Access to quality healthcare is a fundamental right, not a privilege. Elara Foundation works to bring primary care, preventive medicine, and health awareness to communities in remote Uttarakhand who would otherwise go without.
In the remote villages of Uttarakhand, quality healthcare can feel impossibly out of reach. Treacherous mountain terrain, absent roads, and a severe shortage of trained doctors mean that even basic primary care — a doctor's visit, a vaccination, a hygiene education session — remains a luxury for thousands of families spread across the Kumaon and Garhwal regions.
When a child falls ill, hours of travel separate families from the nearest medical facility. When preventive health knowledge never arrives, diseases that could be stopped before they start take hold instead. For women in Himalayan communities, reproductive and maternal health support is often entirely absent. For children with disabilities, the barriers compound at every turn.
"Healthcare is not a privilege of geography. It is a right that must follow every person, no matter how remote their village."
Since 2002, the Dr. Liladhar Bhatt Memorial Kalyan Samiti has been running healthcare programmes across Uttarakhand — operating health camps, conducting medical outreach in remote villages, and partnering with specialist organisations to address every dimension of the healthcare gap, from nutrition to hygiene to special needs care.
Each programme targets a specific gap in healthcare access — and together they create a continuum of care from prevention and nutrition through to specialist support for those with the greatest needs.
The Kalyan Samiti operates health camps and medical outreach across remote villages in Kumaon and Garhwal — bringing doctors, basic diagnostics, and essential medicines directly to communities that cannot reach a clinic on their own.
Partner: Kalyan SamitiPrevention saves lives. Through KMUM's health education and hygiene programmes for Himalayan women, communities learn about sanitation, safe water practices, maternal health, and disease prevention — reducing illness before it begins.
Partner: KMUMAkshaya Patra's mid-day meal programme is preventive healthcare in action. Nutritious, freshly cooked school meals combat malnutrition, improve immunity, and sustain children's physical development — ensuring children are healthy enough to learn and grow.
Partner: Akshaya PatraSamarpan Home's hostel for underprivileged girls ensures that healthcare is woven into daily life. Girls in the programme receive regular health check-ups, nutritional support, hygiene education, and access to medical care — protections that many would have none of otherwise.
Partner: Samarpan HomeA dedicated partner organisation provides comprehensive healthcare, therapy support, and daily care for 50 children living with diverse disabilities. Beyond medical care, the programme fosters creativity and inclusion — including a scarf knitting unit that builds independence, fine motor skills, and community belonging.
Partner: Specialist Care OrganisationSubstance dependency tears apart individuals and families. The Kalyan Samiti's drug rehabilitation programme offers counselling, medical support, and community reintegration pathways — helping people in Uttarakhand reclaim their health and their futures, and giving families hope for recovery.
Partner: Kalyan SamitiOne of the world's largest NGO-run mid-day meal programmes, Akshaya Patra demonstrates that nutrition is a cornerstone of healthcare. By serving millions of hot, nutritious meals to school children every day, the programme directly combats childhood malnutrition and the long-term health consequences it causes. Elara Foundation's support helps extend this life-changing work to children in Uttarakhand.
🍱 Nutrition · Child Health · Preventive CareFounded in 1947 by Gandhian leader Sarla Behn in Kausani, KMUM runs a respected residential ashram and outreach programme for Himalayan women. At the heart of its work is health education — teaching hygiene, reproductive health, and preventive practices to women who become health champions for their entire communities.
👩⚕️ Women's Health · Hygiene Education · EmpowermentSamarpan Home provides shelter, education, and care to underprivileged girls in a safe hostel environment. Healthcare is integral to the programme — regular medical check-ups, nutritious meals, hygiene facilities, and health education ensure that every girl in the hostel has the physical foundation to thrive in education and life.
🏠 Girls' Health · Residential Care · Holistic SupportThe Kalyan Samiti is the backbone of Elara Foundation's direct healthcare work in Uttarakhand. Running since 2002, it operates health camps, medical outreach into remote villages, and specialist programmes including drug rehabilitation — ensuring that communities across Kumaon and Garhwal receive primary care and preventive support no matter how isolated their location.
🩺 Primary Care · Health Camps · RehabilitationIn one of the partner programmes supported by Elara Foundation, 50 children with diverse disabilities receive not only healthcare and therapy, but also something rarer: a space to create, to belong, and to be seen.
The scarf knitting unit at the partner centre is a small but powerful example of what holistic care looks like. Children with conditions ranging from cerebral palsy to intellectual disabilities sit together and learn to knit — guided by patient carers who understand that every loop of wool is also a moment of fine motor development, focus, and self-belief.
"When a child knits a scarf, they are not just making something warm. They are proving — to themselves and to the world — that they are capable of making something beautiful."
The unit fosters creativity, builds independence, and promotes inclusion — three principles that are inseparable from genuine healthcare. Medical attention alone is not enough; children with disabilities need environments that celebrate what they can do, not only treat what they struggle with.
Your support helps fund the healthcare, therapy, and creative programmes that keep all 50 of these children growing, connected, and valued.
Your donation goes directly to healthcare programmes — with zero administrative overhead.