About Swagattam
Swagattam (Socially Welfare, Aspiring, Generous Activities & Transformation To Ample Mayurbhanj)
Our Vision
“An ideal human society — stress-free, equitable, and in harmony with nature.”
Our Mission
“Working by the people, for the people, with the people — for environmental protection and transformation.”
Registered in the District of Mayurbhanj, Odisha, Swagattam is a grassroots non-governmental organisation headquartered at Ward No. 4, Udala, Mayurbhanj. Founded with deep roots in the local community, Swagattam operates at the intersection of environmental conservation, women empowerment, tribal development, and sustainable livelihoods.
We believe that true transformation happens when communities lead their own change. Every program we run — from women’s Self Help Groups in Simlipal’s buffer zone villages to organic farming initiatives and girl-child education support — is designed with the people, not just for them.
Our work spans environmental protection, poverty alleviation, gender equality, skill development, healthcare awareness, animal welfare, and the preservation of Simlipal’s extraordinary biodiversity. We are committed to the upliftment of every person who has been left behind by the system — especially tribal families ,women in distress,the elderly and children.
About Founders
2016
The Man Behind the Mission
Mr. Saroj Kumar Panda
Founder Swagattam NGO | Retired Headmaster |Social Reformer | Community Leader | Mayurbhanj, Odisha
A teacher never truly retires — he simply finds a bigger classroom. Mine is the world around me.
After three decades of shaping young minds in the classrooms of Mayurbhanj, Mr. Saroj Kumar Panda chose not to rest — he chose to serve. This is his story.
His Journey
Some people retire from their work. Mr. Saroj Kumar Panda retired into his life’s true purpose. After decades of dedicated service as a School Headmaster in the government school system of Mayurbhanj, Odisha, he had witnessed firsthand what poverty, illiteracy, and inequality could do to a child’s future — and what education could undo.
Every day in the classroom was more than a lesson in mathematics or language. It was a quiet battle against the forces that kept children — especially girls from tribal communities — from reaching their potential. He watched students walk miles barefoot to school. He saw bright young minds forced to drop out when their families needed them in the fields. He saw the invisible walls of caste, gender, and poverty that no textbook could tear down alone.
These were not statistics to him. They were faces he knew by name.
The Birth of Swagattam
When the time came to hang up his teaching satchel, Mr. Panda made a decision that surprised no one who truly knew him — he refused to walk away. Instead, with the unwavering support of his life partner Mrs. Annapurna Panda, and the trust of local communities around the Simlipal region, he founded Swagattam — a name that means “welcome” — welcoming every forgotten soul back into the embrace of society.
What began as a deeply personal mission — rooted in thirty years of watching children struggle — quickly became a community movement. Swagattam was built not on grand offices or large budgets, but on something far more powerful: the trust of the people who had known Saroj Kumar Panda as their teacher, their neighbour, and their friend.
2022
Co-Founder & General Secretary
Mrs. Annapurna Panda
Behind every great mission stands a partner of equal resolve. Mrs. Annapurna Panda — wife, co-founder, and the heart of Swagattam’s daily operations — has been the quiet force that turned her husband’s vision into reality. As General Secretary, she leads the organisation’s administrative work, mobilises women in the community, and ensures that Swagattam’s values of compassion and inclusion are lived — not just spoken. Together, they are proof that the most powerful social change often begins at home.
“I did not start Swagattam to build an organisation. I started it because I could not look into the eyes of a child and say — this is not my responsibility.”
— Mr. Saroj Kumar Panda, Founder, Swagattam NGO