Prayas - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Prayas is one of India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

's largest non-profit organisations. Its goal is to protect the rights of marginalised children, women and young people. Prayas has projects in seven states across India serving an estimated 100,000 people. The organisation is based in Delhi

Delhi

Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

History

Prayas was founded in 1988 by Delhi police chief Amod Kanth after a fire ravaged the North Delhi slum of Jahangirpuri. "Prayas" is a Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

word, derived from Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

, meaning "endeavour".

The organisation initially focussed on providing shelter and education to children affected by the disaster. Since then it has expanded into many other areas. It now provides alternative education

Alternative education

Alternative education, also known as non-traditional education or educational alternative, includes a number of approaches to teaching and learning other than mainstream or traditional education. Educational alternatives are often rooted in various philosophies that are fundamentally different...

, shelter homes, health and nutrition and other services to marginalised children across India. Disadvantaged women and teenagers also avail of services offered by Prayas, in particular vocational education. In response to crises, such as the 2001 Gujarat earthquake

2001 Gujarat earthquake

The 2001 Gujarat earthquake occurred on January 26, 2001, India's 52nd Republic Day, at 08:46 AM local time and lasted for over two minutes. The epicentre was about 9 km south-southwest of the village of Chobari in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District of Gujarat, India...

and the 2004 tsunami, Prayas has expanded its services outside of Delhi in recent years and now operates in seven states across India.

Non-formal Education

Prayas provides alternative education to 50,000 street, neglected and working children. Most of these are in Delhi but Prayas education centres are also located in Bihar

Bihar

Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....

, Gujarat, Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

, Haryana

Haryana

Haryana is a state in India. Historically, it has been a part of the Kuru region in North India. The name Haryana is found mentioned in the 12th century AD by the apabhramsha writer Vibudh Shridhar . It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south...

and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Children who have fallen out of the government education system are provided with quality non-formal education in order to allow them to catch up and reintegrate into the state system. Students are given mid-day meals and regular health check ups. The organisation's alternative education centres have been identified as models of best practice by the Indian government and the United States Department of Labor

United States Department of Labor

The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...

Shelter homes and observation homes

Prayas operates several large shelter homes in Delhi. These homes cater for children who have been orphaned, abandoned, sold into labour or subjected to physical or sexual abuse. Residents are given shelter, education, health care, counselling and vocational training. Prayas also operates a custodial shelter home for juveniles in conflict with the law, in cooperation with the Delhi government.

Health and nutrition

Prayas operates a number of 24 hour primary health care clinics in the slum areas of Delhi. The Prayas health service provides services including mobile health camps and out patient services to street children outside the reach of standard government services. A major HIV/AIDS awareness programme began in 2005 in association with government schools across Delhi.

Economic empowerment

The organisation operates vocational training programmes for over 10,000 women and young people. Participants are given training courses for up to two years in skills including carpentry, beauty culture, dress designing, handicrafts, screen printing, computer applications, bakery and more. Prayas organises work experience and employment for many successful graduates of its training courses.

Prayas supports many self help schemes providing training and microcredit

Microcredit

Microcredit is the extension of very small loans to those in poverty designed to spur entrepreneurship. These individuals lack collateral, steady employment and a verifiable credit history and therefore cannot meet even the most minimal qualifications to gain access to traditional credit...

facilities to help women to start their own businesses.

Child Line

Established in 2004, the Prayas Child Line initiative is a 24 hour free phone service for children in difficulty. With government support, Child Line services are now available to children in 56 cities in India. It serves as a point of first contact for children suffering as a result of abuse, neglect, homelessness, trafficking, child labour and other social problems. 400,000 children used the service in its first year.

Advocacy

Prayas is one of India's leading advocacy

Advocacy

Advocacy is a political process by an individual or a large group which normally aims to influence public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions; it may be motivated from moral, ethical or faith principles or simply to protect an...

groups for the rights of children. It has consistently lobbied the government for more resources for education and health for children and stronger legislation protecting children. It has carried out major studies on issues including child labour and trafficking. Prayas was selected by the Indian government to help carry out the National Child Abuse Study, the largest project of its kind ever carried out in India.

Prayas has made contributions to the formulation of Indian government policy, including the Juvenile Justice Act and the Offences Against Children Act. Prayas is a member of the National Commission for Children, an advisory body on children's issues.

Recognition

Prayas projects have received financial backing from numerous international organisations including the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

and the governments of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.
Prayas received international recognition for anti-trafficking initiatives by the Trafficking in Persons Report, 2006, published by the US Department of State. Amod Kanth, the head of Delhi Police and founder of Prayas, was commended as an international "model of public service" for his efforts on behalf of India's children.
The Prayas Observation Home for Boys at Delhi Gate has been commended as best practice in the Juvenile Justice System in South Asia.
The Prayas Children's Home at Jahangirpuri has proved out to be a model institution where children in conflict with the law are kept with abosolutely no confinement and are provided vocational training and alternative education as well as formal schooling and are also placed at various jobs by the placement cell of Prayas, so that they can be mainstreamed in the society.
Prayas alternative education centres have been cited as models of best practice by the Indian government and the United States Department of Labor, to be replicated by government funded INDUS project.

Trivia

Laura Bush
Laura Bush
Laura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady of the United States from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. She has held a love of books and reading since childhood and her life and education have reflected that interest...

, the first lady of the United States, visited Prayas headquarters in Tughlaquabad as part of her state visit to India in 2006.

External links

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