Manav Seva Sansthan

The project's main goal is to empower urban underprivileged residents, particularly federation members, in their pursuit of dignified lives. To achieve this, it aims to strengthen the urban poor alliance through 20 dedicated morcha leaders and enhance the capacity of women's committees, forming a core group of about 25 leaders. Key activities include establishing committees in five slums, active morcha member recruitment, enhancing women's committee capabilities, engaging with various stakeholders, ensuring access to crucial ration cards, and organising events and activities. This initiative is funded by Oxfam (India) Trust.

The project aims to enhance educational access and quality for Dalit and Muslim girls while advocating for Government actions that target marginalized girls. To achieve this, the project will establish and operate education centres and manage a Mobile Resource Centre with community support, providing educational materials to these centres. Community mobilization is a key component, fostering connections with Government officials at the state and district levels. The expected results include the operation of five education centres led by skilled teachers under Slum Education Committees, a functional Mobile Resource Centre, mobilized women leaders promoting girls' education, improved teaching and learning environments, increased awareness of gender, class, and caste-based discrimination among children, teachers, and parents, and the creation of quality documents to showcase educational improvement efforts and their impact on slum children.

The project aims to empower street children by safeguarding their rights, ensuring access to essential services, and promoting their active participation. It involves creating a child-friendly environment with drop-in shelters, collaborating with Government Children's Homes, establishing a surveillance and support system at railway stations, and building connections with various stakeholders for effective child protection measures. The approach includes protective measures to prevent violence, exploitation, and stress, rehabilitative efforts for child development, and policy influencing to empower children's voices.

The project's core objectives aim to ensure a proper childhood for children of sex workers by offering essential care, emotional and psychological support, and creating an environment conducive to improved education, nutrition, and overall living standards. Activities include strengthening and expanding the hostel in Pali town, Raigad district, and recruiting trained staff. Notable achievements include improved behaviour among the children, including the cessation of negative actions like stealing and fighting. They have embraced good habits and discipline, taking responsibility for personal hygiene and chores. Academic performance has seen significant improvements, with some students achieving top ranks in exams. Two girls from the hostel have received honours at both the Taluka and district levels, recognized by the village gram panchayat for their outstanding achievements.

MSS has undertaken several health-focused initiatives in rural and urban areas-
Abhinav Swasthya Kendra: 12 health centres are established in remote villages in Fatehpur district, providing general health services, with a focus on safe deliveries and child immunization.
Regional Investment Programme: In 10 unserved villages in Farrukhabad district, MSS conducted pre- and post-delivery health check-ups, child immunization, adolescent health education, and family planning support for pregnant women and children.
Adolescent Girl Education Programme: Programmes in urban areas like Kanpur, Moradabad, Jhansi, Agra, and Meerut districts implemented offering personal hygiene and reproductive health education and counselling to nearly 200,000 adolescent girls in Government and recognised girls' schools.
HIV and AIDS Awareness: Raising awareness about HIV and AIDS in operational areas through street plays and folk songs effectively conveying messages to various audiences.

MSS is dedicated to preserving and promoting natural resources while empowering local communities. Initiatives include: Prakrati Panchayats (Nature Clubs): 20 nature clubs are actively engaged in securing and conserving natural resources through collaboration with local gram panchayats and the community.
Agriculture Entrepreneur Rehabilitation Training: Capacity building of potato producers and traditional preservators, prioritizing candidates from Scheduled Castes, Backward Castes, and Muslims.
Organic Farming Promotion: Educating farmers about organic farming techniques, including nadep compost, vermicompost, microbial liquid manure, horn manure, and cow urine insecticide. The aim is to mitigate the adverse effects of chemical fertilizers and pesticides on soil fertility, groundwater, food quality, and health, ultimately fostering healthier fields, cattle, families, and economic stability.

MSS is dedicated to addressing the challenges faced by manual scavengers in India through its "Garima Abhiyan" campaign. This effort has yielded several achievements, including the formation of self-help groups for women scavengers in 13 slums of Fatehpur city, aimed at bolstering their capacity and advocating for more dignified livelihoods. Furthermore, MSS established a district-level "Balmiki Yuva Garima Manch," engaging up to 50 members to highlight the role of Balmiki youth as catalysts for social change. The project organised a district-level sensitization workshop involving various stakeholders, including social organisation leaders, intellectuals, and journalists, to raise awareness about the issue. An educational rally was conducted to ensure 100% enrollment of Balmiki children, and women scavengers were provided training in zardozi and cutting and tailoring to offer them alternative livelihood options.