Kalyan Sangha

Project Brief: The primary objective of this project is to install school going habits in the kids. Kalyan Sangha runs pre-primary creches for village children
Project Type: Pre-Primary (description)
Primary Focus: other (description)

Secondary Focus: to go to formal school

Area: Rural
Supporting Chapter Contact: UIUC
Status: completed - requirements ended
Project Steward: Debapriya Mazumdar
Project Partner(s):
Other Contacts: Soumyadeb Mitra
Project Address: , Kalyan Sangha,Dist: Purba Medinipur,Deulpota P.O. Barbasudevpur,
WEST BENGAL  721645
Tel: +91-3224-286673
Stewarding Chapter: UIUC
Feb 2006UIUCUSD 4164
Dec 2004UIUCUSD 2425

Total = $6589

Through its educational projects KS targets four vulnerable groups in impoverished areas:

a)Children in the age group 3-5 years (early childhood education and creche),
[Looking after small children is often a burden on poor parents and affects the amount of money they can make. This loss of income, in turn, propels kids (staying home) to child labor at a later stage.]

b)Children in the age group 5-10 years (primary education),
[Govt.-run primary schools are few and far apart. As a result, rural families often keep their children (especially, girls) of this age home to help parents with odd jobs (and for girls, to look after younger kids). A child often starts working for a pittance soon.]

c)Women/mothers with no special skills (vocational training).

A large number of village women do not have any special skills and work odd jobs or as low-paid maid servants (Rs. 300 a month). With very little training, they can generate reasonable wealth in rural economy.

d)Illiterate adults (adult education)

Asha UIUC has supported the following three projects of Kalyan Sangha

Shishu Shikshayatan, Deulpota:
The target group comprises of children (aged 3-5 years) from poor families. This program instills the habit of school-going in very young kids, which later helps potential child laborers stay in school. Currently there is one ECE center enrolling 30 children (equal number of boys and girls).

Vivekanada Creche Center, Unit 1-5 (3-5 years)
The cr�che program, sponsored by National Creche Foundation (NCF), is very similar to the ECE program, and generates similar benefits. However, the minor difference appears in that cr�che centers give preference to children whose parents are extremely poor and (both) work away from home. Specifically, creche centers keep longer hours. The five centers are located at the villages of Deulpota (Units 1 and 2), Kalikakundu (Unit 3), Dhamaitnagar (Unit 4) and Bhangagara (Unit 5), and enroll 140 children (75 boys and 65 girls altogether, of them 6 boys and 7 girls belong to the scheduled castes).


Vocational training program, Deulpota (unskilled wome)
Within the next three years, KS aims at training around 150 women and expects to help each earn at least Rs. 1000 a month
Kalyan Sangha (KS) is a voluntary organization established soon after independence. Since its inception, it has been serving the rural poor. It obtained a renewed focus in the early 1990?s, when collaboration with RKMLP began.
The goal of KS is well-rounded development of rural poor in Deulpota anchal. KS is well-entrenched into activities related to health, hygiene, family planning and education. KS is also in the process of spreading awareness about economic planning and building an infrastructure for creating wealth for the poor.