Social Relevance Project on

A STUDY ON NAVODAYA MOVEMENT

Submitted in partial fulfilment for the award of the degree of

MASTER OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

BATCH 2018-2020

(Under University of Mumbai)

Submitted By:

Sharon Ann Thomas

MMS (FINANCE)

Roll No: 181049

Under the guidance of

DR. ANJALI BHUTE

MAHATMA EDUCATION SOCIETY’S

PILLAI INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES AND RESEARCH

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NEW PANVEL, NAVI MUMBAI – 410206

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 CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

This is to certify that the project titled “A PROJECT ON NAVODAYA

MOVEMENT” as a part of the curriculum of Master Of Management Studies submitted by
Miss Sharon Ann Thomas, a student of Pillai Institute of Management Studies And Research
has been approved.

Name: Dr. Anjali Bhute

Date:

(Signature of the Guide)

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 DECLARATION

I, Sharon Ann Thomas, studying in second year of MMS of Pillai’s Institute of

Management Studies and Research, New Panvel, hereby declare that I have
successfully completed this project on “A Project On Navodaya Movement” in
the year 2017-2019 as per the requirements of Mumbai University.

This information presented in this project is true and original to the best of my
knowledge.

Name: SHARON ANN THOMAS

Roll No: 181049

Student’s signature

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Before we get into the thick of things, I would like to add a few words of appreciation for people
who have been a part of this project right from its inception. The writing of this project has been
one of the significant academic challenges and without the support, patience and guidance of
people involved, this task would have not been completed. It is to them I owe my deepest
gratitude.

It gives me immense pleasure in presenting this project report on “A PROJECT ON

NAVODAYA MOVEMENT”. It has been my privilege to have a project guide who has
assisted me from commencement of this project. The success of this project is the result of sheer
hard work and determination put in by me with the help of my project guide.

I am very thankful to my guide Dr. Anjali Bhute for her full support in completing this project
work.

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 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This project was conducted to know about what kinds of activities NGOs undertake like it works
in the field of child education and transgender integration. From the very beginning, actively
involved in the elaboration of the Standard Rules, at practically all- important events organized
by the major non-governmental organizations, the issue of implementing the Standard Rules has
been part of the program.

NGOs collect the funds from various sources like individual donors, corporate donors and
government. Various schemes have been initiated by the government to provide financial
assistance to the NGOs.

To get the information about Navodaya Movement primary data collection method was used in
which structured interview was taken of Laxmi Ma’am who works for navodaya (Ulhasnagar
branch) as well as volunteers of Navodaya movement. Secondary data collection method was
also used where some information was taken from the website of Navodaya movement.

This study focuses on the issues and challenges faced by navodaya movement in child education

and transgender integration. This shows what navodaya does to overcome such challenges.

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 INDEX

SR NO. CONTENT PG. NO.

1. Introduction

1.1 Types of NGO 8

1.2 Importance of NGOs in Society

2. Introduction NAVODAYA MOVEMENT

· Mission And Vision 10

· Objectives

3. Identification of need, problem or social issue.

11

4. Identification of the population affected and

concerned.

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· Rag pickers project

· Transgender reintegration

5. Identification of an intervention and

implementation plan, including how it will benefit
the population and a model or theory that serves as 13
the basis of the intervention.

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6. Anticipated timeline, resources and budget needed
for project.
16

7. Description of your role as an intern in the project.

17

8. Expected change and development with

implementation.
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9. Scope for impact assessment.

18

10. Findings and Suggestions 19

11. Conclusion 20

12. Reference 21

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1. Introduction

Non-governmental organizations commonly referred to as NGOs, are usually non-profit and

sometimes international organizations independent of governments and international
governmental organizations that are active in humanitarian, educational, health care, public
policy, social, human rights, environmental, and other areas to affect changes according to their
objectives. NGOs are therefore typically independent of governments. Although the definition
can technically include for-profit corporations, the term is generally restricted to social, cultural,
legal, and environmental advocacy groups having goals that are primarily noncommercial. NGOs
are usually non-profit organizations that gain at least a portion of their funding from private
sources.

Throughout the world there are many different types of NGOs, which can make the process of
defining such an association a difficult task. There are a few basic characteristics that NGOs
must abide by in order to be considered a NGO. These characteristics are: NGOs must not be a
political party, NGOs must not be a criminal group and thirdly they must be a non-profit
organization. Although these three characteristics could possibly be disputed, these
characteristics hold true for the majority of NGOs that have influence in the global political
arena. Political party association could be the one characteristic that could promote the most
debate of the three characteristics because a significant number of NGOs work closely with
political groups of like-minded views, but as noted before NGOs cannot be a political party
within their own organization.

"The diversity of NGOs strains any simple definition. They include many groups and institutions that are
entirely or largely independent of government and that have primarily humanitarian or cooperative
rather than commercial objectives. They are private agencies in industrial countries that support
international development; indeginous groups organized regionally or nationally; and member-groups in
villages. NGOs include charitable and religious associations that mobilize private funds for development,
distribute food and family planning services and promote community organization. They also include
independent cooperatives, community associations, water-user societies, women's groups and pastoral
associations. Citizen Groups that raise awareness and influence policy are also NGOs"

- World Bank

Types of NGO

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There can be two different ways of classifying NGO’s.

1. On the basis of Operation level-

Community Based Organizations (CBO) are generally those seeking participation from, people
out of their initiatives. The most common form of these organizations may include sorts club,
women’s organization for their empowerment, neighborhood organization, religious educational
organizations. There are large variety of such organizations supported by national or
International funding and other independent of outside help which seek funding by providing
services. Their primary purpose is the design and implementation of development-related
projects. One categorization that is frequently used is the division into relief-oriented or
development oriented organizations; they can also be classified according to whether they stress
service delivery or participation; or whether they are religious and secular; and whether they are
more public or private-oriented. Operational NGOs can be community- based, national or
international.

2. On the basis of Level of the orientation

Participatory orientation NGO’s are those who by self-help projects help out local people
particularly in the implementation of projects. The help provided by these NGOs may be done by
contributing cash, tools, land, material, etc. Level of Orientation, which include charitable,
participatory or empowering organizations.

· Importance of NGOs in Society-

NGOs play an important role in the social development of a state, nation or a community. For the
proper development of a particular country or a region, it is very important to bring education
and awareness to the people about their rights and duties. We need to alert the people against the
imposters and retenders, which is generally the role of political parties which they don’t tend to
do effectively. The first and foremost NGOs are responsible for disseminating education among
people at large and making them aware of their rights. This is the biggest role as well as the
biggest challenge for the NGOs. NGOs seek to achieve large scale change promoted indirectly
through the influence of the political system. NGOs need an efficient and effective group of
professional members who are able to keep supporters informed and motivated. NGOs maintain

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a large informed network of supporters who can be mobilized for events to garner media
attention and influence policy changes.

2. INTRODUCTION NAVODAYA MOVEMENT

Navodaya Movement is a social platform for justice striving to reach out to the unseen, unheard
and the unheeded, collaborating with them to attain the fulfillment of their basic human rights,
and empowering them to experience and enjoy life in its fullness. Through capacity building
initiatives and programmes of both the individual and the community, Navodaya Movement
facilitates the members of these communities to voice their concerns and to be active participants
in the decision-making processes which affect their lives.

Navodaya Movement acknowledges that for this to be possible, it is important for everyone to
realize their inherent responsibility to respect, protect, promote and fulfill the fundamental rights
of each individual irrespective of caste, class, religion, age, and gender.

The Navodaya Movement was initiated during the Clergy Conference of the Mumbai Diocese of
the Mar Thoma Church, which was held at the Mar Thoma Centre, Kamshet in 2011. Under the
leadership of the then Diocesan Bishop, Rt. Rev. Thomas Mar TheethosEpiscopa, the need for
translating the thoughts and discussions into action was emphasized. Several areas for social
action were articulated. These included work among the rag pickers of Mumbai, among the
intellectually challenged children through a special school, and the adoption of a village and
transforming it into a model village. The clergy was assigned the task to study and report on the
feasibility of the various projects

On 2nd October 2012, these different projects were brought under a single umbrella – Navodaya
Movement and was inaugurated by the Most Rev. Dr. Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan, the
Head of the Mar Thoma Church.

The project took off slowly but steadily making its entry into the dump yard at Sathenagar,
Kalyan. The rag picking communities of Sathenagar and Adivasiwadi warmly welcomed us. As
the days passed, a relationship of trust was forged and the project finally had ground support
from the communities we worked with. During this time, we were also able to partner with

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Swedish agency, Erikshalpen, through the nodal agency, Holistic Child Development India
(HCDI). This helped to expand the project’s reach to the other dump yards in the Kalyan-
Dombivli municipality, viz. Bhiwandi, Ambernath and Ulhasnagar.

At the same time, Navodaya Movement also took up the administration and running of the Mar
Thoma School for Children in Need of Special Care at Titwala which was formerly managed by
the Kalyan (W) Mar Thoma Church.

In 2014, Navodaya Movement took note of the pitiable conditions of the transgender community
in Mumbai and initiated work with them.

Mission and Vision

Mission-
To inspire, engage and enable the empowerment of marginalized and vulnerable communities to
confront their life situation and enhance their well-being.
Vision-
Our vision is to respond to the needs of the underprivileged and the victimized and to contribute
to a new social order based on human dignity, equal opportunity and social justice.

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OBJECTIVES-

1. To teach and help underprivileged students.

2. To nurture and develop kids by involving them in various activities like sports, drawing,

dance and singing.

3. Identification of need, problem or social issue.

● In our country illiteracy is far the most serious problem. We all recognize that literacy is
bed, that it prevents the cultural growth of a people. But illiteracy in our country continues to
exist. Even today among ten in India about five are illiterate. But illiteracy can be removed
and that quickly, if concerted efforts are made both by private organizations and the states.
Nowadays we can see that some of the FMCG companies like Colgate provide scholarships
to children, ITC contribute to Primary Education Programme, etc. The problem of illiteracy
in India will not be solved only by providing education for the children.

Illiteracy is rampant among the older generation of people, particularly in the rural areas: and
not a little of our social and cultural backwardness is due to this. Campaign among the
illiterate adults, therefore, is also a crying necessity. Adult education has so long been only a
piecemeal, voluntary affair.

Navodaya movement looks after the education of the children of Rag Pickers. One of the
main focuses of the project is to bring the children out of this grim situation through
education. The parents and children are first oriented about the importance of education and
the immense possibilities that it provides.

● The transgender fall under the category of LGBT group (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender). They belong to the marginalized group of society which faces legal, social,
cultural and economic difficulties. We can see that transgender always face the problems of:
➢ Discrimination- TG is discriminated in terms of education, employment, entertainment,
justice etc.
➢ Disrespect- TG is disrespected in each and every aspect of life except in few cases.

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 ➢ Downtrodden- these people are treated badly or opposed by people in power.
➢ Forced to enter the profession of prostitution by community
➢ Rejection of entry- They are rejected to enter religious places, public places like hotels,
restaurants, theaters, parks, etc.
➢ Lack of educational facilities- Like normal people, they are not entitled to take in schools
and colleges. Even in terms of education, they are treated differently.

Navodaya looks after the holistic growth and development of each member of the transgender
community through their physical, intellectual, social, economic, and spiritual well-being. They
help the transgender to establish their identity as a TG through gazette and newspapers
notifications. To facilitate the procurement of identity documents such as Aadhar Card, Ration
card, Voter’s ID, Pan Card, etc.

6. Identification of the population affected and concerned.

The populations affected are rag pickers, their children and transgender.

● This NGO looks after the rag pickers communities living in Kalyan (Drop-in Centre),
Sathenagar (Kalyan) &Adhivasiwadi (Kalyan). They collect children from these areas and
are brought to NGO. This NGO is concerned about children's future and their living habits.

Navodaya movement is mainly into 2 types of projects-

1. Rag pickers project-
The entire family, including the children, delves deep into the dumps, in very unhygienic
conditions, for the whole of the day to make ends meet. Navodaya Movement has initiated work
with the rag picker communities living in and around the dumping grounds of the Kalyan-
Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC). At present, they have established our presence in
four dumping grounds of KDMC and have 6 centres.

1. Sathenagar (Kalyan)
2. Adivasiwadi (Kalyan)
3. Bhiwandi
4. Ambernath
5. Ulhasnagar
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6. Kalyan (Drop-in Centre)

This project is conducted for Holistic growth and development of each member of the
community through their physical, intellectual, social, economic, and spiritual well-being.

The activities under the rag pickers project include a-

➢ Education- One of the main focuses of the project is to bring the children out of this
grim situation through education. The parents and children are first oriented about the
importance of education and the immense possibilities that it provides.
➢ Day care center- The children are then brought to the day care centre which functions in
the proximity of the dumping yard. The teachers and field workers individually go to
every home and call the children to attend the centre. Here the children are given the
basics of education like learning the alphabet, numbers, rhymes etc. For older children,
classes are held to bring them to the level of a regular school going child of their age so
that they would not feel at loss on entering school. After a year or two at the daycare
center, the child is enrolled in a nearby school in an age appropriate class.
➢ Drop- In centre and school- The next step is the Drop-In centre (now only at Kalyan),
where the children who have finished an year or more at the day care centre are brought
to. They are brought to the centre in the morning and they leave for home only in the
evening. This is done so that they are kept away from the dumping ground as much as
possible. They are enrolled in a school and are given all the support needed, in addition to
the essentials like a school bag, books, stationery, and uniform. They are provided
tuitions and are helped to acclimatize to the new situation of the school. In the dumping
grounds where there are no drop-in centres, the children come to the day care centers for
tuitions. The performance and progress of all the children at school is regularly monitored
and evaluated.
➢ Health and Hygiene- Living and working in a high risk environment, the rag pickers are
prone to severe health issues and problems. Weekly medical camps are conducted at the
dumping grounds for the benefit of the community. Specialized camps are also held
focusing on a particular group (children, women, etc) or on a particular issue (eye, dental,

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 TB, Hepatitis, cancer, etc). Immunization camps are also held regularly for the children.
The medical profile of every child is maintained at the centre.
➢ The children are also provided nourishment through their centres. In addition to milk and
biscuits in the morning and evening, they are provided wholesome lunch at noon.
Supplementary nutrition is also provided to expectant mothers as well as to those who
have delivered and their babies.The community is taught on how to be hygienic in their
limited situation. Cleanliness drives are regularly held to keep the premises of their
homes neat and tidy.
➢ Self Help Groups (SHGs) - Women are organized into groups of ten or more and are
taught the need to come together and have common savings. On accumulating a base
capital, they are motivated to start an income-generating venture of their own. With the
help of micro-credit, the women of the SHGs are transformed into a group of
entrepreneurs. The capital can also be used to provide loans to members in case of
emergencies. Through monthly meetings, the members are also encouraged to involve in
activities for the good of their own society. These SHGs also act as platforms for
education and unity building.

● They also help transgenders to establish their identity as a TG through gazette &
Newspapers. NGO also provide procurement of identity. This NGO also looks after
their Health issues for that they also conduct a Specialized medical camp.
Information and guidance is also provided on Sex Reassignment Surgeries and
hospitals providing the same.

2. Transgender reintegration-

Holistic growth and development of each member of the transgender community through their
physical, intellectual, social, economic, and spiritual well-being. They help the transgender to
establish their identity as a TG through gazette and newspapers notifications. To facilitate the
procurement of identity documents such as Aadhar Card, Ration card, Voter’s ID, Pan Card, etc.

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➢ Health- Improvement of the health status of the community is aimed through regular health
awareness programmes which include medical cams and checkups. In the event of the need
for further medical investigation and treatments, such cases are sent to higher referral centers
and treatment is facilitated.
● Specialized medical camps are also routinely conducted for Hepatitis, Tuberculosis,
Cancer, HIV/AIDS. Regular blood testing also was conducted. Information and guidance
is also provided on Sex Reassignment Surgeries and hospitals providing the same.
● Alternate Livelihood programmes- Engage in enrolling transgender in alternate
livelihood programmes that is sustainable and feasible. Courses are conducted or
facilitated for Beautician, Tailoring, Making Incense etc.

3. Identification of an intervention and implementation plan, including how it will

benefit the population and a model or theory that serves as the basis of the intervention.

The NGO looks after the Rag pickers and their children and also Transgenders. They conduct
various activities like Teaching, Medical checkups, Seminars for both, etc.

● Rag pickers and their children- This NGO looks after the education of the children. They
provide them knowledge and nutritious food every day. They don’t let the children do the
same work which their parents do. To avoid that they daily collect the children from their
home and drop them by 6:00 to their home. They also conduct seminars related to health and
hygiene factors. They conduct medical camps for them and the whole expenses of medicine
and checkups are looked after by this NGO.
● Transgenders- This NGO providesTransgenders their procurement of identity. They also
conduct a medical camp or checkup for them. Seminars are also conducted to make them
aware. This NGO also provides them with alternate livelihood programmes like engaging
them in Beautician, Tailoring, Making Incense, etc.

4. Anticipated timeline, resources and budget needed for project.

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As this NGO looks after 2 types of project Rag pickers and Transgenders there is huge need of
resources for them

● For Rag pickers project- this NGO needs volunteers to teach Rag bickers children, they also
need stationary items to provide the children. They also need findings to help Rag pickers
with their health issues and to provide them with medicines.
● For Transgenders- they need volunteers to guide them, to make them follow the right path, to
make them teach new things and to develop their skills.

To conduct this all activities Navodaya Movement needs funding from sponsors.

5. Description of your role as an intern in the project.

Navodaya acts as a tuition or coaching centers where the provision for the education is given free
of cost. Every Navodaya branch is being located near the dumping ground area, as the aim is to
locate and teach the children of rag pickers. Children of nearby slums/underdeveloped areas
come to Navodaya centers. Books, clothes and basic amenities are being provided by the centers
with the help of various foundations, contributions and tie ups that this NGO has.

In NGO, Sangeeta Ma’am and Archana Ma’am are the teachers who are heading the Kalyan
West Branch. Archana Ma’am introduced us to children. Archana Ma’am is the incharge to pick
the children and drop them to their home. She collects the children from their home at 9:30 at
bus and reaches them to Navodaya by 10:00. Half an Hour they conduct prayer & pledge and
then these children are served with milk. Then afternoon they are served with lunch and they are
taken to their school. The Children are there in the NGO till 6:00 pm so that the parents aren't
able to take the children to the dump yard. Some Children were shy at first after the introduction
and also when they brought the children from their home but they were very sweet and sporty to
interact or play with us. Then children are divided among their classes to teach them and to make
them understand their lessons. There are 2 sections consisting of morning and afternoon batch.
Morning batch consists of the students from 1st to 10th class and evening batch consists of the
children from 3-5 years, basically Navodaya consist of Morning and Afternoon batch. Children

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are brought to Navodaya at holidays also because if they are left at their home their family
members will take their child along with them to collect the rags from the dumping ground.

First 2 days, we were engaging children with some activities but after studies, and building
mutual understanding with children because the children were born in a different environment so
handling them as normal children was a little difficult for us. Most of the time we encourage
children to learn English and to increase their reading and communication skills in English as
their basics are not clear. Most of the time children were ready to study Maths and Marathi we
used to teach them English in between these subjects. They were also ready to learn new things
and used to use the words in their life and ask us whether they were correct or not. In Afternoon,
the NGO people used to prepare food for children and for themselves they used to give food first
to children and take them to their school.

We started teaching them with the basics of alphabets along with addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division. After teaching alphabets we used to make them read sentences and
help them in reading the sentences. After teaching them we used to make them lay some games,
make them perform some activities and sports. Kids above 5th standard are very sharp from mind
and they are very curious to learn and know things. We also started with team building games
and memory games where they can learn with fun games and also which adds value to them at
the end of the day.

6. Expected change and development with implementation.

We encourage children to learn English and to increase their reading and communication skills in
English as their basics were not clear. And we saw that change in them as they have started
learning English by their own interest and using English words while having a conversation with
us. They have started showing interest in English subjects, where they always used to learn only
Marathi and Maths. We also tried to make English subjects interesting for them by making them
play games.

7. Scope for impact assessment.

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When we start teaching them we get to know that they are only interested in studying only those
subjects which are familiar to them like Marathi and Maths. But we used to make them study
English starting from the basics and make them read their textbooks. Some children's grasping
power is very high at the end of the day. They recollect what they have studied in a day.

Apart from teaching, we used to conduct an audit of their SHG groups accounts where we saw
many of the frauds being conducted in SHG groups also. Per day we used to audit 2-3 SHG
accounts. We used to make a record of all this and at the end of the day we used to report this to
Sangeeta Ma’am who handles all the accounts of the SHG group and Father Abin Abraham who
is also Director. We also used to give them the suggestions in handling their accounts.

Findings and Suggestions

● Staff strength and capacities need to be enhanced for future prospectus for the children to
be effective.
● There is lack of proper monitoring of the academic performance of children.
● Providing daycare children and other children more interactions with charts and figures.
● Educating families and giving additional vocational training on basic self-help services
and hygiene practices.
● Encouraging and providing trainings on starting up with small scale Self Help Groups.
● More volunteers should be encouraged to address the children so that additional
coaching can be given to children.
● More focus on the behavioral pattern of the children.
● More assistance of staff is required along with the teacher to handle the aggressive
children.
● As we have audited the accounts of SHG groups we have found a lot of frauds in the
SHG group bank accounts.
● .Every SHG group should deposit the money which they have collected by each
individual on a particular date

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Conclusion-

I am proud to be a part of this NGO- Navodaya Movement initiated byMar Thoma Syrian
Church, as this NGO has taught me and helped me to capture the life details of what truly the
happiness is all about.Just helping them with monetary terms would not raise a kid, unless the
kid is being developed, nurtured through proper care and hospitality. This NGO with its care and
well-being are engraving to shed its mark to the society.Teaching was a very challenging job,
especially the these kids who needs special attention, and making them understand every bit of
pieces from grass root level, say that could be starting from a very basic alphabet to word
formations and number counting.

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Reference-

● Retrieved from: Bunty former Software Developer at Cognizant, (Sep 18, 2018),
“Importance of NGO”
● Retrieved from: Navodayamovement.com
● Retrieved from: Navodayamovement.com/rag-picker/
● Retrieved from: Navodayamovement.com/transgenders/

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