‘Nayantara’ a Programme for Adolescent Girl Child Empowerment through support in Education, Health, Skill & Capacity Development

Sundarbans is famous for Tourism Destination. Yet, people from 19 blocks here live under extreme poverty without basic amenities like education, health-care, livelihood, civic amenities etc. Sunderbans is highly prone to cyclones, tidal surge, flood, corrosion etc. People always struggle by combating these natural calamities. Difficult mono crop agriculture of Paddy, Betel Vine and Seasonal Vegetable for High Saline content in Soil and devastating tidal surges, fishing in rivers and deep sea, daily wage works etc. are main source of livelihood.

Children here often deprived of care as Parents remain direly busy with earning activities. Conditions of Girl Children are more pity. Most worrying fact of the area is that as prevalent social practice girls here are still in a pitiable condition and not allowed socially to live a life of dignity by their own ability.

Trend of social maladies like trafficking, dropping from education, early marriage and motherhood etc. are highly predominant here. Girls are the most severe prey to these consequences. They are often forced to leave studies, get married in premature age and become mother. Also they pretty often fall prey of Trafficking either directly/ in disguise of being married or being appointed as Domestic Help. 

To arrest the issues we already initiated an Empowerment Programme - Nayantara. Under this programme we

-    Established 3 Centres at 3 remote villages in Mathurapur II Block of South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal

-    Cater support in

§ Education,

§ Nutrition Enhancement,

§ Health Improvement,

§ Building right Personal hygiene,

§ Grooming Personality & Confidence through Extra Curricular Activities (e.g. Dance, Sports, Performing Art etc.), Skill Development (Handicrafts & Artisanry) etc.  

-    Built Peer Groups of Vigilant Adolescent Girls who monitor to restrain Girl Child Exploitation in various forms and become active in preventing Drop Outs & Early Marriage etc.

-    Remained successful in mobilising Girls from marginalised families to continue their education and become self reliant. We are happy some such girls could complete education up to School Final (10th Standard), Higher Secondary (12th Standard) and Graduation Level. They are now at endeavour for either Higher Studies or for Joining in Job.  

For our further plans we need more support

-    To reach out to more such deprived adolescent girls from marginalised families

-    To extend our programme in wider geographical areas

The programme remained consistent in sensitising the local marginalised populace on legal aspects and penalty/ punishment implications for various forms of Girl Child ignorance and exploitation in the Community. The built up Girls’ Vigilant Groups also has started creating impacts resulting in little hold on Early Marriage & Motherhood, Drop Outs etc.

Yet there are miles to go to address the penetrating social menaces among local community here. The awareness among the adolescent Girls is yet to attain its momentum in these remote deprived villages of Sundarbans.   

Also we could reach out not even to 1% of Girl Children here.

With expansion and growth of the Programme in wider geography of Sundarbans we expect to get a social order here where there is no Gender Discrimination, no exploitation on Girl Children and Gradually every girl becoming confident and self reliant.