Who we are
A committee of mutual help, started in one rented room.
In 1966, a French priest and a handful of neighbours in Howrah's Pilkhana slum decided that no one should face hardship alone. Seva Sangh Samiti grew from that promise.
In 1966, a French priest and a handful of neighbours in Howrah's Pilkhana slum decided that no one should face hardship alone. Seva Sangh Samiti grew from that promise.
Rev. Father Francoise Laborde, a French priest, moved into a small rented room among the people of Pilkhana — then one of Calcutta's largest slums, home to over 100,000 people lacking proper nutrition, sanitation, employment and healthcare.
He began meeting with local residents three times a week — a "permanent committee" for listening to what people needed most. What started as small, informal help grew into a formal society. In 1968, Seva Sangh Samiti was registered under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act, led by Mr. Dennis Maher as President, Miss Veronica Florian as Treasurer, and Mr. L. Louis as Secretary.
"Seva Sangh Samiti — Spirit, Service, Association."
The phrase "Committee of Mutual Help" has guided the organisation ever since: not charity handed down, but neighbours helping neighbours.
The committee's original mandate still defines our work today.
A volunteer board, several of whom have served the organisation for decades.
In memoriam: Mr. Lazarus John, General Secretary, and Mr. Reginald John, Administrator of 55 years — both lost in 2022–23. Their decades of service made everything that followed possible.
See exactly how the years since the pandemic have unfolded — in our own audited numbers.