Mahila Sarvangeen Utkarsh Mandal

What Mahila Sarvangeen Utkarsh Mandal does

MASUM (Mahila Sarvangeen Utkarsh Mandal) is a non-profit charitable trust founded in 1987 in Malshiras village, Purandar Block of Maharashtra, by Dr. Manisha Gupte and Dr. Ramesh Awasthi. Headquartered in Pune, the organization delivers a portfolio of community-based programmes targeting rural women's rights, health, economic empowerment, and political participation across 10 districts of Maharashtra. Core offerings include SAMVAD counselling centres (Saswad, Bhor, Nasrapur, Supe) for survivors of gender-based violence; the Udaan Project, a health-system domestic-violence response initiative implemented with CEHAT, WHO, and What Works to Prevent Violence across 17 health facilities in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar; Sadaphuli health services providing VIA/pap-smear cervical cancer screening; self-help-group-based economic empowerment; Bal Panchayats (children's councils) and adolescent rights programmes; the MITRA training institute; and a Constitutional Values Fellowship.

MASUM operates without a proprietary technology platform; its capabilities are community organizing, feminist counselling methodologies, rights-based training, and health service delivery through a network of community health workers (ASHAs, Sadaphulis) and locally-formed support groups (Aadhar Gats). The organization employs 83 staff across Pune (58) and Aurangabad (25) offices, with women constituting approximately 81% of the workforce. As of 2026, MASUM reaches over 1 lakh (100,000+) women across more than 500 villages. Institutional assets include a 6,500-book library, 700+ audiovisual CDs, 800 newspaper clippings, and a 5,000-document computerized bibliographical database.

The revenue model is grant-dependent. For FY 2024-25, total income was Rs. 47,025,611 (~US$559K), with grants of Rs. 38.7M from institutional funders including Azim Premji Philanthropy Initiative, UK Aid, What Works to Prevent Violence, Maharashtra Foundation, Asha For Education, Mahindra Rise, and Yardi Software. Supplementary income comprises donations (Rs. 101K), publication sales in English/Hindi/Marathi (Rs. 5–575 per title), tailoring course fees (Rs. 3,000 per student, with waivers for Dalit, minority, and economically marginalized applicants), and a food scholarship programme for female and transgender students. MASUM is registered under Sections 12A and 80G of the Income Tax Act and holds FCRA registration (083930308), enabling international donations routed through State Bank of India, New Delhi.

Name

Mahila Sarvangeen Utkarsh Mandal

Legal name

Mahila Sarvangeen Utkarsh Mandal

Website

https://masum-india.org.in

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MASUM is a Pune-based non-profit founded in 1987 that delivers community-based women's rights, health, and economic empowerment programmes across 10 districts and 500+ villages of rural Maharashtra, reaching 1 lakh+ women through grassroots networks and institutional partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Women's Rights Non-Profit Services

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Individual and Family Services (6241)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Gender Equality & Women’s Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Domestic Violence & Abuse Support Services (BPAGAEAD), Maternal, Newborn, Child & Adolescent Health (MNCAH) NGOs (HLAJAKAG)

Keywords

• Women's rights advocacy
• Gender-based violence support
• Rural women's empowerment
• Community health programs
• Rights-based training

Headquarters

HQ city

Pune

HQ country

India

HQ region

Asia

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Grants and Donations: MASUM's primary revenue comprises grants from institutional funders (Azim Premji Philanthropy Initiative, UK Aid, What Works to Prevent Violence, Maharashtra Foundation, Asha For Education, Mahindra Rise, Yardi Software) and donations from domestic and international donors. For FY 2024-25, grants totalled ₹38,717,231 and donations ₹101,000.
2. Publication Sales: MASUM sells publications (books, booklets, flipbooks, pamphlets) in English, Hindi, and Marathi covering women's health, rights, gender, and development topics. Prices range from ₹5 to ₹575 per item.
3. Training Program Fees: Fees collected for training programs such as the Certificate in Tailoring and Fashion Designing course (₹3,000 per student) offered to rural young women in Pune district.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

MASUM is a non-profit women's rights organization delivering a portfolio of grassroots programmes for rural women in Maharashtra. Its core offerings include counselling and crisis support for survivors of gender-based violence (SAMVAD Centres), a healthcare-system response to domestic violence (Udaan Project), health programmes including cervical cancer prescreening and adolescent reproductive health, economic empowerment through self-help groups and the Ghar Doghanche property campaign, children's rights via Bal Panchayats, youth constitutional fellowships, MITRA rights-based training for NGO/CBO workers, vocational training in tailoring, and food scholarships for students.

Product overview

MASUM (Mahila Sarvangeen Utkarsh Mandal) is a non-profit women's rights organization offering a portfolio of interconnected grassroots programmes rather than a unified technology product. The core offerings include SAMVAD Counselling Centres providing crisis support for violence survivors, the Udaan Project strengthening healthcare system responses to domestic violence, and multiple empowerment programmes covering health, economic rights, children's rights, adolescents and youth development, political participation, and constitutional values. Supporting infrastructure includes MITRA training institute, a tailoring certificate course, cervical cancer prescreening training, a food scholarship programme, and a resource library. All programmes are interconnected to ensure holistic realization of human rights for women and marginalized communities in rural Maharashtra.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SAMVAAD: Counselling centres providing legal and emotional support to women survivors of violence, abuse and exploitation. Located at Saswad (Purandar taluka) and Bhor (Bhor taluka).
• SAMVAD Counselling Centre
• Sadaphuli Health Programme
• MITRA (MASUM Institute for Training in Rights Based Activism)
• Aadhar Gats
• Bal Panchayat
• Udaan Project

Products and services

• SAMVAD Counselling Centres Counselling centres providing legal and emotional support through experienced social workers and a senior lawyer to women survivors of violence, abuse, and exploitation in Pune district. Services include crisis intervention, safety planning, suicide prevention, referrals to legal and medical services, and liaison with Protection Officers.
• Udaan Project Healthcare system strengthening initiative to address violence against women, placing Counselors at 17 health facilities (PHCs, Rural Hospitals, Sub-District Hospitals) to identify, document, and support DV survivors using the WHO LIVES protocol. Trained 614+ ASHAs in DV identification and response.
• Women's Right to Physical and Emotional Health Programme Programme delivering women's health services through village health workers (Sadaphulis) including self-examinations, VIA and Pap smear techniques for cervical cancer detection, and training for government ANMs and LHVs on reproductive health rights.
• Women's Right to Property and Economic Empowerment Programme Savings and credit programme through self-help groups (SHGs) strengthening economic self-reliance of rural women in drought-prone villages, including the 'Ghar Doghanche' campaign for joint ownership of land and housing and a campaign for women's ownership of agricultural land.
• Rights of Children Programme Children's rights programme including pre-schools and support classes in tribal hamlets (including Thakar and Bhil tribal children in Parner taluka), Raanpakhre groups for village activities, and Bal Panchayats (elected children's councils) addressing school dropout, corporal punishment, sexual harassment, and caste-based discrimination.
• Rights of Adolescents and Youth Programme Programme empowering young people aged 15-30 with knowledge, skills, and confidence through residential camps, village and college-based interactions on gender equality, non-violence, and democratic values. Addresses Forced, Early, Child, and Hasty (FECH) marriages through awareness and youth-led advocacy.
• Fellowship Programme on Strengthening Constitutional Values Leadership fellowship building young leaders aged 15-30 who understand and champion constitutional rights of women and marginalized communities across six districts of Western Maharashtra and the Konkan region.
• MITRA (MASUM Institute for Training in Rights Based Activism) Training institute conducting intensive 10-12 day trainings on Women's Empowerment, Health Rights, Child Rights, and Right to Natural Resources for NGO and CBO workers across Maharashtra and other Indian states. Includes CEDAW trainings with IWRAW-Asia Pacific since December 2001.
• Tailoring and Fashion Designing Certificate Course Four-month certificate course for rural young women covering pattern making, dress making, and fashion basics. Includes exposure visits, career guidance, health and legal awareness, and co-curricular activities including cycling, self-defence, yoga, and theatre. Delivered at MASUM's Saswad office.
• Cervical Cancer Prescreening Training Training programme for ANMs, LHVs, and doctors in 13 blocks of Pune district on VIA (Visual Inspection with 5% Acetic Acid) cervical cancer pre-screening methodology, delivered under the NCD programme.
• Food Scholarship Programme Need-based monthly food expense scholarship programme supporting female and transgender students studying in Pune, targeting students facing financial hardship, single parent households, disabled guardians, or orphan status.
• Aadhar Gats Village Crisis Response Village-level crisis response through locally formed women's support groups (Aadhar Gats) that intervene at household level to stop violence, rescue women, and organise overnight shelter. Referred into through ASHAs, Gram Panchayats, and partner NGOs.
• Women's Right to Political Participation Programme Programme strengthening political participation of women in village governance through Panchayati Raj Institutions, empowering women to assert their role in governance and utilization of 10% panchayat budget for women and child development.
• MASUM Publications Multilingual publication catalogue covering women's health, rights, gender, domestic violence, and child rights, available as paid publications (Rs.5–Rs.575 per title) and as PDF downloads from the MASUM website. Flipbooks on health topics (suicide prevention, alcoholism, malaria, uterine prolapse) are priced at Rs.150 each.
• MASUM Library Resource centre and reference library open for consultation, containing 6,500 books on women's issues and human rights plus a computerized bibliographical database of 5,000 documents.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1 lakh women reached across 10 districts and 500+ villages
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CEHAT (Centre for Health, Education, And Development)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023CEHAT is MASUM's research partner for the Udaan Project, implementing DV response intervention in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar's health facilities. CEHAT previously implemented a hospital-based DV intervention at Aurangabad Medical College and Government Hospital, which informed the Udaan scale-up. MASUM and CEHAT jointly publish research and training materials.
• Sadhana Trust, PunecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Sadhana Trust and MASUM jointly organize the annual Maharashtra Foundation Awards since 2019. Sadhana Trust is a Pune-based women's rights organization and MASUM's primary partner in the Maharashtra Foundation awards initiative.
• International Budget Partnership, WashingtonminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013International Budget Partnership partnered with MASUM to document case studies on Samarthan's campaign to improve implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in India. Two partnership initiative case study series published in 2011 and 2013.
• Save the Children-Canada, India Field Office, PuneminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2003Save the Children-Canada partnered with MASUM to document research on seasonal schools for children of sugarcane harvesting workers in Maharashtra, published in 2003.
• IWRAW-Asia PacificcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2001IWRAW-Asia Pacific partnered with MASUM to conduct intensive training programmes on CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women) for NGOs in Maharashtra and other Indian states. Training began December 2001, with a Training of Trainers programme in December 2003.
• WHO (World Health Organization)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWHO collaborates on the Udaan Project as part of the global effort to prevent violence against women. The project uses WHO-endorsed methodologies including the LIVES protocol (Listen, Inquire, Validate, Enhance Safety) for DV survivor response in healthcare settings.
• District Health Department, Chhatrapati SambhajinagarcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe District Health Department of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar collaborates with MASUM on the Udaan Project, enabling training of healthcare providers (ANMs, LHVs, Staff Nurses, Medical Officers) and ASHAs across 17 health facilities in Gangapur and Paithan blocks.
• Beyond the CircleminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBeyond the Circle is a network through which MASUM published rights-based concept papers including The Right to Food (2005), The Right to Housing (2005), The Right to Primary Education (2005), and Advancing Right to Health (2005). MASUM served as publisher for some network publications.
• AbhivyaktiminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAbhivyakti is a collaborative women's leadership and learning space. MASUM trustee Anita Borkar is a member of Abhivyakti's governing council and programme team, contributing expertise in programme design, facilitation, and life skills training.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• SEWA (Self-Employed Women's Association): India's largest women's empowerment and economic self-reliance organization, working with poor, self-employed women across multiple states. Highly comparable to MASUM in grassroots mobilization of rural women for rights, health, and economic empowerment.
• Jagori: Feminist NGO working on women's rights, gender-based violence, and empowerment across India, with comparable focus on community mobilization, training, and rights-based interventions similar to MASUM.
• Jan Sahas Social Development Society: India-based NGO focused on ending gender-based violence, including rape survivors' support, bonded labor liberation, and Dalit women's rights — directly comparable to MASUM's anti-violence mandate.
• Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP): Mumbai-based NGO empowering rural women through self-help groups, livelihood, and disaster resilience across Maharashtra. Direct geographic and programmatic overlap with MASUM, including SHG federation and economic empowerment programs.
• Sadhana Trust: Pune-based women's rights organization that is MASUM's primary partner in jointly organizing the Maharashtra Foundation Awards since 2019. Direct programmatic and geographic peer working on women's empowerment in Maharashtra.
• CREA (Creating Resources for Empowerment and Action): International feminist human rights organization working on gender, sexuality, and bodily autonomy in South Asia, with comparable rights-based training, advocacy, and capacity-building methodology to MASUM.
• CEHAT (Centre for Health, Education, And Development): Health-focused research and intervention organization that is MASUM's direct research partner on the Udaan Project, including hospital-based domestic violence response. Overlapping mandate on gender-based violence, women's health, and rights-based healthcare.

Broad incumbents

• Oxfam India: Major international development organization with a national women's rights program covering economic justice, GBV, and gender equality across India. Overlaps with MASUM's advocacy and rights-based approach at scale.
• ActionAid India: Large national affiliate of the ActionAid federation working on women's rights, gender justice, and community empowerment across multiple Indian states. Wider portfolio but overlapping themes, particularly around GBV, women's leadership, and economic rights.
• IWRAW Asia Pacific: Regional women's rights capacity-building organization partnering with MASUM on CEDAW trainings since 2001. Operates across Asia with comparable women's rights training, advocacy, and movement-building methodology.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubemasum-india.org.in/videos
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• Instagraminstagram.com/masum.puneindia?igsh=M295cXY1NTgyNngz
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mahila-sarvangeen-utkarsh-mandal

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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