Overworked teachers, understaffed classrooms, truancy and adult  illiteracy are major impediments to primary school learning in rural India.  Thannirpalli, a village in the Karur District of Tamil Nadu, Southern India, is no different, and in the mid 1980s, Raju, although first in his class at the age of 12, was as yet unable to read or write.  A visitor to the village school, however, saw the potential in this young boy and made arrangements for his education to be funded in secondary school and university. Motivated by this, and with a  degree in economics, Raju returned to Thannirpalli with the aim of improving the educational opportunities of children in his village.  In 1995, the Society for Poor People Development (SPPD) was founded by Raju and a group of four fellow students. In that year, the first Evening  Study Centre ( ESC) was launched and a registered office was opened in Raju’s parents' home in the village.   In 1997 the scope of the ESC was increased to five villages.

From its beginning, SPPD’s attention has been directed primarily towards the needs of children, and to that end it has extended its areas of involvement to include the support and empowerment of women – the primary carers of children – and to rebuild local agriculture – the primary background of children in this area.

Since 1995 SPPD has flourished into a major organization which employs more than 39 full-time, and 21 part-time staff, serving the educational and health needs of more than 700 children , supporting over 9,900 women in Self Help Groups ,  and running a model research and training farm .

Early support came from William Buchanan, Professor of Philosophy at Michigan University, USA.  Another early supporter was Antony David of Wales, UK.  In late 1998 a major milestone occurred for SPPD when Raju met Andrew McElroy from Ireland in Delhi.  Raju explained the work of SPPD to him and the following year Andrew McElroy visited Thannirpalli.  He was so impressed with what he saw that he recommended SPPD to the Irish Embassy for funding.  Without this help SPPD could not have achieved the success it has had to date.  Having been involved in fundraising in Europe, Patrick Doolan visited the Community Centre in early 2007.  This resulted in a commitment on his part to fund raise and mentor the organization.

The then Irish Ambassador to India, HE Philip McDonough, visited SPPD in December 2001.  In 2002, funded by Irish Aid, construction was began on a Community Centre  in Soriyampatti, a village 15 km from Thannirpalli.  In 2006 the new Community Centre was officially opened by HE Kiaran Dowling, the then Ambassador to India.

Since then SPPD has been able to buy 12.75 acres of land in another nearby village, Vellalapatti. This is now a rapidly expanding Dry Land Farming Research and Training Centre  . .