Care, Support and Educational Services for Children in Beggary and Ragpicking NIRMAL JYOTHI INDIAN CENTRE FOR INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT, NAGPUR, INDIA

A registered not for profit organization Established in 2003 to enable the vulnerable and weaker sections of the society Special focus on children in difficult situation towards empowerment and dignified human life Headquartered in Nagpur, Maharashtra State Promotes child rights especially of survival, protection, development and participation

Care and support centre for children on the street which provides basic facilities and mainstreams them through constant care, acceptance and special supportive environment A centre at Gittikadan for children in beggary and ragpicking aimed at breaking the chain of beggary and mainstreaming children Non formal education and capacity building of children in Hazaripahad slum locality Care and support and capacity building centre for children in ragpicking at Tulsi Nagar adjacent to dumping yard Child focused community development program in Betul district in the state of Madhya Pradesh

Shelter/Food/Clothing/Counselling/Medical at Yuvajyothi550 Repatriation16 Education (including drop outs)96 Vocational Training188 Job Placement26 Referral55 Educational Sponsorship10 Kindergarten265 Bridge School43 Library100 Summer camp1328 Bal Manch120 Life Skill Education592 Savings and Bank Accounts80 Children’s Day/Bal Mela1208 Children reached through Janya Project3021

Economic compulsions and poverty force the children on to the street to earn a living and support their families They take up various economic activities, such as vending, shoe shining, begging, and rag picking Certain communities that are involved traditionally into begging and rag picking pass on the tradition to their children and push them on to the street from infancy itself They are into a vicious cycle and they have not been provided an opportunity for different way of living and children enabled towards growing up with dignity and self worth

Mangarwadi, a tribe whose traditional occupation is begging reside at Gittikadhan Their children are into begging and rag picking as an economical activity along with their family members They are deprived of their childhood and basic rights to education and dignified living ICID has initiated work among these children and manages a care and support centre The centre has been providing basic facilities, recreational, hygiene and non formal educational services to these children with the local support 170 children have been accessing these services and 65 of them are involved in small saving through an initiative named ‘Mera Galla’ and bank accounts have been opened for them in Corporation Bank The project proposes to reach out to these children on the street and break the chain of beggary and rag picking by strengthening the initial work with regular educational and vocational trainings

The total number of families: 57 Number of children in the age category of 3-5 are 21 Number of children in the age category of 6 – 14 are 108 Number of children in the age category of 15 – 18 are 61 Among these male are 111 and female are 79 Among these children161 of them have never been to a school and 29 of them are enrolled in school but irregular or dropped out

Goal of the Project: Improved sense of self worth and empowerment towards dignified living Objectives: To enable increased number of children to opt out from begging and rag picking and mainstream them through education To build creative ability in children in difficult situation and enable them towards healthy and hygienic living To increase the sense of community, cohesiveness and saving habits among the children

Sensitization and motivation of the Community members – parents and significant others on the importance of child rights Recreational and Hygiene facilities – for expression of emotions and ideas creatively and to be clean and healthy Montessori Pre- school for children from age of 3 to 5 and 6 to 8 years would provide a stimulating, child-centered environment for learning along with supplementary nutrition Bridge school – for drop out children for rejoining formal education Vocational training – Tailoring and embroidery for adolescent girls Library – for all children to build their knowledge bank Children’s Bank and Self Help Group – piggy bank for children and for group feeling/cohesiveness Life skill education – to make the children assertive and help them take appropriate decisions in their lives

Sr. NoLine ItemsUnit CostTOTAL I Non Recurring Books for the libraryRs. 15,00015, Sub total 15, II Programme Expenses Nutritional support to children at MontessoriRs x 12 months36, Toiletry articles for hygiene programmeRs.1000 x 12 months36, Annual day sports and cultural programmesRs x 3 years10, Salary to Programme Coordinator (25 % of the time) Rs x 12 months36, Montessori teacherRs.5000 x 12 months60, Tailoring and craft tutorRs.5000 x 12 months60, Sub total 238,000.00

III Administrative Expenses Stationary, printing and telephone Rs.1000 x 12 months12, water and electricityRs.1000 x 12 months12, Local conveyanceRs.500 x 12 months6, Sub total 30, Garnd Total 283, Note: The organization will contribute to the project with the space as well as tailoring machines