About
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Headquarters
Patna, Bihar
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Since
2010
Diksha Foundation offers holistic education to children and youth from socially and economically marginalized communities in India. Since 2010, Diksha Read more’s movement has been towards creating “transformative learning spaces for children”. Our idea of education is not confined to literacy alone, we focus on the holistic education of children by looking at the social, creative, and moral development of each student. Holistic education stresses on the overall development of an individual which includes core academics, emotional development, social skills with civic understanding, critical thinking skills, conflict resolution skills, personality development, and knowledge about self. While seeking to educate the whole person the basic three R’s of Relationships, Responsibility, and Reverence for all life, are taken into consideration. We believe that education is a journey of self-discovery, self-love, and self-esteem and that it is a process of change from within, a change in one’s habits and worldviews and one’s relationships and responsibilities with the community. Last year our world was caught off guard when a deadly pandemic struck in the form of COVID - 19. Throughout last year we have tried to strengthen our community with safety and personal hygiene, COVID-19 awareness and necessarry precautions we need to take in order to safeguard the community. The pandemic did not only present itself as a major health risk but also threatened the livelihoods of people. The worst hit sector due to the lockdown to resist the virus, was the unorganized sector throughout the world. In Patna, Bihar most of our students families lost their livelihoods for several months due to continued lockdiown. Ins such situation, Diksha Foundation tried to reach out to our students through telephone. We offered them tele counseling to help through the lockdown. We initisated the Annapurna campaign through which we provided ration kits to the families of our students. The ration kit contained all the necessary items that were required to sustain a family for the month.We continue the campaign under the name of Aushadhi - Annapurna Campaign which has been extended to cover medical kits, oxygen necessities along with ration kits of the COVID -19 patients. So far we have been able to distribute these kits to over 1500 families in Patna and Hilsa so far. In further attempts, we have extended our KHEL facilities to ensure our students are never away from learning. Our libraries are open so that students could issue books for reading.
Issue
If we compare Bihar to most of India, then it performs poorly in most of the parameters, in any learning level. As per the National Achievement Survey-2017, the average learning level from class III to Std V is 56.32% in Bihar, one of India's lowest learning levels. This problem is further compounded for children of daily wage earners like construction workers, vegetable sellers etc. Both the parents go out to work during the day and children are left at home to fend for themselves often in the guardianship of the oldest sibling. Older girls bear the brunt of responsibilities of taking care of younger siblings in the household. The infrastructure of the slums is very poor and the houses are poorly ventilated and small with 5-6 people residing in less than 100 sq. ft. space. This reduces the chance for children to experience good growth and development creating a huge level of learning difference amongst students from other states and Bihar due to lack of quality of education. With a boom in the level of constructional development in the capital city, which on one hand is creating job opportunities for a few but at the same time forcing people to adjust with a bare minimum level of living standards. The Human Development Index of Bihar stands out last in the whole country which is 0.571, and equals the Republic of Congo. Also, the city is overpopulated and there is hardly any public space which the children can access to engage in sports and other physical development activities.
Action
We at Diksha Foundation believe that at the root of this pressing cause lies a crisis of holistic education in the education system. We have tried to incorporate education with the overall development of children for their holistic growth. This has enabled children at Diksha to pursue their dreams and careers. Over the years, we have helped children from marginalized communities to get a decent opportunity in order to explore themselves.
Cause Area
Programs
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Knowledge Hub for Education and Learning
We are committed to provide holistic education to the children from the underprivileged children through an after school supplementary education program called Knowledge Hub for Education and Learning.
KHEL is an after-school supplementary education program targeting children and youngsters from low-income communities in Bihar, India. Diksha Foundation started the KHEL centre in 2010 in Patna; over the years we ran KHEL centres in Patna and Nalanda districts of Bihar and at Kusumpur Pahari, New Delhi. In past 13 years, the KHEL project has reached out to more than 2500 students through an intensive six days per week classroom program. Currently, 2 KHEL centres are operational, one in the Jagdeopath, Patna and one in Bihta, with a combined strength of 300 children. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that each and every child and young person has an opportunity for holistic education. Diksha Foundation, through its After School Learning Center -
Poonji
As the biggest difference between the rich and the rest is money, micro-entrepreneurs like vegetable selling, small ration shops, tailors, beauticians, etc. face great deal of difficulty in order to meet their basic needs as well as strengthen their livilihood.
As a part of the Poonji project we have created 10 self–help groups of 100 members respectively.
And these SHGs offers credit to the SHG in the form of both loans and grants, the interest generated is further used for the sustainability of the SHG. We also work on strengthening these SHG groups by providing regular training on different topics viz. handling finances, sustaining the group, sales and retailing skills.
In the medium and longer run, we will help the SHG members in expanding their business and building some wealth in association with other community focused enterprises
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English Access Microscholarship Program
The English Access Microscholarship Program (Access Program) is a two-year global flagship project funded by the US State Department, RELO. It provided after-school English and personality development classes to socio-economically disadvantaged youth aged 13-17 and 17-21 years. As part of their coursework, Access students gained an appreciation for American culture and democratic values, civic consciousness, and critical thinking skills, along with an enhanced capacity to compete for future US exchanges and higher education programs.
We worked with a batch of 50 children and youth from Patna. The focus was on 21st-century learning skills and UN sustainable goals, striving to make each student a global citizen, with English as the medium of teaching and learning.
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Socially Inclusive Patna
Diksha Foundation was implementing partner under UNFPA and Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) collaboration on the above project. The project seeks to transform the city of Patna as a socially inclusive city, where citizens have equal access to services and opportunities, and thereby focuses on the most vulnerable sections in the urban setting, namely Sanitation Workers and Slum Dwellers. The project seeks to empower the sanitation workers under Patna Municipal Corporation on health, safety and leadership, and seeks to work extensively with the Sanitation worker community, including women and adolescents whose habitation is primarily slums. The project has directly been working across 50 large slums of Patna. Now, the up scaling phase, “Sustainable and inclusive urbanization in Patna; Promoting safe, Healthy and inclusive models for slum development” aims to Reduce gender and health (including sexual and reproductive health) vulnerabilities in slums
Impact Metrics
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The Impact Metrics for Diksha's Alternative Education Approach Encompass Personalized Attention With a Low Student-To-Teacher Ratio, Improved Learning
Program Name
KHEL
Year-wise Metrics- 2021-22 150
- 2022-23 163
- 2023-24 157
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The Poonji Project Formed 10 Self-Help Groups (Shgs) of 100 Members Each, Providing Loans and Grants With Reinvested Interest. Impact Metrics Include:
Program Name
Poonji
Year-wise Metrics- 2021-22 50
- 2022-23 50
- 2023-24 50
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The English Access Microscholarship Program's Impact Includes: 30% Improvement in English Proficiency, 20% Rise in Academic Performance, 15 Higher Edu
Program Name
English Access Microscholarship Program
Year-wise Metrics- 2021-22 50
- 2022-23 50
- 2023-24 50
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The Impact Metrics for Diksha Foundation's Project With Unfpa and Patna Municipal Corporation Focus on Enhancing Ward Councilors' Engagement in Gender and Rights-Based Slum Development, Empowering Women and Girls in Slums, Improving Health and Safety for Sanitation Workers, and Promoting Enterprise Among Women in the Sanitation Sector. These Efforts Aim to Reduce Vulnerabilities and Promote Inclusive Urbanization in Patna's 50 Large Slums.
Program Name
Socially Inclusive Patna
Year-wise Metrics- 2021-22 7500
- 2022-23 3500
- 2023-24 2500
Leadership Team
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Gautam Gauri
President
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Tanya Pandey
Coordinator
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Shibasis Sahu
Manager
Demographics & Structure
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No. of Employees
21-50
M&E
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Internal, External Assessors
No
Policies
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Ethics and Transparency Policies
No
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Formal CEO Oversight & Compensation Policy
No
Political & Religious Declarations
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On Affiliation if any
No
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On Deployment Bias if any
No
Registration Details
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PAN Card
AABTD9924D
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Registration ID
S/RS/SW/0019/2010
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VO ID / Darpan ID
DL/2018/0195068
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12A
AABTD9924DE20104
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80G
AABTD9924DF20102
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FCRA
231661629
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CSR Registration Number
CSR00012712.
Location
Other Details
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Type & Sub Type
Non-profit
Society
Website
Financial Details
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2021-22
IncomeRs.25,821,066ExpensesRs.22,195,203Admin ExpensesRs.1,053,438Program ExpensesRs.21,141,765Tip: Click on any value above to exclude it. -
2022-23
IncomeRs.26,342,538ExpensesRs.24,809,174Admin ExpensesRs.1,633,252Program ExpensesRs.23,175,922Tip: Click on any value above to exclude it. -
2023-24
IncomeRs.16,377,197ExpensesRs.16,377,197Admin ExpensesRs.2,226,009Program ExpensesRs.14,151,188Tip: Click on any value above to exclude it.