Skip to content

Manbhum Ananda Ashram Nityananda Trust (MANT)

Manbhum Ananda Ashram Nityananda Trust (MANT)

Manbhum Ananda Ashram Nityananda Trust (MANT) is a non-profit development organization established in 1960, operating in Eastern and Northeastern India to serve marginalized and indigenous communities. With a workforce of over 100 trained personnel, MANT reaches more than 1.5 million people annually through integrated health, education, and livelihood initiatives. The organization houses two specialized technical divisions that directly support delivery of COP26 Health Programme Commitments, namely the Peoples' Science Centre (PSC) and the Centre for Public Health Research (CPHR).

The Peoples' Science Centre addresses climate change adaptation and ecosystem resilience by training tribal youth, farmers, and women's groups in Climate Smart Agriculture and local resource conservation. The PSC develops village-specific mitigation and adaptation plans to counter climate threats to health, food security, and livelihoods, functioning as a community-based learning hub for practical climate action.

The Centre for Public Health Research (established in 2017 and recognised by the Government of India) provides advanced technical capacity for climate-health vulnerability assessments, health systems research, and evidence implementation. As India's first JBI-affiliated centre for evidence synthesis and implementation in indigenous health, CPHR leads research in tribal health delivery, One Health approaches, antimicrobial resistance, and environmental health.

This dual structure enables MANT to advance COP26 health commitments through conducting climate-health vulnerability assessments at community and facility levels, developing national health adaptation plans informed by local evidence, building climate-resilient health infrastructure via mobile medical units serving 1,000 underserved villages, and implementing low-carbon health delivery models while addressing air pollution exposure. MANT's 65-year track record in tribal areas, combined with its research and community media capacity (including India's first tribal community radio), enables culturally appropriate implementation of climate-resilient health systems in vulnerable populations.

Supporting the following commitments:

  • Commitment 1: Conduct climate change and health vulnerability and adaptation assessments (V&As) at population level and/or health care facility level.
  • Commitment 2: Develop a health national adaptation plan (HNAP) informed by the health V&A, which forms part of the National Adaptation Plan.
  • Commitment 3: Use the V&A and HNAP to facilitate access to climate change funding for health.
  • Commitment 5: Deliver a baseline assessment of greenhouse gas emissions of the health system (including supply chains).
  • Commitment 6: Develop an action plan or roadmap by a set date to develop a sustainable low carbon health system (including supply chains).

Country experience:

India: Commitments 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6.