Our vision and mission
Varta Trust promotes dialogue and understanding on gender and sexuality as issues intimate and integral to human development in India. We believe that dialogue is essential to tackling social stigma and silence around sexual issues, ensuring gender equity, and stopping discrimination around diverse forms of gender and sexuality.
We look at gender and sexuality through the prism of intersections with age, class, caste, religion, race, marital status, geographical location, sexual and reproductive health, HIV, disability, mental health, education, livelihood, social security, environment and human rights.
Varta Trust aims to publish multi-format and mutli-lingual publications for mass audiences as platforms for dialogue on gender and sexuality. The Varta webzine (included in this website) is the first of these publications. Our publishing work is complemented by activities around awareness generation through public events, referrals to services, training, social research, and policy, legal, economic inclusion and media advocacy on gender and sexuality.
Our roots lie in the work done by Counsel Club (1993-2002), Pravartak (started as an independent publication by a group of individuals in 1991-92, later published by Counsel Club as their house journal from 1993-2000), and Integration Society (sibling NGO of Counsel Club, 1999 to around 2005) – all among the earliest queer support initiatives in India.
Our inspiration lies in the efforts put in by numerous queer support forums and ally human rights groups, in India and globally, over the decades – to strengthen the discourse around diversity in gender and sexuality, and campaign against the stigma, discrimination and violence faced by queer communities.
Organizational details
Currently, a group of 26 people from the fields of journalism, social work, social and biomedical research, human rights and law, health, academics, art, information technology, engineering, business, financial management and queer community mobilization forms the larger Varta team. As a registered trust, Varta is led by a five-member Board of Trustees consisting of Pawan Dhall (Founding Trustee), Kaushik Gupta, Madhuja Nandi, Dr. Srabasti Majumdar and Susanta Pramanik.
The first meeting of Varta was held on June 3, 2012 in Kolkata, and the Varta webzine started on August 1, 2013. Varta was registered as a trust on May 14, 2014 with the ADSR Sealdah, District South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, with number IV – 00322 of 2014. We are also registered with the Income Tax Department with unique registration no. AABTV9002AE20211 under Sections 12AB and 80G of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
The larger Varta team (Trustees, staff members and volunteers) includes: Anupam Hazra, Anwesha Chatterjee, Arkadeepra Purkayastha, Debjyoti Ghosh, Diksha Sanyal, Dr. Srabasti Majumdar, Kaushik Gupta, Madhuja Nandi, Md. Gulrez, Namrata Mukherjee, Owais Khan, Pawan Dhall, Prosenjit Pal, Rudra Kishore Mandal, Santanu Pyne, Sayan Bhattacharya, Souvik Rakshit, Srimoyee Mukherjee, Sudeb Suvana, Sudha Jha, Sudipa Chakraborty, Sukhdeep Singh, Susanta Pramanik, Swati Das, Vahista Dastoor and Yashita Kandhari.
Contact
Registered office address: DPS Corporate Club, 9A Sebak Baidya Street,
Kolkata 700 029, India
Email: vartablog@gmail.com
Blog address: varta2013.blogspot.in
Website (and webzine): www.vartagensex.org
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/vartapublications
YouTube channel: Click here
Telegram channel: t.me/vartatrust
Instagram account: www.instagram.com/vartatrust/
Our work
Read about our work through the years as documented in our annual reports. Click here for the latest annual report (financial year 2023-24). For earlier reports, please write to us at vartablog@gmail.com.
If you want to support our work through a financial donation, please click here.
Acknowledgements
Varta Trust acknowledges the support provided by all its well wishers (individuals and organizations), whether moral, in terms of ideas, or in the form of resources – you know who you are.
Blog and website editor: Pawan Dhall
Varta Trust logo credit: Rudra Kishore Mandal
Blog and website editor: Pawan Dhall
Varta Trust logo credit: Rudra Kishore Mandal
Way to go...
ReplyDeleteCheers, owais.
Thanks Owais! You're ahead of the publication time :)
DeleteCongrats Pawan and other team members... Great Beginning. My best wishes for Varta in informing and educating people on gender and sexuality and helping them explore their intimate dreams.
ReplyDeleteManish Mudaliar
Thanks Manish, and do ask friends and family to take a look as well.
DeleteGreat initiative Pawan and Team Varta! WIshing you much success in this labour of love!
ReplyDeleteRamki, ever so grateful to you for having first introduced me to blogging! That was the start of Varta in many ways :)
DeleteHello Pawanji and Varta team. Good to see this initiative. Was waiting to click the link, since I heard about Varta (few months back). Hope to see Varta in its height. Wishing the team all the very best.
ReplyDeleteIn solidarity, Biswa
Thank you for all your words of encouragement and support Biswa.
DeleteVarta blog's launch was celebrated through a small gathering at Pawan Dhall's place August 3, 2013 evening. But the jury is still out on what should be Varta's birthday - the day of the first meeting on June 3, 2012 or the publishing of the first issue of the blog on August 1, 2013. Launch event pictures can be seen on the Varta Facebook page at www.facebook.com/vartapublications.
ReplyDeleteThere are some few scattered people working in another huge 'gap' area - of issues related to sexuality and challenges to health and ability. Caregivers, families, care-receivers grapple with questions and how-to's and what-to-do's around these issues, often with a massive sense of discomfort and fear. Dialogue and understanding are critical here as well. It would be great if Varta would help increase the engagement, providing a platform for learning, information exchange and experience sharing in this area.
ReplyDeleteThank you Shikha! Your suggestions are immensely valuable and made our day so to speak. We will write to you more in this regard, including to take your advice on any caregivers resources that can be included in the Resources column in this blog.
DeleteThis is the first time I am going through your blog. Congratulations! This is indeed a great start. My best wishes to the team.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sarika for your best wishes!
DeleteCongratulations! Much needed venture to spread the word on sexuality and gender.
ReplyDelete