About Us - TMSS

About our organization

About Us

Thengamara Mohila Sabuj Sangha

Thengamara Mohila Sabuj Sangha (Bengali: ঠেঙ্গামারা মহিলা সবুজ সংঘ, TMSS) is a leading female headed non government organization in Bangladesh and South Asia. It was initially founded in 1964 and reformed by Prof. Dr. Hosne Ara Begum, Ashoka Fellow, in 1980 in Bogura, Bangladesh. Bogura district is also known as the historical and cultural capital of South Asia stemming from the ancient civilization of the Pundra Kingdom (Sanskrit: Puṇḍravardhana).

TMSS is a women focused Bangladeshi organization working for alleviation of poverty, Women Empowerment through Skill Training and Micro Credit Support, human rights and social justice, advocacy and campaign, climate change and environment, Disaster Preparedness activities, health and hygiene including total WASH system improvement, improvement of socio-economic status and overall livelihood improvement of Bangladesh to address and contribute towards the achievement of the Sustainable development Goals(SDGs). .

TMSS is registered with 11 regulatory authorities of Government of Bangladesh, including NGO Affairs Bureau, Department of Social Welfare, Ministry of Health Family Welfare, Department of Narcotics Control, Micro-credit Regulatory Authority, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Register of Joint Stock Companies etc.

TMSS has a mission to provide a better life with dignity in the family and society through their capacity building, adaptability, responsiveness, optimum use of their own/available resource, participation in development activities, good governance, and establishment of their legitimate rights on a sustainable footing and promotes the novel slogan 'Let Family be the Focal Point of Women Development'.

Today, TMSS directly and indirectly is involved in the employment of more than 36,000 people and contributing to the betterment of more than 8 million beneficiaries.

Mission:

TMSS provides its best efforts in bringing the poor Women to a better life with dignity in the family and society through their capacity building, adaptability, and responsiveness, optimum use of their own/available resources, participation in development activities, good governance, and establishment of their legitimate rights on a sustainable footing.

Vision:

Smiling face of women folk

Goal:

Family development through Women Empowerment

Organizational History

56 Years’ long Journey of TMSS

Thengamara Sabuj Sangha (TSS) was established in 1964 under the Voluntary Social Welfare Agencies (Registration and Control) Ordinance, 1961, in the remote village of Bogra sadar upazila with the objective of aiding a 'Green (Sabuj) Revolution' in the country.

In 1980, the management and ownership of the organization was legally transferred to the local educationist and renowned Ashoka Fellow Prof. Dr. Hosne-Ara Begum, as the then authorities of the entity expressed their inability to run the organization. Prof. Dr. Begum then renamed the organization as Thengamara Mohila Sabuj Sangha (TMSS) by adding the word 'Mohila' (women), with the goal of empowering the country's womenfolk. She became its founder chief executive and this fabled non-governmental organization (NGO) has now expanded from a mere micro-credit entity to innumerable diverse ventures of ten sectors and services. TMSS has been on the development train since then till today under her discreet mentoring. Whatever socio-economic advancement has been achieved and vast beneficiaries across the country served with multifarious programs along the lines of TMSS’s cherished Goals and Objectives can be well attributed to her caring approach, dynamic leadership and prudent guidance.

As Prof. Dr. Begum recounts, it all started in 1964 when a group of beggar women led by Fatema Bewa and Jomela Bewa, two regular beggars of the village Thengamara at the district of Bogura organized the beggars of the locality and started to regularly save a 'handful of rice' out of what they begged from door to door with the aim of feeding their families and extremely poor community. In 1980 the group named TSS approached her to lead them. A 21-member committee was formed for managing the organization consisting of 226 general members and 8 tons of collected rice was turned into a life changing path. TMSS started by the destitute and disadvantaged women of Thengamara, who had long suffered from deprivations, violence and social neglect. Its growth and development was possible mainly through implementation of decisions taken at the grassroots level.

The mission of the organization is continuing the enhancement of the socio-economic status of the poor, especially women, through implementation of local decisions and utilization of local resources.

Specialty of TMSS/ Democratic Organization

TMSS Originated with the Disadvantages, Honest and Protesting Women
Inquisitiveness and Innovativeness are encouraged
Bottom-up approach (Grass-roots Options Seeking System Mandatory)
Participatory Management (Office Order of Highest Authority is always amendable within a period)
Democratic Operation (Global Meeting i.e. MCM, CCM, DCM, AGM, GBM, THMM, GAM, CCM meeting decisions are coming up from each area as powerful decision)
Decentralized Management (Domain Chief has authority to implement any project under SR)
Zero Tolerance Corruption, Exercise Penalty, Low-Performance Deduction (LPD), Dual Service Deductions (DSS)
Good Governance, Transparency and Accountability
Highest Priority on ethical conduct (honesty, dedication, commitment, integrity)
Strong Focus on Women Emancipation, Empowerment and Development
Gender responsiveness