Category: Lead Read
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‘Lack of awareness leads to high maternal and neonatal mortality’
AS the executive director of SNEHA Dr. Shanti Pantvaidya plays a key role in protecting the lives of thousands of high-risk pregnant mothers and reducing maternal and neonatal mortality rates. Dr. Pantvaidya, leads and gives direction to several programmes at SNEHA, namely Maternal & Child Health, Public System Partnership, Empowerment, Health & Sexuality of Adolescents,…
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‘The problem is not persons with disabilities but society’s perception’
AN Internship stint at Samarthanam Trust for The Disabled in Bangalore had a profound impact on Alina Alam with regard to persons with disabilities. Among many things, she learnt there was the fact that a staggering 7 crore persons with physical, intellectual and psychiatric disabilities in India struggle for equal opportunities and economic independence. It…
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‘Film is a great medium to spread awareness about environment’
WHAT happens when an actor’s love for cinema and the environment go hand in hand? Telugu character artist and short-film maker Gangadhar Panday knows the answer. Panday decided to use the power of the medium media to increase awareness about environmental issues confronting the earth through Babul Films Society. In order to dedicate himself full-time…
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‘Ideas are simple, courageous acts of change’
THE belief that quality education is the antidote to inequality led Sahithya Anumolu to leave her corporate job and step into the public education sector to work towards this. She found her tribe in Eshwar Bandi and Vivek Piddempally when they trained as Teach For India fellows, and together they co-founded Inqui-Lab. The organisation nurtures…
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‘Climate change is the biggest challenge for the Sundarbans’
THE Sundarbans, located at the mouth of the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers between India and Bangladesh, are home to the world’s largest mangrove forests and are considered an ecological wonder. But life on islands dotting the delta is tough, with the residents being at the mercy of natural calamities like cyclones and floods at regular…
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‘Our social development approach is to include the excluded’
GROWING up in a low-income household with little support from outside, Awadhesh Kumar as a teenager was determined that he would come to help others like him when he grew up. His idea was to set up a social development organisation committed to helping the poor and the disadvantaged. In 2002, together with a few…
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“Crowdfunding helped us run relief programmes during Covid-19”
FOR Ajai Kumar Mishra, running a crowdfunding campaign for Tarai Environment Awareness Samiti (TEAS), the organisation he co-founded 25 years ago, taught him two things. One, the ability to connect with supporters and generate instant funds; and two, build a strong peer to peer network and understand other social development projects. TEAS focusses on fighting…
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‘Children with disabilities should study in regular schools’
WHEN Neelam Jolly, a post-graduate in biophysics, changed track and trained to become a therapist, she was exposed to the needs and problems of children with disabilities from close quarters. This pushed her to dream of an organisation that would work for special needs children – where they are made to feel an integral part…
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‘We are committed to empower marginalised children’
WHEN six like-minded alumni of Azim Premji University conducted a survey of children in migrant settlements along the Sarjapur Road of Bengaluru, they were shocked at the alarming number of young kids out of school. Together, they established Gubbachi (meaning sparrow) – a learning community that would act as a bridge between these marginalised children…
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‘Women who are illiterate face more atrocities’
DEVENDRA KUMAR, who grew up amidst extreme poverty in a crime-ridden slum in Delhi, has a mission: to build a safe, gender-neutral and inclusive society. To achieve this, he founded Ladli Foundation Trust which runs several community outreach programmes focused on empowering vulnerable women and children of the marginalised sections of society. Over the last…
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‘Most of the waste we Indians generate is mismanaged’
YEARS of working in high-pressure situations took a toll on Kedar Sohoni’s body, which forced the technology entrepreneur to become a fitness enthusiast. As his interest turned to the food he was consuming and its origins, he wanted to grow his own and started a kitchen garden. The IIT and IIM alumnus then experimented with…
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‘We treat the elderly with dignity and respect’
EVERY year, thousands of elderly people are abandoned by their children in India. Many of them are left with nothing and are forced to live on the streets or live in pitiable conditions. For over ten years, Delhi-based NGO Abhinav Samaj – founded by G.K. Gupta who faced the same fate – has cared for…
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‘The intellectually challenged are inherently capable’
INDIA is home to over 31 million individuals with disabilities – among them the intellectually challenged – and, according to some estimates, over 60% of them will not find work or become financially independent. Since 2011, Mumbai-based Mann – Center for Individuals with Special Needs has been trying to change just that. The organisation believes…
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‘We have sheltered over 500 children orphaned by Covid’
FOUNDED in 1949 by Hermann Gmeiner, an Austrian philanthropist, SOS Children’s Village is present around the world. The nonprofit has been working in India for the past 57 years, helping over 25,000 children who were once parentless, or abandoned or belonging to vulnerable families through its 32 SOS Children’s Villages across 22 states. SOS strives…
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‘Marginalised communities helping others is amazing to see’
THE aim of ActionAid India is simple: to make this country a better place for marginalised communities. From protecting the girl child to sponsoring children’s education or supporting survivors of domestic abuse, the organisation works to alleviate multiple social problems faced by the underprivileged in India. Affiliated to the global federation of ActionAid International, it…
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‘Children make us pause and rethink about life’
THE seeds of Delhi Council for Child Welfare (DCCW) were sown during the years of turmoil in post-Partitioned India when many children who got lost or misplaced during the horrific riots were taken care of by the families living in the Civil Lines area of Delhi. They later took the responsibility to take care of…
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‘Everyday we are inching closer to a clubfoot-free India’
DEEPAK Premnarayen wears multiple hats – he is the executive chairperson and founder of ICS Group, chairperson of the United Nations’ Women – Business Sector Advisory Council (India), till recently convenor of the India-South Africa CEOs’ Forum and mentor to start-ups globally and in India just to name a few. An experienced entrepreneur and business…
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‘Age and productivity are not mutually exclusive’
WHAT started as a magazine in 1995 for senior citizens called Dignity Dialogue evolved into Dignity Foundation a few years later. The organisation responds to the felt needs of senior citizens by helping them lead active lives through various productive ageing and social support services for elder care. Raised in an environment of selfless service…
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‘Those generating waste need education, not waste pickers’
NINETEEN years ago, Bharati Chaturvedi quit her well-paying job and decided to look for an opportunity to work on urban environmental issues. After finding none to her satisfaction, Bharati founded Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group to work on waste management and air pollution. What started with only her as a volunteer has now turned…
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‘Mumbai is Kindness Capital of India’
IN a career spanning three decades, Shishir Joshi has worn multiple hats – journalist, anchor, lawyer, and now as the Project Mumbai’s CEO and co-founder. He was happy being a hard-nosed journalist, but he quit the profession with the aim to improve the economic and social fabric of the city. Project Mumbai started as a…
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‘Identity is a reason for pride, not a reason to hide’
FROM a drop-in centre that conducted workshops on HIV/AIDS issues and human rights of LGBTQ communities, to becoming the pre-eminent torchbearer for gay rights in India, The Humsafar Trust has come a long way. Founded in 1994, the Mumbai-based non profit has impacted lakhs of lives through its targeted interventions, online programs, advocacy activities focussed…
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‘Poverty due to COVID strips last shred of human dignity’
IT was 22 years ago that Meera Satpathy’s NGO Sukarya took its first steps to improve the health of women and children in rural areas and urban slums of north India. Those first steps and the journey so far has benefited over 5 million people in over 600 villages and 100 slums across the country.…
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We have become blind to the hungry
IT began as a response to lockdown-induced hunger that was ravaging Mumbai’s urban poor. Khaana Chahiye has served 6 million+ meals to the hungry so far, and it is determined to continue its mission beyond the pandemic. What began as a one-off drive, with the powerful army of volunteers with support from celebrities and ordinary…
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‘As a nutrition education org, we’ve never distributed food’
SHRUTHI IYER spearheads Foundation for Mother and Child Health India (FMCH), an organisation that empowers pregnant women and new mothers belonging to vulnerable communities through innovative, community-based nutrition specific interventions. Founded in 2006 as a grassroots organisation, FMCH has been focusing on encouraging preventive health, balanced nutrition and child developmental practices in underprivileged communities by…