Step-up Centres: Tackling the Migration Challenge
12-year-old Neeraj’s clear eyes, bright smile and loud greeting make him stand apart as one enters Step-Up Centre, Dharuhera. A native of Panna district of Madhya Pradesh, it was only three years ago that Neeraj stepped out of his home state for the…
Vishal Kumar from Neemrana
Meet Vishal Kumar from Academy for Working Children-Neemrana Hi I am Vishal kumar and I am 14 years old, my father name is Rajender Prashad and mother name is Manju Devi. I belong to poor family from U.P. and here I living in Neemrana. We are 2…
Sashakt Women for Sustainable Forest Produce
It is nearly daybreak as 28-year-old Kadi Bai sits on the slightly elevated courtyard of her house to check on the packed lunch and drinking water. Soon, her husband, Balram, and two other neighbours join her, and the four start the 10-kilometre…
Financial Literacy: A New Era of Women Empowerment
22-year-old Mamta Devi of Rajgarh tehsil in Rajasthan is fidgety as she sits on the charpoy, next to her husband, clutching her one-year-old daughter nervously with both her hands. She has good reasons to be anxious. After all, women sitting next to…
Economic Freedom with Gender Parity
Watching us approach her shop, 35-year-old Rekha Devi’s husband, Ashok Kumar, left in haste while she sat hunched over her sewing machine table, jotting down measurements for a small number of customers in her work diary. He was quick to return,…
Ilam Mottukal: Fuelling dreams into realisation
“I want to grow up to be a botanist.” It’s not everyday that you hear a 12-year-old talk about her future with such vehemence, precision and articulation. As the gravity of the specialization she aims to achieve sinks in, the first thing one notices…
Weaving her own future through education
“My job was to segregate the second-hand clothes coming to the factory according to their colours,” says Nitu as nonchalantly as if she was talking about a daily chore. “No matter how diligently I worked, the owner of the factory would constantly…
“Self-reliance, The Key to Success”
“The word Naukricomes from Naukar,” says 30-year-old Anju Bala. “Today I am confident enough to provide livelihood options to several in need and I thank the DISHA project for this encouragement,” she adds. Anju is referring to the Hindi word for…
Of A Teacher and An Entrepreneur
It is around four in the afternoon and a group of young students hastily rush into 26-year-old Pooja Kaushik’s house in Nayagaon area of Faridabad, Haryana. A small, colourfully decorated chart paper outside the house proclaims that tuition classes…
Nutrition and food security through Moringa – the Miracle Tree
Nutrition and food security through Moringa – the Miracle Tree Ms Shubha Devi, a 38 year old resident of Chalaha village, block Bangermau, Unnao was one of the first enthusiastic users of Moringa plant. As part of her homestead garden, she planted…