DST owes its existence to CAA, Oxfam (Australia). In the late 70s and early 80s community development was the thrust area of development programmes ranging from awareness raising amongst tribal groups to economic upliftment of dalits, tribals, fishing communities, etc. The grassroots organisations were sincere and committed but their organisational capacities were limited due to lack of technical expertise, conceptual understanding, trained HR and exposure to broader development processes and issues – the non-financial support was a felt need for these groups. A group of likeminded individuals took upon themselves this new challenge and began work in a humble way by promoting DST.

DST started as a support service organisation in a small way and accepted a variety of challenges in its growth path and journey. DST has grown into a multifaceted organisation responding to the needs of the sector and also proactively initiating some processes/programmes to build an improved understanding of the current challenges.