Bhagavatula Charitable Trust : Reinventing Relevance

Abstract

The case documents the history, leadership transition and current challenges facing a forty year old pioneering voluntary grassroots non government organization Bhagavatula Charitable Trust (BCT) based in Visakhapatnam, India. The Trust was headed for almost forty years by the founder Dr. B V Parameswara Rao. A pioneering and innovative leader, he resisted any attempts to put in modern management and organizational systems into BCT. From late 1990s, owing to leadership transition, BCT experienced severe turmoil affecting its relationship with community and the organisation’s interventions in rural communities. The founder’s son Sriram took over formally as the CEO in 2014 and since then gradually attempted professionally managing the organisation. However, he was left with disappointment and demotivated workforce. Meanwhile there have been several changes in the funding environment as well as rural communities. BCT has to rediscover its relevance in the midst of this.