Nirnaya was essentially set up to make a difference to the lives of marginalized Indian women and enhance their decision making capacity.

Though women form half our world, their share in it seems to be growing smaller and smaller. Historically, be it in the pastoral economy or the nomadic cultures, women and men were always equals. But somewhere along the way their work was relegated to the background, confined to home and hearth, making it almost invisible and redundant. This has not only eroded their self -confidence but has marginalized them socially and economically. Violence and atrocities against them has become a regular feature.

With the coming of the new economy, the situation seems to have grown more acute.

One way out is to recenter them by making them economically and socially strong. This Nirnaya thought could be done by helping form self help groups, thrift groups, enhancing their skill base, promoting entrepreneurship and other livelihoods.

Nirnaya took it upon itself to fund marginalized women with tested skills of motivating their community women. Nirnaya focused on marginalized women, because these women did not stand a chance of getting money from other funding agencies. Competing with men and other urban groups, and meeting the sheer eligibility norms to avail funds was beyond them.

The two other areas of support that Nirnaya found necessary were literacy / education for women and girls and creation of awareness of their legal and other rights to help them claim a rightful place in society.

Apart from this, Nirnaya believes that the most effective way of accomplishing the goal is to bring about a change from within, that is, to make the members of our own society understand, support and contribute towards the economic development of the vulnerable sections of women, sensitize society and raise public consciousness to help these women in every which way they can.

Nirnaya has realized that if it has to make a difference in the lives of women, it has to be with them at every stage.Therefore, it has been working towards promoting self- reliance among communities of grassroots women within their geographical area or according to their ethnic
identity.