Maj. VP Sharma (Retd.)
Founder & Managing Trustee
Retired Army Major. Founded Gramonnati in 2017. Architect of the Woloo–Gramonnati partnership and a champion of veteran welfare.
About the Trust
Rural India does not need charity. It needs capability.
That conviction has shaped every programme since 2017 — from a single Kendra in Jabalpur to a national sanitation and circular-waste movement.
Our story
Two careers left behind, and a village-sized idea.
Gramonnati Trust was founded on 5th October 2017 in Puducherry by Maj. Ved Prakash Sharma (Retd.) and a fellow Cisco Systems colleague, both leaving stable corporate careers to pursue social entrepreneurship. The mission they set themselves was audacious: develop 10,000 rural entrepreneurs within five years.
That mission first took root in the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu & Kashmir — through digital classrooms, rainwater harvesting, and entrepreneurship training delivered in partnership with the Indian Army. Since 2022, Gramonnati has evolved that same grassroots discipline into a new frontier: smart sanitation and circular-waste infrastructure through the Woloo Programme and Clean & Divine India — built, once again, by the people most often overlooked.
“We started with one village. Today, we're building the infrastructure of dignity for a billion Indians — one rainwater tank, one classroom, one Powder Room at a time.”
The pattern has held for eight years: start small and local — one Kendra, one rainwater tank — prove the model rigorously, then scale through partnership. Bengaluru and Puducherry are not isolated campaigns. They are the next chapter of a track record.
Our vision
“To make every community we work with self-reliant — in water, in sanitation, in livelihoods, and in waste.”
Our founding vision, 2017
“To create self-reliant, prosperous and sustainable villages where every citizen has equal opportunity, dignity, and access to knowledge and modern systems.”
Our mission — five pillars
- 01
Dignified Livelihoods
For women, war widows and ex-servicemen families.
Stable, respected employment created through enterprise-based community infrastructure — so that the people who served the country, and the women who hold rural households together, have work they can build a life on.
- 02
Smart Sanitation
Technology-enabled hygiene infrastructure wherever it is needed.
Woloo Powder Rooms and public hygiene facilities at the places India needs them most — pilgrimage towns, highways, railway stations, urban markets and villages.
- 03
Circular Economy
Converting waste into resource and revenue.
Waste-to-Pellet (RDF) units, water conservation, afforestation and organic farming — environmental stewardship that pays for the next round of impact rather than depending on it.
- 04
Rural & Women's Entrepreneurship
Self-sustaining, community-owned micro-enterprises.
Training, financing and mentoring rural women and youth into self-employment and SHG-led micro-enterprises — breaking the cycle of poverty at the household level.
- 05
Technology, Transparency & Partnerships
Live data, audits, and open collaboration.
IoT, apps and live dashboards that make every outcome auditable, and long-term partnerships with government, corporates, OTAs and global platforms.
Governance & credentials
The paperwork, in full.
The Trust is irrevocable, operates without profit motive, and applies its income solely to its charitable objects — no benefit accrues to any trustee or member.
- Founded
- 5th October 2017, Puducherry, as a public charitable trust
- Founder & Chairman
- Maj. Ved Prakash Sharma (Retd.)
- PAN
- AACTG8992R
- 12AA registration
- AACTG8992R/05/18-19/T-0831 (w.e.f. 05.10.2017)
- 80G certification
- URNo. AACTG8992R/05/18-19/T-0831/80G — valid in perpetuity from A.Y. 2019-20
- CSR registration
- CSR00017701 (Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Govt. of India)
- Area of operation
- Pan-India, headquartered in Puducherry; legacy programmes in Jammu & Kashmir
- Audit
- Independent annual financial audit; financial year 1 April – 31 March
- Registered office
- Flat No. 10, L'Avenir III, No. 108, Papammal Koil Street, Kuruchikuppam, Puducherry – 605 012
Statutory compliance
Section 12AA
Registered public charitable trust under the Income Tax Act, valid from 05.10.2017.
Section 80G(5)(vi)
Certified under Section 80G(5)(vi), valid in perpetuity from A.Y. 2019-20.
CSR Registration
Reg. No. CSR00017701 — eligible to receive corporate CSR funds under the Companies Act, 2013.
Schedule VII eligible
Sanitation, health, women's empowerment, rural development and environmental sustainability.
Board of trustees
Military discipline, corporate depth, grassroots reach.
The Trust is governed by a Board of Trustees under the oversight of the Chairman and Managing Trustee.
Ayushi Sharma
Trustee – Women Empowerment
Leads all women empowerment programmes. Manages field operations and the Woloo women-operator model.
Brig. Atul Sharma (Retd.)
Trustee – Armed Forces Coordination
35 years in Defence ICT. B.Tech. Expertise in large-scale programme management and governance.
Shyam Kaluve
Trustee – Technology
30+ years in the technology industry, with deep experience delivering CSR projects.
Shrihari Allangala
Trustee – Finance & Strategy
30+ years in investment banking and private equity. Strengthens Gramonnati for large CSR partnerships.
Shri Suresh Narayan Subbarao
Founder Trustee
Co-founded the Trust in 2017 alongside Maj. Sharma and Shri Shyamasundar Kaluve.