About us
About Coodu Trust
Twenty-five years of commitment to rural development.
Our impact at a glance
Our story
The Coodu Journey
Since our inception in the year 2000, Coodu Trust has been driven by a single, unwavering goal: to empower the underprivileged and marginalized communities of Tamil Nadu. We began as a small group of like-minded professionals dedicated to constructive social work, and have since grown into one of the leading NGOs in the region, with a proven track record in watershed development, women's empowerment, sustainable agriculture, and more.
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2000
Coodu Trust is formally registered under the Indian Trusts Act, with a mission centred on water conservation, women’s empowerment and community development.
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2001
First government partnership — a Watershed Development Programme — laying the foundation for our expertise in natural resource management.
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2003
246 watersheds under way across nine districts, and household latrines built under the Total Sanitation Campaign in Tirunelveli, Madurai, Trichy, Dindigul and Sivagangai. Farmers from our programmes meet Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.
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2006
The Ramanathapuram District Collector awards us the district’s tourism handbook — photographs, notes and travel information for every heritage site, with posters and pamphlets to match. Our training centre at Mylampatti, Karur — a 3,500 sq ft training hall with accommodation, on three acres — is in full use for self-help group and farmer training.
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2007
A mortuary van service runs at the Dindigul district headquarters hospital under the Tamil Nadu Health Systems Project, charged at ₹5 a kilometre and provided free of cost to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe families. Our watershed mapping moves into GIS with the digitisation of cadastral maps for 274 villages in Virudhunagar. In November, a short stay home for people living with HIV/AIDS opens at Mylampatti.
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2008
7,522 individual household low-cost latrines built across 11 districts, and a rural sanitary mart operating at our Mylampatti training centre, managed by trained women.
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2009
Targeted intervention programme for migrant workers across four blocks of Karur district, funded by the AIDS Prevention and Control Project (APAC–VHS); monitoring and evaluation of NREGS convergence with the financial assistance of the UNDP.
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2012
Consultancy for the capacity building of Water Users Associations under TN–IAMWARM, across three sub-basins in Virudhunagar and Tirunelveli, for WRO–PWD with World Bank funding. Farmers Academy established at Velliyanai, Karur. On 9 March, USAID and APAC–VHS record their appreciation of the trust’s contribution to HIV/AIDS prevention in Tamil Nadu, at the Civil Society Partnerships in HIV/AIDS programme.
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2015
Empanelled as a training partner with NSDC, and subsequently with TNSDC, taking our skilling work into the apparel and dairy sectors.
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2017
Watershed development reaches a cumulative 570 watersheds across 14 districts, covering 33,500 hectares and roughly 1,70,000 households.
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2018
Major skilling projects delivered under DDU-GKY, RURBAN and NULM. First CSR rainwater harvesting project in Tirunelveli, and empanelment by TWAD for water and sanitation capacity building and water-testing laboratory maintenance.
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2019
On 14 September the Tirunelveli District Administration presents Coodu Trust with the Best NGO Partner Award 2019 under the Jal Shakthi Abhiyan, for the water conservation project in Manur Block — rainwater harvesting across 1,200 hectares in 2018–19, and more than 1,500 hectares in the year that followed.
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2020
750 rural youth trained under DDU-GKY and 886 under the National Rurban Mission; 5,000 Mahila Kisans identified and 2,134 trained under MKSP; Covid relief delivered in Chennai and Dindigul.
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2021
DDU-GKY runs outside Tamil Nadu for the first time, in Thrissur district of Kerala, and a Covid Care Centre is established in Tirunelveli. Under “You Nominate We Donate”, funded by CITI Bank with United Way Mumbai, 7,500 beneficiaries across Chennai Corporation are nominated and selected for family essential kits.
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2022
Empanelled as a Cluster-Based Business Organisation by TNSFAC under the Centre’s scheme for 10,000 farmer producer organisations, promoting four producer companies in Dindigul and Thiruvarur with 1,082 farmers enrolled, 257 of them women. Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, 1,272 panchayat representatives, tank operators and SHG federation members are trained to test water with field kits.
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2023
First Ecomac-based solid waste management project launched in Kancheepuram, solid waste management implemented for Dindigul City Municipal Corporation, and 51 recharge shafts completed in Manur Block, Tirunelveli.
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2025
2,408 farmers and watershed committee members trained under PMKSY; 624 rural youth trained under DDU-GKY with 582 placed in textile mills in Karur and Tiruppur.
What drives us
Our vision & mission
Our vision
Enrich the environment through sustainable practices, and enable communities to become self-sufficient.
Our mission
Implement community-driven development initiatives that promote sustainable natural resource management, enhance livelihood opportunities, and build the capacities of rural families to achieve long-term self-reliance.
What we stand for
Our guiding values
Integrity
We operate with transparency and accountability in all our actions.
Collaboration
We believe in the power of partnership with communities and stakeholders.
Empowerment
We enable individuals and communities to take charge of their own development.
Sustainability
We create solutions that are environmentally sound and economically viable.
Our people
Meet our leadership
S. Jagadeesan
Managing Trustee
C.T.V. Chidambara Kumar
Trustee
Dr. P. Venkatesan
Advisory Board
P.P. Saravanan
Advisory Board
Our reach
The need, in numbers
How our home district, Dindigul, compares with the Tamil Nadu average — and why our programmes focus where they do.
Source: National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019–21 — MoHFW / IIPS.
| Indicator | Dindigul (%) | Tamil Nadu (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Improved drinking water | 99.5 | 98.6 |
| Improved sanitation | 61.0 | 72.6 |
| Clean cooking fuel | 76.3 | 82.9 |
| Electricity | 98.8 | 99.3 |
| Women literate (15–49) | 78.2 | 84.0 |
| Institutional births | 97.0 | 99.6 |
| Children fully vaccinated | 92.6 | 89.2 |
Trusted by
Our partners & recognition
We are proud to collaborate with a wide range of government bodies, corporate partners, and funding agencies who share our vision.
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Coodu Trust’s Director with Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, leading a delegation of farmers from Karur district. A photograph from the same meeting appears on the cover of the trust’s Annual Report 2003–2004.
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A one-day human rights training for panchayat and SHG federation leaders in Karur district, convened with the National Human Rights Commission.
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Dr J. Radhakrishnan I.A.S., then District Collector, on a field visit.
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The delegation photographed together on the lawn at Rashtrapati Bhavan — around ninety people, with women seated along the front row.
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The Best NGO Partner Award 2019, presented to Coodu Trust by the Tirunelveli District Administration under the Jal Shakthi Abhiyan, for the water conservation project in Manur Block. 14 September 2019.
