Atulya Vikas Foundation’s Post

🌟Uplifting Rural Education: A Spark That Ignites Potential 🌟 Beyond the demands of my civil services role, I find immense purpose working at Samarpann with my sister Dr Ruma Bhargava; our organisation dedicated to bolstering school education in rural India. Every day crafts a new story, a testament to the transformative power of even the simplest resources. We traverse the dusty paths of rural India to reach out to the children who dream of a better future and whose parents struggle everyday to earn two square meals and bring their children out of the clutches of poverty. 💫  This picture captures a visit to an Ashramshala in tribal Maharashtra where Samarpan implemented the programme of providing Adhyayan kits to the underprivileged tribal children and ensuring access to clean drinking water in the schools. The little girl in the picture exemplifies the impact of our work. Her eyes beamed with joy on receipt of her new notebooks and colour pencils etc as she excitedly drank a glass of clean drinking water from the newly installed water purifier system. Her smile is a testament to the impact of our work and speaks volumes about the potential unlocked by these simple tools. This story exemplifies the power of even the most basic resources. Samarpan's efforts are about more than just providing basic necessities; they are about igniting a spark of hope, a belief that education is a right, not a privilege. We're showing these children that they are capable, that their potential is limitless. It's a challenging journey, one riddled with resource constraints and social disparities. But the dedication of our volunteers and the sheer enthusiasm of the children fuel our every step. ✨ If you share our passion for educational equity and want to be a part of the solution, reach out to us at Samarpann. Together, let's empower these young minds and rewrite their destinies, one chapter at a time. 🌱 #RuralEducation #Samarpan #NGO #CivilServant #EmpoweringCommunities #India #education #socialimpact

For a growing country like ours, education is a crucial force multiplier. The right to education is also a fundamental one, enshrined in Article 21-A of our Constitution. Yet, millions in our country remain disconnected and there is a need to do more, extending our efforts beyond digital realms and investing in offline initiatives empowering marginalized communities. Fortunately, we have role models too, people like Shyam Shrivastava - a cancer survivor aged 65 who’s the driving force behind three thriving education centres for underprivileged children in Varanasi. Growing up in a small village, Shyam witnessed firsthand the struggles of families from underprivileged sections of our society. These early experiences ignited a passion, to make a difference in the lives of those are less fortunate. Shyam Srivastava's journey serves as an inspiring reminder that with determination and empathy, one person can indeed make a significant impact on the world. Read the entire story here : https://rb.gy/5jw68n #InspiringLeaders #SupportEducation #DonateARoof #BuildAFuture #ChangeMakers

"We need to separate the idea of “privilege” from race and gender. Claudine Gay had well off parents and went to Exeter, the most elite, expensive high school in America. She was not “excluded” from anything. Kamala Harris’s father was a professor at Stanford. Justice Ketangi Browns’s dad was an attorney and her mom a private school principal. They all grew up with upper class privilege in our amazing country! " (https://lnkd.in/dTvsybhb) The same may apply to caste-based reservation in India. I am not sure if there has been any study on how reservation has helped the underprivileged among the reserved category. The chances are high that those who are well-off will pass their privilege to their children, leaving little opportunity for the underprivileged of their community. Whether caste-based reservation should exist or not is a different topic. My point is to expect the government to end social discrimination is simply naive. Large-scale social change may be happening silently without government intervention. A couple of my observations: KISS (https://kiss.ac.in/) is a boarding school in Bhubaneswar that provides free education from KG to post-graduation only to underprivileged students. They select kids only from poor tribal districts. As per their website, they currently have 30,000 students. That is a massive figure if you consider that IIT Bombay provides education to less than 1000 ST students. It started because of the effort of a single individual: https://lnkd.in/dUtaAM6m Most people I know from the slums in my neighborhood go to DMart in the posh Hiranandani Gardens, Powai, for shopping. Without stores like DMart, the Hiranandani Gardens will exclude the underprivileged. I am sure Radhakishan Damani did not plan an ideological movement against social discrimination. He just wanted to make money, but the market (mechanism) is blind!

#health | Gram Vikas is investing in the future of Odisha's youngest citizens through its "Shishu Ghar" initiative, a network of rural creches across 77 villages. Implemented with support from the Azim Premji Foundation, the initiative inaugurated two new creches in Andarigaon and Sapakamba villages of Baliguda, in Odisha's Kandhamal district. We are building these rural creches as a powerful force for good in communities. They promote early childhood development, which translates into healthier, more educated adults. They will empower mothers by providing reliable childcare, allowing them to participate in the workforce and boost their families' economic well-being. They will ease the burden on older siblings, often girls, who might otherwise miss school to care for younger children. The creches will act as community hubs, fostering cooperation and support networks among families. By investing in creches, we are investing in stronger families, breaking cycles of poverty and building a more prosperous future for everyone. Learn more about the initiative: https://bit.ly/467dnDw #earlychildhooddevelopment #Odisha #Nutrition #InvestInChildren #RuralCreches

Speaking of fighting discrimination, there is no rational way to end discrimination. Any affirmative action/reservation is a discrimination itself. An (irrational) solution to the problem of discrimination is to make every selection/hiring process random. This idea is not as crazy as it sounds. Daniel Bernoulli (known of the famous Bernoulli's theorem) tried twice to secure a faculty position in anatomy or botany at Basel University. He failed both times because a lottery system was in place for hiring (https://lnkd.in/dWyBY8cp). One crazy idea would be to abolish IITJEE and adopt a lottery system for admissions into IITs. Of course, there should be a baseline qualification for eligibility to participate in the lottery.

Since gaining independence in 1947, India’s population has grown exponentially. Back then, the population was around 340 million. Today, it exceeds 1.4 billion—a dramatic increase that has significant implications for our resources and environment. The surge in population has put immense pressure on our natural resources, infrastructure, and quality of life. To address these challenges, India launched the National Family Planning Program in 1952, the world’s first initiative aimed at managing population growth and fostering development. In this video, actor and director Nitish Bharadwaj underscores the crucial role of family planning in managing our population and ensuring sustainable progress. His insights remind us why continuing to support and promote effective family planning solutions is essential. Let’s come together to embrace family planning, raise awareness, and make informed choices for a better future. #MobiusFoundation #PopulationGrowth #SustainableDevelopment #FamilyPlanning #ProjectAakar

Nestled deep within the Chennampatti forest range in Tamil Nadu's Erode district, the Kathirimalai village feels like a world apart. Accessible only by foot, Kathirimalai's residents faced immense challenges due to a lack of quality education and healthcare. It was in 2022 when IAS officer Krishnanunni H, then the district collector of Erode, embarked on a mission to bring about positive change in the village. Swipe to see how Krishnanunni's efforts created a ripple effect. >> Krishnanunni H #IASOfficer #RuralDevelopment #TribalCommunity #Education #Healthcare #DigitalIndia #SocialImpact #TamilNadu #Erode [IAS Krishnanunni H, rural development, tribal community, education, social impact, Tamil Nadu, healthcare]

🌳 Travelling  through the Forests of Central India! 🐯 While the tribal villages of Madhya Pradesh are blessed with incredible biodiversity, the human development indicators paint a concerning picture. A staggering 35% of children aged 15-17 don't attend school, with the dropout rate even higher for girls (only 62% attending, compared to 67% of boys as per the National Family Health Survey- 5). The reasons? Poverty forces many children to earn extra income for their families, and for girls, the onset of menstruation adds another barrier. But Samarpann is on a mission to keep these children in school! 🎓 We're collaborating with district administrations to provide: ✨ Safe menstrual hygiene management 💧 Access to clean drinking water ☀️ Solar electrification of schools and anganwaadis (child care centers) Our programs are already reaching over 7,000 children, but we need your help to amplify our effort If you're a CSR organization or interested in collaborating to make a difference, reach out to us. Together, we can pave the way for a brighter, more equitable future for these communities. Let's make an impact, one step at a time. 💚 With Dr. Megha Bhargava and Sai Krishna #EducationForAll #CSR #CommunityImpact #CentralIndia #Empowerment #madhyapradesh

You may have heard of a pathbreaking scheme in the state of Tamilnadu called "Cradle Baby Scheme" where a physical cradle is kept (in Government offices and Specialized Adoption Agencies) for undesiring parents to leave their little child in this safe cradle to be given for adoption. To its credit, this scheme is believed to have saved hundreds of children from being left in unsafe/ unhygienic places. We want to suggest to the government to make this scheme a futuristic one to keep up with the changing times. So, Hope House is partnering with IIT Madras to develop a prototype to present to the state. But before we develop a prototype, we want to hear from different stakeholders of their views/ thoughts, so we developed a short questionnaire for you to fill to help us make this prototype a robust one. Can you help? If you're willing, below is the form (click on the image below) and it won't even take 5 minutes to complete. It's completely anonymous. Please share it on your timeline to hear from more stakeholders.

As we commemorate Anti-Child Labor Day, let’s take a moment to consider the harsh reality faced by millions of children across India, like Tufail from Gadiyahasanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Tufail, a mere 14-year-old, was compelled to abandon his schoolbooks for the grease-stained work of motorcycle repair. With every turn of the wrench, his childhood was slipping further away, overshadowed by the relentless demands of economic survival. Tufail was not alone. An estimated 70 to 80 million children in India are engaged in labor. These aren’t just numbers, they’re the stories of innocence betrayed and futures jeopardized. But there’s hope. Through the #Unmukt program, children like Tufail are finding a way out of the cycle of poverty and exploitation. Unmukt provided Tufail with the support and resources he needed to convince his parents that education was the key to a brighter future. Ending child labor is a mammoth task. It requires the collective effort of policymakers, schools, social sector organisations, and even everyday citizens. We can’t sit idly by while children are robbed of their chance at a better future. So, what’s your role in this fight? Whether it’s raising awareness, supporting initiatives, or advocating for change, every action counts. Let’s stand together and pave the way for a world where every child is free to be just that - a child. #Milaan #NGO #EndChildLabor #ProtectChildhoods #EducationForAll #StopChildExploitation #ChildSafety