Women constitute around 48.5% of the total Indian population according to 2011 census. Women have been a part of society since ages but never got recognition at any point in time. Women in India have been living under a constant threat of “identity crisis”. Women face a number of challenges in terms of literacy, lack of resources, labor participation rate henceforth hindering their growth. Over the years, many NGOs in India have come up to help women and empower them by providing resources, alleviate poverty, enforce women’s rights. Therefore, making recognizable changes in women empowerment and leading to better growth.
One such significant work in the field of women and child development, women empowerment has been made by Lakshyam NGO. Established in the year 2012 to work solely for the betterment of society. Lakshyam entirely focuses to alter the lives of underprivileged strata of Indian society emphasizing on child and women development. Initially, started as a vision of providing toys to street kids thereby evolving and today it has a presence across three countries, present in over seventeen Indian states and has uplifted lives of more than thirty thousand individuals.
Under the flagship, lakshyam has 2 very successful programs currently running namely lakshyam Rooh and Lakshyam butterfly while the former works for providing not only education but also job opportunities and also working for women’s menstrual health on the contrary works for mainly to provide education to children. Both the programs are unique, well laid as well as interlinked and are impacting the lives of women and children in a positive direction.
Women in India have never been treated equally, in fact, they have been seen as only performing household chores, or rearing and bearing of children confiding them with only household work. Women in India face gender inequality and according to UNDPs gender inequality report of 2016 India was ranked 130 out of 146. The term Rooh literally means ‘Soul’ enforcing of Awaking Women’s Soul. Lakshyam strives to fill the void of inequality of women created by ages of oppression. Rooh works as three-tier program firstly, working to strengthen roots by providing them education, secondly, providing professional training of vocational like stitching and tailoring to provide women with self-employment thereby making them financially independent and finally providing them a stage to exhibit their professional skills.
37% of the Indian population is illiterate, one of the main cause of illiteracy is poverty forcing children to drop out of school and work drawing meager salaries. The term butterfly indicates wings, just as a butterfly flies with its wings lakshyam with its Butterfly: child welfare and education program it trying to provide children with wings to fly, elevate them out of poverty, protecting their basic human rights. Lakshyam has set up centers with over 100 children of diverse age groups are enrolled in Ghaziabad and Vasant Kunj centers respectively. The children are forced out of school, dropouts or either toy sellers, rag pickers, cobblers, even some of them never went to school. Lakshyam has assumed the role of enrolling these children at the centers and also aims to provide formal education or at least enroll them at open schools. In order to provide them education till 5th standard as that is a requirement for all skills program. At the center's kids are taught subjects like Hindi, English, math’s computer, art, general knowledge and also tutoring them with manners of hygiene, menstrual hygiene, cleanliness as well as discipline. Apart from entirely academic teaching a number of other activities ranging from drawing competition, art, puppet show, food distribution drives, and dance competition amongst others also takes place at the lakshyam centers. Lakshyam through its program has an eccentric approach and come to touch the lives of many women and children thus, leading their overall development.
