CEVA has emerged with the belief of bringing sustainable development in the most isolated and backward regions of Himalayas, India. The communities are even deprived of basic facilities.

The founder of CEVA, Mr. Haresh Kumar Sharma, himself belongs to the tribal community of Pangi Valley, has showed sheer commitment & efforts towards upliftment of his own community. In his growing years he witnessed the most rugged tribal life. Those were the days when there were no roads or electricity. Trekking for days together to reach the main land was the norm. Pangi was a civilization beyond civilization. To survive such a harsh life community participation was a must. The whole tribe was like a big family. It was in such social settings that seeds for community development were sown in Haresh.

His father always motivated him to study hard. With this motivation Haresh developed a deep interest in studies. He could be spotted reading a book even while rearing the cattle. He achieved one milestone after another and became the first from the whole tribal community to complete PhD in Social Work. The choice of subject was pretty obvious.

His project work for Masters’ degree was on social and economic status of tribal women in Pangi valley. As a part of his project work in 2008, he formed Mahila Mandals (Self Help Groups of women) in three villages namely Kumar, Mindhal and Sach. This laid the foundation of CEVA’s work.

In 2010 many eminent agriculturists and horticulturists were invited to the valley to educate poor farmers so as to promote their livelihood. This proved to be a shot in the arm for cash crop cultivation in the valley. Hitherto poor farmers witnessed a swing in their fortunes as they started growing apples, peas, potatoes etc.