Starting from a handful of social activists in 2004, we now have many volunteers. Our members include workers, professionals and students who dedicate their free time to the organisation. We meet organisational expenses from monthly contributions by our own activists who contribute a part of their income.

In 2018, the Government of Madhya Pradesh conferred Lokayat with the Mahatma Gandhi National Award – “For the excellent and inspirational work done for communication and propagation of the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi in the new generation” (citation).

In recent times, the country is facing a new crisis. The last few decades have seen the rapid growth of fascist forces in the country. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, their political wing, the BJP, with the backing of the country’s biggest corporate houses, stormed to power at the Centre. Since then, the Modi-led BJP Government has implemented a very regressive economic and social agenda that is completely opposite to the Idea of India as visualised in our Constitution. The BJP does not believe in any of the fundamental values that are the pillars of the Indian Constitution — democracy, liberty, equality, secularism and fraternity. On the one hand, it is deepening all the age-old social divisions in our country, including the communal, caste and gender divide. On the other hand, it is running the country solely for the profiteering of the biggest corporate houses, because of which the people are facing a colossal unemployment, poverty and hunger crisis. It is imperative that all those who believe in our Constitution leave aside their organisational differences and unite to protect our democracy from the spectre of fascism looming over the country. 

In this spirit, we have been actively involved in various efforts to bring together progressive, democratic and socialist groups. Since the 2019 elections, we have lent our active support to the Indian National Congress, the largest opposition party in India that has taken a firm stand against both the BJP’s divisive and hate politics and also its pro-corporate economic agenda. The Congress is also seeking to unite all other opposition parties to build an anti-BJP front. To the extent possible, Lokayat has been involved in the various initiatives taken by the Congress such as the Bharat Jodo Yatra, and we have also been involved in training of grassroots activists and public outreach campaigns at the grassroots level.