Vikas Chinchkar, hailing from the Beed district of Maharashtra, has been exposed to grassroots-level issues since his early days. He completed his Masters degree in Urban and Rural Community Development from CSRD-ISWR institute in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra in 2023. During his academic years, Vikas volunteered in the Sanjaynagar slum area and Grampanchayat Kapurwadi in Ahmednagar District. This gave him the opportunity to interact with farmers, and Self-Help Groups (SHGs) of women and children in the village. With a strong conviction towards becoming a development sector professional, he worked on various areas such as education, gender differences, and health. Vikas is particularly passionate about digital literacy, environmental sustainability, and social work interventions.
As a Digital Swaraj Fellow at DEF, he has worked on project ‘Hope 1000’, an initiative aimed at providing digital assets such as computers and printers to 1000 PwDs across the country in Beed district. As part of the project, he successfully started 8 centers, identifying and providing support to PwDs, empowering them to become independent service providers within their communities. He also played an active role in Sewa Data Project leading a survey on women’s empowerment in Maharashtra, rallying a team of survey coordinators.
