Karuna-Shechen, an NGO founded by Matthieu Ricard in 2000, provides health services, education, community support and women's empowerment programs with a positive impact on the environment. Each year, more than 300,000 people benefit from these programs in impoverished areas of northern India, Nepal and Tibet.

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Karuna-Shechen India, the Indian branch of the association, focuses on the development and empowerment of rural communities in Bihar and Jharkhand. The organization works mainly in 4 sectors of activity, including women's empowerment (vocational training, literacy, personal hygiene workshops, etc.). It sets up sustainable programs in active participation with local communities.

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In order to support the emancipation of women in India through professional integration, Karuna-Shechen has set up the Electric Rickshaw Driver Program. Within the framework of this program, women in great precariousness are trained to become drivers of e-rickshaws, a profession that is largely male-dominated. The association provides them with the rickshaw, subsidized at 50%, the rest being reimbursed according to the number of trips made.