Association for Social Transparency, Rights And Action (ASTRA)
ASTRA, weapon in Sanskrit, has reaffirmed its meaning as acronym for Association for Social Transparency, Rights and Action. Its a non-profit organization actively and successfully extirpating corruption at grass-root level in Karnataka by working directly with villagers and factory laborers.
Mission, Vision and Principles
Mission : Strive towards building a society that is accountable and free of corruption.
Vision : For a society that is respectful of people's dignity, conserves environment and is free of violence in any form.
Principle : Every human being in a democracy has rights and duties, privileges and responsibilities, it is important for every citizen to be aware of these and be knowledgeable to seek the same. Complete transparency through information dissemination will pave the way for more secure and corruption free services. One must understand that while fighting for legitimate rights, justice is not always delivered to people. Often we demand rights and feel that if rights are determined and recognized then justice follows. It may never follow. ‘ASTRA’ strives towards rights and justice be simultaneously addressed.
Projects
Synergizing with other prominent NGO's like Jaago Re it has built a strong teams of volunteers by bringing together energetic yokels with astute yuppies. These teams prudently bank upon the trident model of ASTRA to combat Corruption which is as follows :
a) Against Public Authority : Activities include survey, fact finding missions/investigations, social audit, peoples planning, legal, and social actions.
b) With Public Authority : Implementation of section 4(proactive disclosure) under RTIA 2005 (Right To Information Act 2005), empowering and strengthening the public authority (including public information officers) towards ‘ethical governance’.
c) With Citizens : Educating Community Leaders and commoners via Anti-Corruption Courses.
In Addition to Anti-Corruption, ASTRA also works to :
a) Empower Rural Women by undertaking Women Leadership Programs and educating elected women representatives towards ethical governance.
b) Stem Children and Women Trafficking by facilitating awareness programs with students, slum dwellers, community leaders and being part of rescue operations (along with police team) to rescue children and women those who were trafficked and forced in to prostitution.
c) Lately they have also established "Home For Children In Crisis" in Kodagu District especially to bolster tribal girls.
History
This NGO, with headquarters at Abyathmangala Village(Karnataka,India), officially came into existence in June 2006 when young social entrepreneur M.C.Chandan alongwith co-founder Sunil P. set upon the path to helm a new future for India.
Citations
1. Astra Definition : http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astra
2. ASTRA official Website : http://www.astraindia.org
3. RTI shows the way to act : http://www.rtiindia.org/forum/65523-rti-shows-way-act.html
4. RTI must be used as a journalistic tool says activist : http://www.iijnm.org/workshop-rept.html
5. ASSOCIATION For SOCIAL TRANSPARENCY, RIGHTS And ACTION (ASTRA) : http://www.jaagore.com/user/astra
Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_for_Social_Transparency,_Rights_And_Action_(ASTRA)
