Our Mission

Ponnani does not have hospitals with state-of-the-art facilities or high-tech educational institutes. However, it has always remained a step ahead of neighbouring regions for charitable welfare initiatives and humanitarian causes, thanks to its social workers and supporters.

Some examples supporting such a view include the Free Dialysis Center (conforming to municipality guidelines), Pain and Palliative Care Unit, Free Medicine Distribution and Schools for physically challenged students by MSS; all conducted with active public participation. Several social organisations also provide mental support for those facing physical hardship and help create opportunities for the empowerment of women and children.

The main goal of the Ponnani Group for Care and Compassion (PGCC) is to support such humanitarian initiatives and to identify deserving candidates directly, without affecting their self-esteem. Another goal is to empower women and students to unlock their potential, which would help them attain financial independence and alleviate poverty.

Although there were many discussions regarding the formation of a group in Ponnani that could formally collect and manage charitable assistance, the disastrous floods of 2018 were what kicked off the formation of such a group. A coordination group was formed in Ponnani at that time through expatriate groups in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait, and with the sincere cooperation of local volunteers and former expatriates.

This group provided shelter to 28 families affected by the floods. Subsequently, it provided medical assistance to many patients suffering from fatal diseases, hardships and financial difficulties in Ponnani. When the government’s assistance was delayed, this group quickly delivered beds and other materials to the Mother and Child Hospital. During this period, various expatriate associations in the Gulf provided machines and large financial assistance to the dialysis centre. The group also organised an empowerment event, the "Edupower" seminar for the students in Ponnani. During the COVID-19 pandemic, several mobile phones were distributed for online classes as per the request from the school authorities for financially struggling students. The group also provided land for Anganwadi as per the request from the Municipality to utilise their funds for its construction.

All committee members, through their representatives in Ponnani, helped coordinate this initiative to be more effective and impactful, and remained united for this noble cause. The cooperation, presence and service of each member of this group were valuable in accomplishing these feats. However, the community realised the need for an official legal entity in order to expand the subsequent activities. This then led to the efforts to register as a charitable trust to ensure that the assistance reaches those in need without delay.

Individuals and small groups with charitable intent have faced many challenges, including legislative complications, limiting them from achieving their desired results and goals. Therefore, when a request to aid treatment for a deadly disease, an application for housing provision for the destitute and isolated in society, or a request to help bright students facing financial difficulties to pursue higher education comes forth, an individual may not be able to satisfactorily fulfil such requests. 

Consequently, the expatriate (and former expatriate) community involved in charitable activities in our hometown have realised the need for pooling resources and formally structuring the charitable efforts to provide an efficient and effective solution in such situations.

PGCC: Ponnani Group for Care and Compassion Charitable Trust was registered in June 2024 as a charitable trust by a group of socially committed volunteers, including the expatriate community, as its trustees. The trustees are confident that this can help spread awareness of the importance of humanitarian service among the younger generation, and improve the scope and impact of charitable activities.

NGO Darpan registration was obtained in August 2024 to improve transparency and fulfil the legal requirements prescribed by the Central Government. Accordingly, PGCC is entitled to maintain an official bank account and accept CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) funds and donations from government-approved corporations and private companies for charitable activities.

Looking to the future, our goal is to unify all humanitarian activities and social welfare programs under one umbrella and ensure more efficient coordination to maximise our impact on our community. By uniting our efforts, we can better serve our diaspora and foster collective action for the betterment of the deserving community

The ideal charitable project for PGCC would be to get to a sustainable and uninterrupted operation scenario, where the charitable institutions running with public participation in Ponnani can receive regular financial assistance to support their basic daily expenses. This is also necessary to enable future generations to continue charitable activities transparently through changing circumstances.

To pursue this goal, a commercial plot was located in Ponnani to construct a multi-storey building including a modern conference hall. The entire net income from the rental will be spent on the aforementioned charitable institutions and activities.

Fortunately, the financial cost of purchasing the land for this purpose can be covered through the generosity of a few individual financial donations and the income from the sales of "Ponnani Primer", a publication by the Ponnani Welfare Committee (PWC), Dubai.

In addition, we expect full cooperation and support from various Ponnani expatriate associations and generous individuals at home and abroad, for constructing this building. It is hoped that the first goal of PGCC will be fulfilled shortly. With the completion of this building, we can hope that the long-lasting desire of the social workers and all the charitable expatriate community in Ponnani will come true. This initiative will also help inspire future generations to contribute to Ponnani's social service and charitable efforts.