Aripana Foundation is a grassroots civil society organization based in Darbhanga, which was set up in 2018, and works for the development of North Bihar. The Foundation works on education, primary healthcare, and language & culture.
It is named after an integral aspect of the Mithila culture, the Aripana – the floor drawings and home-art adorning Maithil homes. Aripana is an inseparable part of the Maithil people’s lives, heralding new beginnings, auspiciousness, joy and celebration.
Colonel Jha completed his medical training from Ranchi Medical College and joined the Indian Army in 1984. During his tenure he served across multiple locations in the country, including the Northern, North-Eastern and the Western border regions; as well as in the Middle-East, on deputation. Throughout his career, he also continued to provide voluntary medical services to unreached communities of North Bihar. After 31 years of distinguished service in the Armed Forces, his passion for and understanding of public health in rural India, especially Bihar, led him to co-found Aripana Foundation, where he presently serves as the Managing Trustee and the Director of its Public Health vertical. Avinash leads Education and Communication at Wipro Foundation, The Education program he leads at Wipro partners with a network of 140+ educational civil society organizations, and supports them in building deeper capacities to work on school education reform in a sustained manner. He also oversees Avinash has a Masters degree in Education from Azim Premji University and a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University. He serves as a Trustee of Aripana Foundation and an advisor on its program strategy. Jamuna has over 15 years of experience working with various NGOs. She started her career as a Program Officer, Training and Development, at Railway Children, a UK based NGO, engaging with street children and their caregiving staff at various locations across India. Thereafter, as part of Azim Premji Foundation, she facilitated education leadership & management programmes for state and district level government education functionaries as well as teachers, in the states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand. Jamuna is a co-founder of Aripana Foundation, where she presently serves as Program Director of the Education and Arts & Culture verticals. Dhiraj coordinates the K-12 educational program of Aripana Foundation and supports the Aripana Fellows. In addition to that, he also plays an active role in the ‘Development of Maithili tools and technology’ project. Before joining Aripana, Dhiraj was associated with Going to School, where he worked with school-students to enhance their entrepreneurial and 21st century skills. Prior to this, he was associated with Piramal Foundation where he worked with the children of underprivileged sections of society in Thane and Mumbai, to enhance their learning capabilities and skills through various innovative learning methods. He had also successfully raised funds and set up learning centers for the students of slum areas in Mumbai. Dhiraj has a degree in Education and a Bachelors in Science. Rupam is a Program Coordinator at Aripana Foundation and anchors our work with government schools. She has also completed two years of Aripana Education Fellowship. Before joining the Fellowship, Rupam has had over ten years of work experience, including six years as a teacher. She has a degree in Education and a Masters in the Arts. Rupam is passionate about developmental issues and has a special interest in environment and sustainability education. Anjali coordinates the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) program at Aripana, with a focus on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) of children up to 6 years of age. Before joining Aripana, Anjali worked with Going to School Foundation as a Mithila Painting Trainer, where she provided training in Mithila painting and 21st century skills, to students from government schools. Anjali has a degree in Education and a Masters in Arts. She also has a Diploma in Mithila Painting from Kala Kendra, Chandigarh. Anjali is passionate about development issues and the role of CSOs in social development. Anjali is an Aripana Education Fellow. She is specially interested in setting up and harnessing the potential of libraries and in language education. After completing two years of Fellowship, Anjali is now pursuing MA in Education from the Azim Premji University, while continuing to work part-time with Aripana on the government schools program. Abhinav is an Aripana Education Fellow. With a great eye for detail and a penchant for designing spaces that are warm and happy in which children enjoy spending their time, he plays an active role in the Aripana Learning Center. He is also interested in sports and physical education and considers them an important part of every child’s educational experience. Kanhaiya has a Masters in Political Science. He supports educational programs and events at Aripana Foundation.
Colonel P M Jha (Retd.)
Managing Trustee 
Avinash Kumar
Trustee 
Jamuna Inamdar
Program Director 
Dhiraj Kumar
Program Officer 
Rupam Dev
Program Coordinator 
Anjali Bharti
Program Coordinator 
Anjali Thakur
Fellow 
Abhinav Bose
Fellow 
Kanhaiya Kumar
Resource Person 
Saima Naaz
Fellow