Mount Valley Development Association

MOUNT VALLEY
DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION

One sunday changed everything

Development rarely knocks on the doors of villages where the roads end. In the upper reaches of Tehri Garhwal, what remained after decades of male migration was not infrastructure or opportunity.

They were women. Alone, working, waiting. Holding up homes with no income and no land ownership.
Here, in these long-forgotten hamlets, the Mount Valley Development Association (MVDA) has worked for nearly thirty years. Not to introduce external solutions, but to recognise and strengthen what already sustained these communities.

Its founder, Mr Avatar Singh Negi, posed a quiet question: can women take one day for themselves? That small intervention became a catalyst.

Consider the scale of abandonment-

Uttarakhand recorded 1048 fully abandoned villages in 2011 and it rose to nearly 1800 ghost villages by 2018
Between 2011 and 2020 over 700 hill villages reported zero population
In rural India 73 percent of women work in agriculture but only around 14 percent hold land titles
Female operated landholdings increased marginally from 12.8 percent in 2010-11 to 13.8 percent in 2015-16
In Uttarakhand 40 percent of households walk more than a kilometre daily for water and women walk 5 to 20 km in a day.

Responding to this, MVDA facilitated over 850 women’s self-help groups, established 139 learning centres for girls, revived native seed banks, and introduced livelihoods rooted in goat-rearing and mushroom farming. It addressed the missing infrastructure women bore every day.

MVDA does not claim to reverse migration. Its work asks a more grounded question: if rural India is being emptied, what must be built so that those who remain are not forgotten?

In Tehri Garhwal, the answer is being shaped slowly, by the people still standing.
Be their voice and strength. Be their cape.

About Our Hero

Mr. Avtar Singh Negi (Founder)

Mr. Avtar Singh Negi is the Founder of Mount Valley Development Association (MVDA). In this capacity, he has been the guiding force behind the organization’s vision and growth. Mr. Negi began his professional journey in Delhi, where he gained valuable experience. Eventually, he returned to his roots and ventured into battery manufacturing as an entrepreneur. However, driven by a deep sense of social responsibility and passion for rural development, he shifted his focus towards community service. With strong leadership and unwavering commitment, Mr. Negi has steered MVDA to work across several thematic areas including sustainable agriculture, education, livelihoods, health, and empowerment of marginalized communities in Uttarakhand and beyond.
The small step taken in 1995 has now transformed into a successful and impactful journey spanning over 30 years.

Navprabhat Singh (Executive Director)

Mr. Navprabhat holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from the Delhi School of Social Work, University of Delhi. He was among the first recipients of the prestigious Martha Farrell Scholarship, awarded by the Martha Farrell Foundation in collaboration with the National Association of Professional Social Workers in India.
He began his professional journey as a Project Officer with the Society for the Promotion of Women and Child Welfare, where he worked on grassroots-level initiatives. Currently, he serves as the Executive Director at Mount Valley Development Association (MVDA), where he is responsible for leading organizational strategy, representing MVDA to partners and the public, and ensuring impactful program execution.
A passionate traveler and nature enthusiast, Navprabhat enjoys exploring new places and building meaningful connections wherever he goes.