What We Do

India has the second highest population in the world. Over 1.3 billion people live in a country that covers 3’287’590 km2 of surface. According to the World Bank 44% of the inhabitants of India live on less than one dollar per day. And according to UNICEF over 2.1 million children die on a yearly basis before they reach their 5th year. The situation is especially worrying in the country side.

Bihar is a state in the North Eastern part of India. With a population of ~104 millions inhabitants and a surface of 94’163 km2 it is one of the most populated states in India. And it is also one of the poorest and least developed ones. 80% of the population lives in villages. Houses are built mainly with wood, soil and/or grass. These houses are unable to protect their inhabitants from the outside temperature, which often drops below 0 Degree Celsius in the wintertime. People are vulnerable to sickness and death.

India’s health system is organized on state level. Although the health system in the country side has improved a lot over the years, there is still a big difference between the health care in the countryside and in the cities. A lot of villages have no access to medical facilities. Bad hygienic conditions and missing access to clean drinking water and sanitary installations as well as malnourishment worsen the situation.

India’s education system is also organized on state level and imposes compulsory education for children from 6 to 14 years; there are however huge regional differences as the education is mostly managed by the federal states. This shows in a very uneven illiterate rate. While Kerala – as the state with the highest alphabetization rate – only had 6.1% illiterate rate in 2011, the poor state of Bihar shows with 36.2 % illiterate rate nearly 6 times as high.

This is why the foundation KANTI SOCIAL FOUNDATION has – since the establishment in 2021 – concentrated its work in the three sectors medical care, education and home care.