Deepalaya

Deepalaya is the largest non-governmental organization (NGO) in the National Capital Territory of Delhi . Deepalaya works on matters affecting the development of the urban and rural poor, with a special focus on children. Deepalaya's official motive for existence and work is the slogan "Every child deserves a chance".

The organization was founded in 1979. Since then, there has been a continuous growth in staff, beneficiaries and fields of activity. Deepalaya's main areas of influence are Delhi's urban slums, but interventions in rural development in the states of Haryana and Uttarakhand have also been made. Deepalaya's approaches are described by the Chinese maxim “give someone a fish and you feed them for a day, teach the person to fish and you feed them for a lifetime”, because Deepalaya strives to trigger sustainable development from within.

history

Between 1977 and 1979 three of the seven founding members met regularly to discuss how to start a program for education and support for the poor. The thought process was derived from the three people TK Mathew, Y. Chackochan and PJ Thomas. However, since the “Society's Registration Act” in India requires seven individuals to set up a company, there was a lack of founding members. This problem was quickly resolved with the agreement of Grace Thomas, CM Mathai, Punnoose Thomas and TM Abraham. Regardless of the bureaucratic obstacles and resistance, the "Deepalaya Education Society" was founded and the first school was inaugurated on July 16, 1979. There were only five children attending school, two teachers, and an investment of Rs.17,500 from the founding members. In those early days, the school focused on pre-school education.

In the course of time up to 1985 the number of students increased to 133 along with seven employees. As the annual budget grew, Deepalaya's focus shifted to primary education. Parallel to this development, contact was established with various national and international funding agencies. As the resource base grew through these contacts, Deepalaya's program was able to expand accordingly. Deepalaya began to involve a larger number of slum dwellers in matters of education, health, income generation and community development and thus moved beyond mere education to “holistic development”. By 1992 there were 13,000 students and 400 employees.

According to Deepalaya's publication “Yatra - The Institutional Memory”, the organization's core beliefs in community work and self-reliance crystallized in the 1990s. By the year 2000, Deepalaya's sphere of influence had expanded to include 35,000 children, their families and communities.

The organization has undergone significant changes since 2002, as a new vision and mission have been formulated which are now being pursued. Deepalaya's program sectors have been restructured and Deepalaya has become an international organization with offices in the United States, United Kingdom and Germany. In 2003, Deepalaya was selected by the REACH India project as one of the NGOs for capacity building of smaller NGOs. During 2005, Deepalaya became the largest NGO in the national capital state; the care work reached 50,000 children, 76 poor areas, 84 villages in Mewat and 7 villages in Uttarakhand.

vision

Deepalaya's vision is expressed very precisely through publications of the organization: "A society based on legal rights, equality, justice, honesty, social sensitivity and service culture in which everyone is independent."

mission

Deepalaya has formulated its mission, which consists of three larger parts, in "Yatra - The Institutional Memory" as follows:

"At Deepalaya, we are committed to:

• to continue to identify with the economically and socially disadvantaged as well as the physically and mentally handicapped and to work with them, starting with children, so that they become educated, qualified and aware,
• enable them to be independent and enjoy a healthy, dignified and sustainable quality of life,
• and to that end, to serve as a resource for and to work with other agencies, governmental and non-governmental, and to intervene appropriately in procedural formulation. "

Web links

• Web site Deepalaya (English)
• Yatra - Institutional Memory (PDF, 1.66 MB)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Deepalaya Education Society, Delhi (jpg) Education World - The Human Development Magazine. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 19, 2010. Found November 2006 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Yatra - Institutional Memory ( Memento of the original from May 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , P. 50. (PDF, 1.66 MB)