Dakshinayan's C.H.E.O. Project is located in the Sundar Pahari Block of Godda District in the new tribal state of Jharkhand, India. This region was once part of Bihar's Santhal Parganas, the tribal district that borders West Bengal.

The Sundar Pahari Block falls within the picturesque, forest-covered Rajmahal Hills. These hills are inhabited by the Paharia Tribes—Kumarbhag, Mal, Mal-Dehri and the Sauria. The surrounding plains are inhabited by the Santhal and Kol Tribes. Although there are socio-economic distinctions between the Santhals, Paharias and Kols, they coexist in harmony and are inter-dependent on each other.

The Paharias practice shifting cultivation and are partly hunter-gatherers. Maize being their staple food. The Santhals practice permanent cultivation and grow paddy as rice is their staple food. The Kols, though a distinct tribe, are akin to the Santhals and speak a similar language. They too practice permanent cultivation, their staple food being rice. Historically, the Kols bartered iron implements with the Santhals in exchange for grain.

The area also has a small but significant number of non-tribal villagers who were once money-lenders but are now farmers or petty traders.

Dakshinayan's involvement in the region started with the Sauria Paharias living in Cheo Village. It then spread to other Sauria, Kumarbhag and Santhal villages in the Rajmahal hills. In 1991, a new centre was opened at Paharpur in the plains at the base of the hills. Today, this centre is the Head Office of the C.H.E.O Project. In 2003 a new centre was set up at Barai village, though Dakshinayan's involvement in that village dates back to 1992.

The C.H.E.O Project has three main centres: Cheo Centre in the hills, Paharpur Centre in the plains and Barai Centre in the forests. The Cheo Centre works predominantly with the Sauria and Kumarbhag tribes, while the Paharpur Centre is mostly concerned with the Santhals. In Barai, the involvement is with the Kol tribe. There is, however, no definite policy of working exclusively with any particular tribe. Topography and demography dictate each centre's involvement.

Dakshinayan's work in the region is mainly in education and health care. Till 1985, when the project was part of SCI, the work consisted of digging wells, building reservoirs, providing food grains, distributing clothes and livestock.

Since then, however, the emphasis has shifted from charity to education, self-reliance and utilization of available resources. A group of young boys and girls were identified and trained to run non-formal schools, provide first aid and fever treatment, impart health education, motivate the villagers to undertake conservation work and set up village committees, women's groups and youth groups. Some of these people are now members of the project's team.

Earlier, Dakshinayan's schools laid emphasis on inculcating an interest in learning among the tribal population who did not see any benefits in acquiring an education. Over the years, as more people became interested in sending their children to school, Dakshinayan started concentrating on preparing the children to seek admission in bigger and better schools within the region and beyond. Dakshinayan schools and the Baba Gyan Jyoti Ashram, in particular, is an effort to prepare children to seek better education and develop leadership qualites to benefit their own communities.

At present Dakshinayan runs schools in Cheo, Paharpur and Barai. Till recently, these schools were non-formal in nature. However, in keeping with the rapid socio-economic changes taking place in the region, the teaching programme now follows the Government recommended school syllabus.

The C.H.E.O Project is totally run by motivated local people, and is not funded by any donor agency. It is flexible and in keeping with local needs and aspirations. This is the uniqueness of the C.H.E.O Project and is in tune with the philosophy of self-reliance of Dakshinayan.