a bamboo shed

    Village gathering

  • Women seated outdoors at a village meeting while a facilitator in a maroon shirt addresses them

    Discussion with women from the community

    Open-air meeting

  • Rural men standing with a PSF team member under trees after a field visit

    With community members after the session

    Field visit

Core values

IMPACTS

IMPACTS is the guiding acronym for our organisation’s values. Each letter shapes how we design programmes, engage communities, and hold ourselves accountable to the people we serve and the donors who support our work.

  1. I
  2. M
  3. P
  4. A
  5. C
  6. T
  7. S

Human & Empathy

  • I

    Inclusivity

    Welcoming and serving all community members equitably, regardless of background or identity.

  • I

    Integrity

    Treating all stakeholders as equals and acting honestly and consistently in every decision.

Growth & Goal

  • M

    Mission-Driven

    Directing every resource and project towards achieving core social goals.

  • A

    Accountability

    Ensuring programmes create tangible, proven outcomes and maintaining full ownership of results.

Action & Collaboration

  • P

    Participation

    Collaborating with communities as active partners to amplify sustainable social change.

  • C

    Community-Centric

    Placing local voices and grassroots needs at the heart of design, execution, and evaluation.

  • T

    Transparency

    Operating openly, sharing information responsibly, and maintaining donor and public trust.

  • S

    Self-Reliance

    Building local capacity and mentoring grassroots leaders so communities can sustain progress.

Learning & innovation

Continuous Learning

Continuous Learning runs across all eight values — using field evidence, data, and innovation to adapt programmes and strengthen long-term social impact.

Where we work

Focus areas

Skill, livelihoods, women’s economic participation, traditional crafts, environment, health, and rural development — always with local partners.

  • Skill Development
  • Women’s Empowerment & Livelihoods
  • Handloom & Handicrafts
  • Environment & Forests
  • Health & Family Welfare
  • Rural Development & Poverty Alleviation
  • Education & Literacy
  • Solid Waste Management & Circular Economy

On the ground

Key projects & initiatives

  • Rows of tea bushes at an Assam tea estate in morning light

    Flagship skilling

    PMKVY 4.0 RPL — Tinkharia Tea Estate

    Recognition of Prior Learning certification and upskilling for tea garden workers and ASCI-certified Sardars at Tinkharia Tea Estate, under the NABCONS/ASCI framework, delivered through bilingual Assamese and English training modules aligned to NSQF standards.

  • Sorted plastic bales and a vermicompost bed at a rural waste-management unit

    Solid waste management

    Raha Circular Livelihood Mission

    A waste-to-wealth circular economy partnership with the Raha Development Block under Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen). PSF supports Plastic Waste Management Unit operations with Raha Anchalik Panchayat and Gram Panchayat vermicomposting models with GP Water & Sanitation Committees.

  • Turmeric, chillies and fruit drying on racks under a solar dryer canopy

    Post-harvest livelihoods

    Solar Drying Technology Collaboration

    A collaboration with Rudra Solar Energy Private Limited to deploy solar drying technology as a sustainable post-harvest livelihood model for rural agricultural producers.

  • Women gathered under a village bamboo shed for a Pragyan Sankar Foundation community session

    Skills and leadership

    Women’s Empowerment & Entrepreneurship

    Community-based skilling, entrepreneurship, and leadership programmes that strengthen women’s participation in the local economy — from village meetings to livelihood pathways they can sustain.

  • Traditional crafts, viable livelihoods

    Artisans and weavers

    Handloom & Handicrafts Livelihoods

    Capacity building, product development, design and skill upgradation, and market-oriented support for artisans and weavers, so traditional crafts remain a viable livelihood.

The Brahmaputra river valley in Assam under late-afternoon light

2026

Recent highlights

  1. 01

    Represented PSF at GCPRS 2026 (Global Conclave on Plastic Recycling and Sustainability), Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.

  2. 02

    Participated in Meta Day 2026, Guwahati, and the HCLTech Grant Pan-India Symposium 2026 (Edition XII).

  3. 03

    Onboarded three new Directors in August 2026, strengthening leadership with national skilling-ecosystem and agricultural science expertise.

  4. 04

    Signed institutional Work Orders with partner organisations for programme auditing and documentation.

  5. 05

    Building institutional linkages with academic, health, and skill-development institutions — including Assam Agricultural University, medical colleges, IIE, NEHHDC, SIIC Guwahati, IIHT Khanapara, NIFTEM-K, Assam Skill University, and the Assam Textile Institute.

Governance

Board of Directors

The Board brings together national skilling leadership, a decade of Northeast programme delivery, an agri-startup founder, rural livelihood research, and community outreach.

  • Dr. Smita Chetia Talukdar

    Director

    Former North East Head, NSDC (2023–2026); former Associate Faculty and North East Regional Head, EDII (2016–2023).

  • Pranjal Rajkhowa

    Director (Founder)

    More than ten years implementing skilling and entrepreneurship programmes across Northeast India.

  • Dr. Bijaylakhmi Goswami

    Director

    Agricultural scientist and founder of an agri-startup, bringing hands-on enterprise experience alongside expertise in sustainable farming practices and rural capacity building.

  • Ilakshee Bhuyan Nath

    Director

    Appointed August 2026 to strengthen strategic execution and institutional partnerships. She has documented and researched the lived realities of rural livelihoods across Northeast India.

  • Kankana Saikia

    Director

    Founding subscriber and active Board Member, driving community outreach.

Contact

Work with us

We welcome partnerships with government agencies, academic institutions, CSR teams, and community organisations across India.