Conviction Made Operational

Programmes.

The conceptual architecture of Sikhiyas — the three daily disciplines, the wisdom map, the Sarbat da Bhala ethic — translates into specific programme work. Six programmes, each governed by a single test: does this serve only us, or does it serve us and the world?

I. The Six

Each programme below has its own dedicated page with full design, eligibility, and engagement detail. This page is the orientation map. Most Sikhiyasis engage with two or three programmes simultaneously — a Seva placement nested inside a study-circle commitment, an ecological stewardship season followed by a study tour, a skills-and-livelihoods incubation alongside continued field service.

II. Seva Placements

Time-bound (3, 6, 12 months) field placements in disaster risk reduction, public health, ecological restoration, refugee support, and rural development — both in India and internationally. Implementation through EduCARE and the wider GlobalPEACE network. Skill-fit matched to the participant's professional or academic background, mentored by named field supervisors and Sikhiyas mentors at structured ratios.

Best-fit applicants: those who want their Seva commitment to take a structured, full-time, accountable form for a defined season. Often the spine of the diaspora cohort experience.

Seva Placements — full page →

III. Study Circles

Local and online groups for deep study of Sikhi, of comparative philosophical traditions, and of the practical skills of organising and leadership. Three to fifteen Sikhiyasis and Friends, meeting at a regular cadence, working through a defined reading term together. Three streams: Sikhi, Comparative, and Practical.

Best-fit participants: every Sikhiyasi, eventually. Study circles are the year-round engine that makes the cohort programmes possible. Seed Circles open the route in for new geographies.

Study Circles — full page →

IV. International Exchanges

Structured exchanges between Sikh youth in the diaspora and Sikh youth in Punjab and India — and outward exchange with non-Sikh youth movements that share the Sarbat da Bhala commitment, through the GlobalPEACE network of constituent partners. Short-form (one to four weeks) and longer-arc (three to six months) variants.

Best-fit applicants: Sikhiyasis who have completed at least one Seva placement or two terms of study circle, and are ready to carry the work outward into a conversation with another tradition or another geography.

Full page in development. Enquiries through the Partnerships Office.

V. Disaster Response & Humanitarian Operations

Trained, deployable units of Sikhiyas members for rapid response to natural disasters and humanitarian crises, in coordination with established field institutions. Entry-restricted: open only to participants twenty-one and above with a documented prior service history. We do not place inexperienced participants into protection-sensitive contexts.

Best-fit applicants: Sikhiyasis with prior placement experience, professional disaster-response or medical training, and the operational disposition to work under field discipline in pressured conditions.

Full page in development. Enquiries through the Diaspora Office.

VI. Ecological Stewardship

Tree planting, watershed restoration, river cleaning, wetland protection, sea-life and turtle conservation, biodiversity protection — particularly tied to Gurdwara-attached lands and sacred ecologies. Year-round programming with seasonal intensification around monsoon-prep, post-monsoon restoration, and winter-readiness windows.

Best-fit applicants: any Sikhiyasi or Friend with the disposition to spend a season learning what trees, water, and earth actually want — and the patience to do the slow work that ecological restoration genuinely requires.

Full page in development. Most Seva placements include ecological work; standalone enrolment via the Membership Office.

VII. Skills & Livelihoods

Vocational training, social-entrepreneurship incubation, and dignified-work pathways — explicit support for Kirat Karo as a daily discipline lived at scale. NSQF-mapped certification, social-enterprise mentorship, livelihood-pathway support for participants returning to home geographies, and partnership with rural producer collectives.

Best-fit applicants: Sikhiyasis whose primary commitment is to the dignified-work side of the practice, including those building social enterprises, vocational programmes, or dignified-livelihood institutions in their own communities.

Full page in development. Enquiries through the Scholarships & Awards Office.

VIII. Choosing Where To Begin

For most applicants, the right first programme is not chosen on this page — it is identified in conversation. The first email goes to the office most relevant to your interest; the first conversation explores which programme suits where you actually are; the seven-stage intake structures the matching that follows.

If you are unsure, the working rule is simple: Seva Placements if you want a full-time structured season of Seva; Study Circles if you want a year-round practice of slow study while continuing your existing life; both if you want the most common Sikhiyasi shape, which is exactly that. The other four programmes layer in over time.