Educate 500 Girls in Tribal India

In addition to providing academic and material support to underprivileged girl children, Project Nanhi Kali has also been trying to address social issues related to girl children. Community meetings, which are conducted every month to review the activity plan for the upcoming month, also provided an effective platform to discuss the various social evils present in the society which affects the future of the girl child and how these evils can be overcome.

One of the most commendable achievements of these meetings was educating the community on the evils of child marriage, and successfully stopping such marriages. The Nanhi kali Team was successful in curbing several child marriages in the district of Sheopur in Madhya Pradesh. Child marriage, which is one of the reasons behind Nanhi Kalis dropping out of their schools, has been a common phenomenon in the district of Sheopur. In the month of April 2015, the Nanhi Kali team conducted a careful survey which helped them in identifying 16 Nanhi Kalis who were about to be married off on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya. Akshaya Tritiya is considered to be a festival and a holy day for the local communities who organize mass marriage events. The Nanhi Kali team discovered the venue to be Akhaya Tritiya Samhelan where the mass child marriage event was scheduled. The list was then submitted to the District Programme Officer of Women and Child Development Department, who then issued a letter containing the names of the Nanhi Kalis, and demanded the authorities to take appropriate steps to put a stop to such activities. The story was published in all the local newspapers who took an active interest in covering the entire process.

The Nanhi Kali team has been regularly following up through home visits, parents’ meetings, meetings at village level, and meetings with government departments to ensure curbing the social evil that is Child Marriage.