Project swati

Genesis and Growth

The Rajiv Neelu Kachwaha Public Charitable Trust was established in 1986 by the family of late Rajiv and Neelu Kachwaha who donated its initial corpus of Rs. 18 lacs. The said sum stands invested in various Government deposits. All the charitable activities are carried out from the interest accrues on the corpus as well as donations from donor institutions and individuals.

From the modest beginning SWATI now caters to the various needs of children, youths and women from the Tigri and Kanak Durga slums of New Delhi.

The main thrust of SWATI project is to cater to education and overall development of children at these two centres. SWATI reaches out to around 1,000 children through its various programmes like Non-Formal Education (NFE), Balwaris (Play Schools), Computer literacy programme, Typing programme and Tailoring and Stitching programme.

Legal Status of the Trust

SWATI is a unit of the Rajiv Neelu Kachwaha Public Charitable Trust. The Trust was established in the year 1986 with its registered office at 1/6 Shanti Niketan, New Delhi 110021. It is registered under Indian Registration Act vide registration dated 9th February 1986.

The Trust has been given recognition Under Section 6 (1) of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 1976 (FCRA) by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India vide letter No. II/21022/83/(16)/91/FCRA-III, dated 11 March 1991, (Registration No. 231650593) for foreign contribution.

It has also been granted registration Under Section 80(G) (5) (VI) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 by the Director of Income Tax (Exemption), New Delhi, vide letter No. DIT (E) 2006-2007/ R-309/1602, dated 18 September 2006.

The officer of Commissioner of Income Tax (Computer Operations) has also issued a permanent Account Number (PAN) AAATR03921.

Project Sites

The activities of the Swati are carried out in two slums of Delhi:

Tigri Basti, Khanpur, New Delhi

Tigri is one of the largest slums in Delhi and is situated in the southern fringe of the city. It is a rehabilitation colony and the dwellers were settled here upon evacuation from various other places. The population of Tigri has come down to about 75000 from over one lakh due to shifting of industries to the outskirts of Delhi.

A sample survey of this slum reveals that the population comprises mostly of skilled or unskilled labourers who have migrated from neighboring areas of Delhi.

As per a 2007 survey literacy rate in the basti now stand at 56%for males and 47% for females. Amongst the children there is 99% literacy.

Kanak Durga Basti, Rama Krishna Puram, New Delhi

Kanak Durga basti is a smaller slum virtually situated in the heart of south-west part of Delhi in R.K. Puram. Here too the population has dipped to about 7000 compared to earlier figure of 9000 – due to the fear of demolition of the basti people have shifted to other parts of the city. A large segment of the population is from Tamil Nadu. Rate of literary is 54%for males and 45% for females.

SWATI’s Programme and Activities

The main thrust of the project is to provide non formal education to children between the age group of 4 to 14 years. This comprises children who have been denied education due to financial reasons or lack of motivation or awareness. There is a constant flow of population to and from slums and this leads to a heavy drop out rate for school children. Hence the core focus of the project is catering to the educational needs of such children. Besides non-formal education, the other regular activities of the project are:

* Remedial Education Programme (REP) or coaching classes for children from class 3rd to 10th. These children attend regular Govt. School but require further support in certain subjects.
* Income generating vocational training programmes.
* Library, to sustain and stimulate the literacy efforts in the basti.
* Computer literacy programme.
* The centre offers recreational and educational activities for children. Such as picnics, sports, educational films, educational tours, talks etc.
* The centre also conducts tree plantation, sanitation and cleanliness drives, health camps, etc
* During the period of this report the Project has also taken up the issue of PDS (Public Distribution System), Child Rights – (child labour – child sexual abuse, gender discrimination, environment of children in in-house activities etc).
* The centre further endeavors to bring about a fundamental change in the basti. It seeks to do so through a variety of programs. It conduct informal basti meetings, organizes the women of the basti into groups for various vocational training and income generation programmes, motivates the residents to form themselves into self-help

Groups and carry out sanitation and other environmental improvement programme. The overall endeavor is to bring about great awareness and motivation amongst the basti people.

Non-formal education

Believing that the upliftment of the society can only be impacted through education, the Trust’s core activities aim to provide non-formal education to the slum children, who are otherwise unable to study in regular schools due to various reasons, such as financial incapability, lack of time and constant shift of residence, etc. Non-formal Education (NFE) constitutes learning opportunities for the vast section of children in developing countries who are not reached by the formal education system. The beneficiaries are taught the basics of reading, writing and mathematics. Due importance is also given to confidence building. This programme is administered through various centres covering about 350 children, about 60% of who are being mainstreamed into regular schools by Swati after they have achieved the requisite level of literacy. The unique feature of Swati NFE programme is that it is based on the concept of joyful learning and is designed as a flexible educational opportunity. The age group of children at NFE is 6 – 14 years. Duration of the school is 3 hours a day, five days a week. Swati uses special teaching aids, which are extremely popular and cater to the interest of children. Education is not restricted to the classroom activities. Swati gives a lot of emphasis to mobilizing children’s diverse talents through different activities.

The NFE programme has been designed with a view to mainstream children into formal schools if they are so inclined. Special attention is paid to slow learners and children with disabilities.

This year in Tigri, Swati has been able to provide non-formal education for about 223 children and the average attendance per day in its Centre was 120. Children younger than 6 years are involved in Balwadi (Play School) . This year, there were 115 children enrolled in the balawadi programme with the average attendance per day of 56 children. A total of 134 children from Swati Centre & 74 other children of the Basti were able to get admitted to government (formal) schools, thereby bringing them to the mainstream of education.

At Kanak Durga, the trust has been able to provide Non Formal Education for about 47 children and the average attendance per day in its center was 15 children. Balwadi programme reached for about 100 children and the average attendance per day in its centre was 40 children. A total of 34 children from Swati Centre & 25 other children of the Basti were able to get admitted to government (formal) schools thereby bringing them to the mainstream of education.

The trust run library issued about 3500 books this year to its beneficiaries, which includes the children and the basti people at large.

Remedial Education Programme

Remedial Education Programme (coaching) was initiated to provide support to the school going children and to ensure that there are no school drop-outs on account of poor performance. Swati runs 16 REC, including 8 at Tigri and rest at Kanak Durga, covering from the class IInd to IXth.

English, Mathematics, Hindi are taught but time-to-time on the basis of students need other subjects are also taught.

Swati is covering 531 children, at both Tigri & Kanak Durga in this programme. Out of these 245 are males and 286 females.

Vocational Training Programme

Vocational Education was started with a view to provide functional skills to children and youth.

This training Programme is meant for the age group of 15 years or above. Swati imparts training in Cutting and tailoring (for females only), Computer and Typing on regular on - going basis. The programme has added benefit of drawing marginalized sections of the basti into the main stream and help them in participating in other activities of Swati.

* Computer Training Programme:

The duration of the course is of 6 months, which includes the basic of computers. The success of this programme is evident by the increasing number of students enrolled. Overall, the drop-out rate is also less. A large number of students after passing are being absorbed as trainers in the local training Institutes running in the vicinity.

* Typing Programme:

The duration of the course is for 6 months, which includes the basic of typing and typing speed tests. Typing programme also operates similarly and has attracted a lot of students. Most of the youngsters opt for more than one course at the same time

* Cutting and Tailoring Programme:

The duration of the course is for 6 months, which includes cutting and tailoring. Majority of girls/ women are from the community itself. It boosts up their self-esteem and confidence. They not only make clothes for their own family members but also earn money stitching clothes at home.

Community Mobilization and awareness generation Programme

Community mobilization and awareness remained a crucial component in the period. There was an effort to link the community with all the interventions meant for their development.

The major emphasis here is to encourage the basti to take up their own cause. Initial resistance was also seen in extending full cooperation, as there was a tendency on the part of community members to over expect from the Trust. It is an on – going process for the Trust to make them understand the role of that Trust can play and the overall benefit of self - help.

The Trust continues to conduct basti meetings/ community mobilization meetings for the above purposes. During the year about 42 basti/ mobilization meetings were held (in both centres) in which various issues such as admission to government schools, importance of the sanitation, health measures such as the need of immunization, birth registration, physically challenged children, participation of children in society, post and prenatal care, drug addiction, child labour, child sexual abuse, need of education, data collection on child labour, etc were discussed in depth were also taken up. An average of 40 persons participated in each of these meetings. Additionally, 19 youth meetings with an average attendance of 32; 38 children meetings with an attendance of 64 were also held during the year.

The Centre also organized and attended various rallies & Nukkad Natak including:

Marches in the basti on education where information on admission procedure for Government schools was also imparted. Sanitation & Hygiene rally. Gender discrimination in the community.

Recreational and Educational Activities

With an intention to educate and broaden the mind and at the same time to relax and have fun, the Centre conducted a number of outings and picnics for its children and other beneficiaries. Depending upon the inclination of the participants, the venues were Akshardham Mandir, Bal Bhawan, Children’s Park etc.

Competitions of sports, drawing, essay writing, debates etc. were organized by the Centre on these occasions and snacks and refreshment were served to the children free of cost.