In 1981 Dr. Bhanu, the Founder Secretary of PGVS, a native of Gorakhpur and a trained medical Practitioner, established a clinic and started providing medical services to rural poor in areas around Gorakhpur. The next five years were invested in understanding issues pertinent to the rural poor communities beyond their health needs. Eventually, in 1987, some likeminded people came together to establish PGVS as a formal civil society organization. This was done so that full-fledged development interventions could be initiated in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. 1988 saw the initiation of a community health programme, supported by Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI), in 5 rural pockets of Gorakhpur district. With this work, the PGVS team was also exposed to other aspects of development and community issues.

In the area such as education, adult literacy, livelihoods and governance. In 1996 was the first year when PGVS received support from large donors and full-fledged development programmes were launched.

One of the worst floods to hit Eastern UP occurred in 1998 and it was at this time that the PGVS team was able to closely observe and understand the dynamics of destruction and retardation of development activities that disasters bring along. Interventions promoted by the state government, PGVS and other NGOs were nullified by this flood and gains made in the last several years were reversed. Observations, community feedback, experiences from OXFAM project and analysis during and after this period resulted in the felt need of 'Community based Disaster Risk Mitigation'. After extensive consultation with community, experts and exposure to disaster areas, the core team at PGVS decided to change its sub-sectoral approach to integrated development approach within the framework of Disaster Preparedness.

Over the past 35 years, PGVS has supported civil societies and various communities for reducing risk among the multi hazards prone areas and emergency voluntary action in disaster situations, so we have sensitized& mobilized peoples, line departments, DDMAs and SDMAs for sustainable development. We are facilitating integration of disaster preparedness for reducing risks in the lifestyles of the target community and key stakeholders.