Our History

Devadasi is an old tradition in parts of India in which a young Dalit girl is dedicated to a local deity or goddess and expected to serve it for life. Over the centuries, these women were vulnerable to exploitation and discrimination, and some were forced into prostitution.

Dedication of Devadasis is banned by law in Karnataka. The practice persists in the region because of socio-economic factors among those who dedicate girls and weak government enforcement.

KSWDC launches a special programme to train Devadasis in skills and offer heavily subsidised loans for income-generating activities. It asks the NGO MYRADA to help implement it.

With MYRADA's involvement, the programme goes beyond economic support. It aims to prevent more girls from being dedicated and to organise women already dedicated into an institution that protects their interests and builds their self-esteem. Self-help groups are considered first, but are judged over time to serve a limited purpose. A more substantial, visible institution is needed.

After many months of meetings with Devadasis in about 509 villages of the district, MASS is registered in September as a society under the Karnataka Societies Act of 1960, with funding support from Oxfam NOVIB for the rehabilitation projects it grew from.

An education programme for Dalit children begins in Raibag taluka with funding from Every Child, UK.

Every Child leaves India in September and transfers its assets to a global alliance. MASS continues its education work independently, raising funds from the local community and factories.