Top 15 Largest NGOs in India 2024

According to the Central Statistical Institute of India, there are more than 33 lakh non-profit organizations or NGOs that are currently working in the country. NGOs are independent organizations that are not sponsored by the government and operate to solve social, environmental, or humanitarian issues. Being a large and diversified country, India faces many social and economic challenges. These NGOs work to prevent and overcome the challenges and ensure the improvement of the quality of life of the people affected by these problems.

The main function of NGOs is to fill the gap between local organizations that need support and people who need resources. The government programs usually fail because of improper execution. In such cases, NGOs facilitate interaction between the locals and the government. They adapt themselves according to the needs of the people they serve, and since they are not driven by profit, they are more effective in bringing change. They implement programs and initiatives that encourage positive change and handle issues of great consequence such as poverty, environmental conservation, healthcare, and education. While the government is working day and night for betterment, there still is some gap between what the government feels to be the issue and reality.

Civil society organizations and NGOs specialize in a specific field and are thus knowledgeable of the exact cause that they are taking on. They are often part of local communities thus it becomes easy for local people to express their complaints to them as opposed to government officers. These organizations also enable ordinary citizens of different vocational experiences to participate, which helps them come up with novel and resourceful solutions that might work in tandem with usual governmental approaches. They also function as effective agents for the creation of awareness in the sense that they serve as amplifiers of the peoples' voices and are competent enough to respond to shifts in needs and unforeseen difficulties. Below are 15 of the best legitimate charities operating in India.

1. HelpAge India

HelpAge India was set up in 1978 and, in their own words, 'works for the cause and care of disadvantaged older persons to improve their quality of life'.

HelpAge believes that there is the right to have an active, healthy, and dignified life amongst the elderly, and they continue working in order to transform Indian society into this vision.

HelpAge works through 26 state offices across India, runs numerous on-ground programs, and addresses the needs and advocates for the rights of the elderly people at a national, state, and societal level.  

2. CRY (Child Rights and You)

Vision— 'A happy, healthy and creative child whose rights are protected and honored in a society built on respect for dignity, justice and equity for all.' CRY strives to empower people to hold themselves responsible for the predicament of deprived Indian children and to encourage them for solutions through collective action.

Besides being instrumental in people realizing that this power to make a move towards change does exist for them, this organization creates such people who may work towards safeguarding the rights for and on behalf of all India's children.

3. Pratham

Pratham, established as a response to the realization to make education possible for those kids living within the limits of Mumbai's slum belts, became one of India's leading NGOs ever established. It is an innovative learning organization built to improve the quality of education in the country with a focus on high-quality, low-cost, and replicable interventions that can fill gaps in the education system in India.

Working collaboratively with the government, local communities, parents, teachers, volunteers, and civil society members, Pratham makes efforts to ensure all children are able to go to school and succeed in school.

4. Nanhi Kali

Launched against the background of increasing population growth rate, low female literacy rates, and low female workforce participation, Mahindra Group launched Project Nanhi Kali in 1996. Nanhi Kali was launched as a sponsorship program with the twin objectives of impacting India's development positively by educating girls, as well as encouraging Indians to contribute to a noble cause. Over the years, Project Nanhi Kali has impacted the lives of over 700,000 underprivileged girls across 15 states in India.

5. Give India Foundation

Give India Foundation was formed in 2000 with a commitment to combating poverty through effective social projects in India. The foundation offers people and institutions the means of giving money to causes chosen and implementing programs with high-impact results in India.

So far, it has successfully gathered over 700 crores for welfare projects and has benefited over 15 million lives.

A giant network of partnerships and broad coverage of geography allows Give India to work together with its individuals and organizations to facilitate a poverty-free India.

6. Goonj

Goonj aims at an appropriate relationship of strength, sustenance, and dignity with the cities and villages so that it becomes a vehicle for triggering development with dignity. Increase the scale across regions, economies, and countries through an effective tool of utilizing an urban surplus material as a medium to address these simple issues yet neglected to be resolved by the economic and material poor, thus involving them in the process of designing and implementing with their effort, knowledge, and with dignity as rewards for being involved. Reaching as an idea across regions, economies, and countries through surplus material from the cities for solving the basic yet neglected issues among financially and materially poor people by engaging them into their own solution-making processes, with their own efforts, intelligence, and self-respect, and material as a reward for participation.

7. Akshaya Patra Foundation

The Akshaya Patra Foundation attempts to implement the PM POSHAN Initiative of the Government of India in a manner that helps to resolve overarching societal issues such as classroom hunger and malnutrition in the country. Investing in child nutrition and education is considered one of the best entry points for human development by the foundation. These young minds work with the vision of providing children with hot, nutritious and tasty mid-day meals as an incentive for them to come to school every day, so no child in India is deprived of education due to hunger.

8. Smile Foundation

Initiated in the year 2002, Smile Foundation has been on a journey of transformation as a sustainable Indian social institution committed to doing real work on the ground, thereby making society and businesses inclusive in the process of bringing change. Smile Foundation empowers underprivileged children, youth, and women through relevant education, innovative healthcare, and market-focused livelihood programs. It has adopted the philosophy of citizen-led change, transforming the civil society as a participatory partner in all of its welfare activities.

9. Bal Raksha Bharat

Bal Raksha Bharat, or Save the Children India, believes that nurturing children is nurturing the promise of India. The mission of Bal Raksha Bharat is to transform childhood landscapes all over the country with compassion, care and tireless efforts. Its approach is holistic because it addresses many aspects of childhood, including health and nutrition, quality education, protection from harm, support with psychosocial needs, and driving well-rounded development in children. Countless marginalized children have been empowered through the interventions by Bal Raksha Bharat to transform their own lives.

10. Plan India

Plan International (India Chapter) or Plan India constantly works to advance the welfare and development for children as well as for the equality of all girls and women in India.

Through grassroots social development work and gender-transformative child-centered community development, Plan India wants to have a long-lasting impact on the lives of poor and vulnerable children, their families and their communities. Plan India has transformed the lives of millions since 1996 by giving children and youth access to and benefits from the safety nets and schemes of the government for child protection.

11. Care India

Care India is an international nongovernmental organization committed to eradicating poverty and social injustice. Care India is an international nongovernmental organization dedicated to the elimination of poverty and social injustice. They are devoted to women's empowerment, health, and education. Their main thrust areas are women's empowerment, health, and education. Care India has been empowering marginalized communities across the country through economic independence and health and education. The organization works towards sustainable development, which is a long-term change. Sustainable development means working towards long-term change.

12. Oxfam India

Oxfam India has been known as one of the largest in poverty eradication, gender justice, climate change issues, and disaster relief operations. Oxfam India is working on various issues such as poverty, gender equity, environment, and disaster response, and it currently operates in many states that directly intervene, campaign and mobilize the community to address social imbalances. It works in several states while working on social injustice through proactive interventions, by empowering the local communities as well as through advocacy and campaign.

13. Habitat for Humanity India

Habitat for Humanity India helps to shed light on systemic inequalities, assisting impoverished communities to gain crucial resources and also aiding individuals to recover from emergencies and crises. Habitat for Humanity India offers low-cost housing solutions to poor families, which enhances their living standards and enables them to build a stable future. Habitat for Humanity India is completely dedicated to offering affordable housing options to low-income families in order to improve their quality of life and empower them to establish long-lasting futures. The NGO worked steadily in providing shelter through the construction of homes, water and sanitation facilities, and providing disaster relief that would help the families become self-sufficient in achieving basic human rights.

14. ActionAid India

ActionAid India is incessantly engaged in a fight against poverty and injustice, especially working towards gender equality, climate justice, and indigenous rights. This organization has always been at the forefront of fighting poverty and injustice. In this context, it focuses on the need for topics such as gender equality, climate justice, and the rights of indigenous communities to be brought into the limelight. The organization engages very closely with the grassroots for the defense of rights and empowers communities to influence policies affecting their well-being.

15. World Vision India

World Vision India enables communities through a rights-based approach in order to engage with climate, social, and economic challenges. World Vision India is an international Christian relief group that focuses on combating poverty and fighting for social equity for disadvantaged children, families, and societies. Child welfare, education, health, and community development mainly compose its focus areas. It has the main thrust in child welfare, education, health, and community development. In these fields, World Vision India's programs have elevated many families to better living conditions while also providing opportunities for sustainable growth.

The listed NGOs, and many others just like them, are doing work for the betterment of the country and have been proven to be dedicated to different causes.

They truly deserve the trust of the people whom they serve through dedicated service. It is simply impossible for lone individuals, or even corporations, to inspire change on their own. NGOs and welfare organizations make them capable of contributing in whatever way they can to bring about change and social betterment. A difference could be brought by donating, volunteering, or even simply associating with such NGOs. That's why so many hail NGOs as the true heroes of social transformation.