IDS 50th Anniversary  Celebration Gala

Back in 1974, a small group of Indians in Chicago were concerned about the misfortune of their fellow Indians in their home country. They wanted to transform their acquired knowledge and technology to their fellow citizens so they can have the same quality of life that they were now exposed to. That became the foundation for starting India Development Service (IDS) in 1974. The initial activities focused on organizing conferences and seminars with the aim of educating expatriated Indians on how to set up ventures in India in order to simulate economic development. Influenced by famous British Economist Dr. E. F. Schumacher Small is Beautiful, IDS members began to realize they needed to readjust their approach and focus on people in need. This, then became the fundamental aim of the organization: to energize and support the efforts of local citizens with a grass-roots, bottom-up development approach to Improve their lives. Direct involvement with Indians in the local villages brought to the forefront recognition of the catalytic role a few individuals can play in transforming the lives of the disadvantaged and vulnerable people throughout India. To date, IDS has now supported over 270 grassroots projects over 18+ states impacting lives of over 5+ million. For five decades, IDS continues to empower these individuals, and could not do so without the generosity of its donors and dedication of the volunteers.

We are deeply honored to celebrate this milestone with none other than Dr. Abhijt Banerjee whose groundbreaking research work and book, Poor Economics bears resemblance to the work IDS has been doing for the last 5 decades.