Gunjan has dedicated her life to social service in a very planned and dedicated way. With an experience of more than 14 years in this field, Gunjan’s story will help many who want to begin serving the community in their own way.

Gunjan Sharma has 14 years of experience in social service and community development. Her association with the Astha Sansthan is new, but she feels that joining it was the right thing to do. Astha Sansthan primarily deals with the upliftment of the tribal communities, their forest rights, and related management issues.

This new field of work beckoned her, and Gunjan decided to join it for new experiences and opportunities. The integrated work of Astha Sansthan really inspired her, and the message that women can flourish and develop even without leaving their village or tribe really fascinated her.

Gunjan is looking at the women's empowerment section of the organization. She believes that every tribal woman should be aware of their forest rights and get a chance to participate in key decision-making activities in the area.

She wants to inculcate leadership skills in them and wants women, especially tribal women, in this case, to be frontrunners in every possible way. Child development, education, health, and unemployment are some of the areas she has dedicated her work to since joining Astha.

The COVID times were especially tough for them. Though tribal areas were not badly affected like the cities due to their strong ecological existence and nature-based living, problems were wide-ranging and critical. She, along with her organization, had to face issues related to ration delivery, migration, increasing unemployment on the local level, and the scarcity of COVID-related essentials, to name a few.

Gunjan tells us how they conducted small camps and organized low-scale meetings with the tribals in areas like Jhadol, Kotra, and Dungarpur while following COVID-appropriate behavior and all the mandatory guidelines.

They helped the migrants returning from cities, especially women, enroll in NREGA so that they could get their Rs. 220 daily wage. They helped in ensuring proper ration and medical kit deliveries and coordinated with government officials to increase their penetration in tribal areas. Creating awareness about various government schemes, which are often not known to people, was also part of their work.

For those who want to join the field of social service, she has an important message. According to Gunjan, one may find many courses in this field, but real success will come only when one is motivated from within and not just holds a degree.

Gunjan points out the fact that she comes from a family of 18 members and hence is a ‘Leader by Work’ and not by birth. Working for her family inculcated a feeling in her that pushed her to step out and help the community.

Considering her father as an ideal for her, she talks about his skills as a leader and his perfect communication and association with people around him. Helping on every level is what he believed in, and that is what she gets from him.

In her free time, Gunjan likes reading books, especially autobiographies, and spending time with her family.