Leading NGOs Impacting Corporate Social Responsibility Drive

VOL 08

ISSUE 04

EMBRACING DEVELOPMENTS

HOW MODERN NGOS ARE

CONTRIBUTING TO HOLISTIC

SOCIAL GROWTH

ESSENTIAL FUNDAMENTALS

COMPREHENSIVE ASPECTS

OF THE OUTSTANDING

NGOS IN THE MODERN

INDUSTRY

Leading

S

Impacting

Corporate

Social

Responsibility

Drive

- 2022

Ms Tina Phogat,

Founder

GEETANJALI

CARE

The Force of

Compassionate,

Caring and Committed

Social Warriors

We cannot do

great things on

this Earth,

Only small things

with great love.

- Mother Teresa

Editor’s Note

A RE-DEFINED

POWERFUL

SOCIAL

REVOLUTION

Abhishek Joshi

Deputy Editor

abhishek.joshi@insightssuccess.com

Positive social impact is the ultimate profit—the

philanthropy seeks of!

One might feel that by generating employment, providing

people with their dream jobs and professional careers, and

paying a part of their profits in taxes, the industry, the

enterprises, businesses, and corporates are already

contributing immensely to social growth and fulfilling their

social responsibility.

However, by going to the grassroots levels, empowering the

underprivileged and shattering the clutches of poverty,

hunger, malnutrition, diseases, and other social malice, notfor-profit

or non-profit or Non-Governmental Organizations

(NGOs) are doing the genuine social reformists’ work for

free or even by incurring substantial losses.

These organizations are leading multifarious causes and

many times working hard, tenuously, ardently, devotedly,

and tediously with immense commitment, a never-ending

dedication, and tremendous zeal to heal the deeply inflected

social wounds of inequality, injustice, and ghastly

invisibility.

As a developing nation, we re-discovered the worth and

importance of these NGOs during the last two and a half

years of the recurring pandemic, which is deepening the

chasm of all the evils threatening the social fabric of health,

education, unity, harmony, peace, growth, and prosperity.

If we consider the two motives of emotional and financial

forces driving every individual, group, and professional

enterprise—then—while NGOs are stronger emotionally,

Corporates are mightier financially.

What if these two forces combine their might to form a

united power?

Then, a mighty social revolution is bound to happen. At

Insights Success, we, too, felt the need to showcase this

stream extreme in the limelight it so worthily deserves. Our

brand exclusive edition, ‘Leading NGOs Impacting

Corporate Social Responsibility Drive – 2022,’ is a small

attempt in this regard. Here, we have chosen those NGOs

already driving positive social transformation by

proliferating the CSR mission extensively.

As you will indeed get charmed by their praiseworthy

stories, you will find your enchantment amalgamated by

reading two apt articles crafted by our in-house editorial

team.

Flip through the pages, witness the revolution, and become

a part of this social transformational saga!

C o v e r S t o r y

GEETANJALI

CARE

The Force of Compassionate, Caring

and Committed Social Warriors

A r t i c l e s

ESSENTIAL FUNDAMENTALS

COMPREHENSIVE ASPECTS

OF THE OUTSTANDING

NGOS IN THE MODERN

INDUSTRY

EMBRACING DEVELOPMENTS

HOW MODERN NGOS ARE

CONTRIBUTING TO HOLISTIC

SOCIAL GROWTH

C O N T E N T

Apni Shala Foundation

On the Quest for SEL-Integrated

Holistic Wellbeing

Cancer Aid & Research Foundation

Enlightening Lives by Brightening the Horizons

Child Heart Foundation

Ensuring Our Children’s Hearts Stays Strongest

Swayam Shikshan Prayog

Centering Women Leadership in

Social Development

Udayan Care

Where Young Lives Shine

Udyogini

Empowering Steady Framework for

Financial Independence

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal

Deputy Editor Abhishek Joshi

Managing Editor Gaurav PR Wankhade

Visualizer Sandeep Tikode

Art and Design Head Rashmi singh

Associate Designer Sameen, Sonia

Sr. Vice President Megha Mishra

Sr. Sales Manager Tejaswini Whaval

Business Development Lead Neha Bhilare

Sr. Business Development Executive Yogesh, Hemanshu

Technical Head Prachi Mokashi

Technical Specialist Amar Sawant

Digital Marketing Manager Renuka Kulkarni

SME-SMO Executive Nikita Khadalkar

Circulation Manager Tanaji

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RNI NUMBER: MAHENG/2018/75953

Leading

S

Impacting

Corporate

Social

Responsibility

Drive -

2022

Organization

Management

Brief

Apni Shala Foundtion

Cancer Aid &

Research Foundation

Child Heart Foundation

Sangeeta Zombade,

Co-founder and Director

Mr Shamshi Mulla,

Chairman,

and

Mrs Savita Nathani, CEO

Dr Vikas Kohli,

Founder and Trustee

Apni Shala works with children from low-income

communities and helps build their emotional, interpersonal

and thinking skills in children.

Cancer Aid & Research Foundation it is a registered medical NGO

and was formed with the passionate endeavour of striving endlessly

towards the welfare of cancer patients who are underprivileged,

without distinction of religion or caste.

Child Heart Foundation is built for helping children with heart

disease. The focus is families who are financially challenged

and can’t meet the financial requirements for heart surgery or

intervention.

Geetanjali Care

Ms Tina Phogat,

Founder

Geetanjali Care represents humanistic values to help underprivileged

people in the society. Child Education, Child Health, Hygiene and

Wellness, Women's Biological Health and Medical Care are its

primary areas of attention.

Swayam Shikshan

Prayog

Ms Prem Gopalan,

Founder

Swayam Shikshan Prayog repositions women’s collectives by

training them as farmers and entrepreneurs and thereby increasing

their economic and social resilience.

Udayan Care

Dr Kiran Modi,

Founder and

Managing Trustee

Udayan Care aims to bring sunshine into the lives of

underserved sections of society that require intervention.

Udyogini

Arvind K. Malik,

CEO

Udyogini promotes women entrepreneurs in rural India by

providing solutions that cater to their aspirations.

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Leading NGOs Impac ng Corporate Social Responsibility Drive - 2022

Apni Shala

Foundation

On the Quest for SEL-Integrated Holistic Wellbeing

school that everyone from the community feels

Aand calls ‘Our School, Apni Shala,’ was two years

in its organizational journey when Sangeeta

Zombade, Director, Khoj–Apni Shala’s SEL integrated

School initiative–first conceptualized an SEL integrated

school along with Amrita Nair and Rohit Kumar (Cofounders

of the project).

Sangeeta’s journey and dream for the school began with her

own experience years ago, when her family was moved

from slums to a government-provided Slum Rehabilitation

Housing Society, and the entire community had to be

reorganized. At the government-provided housing,

employment, health, and educational opportunities were

very limited. For example, the area has only one

government School serving over 8000 children in the

community!

The redeveloped housing was built next to the biggest

garbage dumping ground and an abattoir, landfills and is in

close proximity to industries like BPCL and HPCL, raising

several environmental concerns in Deonar. With the lowest

human development index, lowest literacy rate, and highest

infant mortality rate, Mankhurd had become a lost cause for

many, including its residents. But not Sangeeta.

While at Akanksha, she taught the children from the

community. She also led the community-driven initiative

called Prayatna–Strive in Hindi–where she got together the

youth in the community on the social challenges that they

felt were important to be addressed such as alcoholism,

drug abuse, lack of cleanliness, and education.

After some conversations with the community members

and social workers, Sangeeta got together with Amrita and

Rohit, to lead forward a progressive, experientialeducation-based

school for the community in 2017. The key

questions they asked were: What if all children could attain

an education that empowers them to transform their lives

not in spite of their socio-economic or cultural differences

but because of it?

Khoj aims to offer innovative solutions like

• Providing a high-quality education for the holistic

development of children, with a well-researched design

for social-emotional, cognitive, and physical

development.

• Going beyond the usual imagination of a school, and

extending the design to include a larger community of

parents and youth into the development processes.

• Becoming a center of excellence for providing training,

research, and ecosystem support to other schools and

communities for SEL-integrated school design and

curriculum.

What started out of rented rooms within the community is

currently a school in its 5th year.

Khoj runs from Limbuni Baug Mumbai Public school, in

Chembur, through its partnership with the MCGM, serving

underserved children and families. Khoj has also been

providing professional development to early childhood

educators from other schools on SEL-integrated learning

and has published practice-based articles in

national/interactional publications such as ‘Teacher Plus

and ‘Think Make Learn.’

As a Co-founder and Director of Khoj, Sangeeta leads

school operations, teacher professional development, and

community engagement. Sangeeta is an exemplary leader

who has not only challenged the stereotypes of gender and

14 | August 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in

social-economic class but also has inspired

many young people to take control of their lives

and affect change and she does this with a lot of

love and laughter. Khoj has most recently been

recognized for its work in collaborating with

community stakeholders among the top 10

schools in the world as part of T4 Education’s

World’s Best School Prizes (Community

collaboration category).

In an interview with Insights Success, Sangeeta

spoke more about her transformational initiative.

The highlights of that enlightening interview are given

herein.

Please brief our audience about Apni Shala, its

USPs, and how you are currently positioned

as one of the best Social Solution Providers.

Apni Shala Foundation works with students,

educators, caregivers, and institutions towards a

vision of building social and emotional competencies

among individuals so they can constructively engage

with society and have a harmonious co-existence.

Through its School Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)

programme, Apni Shala builds social and emotional

resilience in students and the systems around them by

developing the following competencies: Self-awareness,

Self-management, Responsible decision-making, Social

awareness, and Relationship skills.

What began as a pilot in 2013 with one municipal school

has grown into a long-term and whole-school programme

being delivered in 18 municipal schools, one low-cost

private school, and two NGOs, serving over 5000 students

each year.

In 2017, Apni Shala founded Khoj, as a community school

in a low-resource area of Mumbai. Khoj is envisioned as a

dynamic space for ongoing research and development of

SEL-integrated school practices.

Apni Shala has been working with students, educators, and

families from low-income homes, for the last nine years in

Mumbai’s L, M-east, and M-west wards, three of the least

developed wards. Apni Shala Foundation has served over

10,500 students, over 700 teachers, and over 500 parents

since 2013.

Sangeeta Zombade,

Co-founder, and Director

Khoj (Apni Shala’s SEL

Integrated School initiative)

Apni Shala Foundation

Khoj has most recently been

recognized for its work in

collaborating with community

stakeholders among the top 10

schools in the world as part of

T4 Education’s World’s Best

School Prizes.


With a large number of students who were not able to

access learning due to no devices, the team collaborated

with Kshamtalaya Foundation to initiate a Radio Project.

A 30-minute radio programme on Saturday and Sunday

every week from the month of January 2021 on Radio

Madhuban was started to help in building resilience in an

everyday way, through the routine activities and

interactions that occur in children’s lives each day.

The radio project scripts were created for three modules:

empathy and perspective-taking, empathy and emotion

expression, and relationships.

Being an experienced leader, share your opinion on how

adopting modern digital technologies impacts the social

reform sector and how Apni Shala is adapting to the

change.

The onset of the pandemic in 2020, on the one hand,

required ASF to pivot its operations for both our flagship

initiatives- SEL programmes and Khoj (SEL Integrated

initiative) to relief work and also to start thinking of how

technology could be used towards adapting our

programmes.

At ASF we worked on upskilling the team by supporting

with training on the use of technology that would help us

reach students, educators, caregivers, and the communities

we work with. In the beginning, we faced challenges but the

team got accustomed to the same.

Based on phone call surveys, achievability of online mode

of delivery, technology requirements, appropriate audience,

and support of partner schools, we finally decided to resume

the SEL program for some grades for our partner schools.

An online version of the curriculum was launched for

grades 5th and 6th through synchronous and asynchronous

methods in July 2020. Similarly at Khoj, the team identified

the accessibility of internet-based devices for families and

children.

Parents and students were taught to use the Zoom settings

using phone/WhatsApp videos and tutorials. We also

developed a local resource center to ensure that access to

technology and internet connectivity was not a barrier to

student participation.

Another creative use of technology that the team embarked

on emerged from the digital divide that we were witnessing.

Apart from this, while we began using technology to move

many of our capacity-building activities and training online

due to the pandemic, it allowed us to connect with

individuals from not just across the country but also across

the globe. This has allowed Apni Shala to create access to

SEL in places we otherwise would not have been able to

reach.

Considering the current industry scenario, what kind of

challenges do you face, and how do you drive Apni

Shala to overcome them?

As an organization that focuses on centering wellbeing, and

SEL for all, one of the risks we see in the sector is that

learning becomes focused only on the student neglecting

the role of the ecosystem that influences the student.

When we talk about SEL, it can easily be used as a model

to just manage behaviour rather than recognizing the

systemic inequities that continue to persist in students’ lives

that may actually be the root cause of the behaviour.

Organizations like us have to be alert to this and work with

educators, parents, and caregivers to become more

compassionate, just, and inclusive to finally impact the

wellbeing and safety of students. Apni Shala’s initiatives,

therefore, work closely with all stakeholders to generate

awareness and advocate for wellbeing holistically.

In the year 2020 after the pandemic began, one of the risks

that became visible in the sector was the uncertainty of

schools running physically or hybrid, or completely online.

That compelled organizations to think of different ways to

make learning accessible, especially acknowledging the

digital divide.

Apni Shala has been able to work with schools and

communities to adapt the content for online and offline


modes and also work towards mobilizing resources that

students and families can use to facilitate learning.

How are you expanding your social responsibility drive

along with the corporates?

Apni Shala believes in the power of community where the

students, supporters, caregivers, and facilitators come

together to experience Social and Emotional Learning and

co-learn through each other's experiences. We believe that

our partners (donors/corporates etc) are a part of this

community. Volunteers coming from our corporate partners

can engage in various ways with our work. This

engagement usually begins with understanding their areas

of knowledge skills expertise and interest in which they

would like to contribute to the cause. Some of the activities

that our corporate partners have actively engaged in the past

few years are:

• Research, Strategy, and Communications(photography,

videography, database creation, communication design).

• Community Engagement Strategy and

Practices(Assisting with teaching learning team,

mentoring- coaching guidance to Apni Shala team,

translation of the content of the material to local

languages).

• Fundraising (Running crowdfunding campaigns,

Generating CSR leads).

Apart from this, Apni Shala engages with corporates to

conduct SEL workshops with their team, building resources

for Apni Shala’s work, and exploring synergies of a longterm

engagement.

What would be your advice to budding social

entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the not-forprofit

space?

The most critical advice would be to listen to the needs of

the communities you work with. A lot of the process of

impacting change comes from effective, inclusive, and

meaningful collaborations where those we work with also

find their own agency and voice and become a part of the

process of organization building.

How do you envision scaling ASF’s operations and

offerings in the future?

Over the next few years, Apni Shala aims to work with

over 30 schools through its School SEL programme,

develop Khoj into a model school to inform whole-school

SEL integration, and continue ongoing capacity building to

facilitate SEL in schools through Apni Shala’s SEL

Fellowship Programme and professional development

opportunities for other schools and organizations.







Essential Fundamentals

Comprehensive

Aspects of the

Outstanding

NGOs in the

Modern

Industry

There have been many developments in

economic, industrial, scientific, and

technological sectors that have led to the growth

of the region. However, there have been certain

underlying challenges that did not receive the required

attention. These challenges include social, cultural,

natural, environmental, humanitarian, and other

concerns. Some empathetic people come together to

form organizations for bringing positive changes to

social issues. These organizations are known as Non-

Governmental Organizations (NGOs). NGOs normally

operate in four primary categories: Empowerment,

Service, Participatory, and Charity.

The NGOs in the Empowerment category focus on

helping poor people understand the social, political, and

economic factors affecting their lives.

Service-based NGOs provide food and healthcare,

including family planning and education. The

participatory ones run on the collective efforts of the

members who participate in the voluntarily organized

activities of tree plantation, labour, money, land, tools,

and material. The fourth category of the Charity

organization functions on the efforts of a few people in

organizing funds, food, clothing, books, toys, etc., to be

transferred to the have-nots or the needy people.

The role and the importance of the NGOs is phenomenal

as they begin the process of gradual change, steady

improvement, and begin vital awareness in the masses.

Some of the comprehensive aspects of effective and

noticeable NGOs are interesting to understand and

discuss.

• Strong Vision

NGOs are formed by like-minded people who are

touched by various social issues which they take up to

resolve through voluntary, collective, and involvementbased

activities. These organizations have a clear vision

of working on various social causes decided from time

to time.


Vision-based NGOs have been noticed to have performed

significantly in their contributions to addressing social

challenges. All members are charged and guided by the

central vision of the organization, which binds them

together as a unit and strengthens the group activities to be

done with enthusiasm.

• Selfless Service

People interested in doing something for society with a

selfless motive are prominent contributors. NGOs are

formed to facilitate easy and collaborative working where

the contributions are used to help the social objectives of

the organization. These organizations plan, organize and

distribute the funds/giveaways/support on a strictly nonprofit

principle.

• Emphatic Attitude

Most influential NGOs have displayed an emphatic attitude

by observing and analyzing the social situations and

reviewing the conditions and plight of the affected people.

The volunteers visit the people and understand their

struggles. Desire to bring change by becoming the voice of

the needy people, conveying the problems, and appealing to

the public and government to adopt suitable measures to

improve the situation.

• Positive Approach

All the members are positive in their thoughts, words, and

actions. NGOs aim to connect the possibilities of changes

rather than just expressing concern and criticizing

continuously.

They first spread the news about social issues on different

social media platforms, posters, handbills, and sometimes

press advertisements. In a planned approach, they conduct

various activities keeping the government in the loop and

abiding by all the legal procedures.

Everybody is connected to the cause and the spirit of the

organization. The senior members of these open-formatted

organizations plan and monitor the activities. They remind

all members about the schedules and follow the standard

operating procedures (SOP) for smarter working.

• Amazing Learning Centers

From a different perspective, NGOs are amazing sources of

collaborative learning and personal development.

Enthusiastic individuals from various backgrounds come

together with a common goal of bringing about positive

change in society. It nurtures an open atmosphere where

everyone gets to voice their concerns, ideas, views, and

contributions too.

Young school children, college students, professionals,

homemakers to senior citizens all are seen as contributing

members of the activities. NGOs help to build interpersonal

skills, an attitude of gratitude and hone responsibility

towards our people and the nature around us. The social

networking and bonding that happens over various social

activities build-up

• Discreet Nation-builders

A candle burns itself to give light to others. So are the

NGOs comprised of several selfless, noble people who take

out time, money, and efforts from their personal lives to

support the social cause, spread awareness, and nurture

humane feelings in the people.

They are flagbearers of social movements which take time

to get noticed, felt, understood to be supported, and taken

up on a larger scale. NGOs certainly play an instrumental in

influencing developments in various social causes they

address, thereby discreetly contributing to the building of

the nation.

- Kedar Borgaonkar

• Inspiring Team spirit

An excellent display of contagious energy runs and drives

the organizational working. The enthusiasm in the members

is reflected through their dressing, smiles, communication,

and energetic movements.


Child Heart

Foundation

Ensuring Our Children’s Hearts Stays Strongest

ealthcare must be accessible to everyone. No one

Hshould suffer because of not getting precise

treatment at the right time. Especially newborn

babies and children, who are our future. As a progressive

and developing society, it is our fundamental duty to make

sure that an accessible healthcare ecosystem is created.

However, in India due to multifarious reasons, children

from the weaker and underprivileged sections of society

never get that much-needed access to healthcare.

This is a major cause of concern. Because there are many

diseases including some critical birth defects which prove

fatal in the early years of a child’s development. If they are

not treated timely and precisely with every possible solution

we can offer, then our future generation will be jeopardized

or vulnerable to further contingencies. It is high time and

need of the hour we must take action.

In this regard, Dr Vikas Kohli, the Founder and Trustee

of the Child Heart Foundation (CHF), is on a mission to

make people aware of Congenital Heart Diseases (CHD),

which is one of the most common birth defects and also

provide treatment to the children from the poor section of

society.

On a Healthy Mission

According to Dr Kohli’s expert knowledge, one child is

born in hundred live births with heart disease. Dr Kohli

informs, “In India, every year 170,000 to 200,000 children

are born with heart disease, unfortunately, only 16,000 to

20,000 get treated. Rest do not survive or are added to the

pool of waitlisted children.” This is indeed heartbreaking.

Dr Kohli further states that the primary challenges with

managing CHD cases in India are,

• a lack of paediatric cardiology treatment infrastructure,

• very few number of paediatric cardiologists and

paediatric cardiac surgeons, when many more are

needed for our population,

• lack of public awareness, and

• very high treatment costs.

Treating the Heart’s Cause

However, Dr Kohli promises to offer solutions for each

of these problems. He shares, “All our programs at CHF

are designed to meet these challenges and thus provide endto-end

support. We offer free echocardiography screening,

and treatment, sponsor live-saving cardiac medicines and

train paediatricians and neonatologists in

echocardiography.”

CHF is the only organisation offering free foetal

echocardiography service to pregnant women for

diagnosis of any foetal cardiac abnormality. CHF is one

among the very few organisations working with children

with heart diseases in India.

Guiding Star of Children’s Hearts

CHF was registered in 2013 as a Trust under the Indian

Trust Act 1882 in Delhi. It was founded by Dr Kohli, a

leading paediatric cardiologist and six parents who had

gone through emotional and financial turmoil with their

own children and wanted to help children from

underprivileged families who were going through similar

conditions.


Leading NGOs Impacting Corporate Social Responsibility Drive - 2022

Dr Vikas Kohli

Founder and Trustee

CHF has all the Government certifications and is registered

with BSE Samman, Gold certified by GuideStar India.

Dr Kohli states, “We offer free services in Delhi, Jalandhar

(Punjab) and Siliguri (West Bengal). Our organisational

mission is that no child should die due to a lack of access

to treatment due to the financial constraints of parents.”

The Golden Heart

Furthermore, Fellow American Academy of Paediatrics,

Fellow American College of Cardiology, Diplomate

American Board of Paediatrics, American Board of

Paediatric Cardiology, Dr Vikas Kohli graduated with five

gold medals from the University College of Medical

Sciences, New Delhi in 1986.

Our organisational mission

is that no child should die

due to a lack of access to

treatment due to the

nancial constraints of

parents.

He subsequently finished his Paediatric training from

PGIMER (Chandigarh). He completed his Paediatric

Residency (USA) at the Montefiore Medical Center, New

York and trained in Paediatric Cardiology at the University


of Miami. He subsequently practised Paediatric Cardiology

in Florida before returning to India.

A Social Reformist’s Dream

He has performed several unique interventional procedures

including Flow Restrictor Implantation in Pulmonary Artery

for the first time in India; performed a balloon pulmonary

valvuloplasty on a 1.7 Kg child; and balloon valvuloplasty

on a child less than one day old. He always had this dream

of starting free services for children with heart diseases

from underprivileged families.

Dr Kohli conveys, “Our patients for both paediatric and

foetal screening are referred from all government hospitals

in Delhi.

This got fulfilled in 2013 when Child Heart Foundation was

founded in Delhi along with six parents whose child was

treated by Dr Kohli. His mission is to save each and every

child with heart disease.

Dr Kohli adds, “Through various programs, we have

screened more than 15,000 children for any cardiac

abnormality, got 160 children treated for the diagnosed

heart disease, provided foetal echocardiography service to

more than 7,000 pregnant women, trained more than 160

paediatricians in echocardiography and are providing free

medicines to 22 children with Pulmonary hypertension.”

Social Tech Revolution

Being an experienced leader, Dr Kohli opines how adopting

modern digital technologies impacts the social reform

sector and how CHF is adapting to the change. He believes

that technology has reformed and revolutionized the social

sector, this includes access to medical diagnostic tools,

organizational management, fundraising and donor

engagement.

Dr Kohli says, “We have upgraded to better healthcare

diagnostic tools. We are using CRM and cloud-based

technology for data management, fundraising and donor

engagement.”

CHF Expanding CSR

However, considering the current industry scenario,

Fundraising and CSR networking are one of the major

challenges faced by CHF and Dr Kohli is overcoming them

on a daily basis to drive CHF to the doorstep of every needy

child.

That is why Dr Kohli is expanding the CHFs social

responsibility drive along with the corporates. He says, “We

are trying to involve corporate employees in CSR projects

under the employee engagement program.” This involves

direct involvement in project implementation processes and

fundraising, community awareness programs etc.

An Advice of Compassionate Commitment

Dr Kohli’s advice to budding social entrepreneurs who

aspire to venture into the not-for-profit space is straight

from the heart. He believes that to survive in the social

sector, a person should have commitment, patience and a lot

of compassion and empathy. One should be total faith and

connect for the cause and self-belief and trust in yourself

and the people who are going to be the beneficiaries.

Ensuring the Heartiest and the Healthiest Future

Further envisioning scaling CHFs operations and offerings

in 2022 and beyond, Dr Kohli mentions,

• “Children are our future. We want to start few more

OPD centers in Delhi for children from

underprivileged families who can’t afford a private

consultation and diagnosis. This will be followed by

expansion to start an inpatient department and an ICU,

• Replicate our echocardiography training program to

other States in India,

• Start free OPD screening and diagnosis centers in two

more cities.”


Swayam

Shikshan Prayog

Centering

Women

Leadership

in Social

Development

Resilient women lead to resilient communities,

which are the foundational backbone of a resilient

society. Only a resilient society can make a

resilient nation which will keep progressing and developing

to its optimum potential.

The only way to make women resilient enough is through

education and learning. It could only be achieved when

women themselves believe in learning and acquiring

knowledge. However, they need to be made aware of it,

access to and all the opportunities available to them so they

can build their resilience, problem-solving abilities, and

leadership skills.

What is necessary in this regard is forging social

relationships and creating a self-empowering ecosystem of

learning and education. Just like one created by Swayam

Shikshan Prayog (SSP), the name of which itself stands

for Experimenting Self-Education for Empowerment.

SSP was founded by the great visionary Ms Prema

Gopalan with a dream of centering women’s leadership in

community development. She completed her Master’s

Degree in Social Work from the prestigious TATA Institute

of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Her search for economic

alternatives for women belonging to poor communities led

her to pioneer work with savings and credit for grassroots

women in rural Maharashtra.

“Envisioned by the beloved Ms Gopalan, our approach at

SSP is bringing vulnerable and marginalised women to the

centre of leadership in addressing disasters and climatic

risks across India. Although, Ms Gopalan is no more in

physical form with us, her blessings, love, compassion, and

enduring spirit will live forever in our hearts.” Says Mr

Upmanyu Patil, Director - Programs at Swayam Shikshan

Prayog.

Upmanyu has had expertise in disaster management and

resilient development for the last two decades. He is a

highly committed and innovative socio-technical

development professional with an engineering and

management background.

His work has been committed to designing, developing, and

strengthening large-scale interventions that involve

community institutions and PRIs in water and

environmental sanitation energy and rural development

across climate-threatened communities.

Fostering A Women Entrepreneurial Leadership

Network

Grassroots women as innovators and changemakers are

demonstrating community resilience strategies through

climate resilient farming, sustainable livelihoods, and

entrepreneurship development.

SSP widely advocates for changing public policy in favour

of recognizing grassroots women’s collectives in their new

roles as community resource persons/community level

facilitators, and leaders and shares these learnings widely

with peer networks and institutions globally.

To connect the growing network of women entrepreneurs to

the mainstream institutions, SSP in its role as an ecosystem

builder, promoted:

• A federated network of women’s collectives;

• Women-led Agricultural Value Chain

• Six women-led Farmer Producer Organization (FPOs)

Together, these enterprise entities provide access to

enterprise finance, business support and links to global and

domestic market players that women need to succeed in

remote and opaque markets.

Women-led Agricultural Value Chain

Six women-led Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs)

are created with over 4,672 shareholders, who are taking

lead in the agriculture and value chain sector.


Envisioned by the beloved Ms Gopalan, our approach at SSP

is bringing vulnerable and marginalised women to the centre of

leadership in addressing disasters and clima c risks across India.


The value chain network promotes the production of Dairy,

Pulses, Goatery and Vegetables with other products that are

required by small families in rural India.

An Exhilarating Journey

The journey of SSP through the decentralised leadership of

Prema Gopalan was not an easy task as unorganised poor

and marginal women communities do not acquire

knowledge and powerful voices to raise their concerns in

their families and local communities. To address this, SSP

has mobilised women in groups to collectivise their

thinking and action.

During the 1993 earthquake in Latur, these women have

come together in making decisions to rebuild houses and

address livelihoods through government partnership.

Upmanyu says, “The experience of Latur earthquake

rehabilitation strengthened our confidence and approach to

the grassroots-centred development initiatives.”

A Unique One-Acre Farming Model

Further to add this, SSP worked with different disasters in

Gujarat (2001 earthquake), Tamilnadu Tsuami (2004), Bihar

and Assam Floods (2008/2009) and Kerala floods (2018) to

mobilise and strengthen women’s leadership and

community resilience.

“Our Women-led Climate Resilient Farming (WCRF)

model (also called a one-acre farming model) gained

recognition from national and global communities. In 2017,

SSP received the UNDP Equator price for this sustainable

farming model,” reveals Upmanyu.

Women’s Initiative to Learn and Lead (WILL)

By unleashing rural women entrepreneurs in ailing

economies, SSP has opened up non-traditional livelihood

incomes, tripled household earnings and built new social

capital in excluded areas. It has also galvanized investors,

business trainers, climate scientists and government players

to partner with rural women and co-create market-linked

impact.

SSP’s recent flagship initiative, ‘Women’s Initiative to

Learn and Lead (WILL),’ focuses on women’s agency

and leadership, enabling them to participate in governance,

address critical issues at home and in the community, and

empower other women.

Community’s Tech-Knowledge Empowerment

Being an experienced leader, Upmanyu opines on how

adopting modern digital technologies impacts the social

reform sector and how SSP is adapting to the change. He

expresses that SSP’s objective is to learn and implement

new innovations through women’s leadership and especially

women in communities are quick in learning new

knowledge and technologies that suit their requirements.



Upmanyu recollects, “During the COVID-19 pandemic

situation when mobility was restricted, our women learned

digital skills in communicating and coordinating COVID-

19 response activities.”

Women learned how to participate in and conduct online

Zoom meetings, passing useful messages and awareness

videos to communities, learning new farming techniques

through online videos, conducting agriculture and

livelihood training through digital meeting platforms etc.

Digital Women Leaders

Linkage with business support of SSP and Sakhi Unique

Rural Enterprise (SURE) ensures that benefits from

Gaavkhoj online application reach the stakeholders and

also gives them digital support by providing Mobile

Platform Apps to improve standard markets for women

stakeholders’ businesses.

Now, these women are called Digital Sakhis and they are

empowering communities with new technologies and

knowledge.

SSP’s Risk Mitigation Measures

Speaking about many obstacles, hurdles and issues,

Upmanyu shares, “Climatic changes and natural disasters

are major challenges but our Community Resilience Fund

(CRF) is a risk mitigation measure to address these risks.”

Women Farmers collective at cluster level and One Acre

farming model itself is a de-risking model towards climate

change.

Bureaucratic hurdles in getting govt schemes and

programmes are overcome by regular dialogues and

lobbying with local government and other stakeholders.

CSR Conjoint Sustainable Development Goals

Expanding SSP’s social responsibility drive along with the

corporates, Upmanyu shares, “We see corporates are one of

the major stakeholders in development initiatives in India.

Newly emerged CSR initiatives and their approach to

partnering with NGOs to address Sustainable Development

Goals are going to be strengthened in the coming years.

We work with CSR very closely for the last eight years and

brought visible changes in the villages of Maharashtra.

Public/private partnership is the need of the hour and our

work with CSR has demonstrated that technology,

resources, and innovative knowledge can bring big changes

in the community.”

An Adept Advice for Social Knowledge Leaders

Upmanyu’s advice to budding social entrepreneurs who

aspire to venture into the not-for-profit space is an

inspirational force for Social Knowledge Leaders. He

believes that social entrepreneurs are inspiring leaders for

many and they added value to new products and markets.

He adds, “When we mix business/entrepreneurship with a

social approach there is always a risk in bringing success

in business.” So it will be always good that business should

be treated as a profitable venture and Not-for-profit players

can support and enhance the knowledge of entrepreneurs.

Future Expansion of Social Learning

About envisioning scaling SSPs’ operations and offerings in

2022 and beyond, Upmanyu informs that SSP’s main

approach is learning adaptive practices and scaling to new

geographies.

In Post COVID era, SSP has planned to take positive

lessons from the pandemic and find a sustainable solution to

bring back the communities in livelihoods, health, food

security and agriculture.

“Working with government and CSR gives us the

opportunity to share and scale our approach to new

communities across India. Our business and farming

models are appreciated by the national government and

CSR will be the key factor for many communities to reap

success in their life,” concludes Mr Upmanyu Patil.

For more information click the below-mentioned weblink

and links to SSPs’ social media platforms:

• https://swayamshikshanprayog.org/

• YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4KSKqYZKU

b9cQiNy6AFbjQ

• Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/swayamshikshanprayog.o

rg

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/swayamshikshan-prayog-ssp-51b9b440/

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/sspindia

• Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/swayamshikshanprayog/


UDAYAN Care

Where Young Lives Shine

Rays Infinitum of An

Eternally Shining Star

Dr Kiran Modi,

Founder and Managing Trustee

Dr Kiran Modi is the Founder, Managing Trustee of

Udayan Care. She founded Udayan Care, in Delhi,

India, in 1994, with the vision of ‘Making Young

Lives Shine,’ which runs group homes for orphaned

and at-risk children, amongst many of its projects.

With a doctorate in American Literature from IIT,

Delhi, Dr Modi is a person of varied experiences in

diverse fields, such as child protection, media, health,

and children’s theatre.

Besides running programmes for Alternative Care of

‘Out of Home Care’ children, education and

Livelihood programmes for disadvantaged girls and

youth, she is keenly interested in raising standards of

care in Alternative Care, and has been organising

trainings and research, and publishing papers on Child

& Youth Care and facilitating Care leavers Network in

India, as a path breaking work to collectivize youth

with lived experience of care

She is the Founder and Editor of an International Bi-

Annual Journal on Alternative Care: ‘Institutionalised

Children: Explorations and Beyond’ (ICEB). Besides

her management responsibilities, she is a “Mentor

Mother” to many children and youth, giving them

personalised care and attention.

Recipient of many prestigious awards, Dr Modi

continues to strive toward ensuring the rights of

underprivileged children and youth with the same

passion and zeal as when she started out more than

two and a half decades ago.

Family is the basis of a strong, healthy, and

prosperous society. Without family, there is no

community. And without community, there is no

society.

Thus the family is that social support system which

nurtures, nourishes, fosters, and flourishes our present and

future generations. “A family is an anchor for the

development of strong and balanced children and youth,”

believes Dr Kiran Modi, the Founder and Managing

Trustee of Udayan Care.

Dr Modi says that India is a young country with over half of

its population below the age of 25 years. If nurtured well,

this demographic dividend is the biggest advantage for

India. However, a significant number of youth and children

in this country do not have equitable access to nutrition,

education, and safety.

The future of a society and a nation is dependent on the

quality of its youth. Children and youth need the

foundational support and emotional anchor within a family

to grow into strong and balanced adults. It is therefore of

critical importance to strengthen families and enable and

empower them. India has over 23 million orphaned and

abandoned children, who are denied their basic right to

growing up in a nurturing family environment.

“Udayan” is a Sanskrit word meaning “Eternal

Sunshine,” reveals Dr Modi.

Just as the sunlight nourishes life on earth, “Our programs

are designed to nurture and strengthen individuals and their

families,” she says. Registered in 1994 as a Public

Charitable Trust, Udayan Care works to empower

vulnerable children, women, and youth, in 34 cities

across 15 states of India.

Starting with just one small group home (Ghar) for

‘children without parental care’ in Delhi in 1996,



In the last 28 years, Udayan Care has directly impacted the

lives of close to 38,000 children, women, and youth.

Udayan Care has supported various disadvantaged groups

by establishing small childcare homes, enabling girls’

higher education, providing vocational training and

livelihood programs, and advocating for better standards in

institutional care and alternative care space.

Dr Modi states, “In the last 28 years, we have directly

impacted the lives of close to 38,000 children, women, and

youth through our different programs.” This was made

possible only through the support of like-minded people,

donors, partners, volunteers, and staff, who believed in

Udayan’s work and mission.

Each milestone of the 28-year journey has been possible

only because someone, somewhere made a choice to

support the rights of children, youth and women Udayan

serves. Because of the steadfast belief of thousands of

people across the globe, “We have been able to bring

sunshine, hope, and joy in the lives of our beneficiaries as

well as lakhs of indirect beneficiaries from our training

programs and advocacy efforts,” says Dr Modi adding,

“We run five innovative programs under the umbrella of

Udayan Care:”

#Udayan Ghar- Caring Through Family Homes

Udayan Care’s Ghar Program focuses on reintegration,

family strengthening, and provides care and protection to

vulnerable children. Based on the belief that a loving home

and family is the right of every child, Udayan Ghars are

long-term, group residential homes that nurture children

who are orphaned, abandoned or at risk, in a family-like

environment.

This ‘Group Care’ model ensures children are loved and

cared for by a group of Mentor Parents (long-term

volunteers), with the help of a team of caregivers, social

workers, and mental health professionals. Udayan Ghars are

located in middle-class neighbourhoods to help children

integrate with mainstream society.

Children receive a quality education in some of the best

schools. Once they reach the age of 18 years, they are

supported through our Aftercare Program and continue

with higher education or vocational training towards

economic independence. Since its inception in 1996,

Udayan Ghar has nurtured 1640 children.

Dr Modi shares, “Constant efforts are made to reintegrate

children back into their families, and support families in

being able to look after them, or get them into adoption etc.

Those whose families are not functional or not found, they

grow up with us, like a family.”

#Udayan Shalini Fellowship-Empowering Girls

Through Higher Education

Gender discrimination prevents millions of girls from

weaker sections of society to get an equal opportunity to

continue their education. Udayan Shalini Fellowship

Program is unique academic excellence and personality

development program for deserving and talented girls from

underprivileged backgrounds.


An educated and empowered girl not only strengthens her

parental home but also establishes a strong family unit of

her own.

Making a conscious choice to support the higher education

of disadvantaged girls, Udayan Care began the Udayan

Shalini Fellowship (USF) in 2002 in Delhi with 72 girls. It

is aimed at empowering girls from disadvantaged

communities to become dignified, independent women

(Shalinis’), leaders and responsible citizens of tomorrow by

providing financial and mentoring support for secondary

and graduate studies.

It offers personality development training and exposure to

viable career choices. Another primary aim of the program

is to inculcate a sense of social awareness and responsibility

in the girls as they are encouraged to give back to society.

Dr Modi informs, “Today, many of our Shalinis are

pursuing fields like Engineering, Medical Studies,

Chartered Accountancy, Vocational Training, Nursing, and

Computer Science, among others.”

There are over 5500 girls in the program currently. Since its

inception, USF has supported 11,000 girls from loweconomic

backgrounds.

#Udayan Care IT Program- Empowering Youth

Through Digital Literacy

Based on Udayan Care’s mission to enable every adult the

dignity of self-reliance, Udayan Care’s Information

Technology and Skill Centres were initiated in 2004 to

enable underserved youth and adults to improve their

livelihood options.

Technical, vocational, and professional skills are lacking

among disadvantaged communities to become

economically self-reliant. The Udayan Care IT Education

and Vocational Training Programs support families by

skilling their young offspring and women with employable

skills and getting them on to financial self-sufficiency

through careers or entrepreneurship.

“Our centres offer certificate and diploma courses in basic

as well as advanced computer applications, such as

Microsoft, Tally and Graphic and Print design etc. Courses

are certified by Microsoft, Tally, Adobe and NIELIT (a

Government body),” says Dr Modi.

Spoken English, life skills and employability training are

also part of the curriculum. As of 1st August 2022, the

UCIT program has skilled over 21,658 youth. The current

placement rate for UCIT students is 70% for entry-level

jobs.

“Our Skill Centre at Greater NOIDA has trained more than

1500 underserved women in Stitching and Tailoring,

Beauty Therapy, Paper Craft, Enamel Work, Block Printing,

Graphic Design, China painting, etc., and provide

livelihood opportunities for disadvantaged women by

selling items created by them, under the label ‘Sukriti,’

says Dr Modi.

The Skill Centre in Pauri, Uttarakhand, runs classes on

Yoga, Digital Literacy, Hindi Typing, Sewing, and

Hospitality. The Centre also works closely with the local

community and assists them with enrolment in various

welfare schemes of the government.

#Skill Development Centres- Building Livelihoods

Through Vocational Skills

“Our Skill Development Centres at Greater Noida and

Pauri Garhwal provide livelihood opportunities for

disadvantaged women,” adds Dr Modi. It is done by

training them in different skills ranging from stitching,

beauty therapy, enamelled products, pottery and papercraft

to computer-aided pattern making and graphic designing.

The items created by them are sold under the label ‘Sukriti’.

#Advocacy, Research and Training (ART)- Advocating

Rights of Children and Youth

Dr Modi says, “Our advocacy efforts explore different

aspects of policy and practice around alternative care for

children and youth through research, publications,

consultations, training, seminars, and workshops. From

recommendations for policy and legislative reform to


training practitioners on standards of care, we also develop

material on various aspects of Alternative Care.

We have instituted Biennial Conferences on Alternative

Care (BICON) to bring together representatives working

on youth development, child protection, and child care.

Our academic, bi-annual, double-peer-reviewed, journal,

“Institutionalised Children: Explorations and Beyond,”

launched in March 2014, now in partnership with SAGE

Publishing, addresses the gaps in research, knowledge, and

counselling practices, prevalent in working with children in

Alternative Care, in the eight South Asian countries. Nine

volumes of this journal that include 17 issues have been

published so far.

Udayan Care has conducted training on various aspects of

juvenile justice and alternative care with key stakeholders,

children, and youth, to build their knowledge, attitude,

capacities and skills in aftercare, case management, and

family-based care in 12 states of India.

So far, 132 sessions have been conducted with over 5400

participants. “We have also been selected by central and

state governments as members of several special

committees on developing guidelines on aspects of child

protection,” mentions Dr Modi.

Udayan Care is also focused on Family Strengthening for

children restored during COVID-19 in Delhi. In October

2021, it launched an innovative project to support 34

families with linkages to schemes and entitlements. Dr

Modi says, “Our ‘Circle of Care’ framework enables and

empowers the families thereby ensuring that children

restored to their families do not get unnecessarily separated

again.”

Giving opportunities to young persons to express

themselves and become change-makers. Udayan Care also

started a first of its fellowship program for Care leavers in

India and the program is known as Learning in Fellowship

Together or LIFT. This along with our technical support to

state governments in Bihar and MP are a logical fallout of

the seminal aftercare research we did in 2019 with over 500

Care leavers and 100 key informants.

An Inspirational Journey from Domestic Help to Special

Olympics

abuse. Vulnerable due to financial constraints, the family

was forced to send her to work as a domestic worker. She

was exploited by her employers and unable to bear the

trauma, ran away from them.

She was rescued from the streets and transferred to

Jagshanti Udayan Ghar for Girls, Greater Noida. Neha was

enrolled in a Special Education School, where she has

bloomed gracefully. Sports has always been the one

engagement where she found her peace and purpose. Her

untiring zeal for Volleyball has led her to be shortlisted for

the Special Olympics Bharat Volleyball team.

Overcoming Poverty and Disability to Shine

Chetna was diagnosed with profound deafness since birth.

As a child, she could not comprehend why she is different

from others and longed to be like others. Growing up in a

poor household, she was determined to not be dictated by

her fate and to make herself independent and strong. She

joined the Udayan Care IT Centre in West Delhi and

pursued a Diploma in IT where she was trained in both

technical and soft skills. Today, Chetna has joined one of

the top firms as an Accounts Intern. She has achieved her

dream of becoming an independent career woman.

From Battling Poverty to a COVID-19 Warrior

Sweta, the daughter of a stationary books supplier, belongs

to a family of three. She found it difficult to continue her

education on her family’s meagre income. But with the

support from Udayan Shalini Fellowship Program’s

scholarship and personal mentorship, she chased her dreams

fiercely.

Sweta completed her training in nursing and in 2019 was

hired as a Staff Nurse at R.G. Kar Medical College and

Hospital. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked

tirelessly and diligently as a frontline health worker. Her

selfless service towards humanity has been honoured by

prestigious organizations like the Trained Nurses

Association of India and the Rotary Club of Sun City,

Kolkata.

These are just some of the inspirational stories where

Udayan Care supported a young mind to bloom into a

successful life. “We are on a mission to make young lives

shine!” says Dr Modi.

Neha (name changed) grew up as a child with special needs

in a hostile environment as her father struggled with alcohol


How

Modern

NGOs are

Contributing

to

Holistic

Social Growth?


Embracing Developments

”

he best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in

Tthe service of others.” – Mahatma Gandhi

As rightly quoted by the great global leader and

philosopher Mahatma Gandhi, it is most necessary for us

to understand the social scene around us and step

forward in contributing our best efforts to improve the

situation however and whatever is possible.

We often come across several social situations in our

everyday lives that need to be addressed with proper

planning, efforts, and collective contributions of positive

people. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) play

an important role in identifying social issues, spreading

awareness about them, and initiating basic steps towards

resolving the issues at a fundamental level.

Abolishing Child Labour

Children from low-income families get dragged into

working in laborious work in mines, construction sites,

brick kilns, restaurants, bakeries, dairies, and garages.

Such cases often go unnoticed but happen in the dark

underneath. NGOs play an essential role in spreading

awareness about these unethical and harmful practices,

communicating with employers and families, and

helping resolve their basic problems. These children are

encouraged to enrol in schools where all the basic

facilities are provided. NGOs help families become selfreliant

by working on some income-earning skills based

on the prevailing market requirements.

Encouraging Education in Underprivileged Sections

The concern about illiteracy is addressed by the NGOs

through their awareness drives, counselling the rural

people, labour segments and poor, underprivileged

sections of the society. NGOs collaborate with numerous

organizations and public support to begin schools in

remote areas where students tend to drop out due to the

challenges of travelling long distances. Efforts are being

made to help them relocate to the urban standard regions

where schooling, hostel, and canteen facilities can be

provided. Many entrepreneurs have volunteered to teach

students in schools where teachers are unavailable.

Women Empowerment

Numerous NGOs are instrumental in highlighting,

addressing, and improving the social status of women in

society. Whether rural or urban, NGOs have identified

single/divorced/abandoned women struggling on various

fronts. Various issues of domestic violence, social

stigma and public ill-treatment are addressed by offering

proper counselling, guidance, and moral, physical, and

monetary support for their rehabilitation. Women are

taught several vocational and professional skills for

becoming independent in starting their businesses or

taking up jobs.

Tackling Unemployment

Unemployment is one of the widespread challenges in

our country, which NGOs are addressing by conducting


counselling and training sessions—educating the

unemployed people about getting the right jobs by helping

them in their CV preparation and basic English

communication with essential professional computer

operating skills. SWOT analysis conducted during the

sessions helps in identifying their interests and nature and

preparing them for the relevant job profiles.

Tree Plantation

Rising urbanization coupled with multiplying numbers of

vehicles has put pressure on the environment. Addressing to

the same, numerous NGOs organize frequent tree plantation

drives to increase the essential green cover in the region.

They organize the complete activities by procuring different

types of plant saplings, identifying the open areas, and

inviting many people to volunteer for this activity.

Initiatives of organizing and providing saplings to people in

various common areas are conducted to enable people to

contribute to the tree plantation drives.

Water Conservation

Rising population, uncertain monsoon movements and

expanding infrastructure have led to a yearly water

consumption rise. Modern NGOs help address the issues of

uneven water supply, water scarcity, water leakages and

water conservation. They keep a close tab on water usage in

residential, commercial and industrial areas and spread

awareness about optimizing water consumption.

Resolving Traffic Issues

organize regular drives to support the traffic authorities in

spreading awareness of the use of helmets, wearing

seatbelts, and observing and respecting traffic signals. The

volunteers wearing neon-coloured jackets and caps assist

the unmanned traffic signals, unmanned railway crossings

and busy squares of the city.

Supporting Senior Citizen

The fast-moving life of this modern world has made it

challenging for senior citizens to cope with the pace.

Many social organizations with NGOs have made a

network of their volunteers in keeping track of the senior

citizen in every area, who reach up to them for interacting,

communicating, listening, helping, supporting, counselling,

and attending to their needs. The senior citizen has many

unspoken issues on health, movements, talking and

recreation, which the NGOs positively address. The purpose

here is to help them lead a comfortable and nurtured life.

Elevating Lives Through Selfless Strides

The role of NGOs today is vast and deep-rooted. Many of

them operate directly and discreetly, focusing on making a

change in the lives of the needy. Led by the strong desire to

help people and inspiring many others to join their noble

efforts, NGOs today have developed valuable and

promising hope for the challenged and underprivileged

sections, thereby contributing to uplifting the lives of many.

- Kedar Borgaonkar

Day by day, the number of vehicles on roads is increasing,

putting pressure on the current traffic system. NGOs


UDYOGINI

Empowering Steady Framework for

Financial Independence

Arvind K. Malik

CEO

Udyogini

Udyogini provides

cutting-edge solutions –

skill-based jobs,

market-based livelihoods,

and local enterprises

suitable to women’s

contexts, aspirations,

and capabilities.



Women’s Empowerment has been the primary

focus for both government and most Non-profit

organizations. Voluntary action promoted by

the prominent NPOs and NGOs engaged in development

play a significant role in rural development, which is

dependent upon the active participation of the stakeholders

to get the distinct programs implemented for the betterment

of Women’s lives.

Moreover, women empowerment can be achieved by

adopting a gender-sensitive developmental approach, access

to education, functional literacy, political and ecosystem

support, an effective pro-women legislation and focused

employment generation programs for women.

NPOs, NGOs and self-help groups (SHGs) play a very vital

role towards women empowerment by providing basic

education, vocational and entrepreneurship training for selfemployment,

legal aid, protection for women, gender and

self-awareness programs.

Udyogini stands out as a leading NPO and a pioneer in

developing an entrepreneurship framework by integrating a

gender lens and classifying barriers women face at each

stage of becoming an entrepreneur.

Udyogini works with the most vulnerable, marginalized

women to empower them economically. Under the coherent

leadership of Arvind K. Malik, CEO, Udyogini caters to

the needs of poor women, building their capacity and

strengthens local resources and ecology for creating

sustainable livelihoods.

Empowerment is a journey, and economic independence is

one milestone. It is a powerful tool for acquiring confidence

and self-belief. Udyogini offers pathways for financial

independence through entrepreneurship, skill-based jobs,

and self-employment.

The organization recognizes the barriers women face as

they decide to move up the ladder socially, economically

and politically; hence, it strives to strengthen the overall

space of women in the family and in social spheres for

women to have an enabling environment to realize their full

potential.

A Coherent Leadership

Arvind has a degree in Forestry Science from Pantnagar

Agriculture University and advanced training in human

rights. He has over 30 years of experience working with

some leading national and international NGOs in the

development sector.

He spent two and half years as Regional Rural

Development Manager, Aga Khan Foundation, Afghanistan,

between 2011 to 2013. Arvind was recognized as Ford

Fellow in 2015, a global fellowship organized by Ford

Motor Company and 92 Street Y, USA.

An Odyssey of Proficiency

Udyogini has a remarkable history of inception. It was

conceptualised in 1992 by a group of eminent people to

implement an innovative project of the World Bank called

“Women Enterprise Management Training and Outreach

Program” to create a movement for women’s economic

empowerment in India. In that era, the organization was

recognized as a service provider and a resource agency to

NGOs and Government Bodies, under the leadership of

(Chair and founding member) Ms Ela Bhatt, the Founder of

Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA).

From 2000 onwards, Udyogini has evolved as an expert in

Entrepreneurship, particularly building livelihoods by

promoting micro enterprises in selected products value

chains and creating rural jobs along the entire value chain in

rural areas, ensuring that women and youth have a decent

income and voice to change their own circumstances.

Some of the earliest projects include promoting handicraft

cluster in Pugal Bikaner, Rajasthan, incense sticks

production and chunari making in Saharanpur, UP and

forest and farm-based products in Mandla, MP.

Currently, Udyogini is operating in five states – including

Chhattisgarh. Madhya Pradesh. Uttarakhand, Jharkhand,

and Rajasthan – engaging with over 50,000 women and

youth in 22 different products such as honey, lac, chilli,

tamarind, herbal tea, ghee, and many more.

Empowering Furtherance

Udyogini provides cutting-edge solutions – skill-based jobs,

market-based livelihoods, and local enterprises suitable to

women’s contexts, aspirations, and capabilities. The team

challenge the notion that entrepreneurship is a maledominated

space and connects aspiring women (and youth)

with the markets, removes barriers, builds skills, capacity

and enables assurance of resources.


As women’s income increases, they exercise greater agency

and challenge the status quo at home and outside.

Integrating Values with Brilliance

Mr Malik expresses, “Women’s entrepreneurship doesn’t

exist in a vacuum. Their surroundings may have a direct

and indirect impact on their aspirations, let alone on their

enterprises. We recognize that it is important to overcome

some of the worries for women and strengthen their

environments so they can invest strongly in their dreams.”

To make this happen, Udyogini actively works on –

• Creating a more gender-equal discourse by integrating

Gender Justice Training and Entrepreneurship

(involving men of the families/communities). Women

viewed as drivers and leaders

• Focus on capacity building for women (Starts with

incremental steps towards from livelihood security for

poverty alleviation and moves to empowerment through

promotion of Micro Enterprise)

• Strengthening value chain of local produce through

end-to-end solution (input supply, production,

Aggregation, Value addition, Marketing)

• Basket Approach for sustainable livelihood

• Protecting and managing natural resources/ecology to

bolster communities’ bond with their natural

environments.

• Addressing immediate needs through convergence with

government and other organization such as water,

hygiene, health, and sanitation so women are able to

focus on more productive activities.

• Improving financial and functional literacy and linkages

with social protection schemes of the Government.

Skill Building is integral to creating livelihoods. Udyogini

recognizes that skills-based jobs/ employment are a dream

for many, especially young men, and women. The estimates

also paint a similar picture – as many as 49% of the total

unemployed in India are young job seekers. (Niti Ayog,

2017).

An Ultimate Bequest

The organization works with partners and technical

institutions that provide standard operating procedures, skill

training and job placements.


Basking in the

Reflected Glory

• Udyogini received the ‘Aga Khan Foundation

India Innovation Fund’ (A Competitive

Award) in the year 2006 for its project on

building a handicraft enterprise in Pugal block,

Bikaner district, Rajasthan.

• Udyogini was one of five Indian organizations

to be selected by Yale University’s Global

Social Entrepreneurship Program for a

partnership.

• Udyogini has won the ‘Amodini Award’ for

women empowerment at Godfrey Philips

Bravery Award Ceremony.

Ultimately, Udyogini mobilizes youth, screens their

interests, addresses their apprehensions, and prepares them

for higher education, vocational and soft skill development,

and job placements. So far, the organization has skilled and

placed 20,000 youth.

Similarly, it also recognizes that self-employment is an

important strategy for building livelihoods. The skill-based

jobs (blue, white, and pink collar) may not be adequate in a

country like India, given its large population and poor job

absorption capacity.

Adopting a futuristic approach, Udyogini assists young men

and women in setting up a rural enterprise through skill

training, linkages for financial and business support, and

handholding. Adding to this, Mr Malik says, “So far, we

have supported 50,000 women for self-employment, and

currently, we are training another 20,000 young women for

self-employment under the Tejaswini Programme.”

• Udyogini was recognized by National Rural

Livelihood Mission (NRLM), Ministry of

Rural Department, Govt of India as one of the

pioneers in NPOs to effectively deliver

extension services for scientific cultivation of

LAC (designed and developed by Indian

Institute of Natural Resins and Gums -IINRG,

Ranchi) to 10000 tribal producers in three

districts of Jharkhand.

This achievement was further acknowledged by

FORD FOUNDATION to scale up the extension

model through other non-profits in states like

M.P, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha.

• Udyogini has recently been recognized as the

‘Chairperson’s Distinction for 2019-20’ in the

Entrepreneurship and Outreach category for

uplifting rural and tribal women by helping

them become self-sufficient” by the 6th eNGO

Challenge.

• Udyogini was awarded the ‘World of Difference

100 Award’ for Making a difference in

Women’s economic empowerment by The

International Alliance for Women, Washington

DC, USA.


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