Our story

ACTS was started in a small home in Koramangala, Bangalore, in 1979 by the late Dr Ken Gnanakan (1940-2021), a musician, artist, theologian, philosopher, author, teacher, educationist, and environmentalist. After completing his Ph.D in London, Dr Gnanakan returned to India to start ACTS Institute, a unique programme that took adult students through both theological and vocational training. Over the years, the work of ACTS has grown across India and is now located in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, with over 1000 people working under the umbrella of ACTS.

Education lies at the heart of ACTS, formerly known as International Needs India, later ACTS Ministries, and now ACTS Group of Institutions. The work also includes community development programmes, environmental intiatives, and book publishing, as well as floriculture, agriculture, and guitar-building social enterprises.

ACTS’ most recent initiatives are in the areas of floriculture and agriculture, with farms in Hosur and in the Niligiris, where roses, chrysanthemums, carnations, and lilium are grown. Around 100 people are employed across these farms. Seeing the need, ACTS has also started a playschool for the children of the Hosur farm workers and conducts regular medical checks for the workers.

The ACTS head office operates out of Koramangala (in the same building where ACTS started in 1979) and is registered under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act 1960, Registration No: 80/79-80. ACTS is a proud global partner of International Needs, a worldwide partnership of like-minded nonprofit organisations.