Support malnourished tribal children, give them healthy meals and quality education

IMPOVERISHED, dangerously malnourished and struggling to receive an education, the tribal children of Madhya Pradesh need support. This is exactly what led Parivaar founder Vinayak Lohani to set up 189 child day boarding centres or Seva Kutirs in select deprived areas of the state, to give 20,000 children two healthy meals a day and the learning support they deserve.

Vinayak is endeavouring to set up 500 Seva Kutirs by December 2023, serving at least 50,000 children in some of the worst hotbeds of malnourishment in the country. Give him your support to break the cycle of poverty - donate now.

The need for Seva Kutirs or child day care centres

The Seva Kutirs combine two key themes most crucial for children in interior rural areas in the country – malnutrition and education. 

60% of the children in Madhya Pradesh are malnourished, making it home to the most number of malnourished children in the country. In some destitute tribal areas of the state, it is as high as 90%. 

Despite the enrolment rate in government schools across the country having increased to more than 97%, the learning outcomes in the most deprived tribal pockets - marked by first-generation learners - have remained dismal. Also, with government schools running for not more than 150 – 175 days, there is a need for alternate spaces for supplementary learning, socialisation, and the development of world-view and civic virtues as the children as they grow up. 

So in 2017, under the umbrella of Parivaar, Lohani started setting up these Seva Kurirs to address the “twin problems of malnourishment and very low learning outcomes during the schooling years,” as he says.

Nutritious meals, quality education, extracurricular activities and sports - holistic development of the poorest of poor tribal children of Madhya Pradesh is the focus at Seva Kutirs. 

-Average costs per child in a Seva Kutir is around ₹12,500.

- For 100 children Seva Kutir (which is usually the average number) the costs are around ₹12.5 Lacs.

Vinayak Lohani: The man behind the idea

With a promising career ahead of him after graduating from IIT and IIM, Vinayak chose a different path - one that was inspired by his idol Swami Vivekananda. His motto is to serve the divine in every man. Today, Vinayak is a parent to 20,000 children and runs Parivaar, a residential centre for underprivileged kids in West Bengal and 189 Seva Kutirs in remote Madhya Pradesh. Here are some words from the man himself: 

“We happened to formulate this very community engaging model, in which local communities offer a venue and we run sort of a day boarding. We thought of these models of day time centres which will also not clash with the government schooling system as we didn’t want to create a parallel system of schooling and instead we wanted to strengthen and supplement the government schooling system. What we formulated was a two-shift engagement of children in the morning and evening.”

What does your contribution do?

• Each and every contribution to this fundraiser supports Vinayak Lohani’s effort to fight malnutrition and illiteracy in remote villages of Madhya Pradesh. 
• You help these children have two nutritious and wholesome meals a day (breakfast and dinner in addition to the midday meal they receive in school), receive supplementary education and holistic development through extracurricular and sports activities. 
• Your donation will build an India where every child gets access to equal opportunities for education and nutrition.

Donate Now!