Acclaimed actress Regina Cassandra, widely recognized for her progressive roles in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi cinema, has recently taken on a new role as co-founder of Democratic Sangha, a nonpartisan social reform organization based in Hyderabad. Democratic Sangha, founded by Brahmachari Chaitanya, a disciple of the esteemed Indian social reformer Swami Agnivesh recipient of the Right Livelihood Award, aims to spread awareness about the principles of democracy, including human rights, the rule of law, women’s participation, civic education, and social and electoral reforms.
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Democratic Sangha today announced the onboarding of Regina Cassandra, who will be instrumental in furthering the organization’s mission. Regina will be working with the foundation in educating and empowering women across country.
Speaking about her decision to join Democratic Sangha, Regina Cassandra said, “I feel there are a lot of ways we can give back to society. Chaitanya MRSK, the founder, came to me with the idea of Democratic Sangha, and it really resonated with my believes. Democratic Sangha, a nonprofit, nonpartisan social reform organization, aims to promote the principles of democracy.“
Regina further added, “At Democratic Sangha, we focus on three areas: Women’s Participation, Civic Education, and Elections and Voting. We have actively started our work on Women’s Participation, aiming to educate as many women as possible. Democratic Sangha was an eye-opener for me because I believe that, through empowering women, we can improve society and make a larger impact.”
As part of her commitment to the organization, Regina will also play a key role in the Rural Women’s Leadership Program, an initiative designed to empower rural women from socially and economically backward communities. This program forms Women’s Collectives in villages, equipping them to become advocates for development and social change.
In its first year, Democratic Sangha has successfully established 50 women’s collectives in the Karimnagar and Khammam districts of Telangana. These collectives, led by women from marginalized communities, make a program that empowers them to implement a change agenda in their villages. The program will empower them in the topics of self-awareness, understanding democracy, the constitutional framework and rights, human rights, gender rights and equality, and the intersectionality of issues such as food, health, violence, livelihoods, education, and property rights.
The program aims to create thousands of grassroots women leaders who are dedicated to developing their villages and enhancing their communities’ well-being.
