Kailash Satyarthi NGO floats new centre in Delhi to 'empower' underprivileged children

By A Representative
A voluntary organisation linked with Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi-supported NGO has floated a unique children’s resource centre at Sanjay Camp, Chankyapuri, New Delhi, in order to facilitate in imparting remedial education, recreational training and holistic development of children of around 2,500 under-privileged slum-dwelling families.
Virender Singh Kadian, MLA of Delhi Cantonment, inaugurated the centre, which is called Shaheed Kalu Bal Vikas Kendra. The resource centre is in memory of Kalu Kumar, who died at an young age serving and working towards the development of under-privileged children, said an NGO source.
A firebrand activist, Kalu Kumar was trafficked from Bihar to the carpet manufacturing belt of Allahabad when he was six. He was rescued by the Bachpan Bachao Andolan at the age of 10. A bright student, Kalu he covered up the lost ground very quickly and grew up to become a leader fighting for the rights of other child slaves at Bal Ashram.
In 2000, looking into the eyes of the then President of the US, Bill Clinton, he asked, “For ending child labour is it necessary to be the President of America? Without being on that pedestal can’t you help children like us?”

Kalu gave up a job in a multinational company to work as a grassroots activist in the Satyarthi movement. In October 2011, when Kalu was in Koderma travelling for Campaign on Wheels (Mukti Caravan), spreading awareness in the village, a snake bit him cutting short his life.
The resource centre is an effort under aegis of Bal Mitra Mandal (BMM), an initiative of Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation (KSCF). It would seek to empower children and their communities to collectively work towards securing their rights and protect them from child labour, child sexual abuse and raise their awareness on education, water, sanitation, hygiene and livelihood, through democratic actions.
BMM will also train children as “child-leaders”, who will work towards the benefit of other under-privileged kids, the NGO source added.
"A Porta cabin contributed by Kadian houses the resource centre but has undergone an exciting transformation with the support of a young volunteer Anika Somaia and street artist Aftab Ahmad, the duo has created huge mural that celebrates the joy of childhood", the source said.
First-of-its-kind facility in Delhi, the centre will focus on key areas of developing children by providing remedial education to school drop-outs in the slum community and enabling them to take advantage of various government schemes designed to benefit children.
As a part of this initiative, KSCF has partnered boAt, the country's leading audio and wearables brand, launched a talent development programme ‘Meri Awaz Suno’, for children of four urban slum communities of Delhi. Under these initiatives children will be trained to develop in multiple skills including dance, theatre, music and cricket.
The concept of the resource centre is part of KSCF’s “Rang Badlav Ke” programme that seeks to transform the quality of childhood of the under-privileged children who are most often found to be victims of substance abuse, petty crimes and exploitation.

"As a part of its effort to uplift the quality of life of urban slum children KSCF is currently protecting over 23,214 children from exploitation every day through the BMM programme", the source claimed.

Kadian, thanking Kailash Satyarthi and his organization KSCF for developing the unique concept of Bal Vikas Kendra in his constituency, said, “The Bal Vikas Kendra will go a long way in helping the children of the area to learn mathematics, English and other subjects”. He further said, “Development of under privileged children requires a collective effort and appealed all parents in the area to send their children to the centre for education and training”.
Thanking the legislator for his contribution that will facilitate childrens development, executive director of KSCF Rakesh Senger said, “The centre will of great help to under privileged children in developing their talents and providing them with an opportunity to fulfill their dreams”.
Two young artists, Anika Somaia and Aftab Ahmad and their co-volunteers Anurag, Ravi and Shubham were happy to join Kailash Satyarthi’s unique initiative. “Joining the initiative provided us with an opportunity to give back to society through our art and it gives us immense pleasure in doing it”, they said.
At the event Tilak and Ashima performed a rap song, while other children including Kajal Shah, Kajal Thakur, Soni, Varsha, Rahul, Aditya and Varsha performed a street play.

Comments

Was Netaji forced to alter face, die in obscurity in USSR in 1975? Was he so meek?

By Rajiv Shah This should sound almost hilarious. Not only did Subhas Chandra Bose not die in a plane crash in Taipei, nor was he the mysterious Gumnami Baba who reportedly passed away on 16 September 1985 in Ayodhya, but we are now told that he actually died in 1975—date unknown—“in oblivion” somewhere in the former Soviet Union. Which city? Moscow? No one seems to know.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Asbestos contamination in children’s products highlights global oversight gaps

By A Representative A commentary published by the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) has drawn attention to the challenges governments face in responding effectively to global public-health risks. In an article written by Laurie Kazan-Allen and published on March 5, 2026, the author examines how the discovery of asbestos contamination in children’s play products has raised questions about regulatory oversight and international product safety. The article opens by reflecting on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that governments in several countries were slow to respond to early warning signs of the crisis. Referring to the experience of the United Kingdom, the author writes that delays in implementing protective measures contributed to “232,112 recorded deaths and over a million people suffering from long Covid.” The commentary uses this example to illustrate what it describes as the dangers of underestimating emerging threats. Attention then turns...

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

India’s green energy push faces talent crunch amidst record growth at 16% CAGR

By Jag Jivan* A new study by a top consulting firm has found that India’s cleantech sector is entering a decisive growth phase, with strong policy backing, record capacity additions and surging investor interest, but facing mounting pressure on talent supply and rising compensation costs .

The kitchen as prison: A feminist elegy for domestic slavery

By Garima Srivastava* Kumar Ambuj stands as one of the most incisive voices in contemporary Hindi poetry. His work, stripped of ornamentation, speaks directly to the lived realities of India’s marginalized—women, the rural poor, and those crushed under invisible forms of violence. His celebrated poem “Women Who Cook” (Khānā Banātī Striyāṃ) is not merely about food preparation; it is a searing indictment of patriarchal domestic structures that reduce women’s existence to endless, unpaid labour.

Beyond sattvik: Purity, caste and the politics of the Indian kitchen

By Rajiv Shah A few week ago, I was forwarded an article that appeared in the British weekly The Economist . Titled “Caste and cuisine: From honeycomb curry to blood fry: India’s ‘untouchable’ cooking”, it took me back to what I had blogged about what was called a “ sattvik food festival”, an annual event organised by former Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad professor Anil Gupta.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Academics urge Azim Premji University to drop FIR against Student Reading Circle

By A Representative A group of academics and civil society members has issued an open letter to the leadership of Azim Premji University expressing concern over the filing of a police complaint that led to an FIR against a student-run reading circle following a recent incident of violence on campus. The signatories state that they hold the university in high regard for its commitment to constitutional values, critical inquiry and ethical public engagement, and argue that it is precisely because of this reputation that the present development is troubling.

Search This Blog