Rashtriya Seva Bharati (Seva Bharati) is an Indian non-governmental organization (NGO) that coordinates community service projects in areas such as healthcare and education.
Organisation Seva Bharati is affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as well as the official community service umbrella of allied organisations.
The Akhil Bharatiya Saha Seva Pramukh (All India Joint Service Chief) of the RSS guides the organisation, which is also represented in the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, a decision-making body of the Sangh Parivar.
Health
According to its organisational report, Seva Bharati operates over 5,000 healthcare centres spread across India, including 4,200 rural healthcare centres, 960 mobile clinics, 480 urban resident clinics, 200 counselling centres, 6,500 ambulances, and 7 leprosy medication and rehabilitation centres. Furthermore, it operates 450 blood banks, alongside over 300 blood donation centres which are mobilised during emergencies.Rashtriya Seva Bharati report Seva Activity report Chandigarh, India – Regional Briefs. The Tribune. (9 February 2003). Additionally, Seva Bharati provides free and subsidised medicines to patients in need.
According to media reports, the organisation operates on a limited budget and provides affordable medicines to patients.Tomar, Anjul (24 April 1998). "Financial difficulties hinder aid to poor patients", The Indian Express There are an estimated 234 medicine collection and redistribution centres across India.
Rashtriya Seva Bharati has collaborated with several premier technological institutions to modernise India's health infrastructure.
In partnership with the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Seva Bharati has established telemedicine centres to deliver healthcare services across distances using telecommunication. Using the internet and the software "Remedy Kit," developed by the institute, patients' vital health information, including pulse rate, heartbeat, blood pressure, and ECG, can be transferred over using the broadband link from Seva Bharti to Medical Centre, Bits-pilani.
Free healthcare camps are organised in slums and economically impoverished areas with the assistance of hospitals, where hundreds of patients undergo medical examinations, including being examined for cardiac and diabetic ailments. In these camps, teams of technicians, conduct charge-free electrocardiography (ECG), echocardiography, and blood glucose monitoring. Apart from check-ups, dietitians also advise patients on healthy diets, physical exercises, and medicines.CWS – BITS Pilani using Telecom Technology to Provide Healthcare Services, 30 August 2007,
Medicines are distributed free of cost, and counseling on psychiatric ailments is also provided.202027 "Cardiac and diabetic check-up camp held" , The Indian Express, 20 September 2006Medical camp in bhat inda, The Tribune, Tuesday, 3 October 2000, Chandigarh, India The Tribune, Chandigarh, India – Regional Briefs . The Tribune.Chandigarh, India – Regional Briefs. The Tribune. (4 July 2003). Seva Bharati also organises naturopathy and other wellness camps for the general public, with the organisation's reports indicating regular attendance at these camps.
AIDS awareness Amongst a wide range of activities, Seva Bharati conducts AIDS awareness programs targeting lorry drivers, taxi drivers, dhaba owners, and the youth. Hundreds of participants attend these sessions, which cover topics such as "General Health and Hygiene", "Sexually transmitted infection Symptoms and Modes of Transmission", "HIV/AIDS Symptoms and Modes of Transmission," and "Safe Sex." Exhibitions are also organised, and literature is distributed to raise awareness of the disease and its prevention.AIDS awareness program for truck drivers held, The Indian Express, Friday, 20 November 1998
Moreover, the organisation regularly organises health awareness drives, similar to the ones on World Heart Day.Karnataka News : Rally taken out to create awareness . The Hindu (30 September 2007).
During the swine flu epidemic The volunteers of the RSS coordinated with officials of various organisations, including the National Institute of Virology (NIV), the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), and the Indian Medical Association, to organise an awareness campaign against swine flu. The volunteers assisted the governmental authorities and ordinary citizens in tackling the flu."RSS begins swine flu awareness drive". The Times of India. (11 August 2009).
The team of RSS workers, which included medical professionals, assisted the staff of the screening centres. They distributed leaflets across numerous housing societies, intending to reach over 1,000 societies in this way."Indian Express", Wednesday, 12 Aug 2009. The Indian Express. (12 August 2009).
Empowering children with different disabilities Seva Bharati operates numerous schools, rehabilitation and recreation centres for children and adults with disabilities and special needs.Club planned for disabled children , The Hindu, Tuesday, 17 October 2000 The organisation reports that it has 179 such centres across India, including special schools, hostels, and recreation centres. It also organises awareness days on the subject of the needs of children with special needs. Special meetings for people with disabilities held by the organisation serve as a platform for them to interact with specialists and others associated with them. Paediatricians, gynaecologists, audiologists, ophthalmologists, and other specialists participate in such camps.Special meet for the disabled . The Hindu. (13 December 2005).
Activities for the visually impaired Seva Bharati and allied organisations operate several eye banks that regularly conduct eye donation camps. Among others, they have provided ocular prosthesis or visual prosthesis for hundreds of blind or partially sighted individuals.
"The Tribune", Tuesday, 10 September 2002, Chandigarh, India. The Tribune.The Tribune, Chandigarh, India – Regional Briefs. The Tribune. (26 April 2002). The organisation, in collaboration with other ophthalmological hospitals, runs eye care initiatives for the indigent citizens. These initiatives have covered thousands of slum children and aim at eradicating blindness and eye diseases in children.Indian Express 29 Jun 2009, "Reaching eye care to children in slums" . The Hindu, 9 March 2009 In one of the initiatives to provide free paediatric ophthalmological care to slum children, held in association with the Narayana Nethralaya in Bengaluru, over 1,010 slum children underwent eye examinations.
Consequently, 200 children were diagnosed with ophthalmological disorders, with some of the conditions detected including corneal disorders (18), squint (11), retinal diseases (9), eyelid issues (16), and cataracts (3). All of these children, who required ophthalmic surgery or noninvasive eye treatment, received the charge-free treatment at Narayana Nethralaya, with over 143 children undergoing various eye surgeries.
The project's target was to provide eye examinations for 10,000 children from slums by the end of 2009. In the last two camps, a team of doctors, paramedical workers, and volunteers from different non-governmental organisations examined and treated over 2,400 children and even operated those requiring surgery – free of cost., 9 March 2009. Newindianexpress.com. Camps are also held in which corneal transplantation is performed on hundreds of patients, curing their eye ailments and enabling them to regain their eyesight. During the 2025 Mahakumbh in Prayagraj, the organization collaborated with the Saksham Foundation to operate "Netra Kumbh," a major free eye care camp that provided eye examinations, spectacles, and medicines to pilgrims over a six-week period.
Education Seva Bharati runs hostels for children from economically underprivileged backgrounds, including those in tribal and rural areas across the country.
Hostel for tribal children opened, Monday, 27 Oct 2008, The Hindu. The organisation reports more than 10,000 educational projects in India, including hostels for boys and girls, primary‑education centres in rural areas and slums, adult and informal‑education centres for street children, and single‑teacher schools in remote parts of the country. It also helps students from remote tribal areas to enrol in schools in different parts of the country and sponsors their educational and other needs."A home away from home for these students" . The Hindu, 6 July 2006. It conducts camps for children that teach folk songs and dance, arts and crafts, and painting to encourage creativity."The Tribune", 10-04-2000. The Tribune. (4 October 2000).
The organisation has run many literacy initiatives for adults and children. A project in the slums of Delhi aims to make the city fully literate."RSS campaign to make Delhi 100pc literate", The Peninsula, 2 February 2006 . As of 2024, Sewa Bharati had established 1,250 Ekal Vidyalayas (single-teacher schools) in the Kashmir Valley, representing a significant expansion of its informal education networks in the region.
Empowerment of women
Seva Bharati runs centres that provide vocational training to economically underprivileged women. It trains women in making handicrafts and decorative items, and helps to market these products. Over the years, many girls trained by Seva Bharati have developed handicrafts as a cottage industry, particularly in the north-eastern states of India. Seva Bharati also conducts camps and organises exhibitions of handicrafts produced at such camps, and supports the marketing of these items. Participants are trained in fabric painting, hand stitching, pot painting, glass painting, jute work, flower making, cane and bamboo craft, and pith and banana fibre craft. The handicrafts are sold across India.Girls craft their destinies, The Telegraph, Friday, 8 June 2007.
Seva Bharati reports that it operates 1,404 such training projects across India, including centres that teach computers, tailoring, shorthand, stitching, sweater making, typing, carpentry, and nursing,Training in-home nursing , 14 January 2008. The Hindu. as well as arts, handicrafts, and recreational activities. These training programmes aim to help participants find jobs and earn a livelihood.
Seva Bharati also runs initiatives to raise awareness among women regarding socio-economic programmes and health. The programmes cover minor ailments, health, hygiene and nutrition, environment, pregnancy, and women’s rights, as well as prevention of addiction.Awareness project by Seva Bharti launched . The Indian Express, 23 February 1999.
Advocacy for domestic workers Seva Bharati advocates for women working as domestic help in cities who face exploitation. It has addressed issues such as wage deprivation and abuse, representing these concerns to governmental bodies.Week after help's death in Gurgaon, no headway, Siddhartha Sarma, The Indian Express, New Delhi, 31 January, It has also coordinated with governmental agencies to rescue girls from abuse."Teenage girls brought back to Kochi from Goa" , The Hindu, 10 March 2006Driver roams with body in ambulance for 5 days, Sify.com, 22 February 2008 23:02:06
Relief and rehabilitation during natural calamities
Following the 2001 Gujarat Earthquake As many as 25,000 volunteers, including 600 doctors, from Seva Bharati worked to rescue and rehabilitate victims of the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. Nearly 10,000 operations were performed, and over 19,000 patients were treated for injuries and other ailments. Additionally, the organisation sent large amounts of relief material to quake-affected victims from various parts of the country."The Tribune", Chandigarh, 02-08-2001. The Tribune. (8 February 2001).