Shivam Udayan is an intelligent kid, quick to grasp new things. Now he has started learning horse riding at school. Ajay Udayan has been the head boy of his class since the last two months, he is very interested in sports and extracurricular activites.He also took part in Ramayana sessions in school. These are just two stories out of the 180 kids in Udayan care, 11 of whom are in boy’s NOIDA home There kids are mostly orphan or from abusive, destitute and dysfunctional backgrounds. The children over here live in well furnished, modern homes, with all the facilities that one would see in an upper middle class family. Children in the Noida home go to schools such as Rockwood and Assisi Convent.

Udayan care is an NGO started in 1994 by Dr. (Mrs.) Kiran Modi. Headquartered in Delhi, the organisation is working towards regenerating the lives of the disadvantaged children and women. They are committed to their aim of sustainable social development through various programs that include :

Udayan Ghars Shelter homes based on the Group Foster Care model developed
by the organisation with the sole aim of providing a family like environment for oprhaned,abused kids so as to promote social integration, brotherhood and providing the best possible education . Each Udayan Ghar is run by lifetime a volunteer mentor parent, the home on an average has about 15 children. Ghars are located in popular neighbourhoods and children attend private, English medium schools, and participate in vocational training and mental health programmes . At present they have twelve homes in and around Delhi/NCR.

Udayan Shalini Fellowship A distinctive higher education and vocational training scholarship, that works towards the transformation of disadvantaged girls into educated, independent and confident citizens like 22 year old Smita Verma who moved her family out of a one tenement flat in the congested bylanes of Old Delhi’s Chandi Chowk to an independent house in a decent location. She became the first engineer in her family , all thanks to the Udayan Shalini fellowship.

Outreach programme Started in 2004 to provide financial assistance to the children of HIV infected parents so that they are able to receive better nutrition, schooling and prospects of a better future. A long term relationship is established with the children through workshops, counsellings and home visits. In the eventual loss of parents, children are assured with Udayan Ghars.

Sugam Vedashram Project Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu was the worst affected by the Tsunami that rocked the shores of the country. Of the total district population of 1.4 million, approx. 197,000 were directly affected and 6051 were killed.Gasunie Engineering Technology (GET), Netherlands decided to ameliorate the suffering fisherman and develop a proper rehabilitation plan.

Finally three villages namely Chinnurpet, Chandrapadi and Talampettai were chosen and Sugam Vedashram Project was started in collaboration with Bandhua Mukti Morcha and GET. The aim of the project is to provide an educational and training platform for the devastated fishermen community.
At present they are seeking funds for the construction of the Center.

Udayancare is currently in the process of starting a hostel for underprivileged women. The organisation is accredited by Give India and Credibility Alliance.
Here are some wonderful photographs of the children at Udayan Care:

Children at the Winter Camp in Jagshanti Udayan Ghar, NOIDA

Contact Details

Please visit http://www.udayancare.org/ to know more.
Blog : http://www.udayancareblog.blogspot.com/
Twitter : http://twitter.com/udayancare

Meet Laxman Rao. He sells tea on the roadside in Delhi. He is also an author, having penned 20 novels in Hindi so far. What’s more, Hindi is not even his mother tongue! Laxman originally hailed from Maharashtra and has settled down in Delhi, running a tea stall. His interest in writing manifested in the form of a book in the late 70s when he published his first novel Nayi Duniya Ki Nayi Kahani.

When he wrote his first book, no publisher was ready to give him a second glance. After numerous failed attempts at getting the book published, Laxman decided to take the task upon himself. He got the book printed at his own cost and then set out to market it as well! Since then, Laxman has been printing his books and distributing them to various organizations. His books are available at the Delhi Public Library and many school libraries.

Laxman’s penchant for writing started early in his life, during his school years. Since then, he has read a great deal including the works of Gulshan Nanda, Mahatma Gandhi, Shakespeare and many more. By virtue of his novels, Laxman has had the chance to meet Indira Gandhi and recently President Pratibha Patil. Winner of the Inderprastha Sahitya Bharti Award, Laxman is an inspiration for many of us! To know more about Laxman Rao and to see his pictures, please check out the following stories about him:

1. More than his cup of tea | The Tribune – This is a great profile of Laxman, talking about his past, his current life and how he has managed to keep his passion alive.
2. Brewing up Books | Open Magazine – This is a recent article on Laxman and continues to convey his message of positivity and persistence.

Image on the homepage courtesy AFP and The Tribune.

The Divya Chaya Trust (DCT) was established in 1984 mainly to help destitute children and women. Their main aim was to support educational and vocational activities at schools in rural areas and encourage educating the orphans and school drop outs.

Their work is significantly differently as they impart career counseling and provide students with opportunities for further studies. The trust holds confidence building therapies in order to enable women to support themselves financially.

Divya Chaya Trust is located at various states across the northern part of India including West Bengal, New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana and is currently working with various child care homes and ashrams. These include the SD Jain Mahila Ashram and Arya Bal Griha at Delhi, Ramakrishna Vivekananda Mission situated in West Bengal and Delhi.

The trust has around 49 employees who work full time for the establishment and betterment of their reach. Apart from the above, there are approximately 50 volunteers who are working for the same mission.

Their remarkable achievement for the year 2007-2008 is that they have sponsored educational expenses for 500 children. They also had organized seven career counseling sessions for more than 150 children who had graduated and were looking out for jobs.

Their contribution towards the growth of special children with various disabilities is also outstanding. Although the government claims that of the total disabled population only 2% are educated and very few are employed, the DCT is doing their best overcome these figures and make them more presentable for the country. To achieve the same, the trust has various services which are solely for the disabled. They have a range of options to reach the disabled, which include financial aids, or even providing them with simple basic necessities like a hearing aid, a wheel chair or even a Braille kit. A contribution from our end towards supplying these necessities would definitely be of immense support to them.

The most disappointing fact, however, remains that their total income is severely lower than their expenditure. The trust did loose a significant amount which could have been well avoided, had there been enough contribution made towards the trust from citizens.
Despite this, the trust did not loose hope and has recently built a residential home for the elderly at Haryana.

It is truly incredible to know that citizens of our country are going beyond their reach to dissolve the bridge between the privileged and under privileged by ensuring that primary education and fundamental living necessities are being provided to significant section of people.

Read more about Divya Chandra Trust here: http://www.divyachayatrust.org.in/

NGO write up done by guest reporter Jheel Parekh.

The Capital has set another example, with Delhi government banning the use of plastic bags in all commercial establishments, including shops, hotels, hospitals and malls. Only bio-degradable and plastic bags of over 40 microns thickness are allowed. A hefty fine of up to Rs. 1,00,000 or up to five years imprisonment for the defaulters shows that this time the government means business.

Not only that, the move has been supplemented by the introduction of an alternative to the banned material – a new kind of plastic bag which is woven using old plastic. These bags will be sturdier than the ordinary ones, and solve to some extent the problem of plastic waste management.

In lieu of this, the government has given grants of over Rs. 2 lakhs to three NGOs to manufacture these bags, and another to manufacture cloth bags. This article in Expressindia also gives more details on the grant recipients and the way in which these bags will be produced on the ‘polylooms’.

Going forward the Delhi government and its active Department of Environment is also considering giving grants for the manufacture of jute bags and using plastic in the manufacture of roads, as has been undertaken in some other parts of the country, including Bangalore. The initiatives taken display a seriousness of purpose, as action is also accompanied by alternative options, so that there is an incentive and possibility for change. Another feather in the hat of the Capital, and one more example for other states to follow.

Read the complete article here.
Image Courtesy: www.tenthousandvillages.com (The bags shown in the image are illustrative, and not representative of the actual products mentioned in the article).

The past year was ridden with terror attacks. And most of us shook our heads, deplored the state of national security, blamed the government for its lapse, and moved on. However, a citizen’s group in Delhi has decided not to blame others and move on. Instead, it has formed Jagruk Nagrik Suraksha Sangathan, a group of like-minded people with an aim to become self-reliant and responsible for their own safety.

Nidhi Bhardwaj tells us more in Mint about the objective behind this group:

JNSS President Denson Joseph says a citizen has to “take up the responsibility of becoming alert, forming a network, and falling in line, to secure himself and the people around him. If we do that, we would not have the security forces to blame.”

So how do they plan to go about achieving their goal? Their first step was to identify the most likely terror targets, busy and crowded market places. Then, two separate teams were formed – the Citizen’s Intelligence Network to keep a watch and report any suspicious activities in the area, and Citizen’s Active Response Team to take quick action in case of any emergency.

All the shopkeepers have been asked to volunteer just one worker to join the Citizens’ Active Response team. They would be expected to take note of any suspicious activities and people moving around the market.

The plan is already being executed at Sarojini Nagar and Mehrauli market, some of the most popular destinations for shopping and terror strikes in Delhi. The citizen initiative has received widespread appreciation and response from the market associations. Simple in idea and implementation, this plan urges the citizen to be alert and responsible for their own lives – a credo that could prove very effective in this age of mindless terror.

Read the complete article on this voluntary group here.
Image Courtesy: Urban Planning Blog

Remember the time you saw those magical figures dressed in a riot of colours and dancing to the tune of a lively music? Or when you felt immense joy and sadness as you watched them narrate the story of the charming prince, in their own animated way? Many believe India to be the birthplace of puppetry, with crude specimens found in the Harappa and Mohenjodaro civilizations as well. The art of puppetry as a divine creation or form of entertainment and illustration has found widespread mention in many ancient scriptures and literary works including the Mahabharata, Gita, and works of Kalidasa and Patanjali.

It is a known fact that this ancient art is dying a slow death due to neglect and more sophisticated forms of entertainment. Puppeteers find it difficult to earn a living and feed their families just by giving puppet shows as there is hardly any audience left. It would be very rare to find a puppet show these days, and is only seen sometimes in fairs that try to promote traditional Indian art forms. However, Press Trust of India reports in NDTV.com the good news that there are slum children of about 2,600 families in Delhi, who have taken on the responsibility of keeping puppetry alive.

This classical art form, however, has been kept alive by children of around 2,600 families from the slums of Delhi, who put up shows under the banner of Kalakar Vikas School.

Hailing from Rajasthan, Gopal, says he wants to show this art form to a much larger urban audience, who in his opinion, are not very much aware of puppetry.

Gopal’s ambition is echoed by Lakshmi, a 14-year-old from a village near Delhi, who says the urban audience needs to know more about this almost-dying art form.

“Urban people are not very much aware that this art form is almost on its deathbed. We are struggling to keep it alive, but we are ready to do anything for it,” Lakshmi says.

Their efforts are encouraged by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), as it has recently released a journal with the focus on puppetry, and The Union Internationale de la Marionette (UNIMA). It is touching to see these children with very few means of livelihood taking an active step in the conservation of an Indian heritage, a step that many affluent people would also not dare to take. The passion and optimism of these kids is a lesson to most of us who hesitate to protect what we know is valuabe and on the verge of being lost to us forever.

Read the complete article here.

Image Courtesy: PuppetIndia.com

 Do you decline to use your right to vote on the basis that you do not know the candidate well enough? Or do you vote for anyone on the basis that they are all equally corrupt and it makes no difference? Now, voters of Delhi can eliminate these gripes from their lives as they go in for assembly elections in a month’s time.

An NGO Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) has started this initiative using RTI, where they will make the elected representatives more accountable by assessing their past performance. So, now, as the candidates’ come knocking on the doors of Delhi-ites with a smile and a host of promises, they can be taken to severe task by the citizens of their constituencies and asked to explain their past performance. The MLA Report Card will demonstrate how concerned the MLA was about your concerns the last time you elected him and how much he has delivered. Times of India will publish these reports in a new series, and empower people to take informed decisions regarding their precious vote. Reports TOI:

Under the MLA Local Area Development Fund, each MLA can spend up to Rs 2 crore on development works in his constituency each year. Did your MLA align this work with your needs and priorities? Or was it to help his cronies? In short, was public money – Rs 10 crore in five years – well-utilised or wasted?

You can now judge if you really needed those parks when the roads in your colony were crumbling. Or if you got water when you really needed it. And what about the promised baraat ghar ? Give your MLA a pat if he has performed well. Or tell him to get off. That will tell our MLAs that they can’t take you for granted. It will clean the system and give you a role in governance.

With elections just around the corner, this is the need of the hour. Indians have always felt the limitation of not knowing enough about their elected representatives, and the work they were doing seemed to be shrouded in a veil of mystery, unless some scandal exploded in their face. This will go a great length in enabling people to make an informed choice, so that lack of information no longer remains an excuse for electing the wrong people to power.

Read the complete article here.

Image courtesy: www.india-briefing.com

Gone are the days when the poor rickshaw driver had to pull with all his might to tug his passengers up a slope. After the introduction of CNG buses and autorickshaws, Delhi now has another feather in its cap. On Gandhi Jayanti, it introduced a new initiative to convert all hand-drawn rickshaws to solar-powered.

Called the Soleckshaw, it is in test run in Delhi and will be mass produced in a month if all goes well. Besides easing the load of the rickshaw puller and improving his health, it will also enable him to earn more. Shashank Kaushal reports in NDTV:

Solecshaw will run as a test project between the Old Delhi railway station and the Red Fort. Both places will have rickshaw counters selling Rs 15 fare tickets for two people. The batteries run for 12 hours. Spare ones can be charged at the Chandni Chowk metro station.

“I think it is advantageous for the poor rickshaw pullers. They can earn much more. They will save more for their family and they would last more than three years,” said Kapil Sibal, Union Minister, Science and Technology.

With maximum speeds of 15 kilometers per hour, the Solecshaw is expected help a rickshaw puller earn more than his present average daily earnings of 150 rupees.

Yes, it is just a drop in the ocean. But we need all of these drops to make a big difference, and we welcome this small initiative by the Delhi government to bring broad smiles to this largely ignored section of workers.

Read complete article here.

Image Courtesy: NDTV.com

Link Provided By: Faiq Gazdhar. Thanks!