It all started with a cup of tea and a very casual discussion on Rights and Welfare approaches an NGO takes. The cup of tea lead to the idea of forming an organization that works on Rights, Entitlement and Power & Responsibility of the individuals and the community. We started with Rs. 250/- and many a dream to fulfill. Our first big project was the Meghalaya Election Watch in 2008 where we took the initiative to analyze the affidavits of the contesting candidates of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, in close collaboration with the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), New Delhi and other civil societies. The Organization was also part of the nation wide campaign with the Association of Democratic Reforms for the introduction of NOTA (None of the Above) as a voting option, should anyone be not in favor of any of the candidates who were contesting for the elections. This proved to be successful as NOTA was finally introduced in 2013 in all Electric Voting Machine (EVM) across the country as issued by the Supreme Court.
In 2009, our first indigenous journey began when a well wisher from Mumbai donated to help us create community tourism in Mawlynnong, the cleanest village in Asia, where Grassroot encouraged local architectural techniques to be used for a guest house. This guest house is now growing with a restaurant and two bedrooms.
Reproductive Health and Rights was our next mission which was implemented across Pynursla Block, East Khasi Hills where awareness campaign were given to the women who later demanded better and safer delivery processes in their health centers. We went on to organize various events, campaigns and took up projects that aided us in the process of achieving our Goal. We published, documented and collated indigenous wisdom and knowledge to further add value and promote our rich cultural heritage. The journey towards indigenous issues and rights started to churn our perspective to be put into our works and plans!