LCS believes that cooperation and collaborations involving government, civil society and communities are essential to overcome the most complex social, economic and cultural disproportion and inequality in Indian society that we face, and to do so in a way that achieves lasting change. This includes tapping into the wisdom and amplifying the voices of those who are poor and marginalized especially of Women, Children and PWDs of excluded Groups and Communities.
In working with Grassroots leaders, leadership networks, CSOs and partnerships we do not impose a particular set of fixed ideas about how best to resolve problems. Our role is rather to assist those we work with to generate a process of thinking whereby they rise against the oppression and injustice and become agents of innovative and lasting social and structural changes.
Lok Chetana Samiti is founded on the philosophy of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhiji's "Gram Swaraj & Sarvodaya to Antyodaya" and Jai Prakash Narayan’s ‘Sampoorn Kranti’ and draw energy from both these legends. Shri Gandhi envisioned and propagated Local self-Governance. ‘Gram swaraj’ or ‘village self-rule’, was a pivotal concept in Gandhi's thinking. The fundamental concept of Gram Swaraj is that every village should be its own republic and should be basically self-reliant, making provision for all necessities of life - food, clothing, clean water, sanitation, housing, education and so on, including government and self-defence, and all socially useful amenities required by a community. Sarvodaya through Antyodaya’ is the inspirational ideology where each one’s well being is envisioned through the wellbeing of the last and least of the society. This concept is very much similar to the Christian thought of ‘Total Liberation or a Transformed New World.’
Our organization, LCS is rooted on the socio-political philosophy of ‘total revolution’, initiated and led by late Gandhian thinker and socio-political activist Jai Prakash Narain. He declared his vision of ‘total revolution.’ For him ‘total revolution’ meant a totally peaceful, qualitative structural transformation / change of Indian society in favour of the poor, which is to be carried out democratically by the common people with their collective moral power. It is to be a process, free from any sort of violence and discrimination. Its understanding of politics is far removed from the selfish ambition of corrupt political leaders but based on the collective moral and value –based power of the common people. It is to be realized not by changing governments and parties at the top but by building up the village communities from below with an option for the poor and getting them involved in the process of a value-based nation-building.