Team Balika- My Stepping Stone To Success

A Class 12 alumna, Inder came from a poor family, for whom even a basic earning that could buy food for two was difficult once. However, today at the age of 20, he earns a healthy income and has the convenience of a vehicle provided by his company. He works at a residential school for the handicapped as a caretaker. Inder Kumar’s parents are very pleased with his progress and what he does for a living today.

In 2011, when Inder was studying in Class 9, his teacher sent him with an Educate Girls’ Field Coordinator to direct him to some out-of-school girls’ residences. Since that day Inder has been inspired by Educate Girls and in 2013, he was chosen as the Team Balika (community volunteer) for his village.

Inder has helped enroll as many as 20 girls in his village in the local school as well as Kasturba Gandhi Bal Vidyalaya (free government run residential schools for girls). He also helped some handicapped children receive allowance and other benefits offered under various Government schemes.

These activities gave Inder’s life a new direction. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan* gave him the opportunity to work as a caretaker at a camp for handicapped children for three months. After having worked as Team Balika for close to 3 years, he now works full-time as a caretaker at a school for the handicapped by the Rajasthan Grameen Vikas Sanstha (a Government of Rajasthan wing for village welfare).

Inder shares, “I give all credit for who I am today to Educate Girls. Had I not been a Team Balika, I would have been just another laborer at the village, doing odd jobs. But today I am here, making a difference to others’ lives as well as my own.”

Many young men and women in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh like Inder have been able to secure jobs using their experience and learning as Team Balika as a stepping stone. We couldn’t be happier for them!

*Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is Government of India’s flagship programme for achievement of Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) in a time bound manner, as mandated by 86th amendment to the Constitution of India making free and compulsory Education to the Children of 6-14 years age group, a Fundamental Right.