The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation was established on 21 June 1991 to commemorate Rajiv Gandhi's vision for India. The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation aims to work in areas which were of deepest concern to Rajiv Gandhi and to act as a catalyst in promoting effective, practical and sustainable programmes in areas of national development. The Foundation has established its presence in virtually all the states and union territories of India, and launched programmes and activities in all our areas of concentration.

The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation intervenes in the following areas :

Universal elementary education and literacy

Empowerment of the underprivileged, especially women, children, tribals, and the economically         depressed

Propagation and extension of health cover facilities in backward regions and for the dispossessed

Helping people with disabilities to become self reliant and to provide them with equal         opportunities for employment or self employment

Promotion of science and technology applied in the service of people

The Foundation exists to serve India’s underprivileged and deprived, irrespective of caste, region, religion or political affiliation. It carries forward some of Rajiv’s dreams for a more humane and caring India.

Despite India’s accelerating economic progress, large sections of our people remain marginalized. Government by itself cannot meet the demands of our enormous and growing population. We have a long way to go to achieve universal literacy, quality education for all, better healthcare for the poor, a place in the national mainstream for the disabled and the development of our women and children to their full potential. Newer challenges have emerged, among which water conservation, environmental protection, combating HIV/AIDS and female foeticide are prominent. Civil society can and must be proactive in helping the country achieve these major national goals.

It gives me much satisfaction that the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation is playing its part in contributing to progress on all these issues. It is doing so in innovative and pioneering ways, both directly as well as through partnership with NGOs in different parts of the country.

I hope you will find this website of interest, and that you too will become one of the Foundation’s friends, on whose support we can depend.

SONIA GANDHI

The Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies (RGICS) is a research institute with a specific focus on areas that have a policy angle, as opposed to abstract and esoteric research work that is devoid of policy content. It concentrates on research in four broad segments - international economic relations (much of the work in this area is World Trade Organization related), economic reforms, law (including administrative law) reforms and working towards a knowledge-based society. In each of these segments, the intention is to indicate ways for the benefit of reforms to filter through to the poor. Some of the research is conducted in-house, but research work is also farmed out on contractual basis. In addition, the Institute plays an advocacy role through seminars, workshops and publications.

RGICS has three streams of publications. First, there are books brought out on each of the above areas. Second, there is a series of published working papers. Third, there is a series known as "Agenda for Change". These are reader-friendly documents on specific policy aspects. Some future numbers of "Agenda for Change" are on legal reforms, information technology and economic reforms for the poor.