Ramditti Jiwandaram Narang Public Charitable Trust is a business house trust, which was formed as a social responsibility initiative by Omega Bright Steel Pvt Ltd in 1983. The company is a first generation enterprise started in 1970 by Mr Satya Pal Narang whose father Mr Jiwandaram Narang was a freedom fighter in Jhang, Punjab (now in Pakistan).

It was formed with the idea of providing education and health services for disadvantaged sections of society. The Narang family is also directly involved in rural development by supporting artisans and self-employment all over rural India. The family also believes in generating self-sustaining economic activity by encouraging grassroots entrepreneurship. The family is also involved in running a lifestyle store in Pune which markets and exhibits craft and micro-entrepreneurship products (www.eitheror.in). As of 2017, all infrastructure built by the trust have been generated through internal resources.

In collaboration with Deepalaya and The Community Library Project, the Ramditti Jiwandaram Narang Public Charitable Trust works in our home city of Delhi to make learning and reading accessible to over 650 children and adults every year.

Ramditti J.R. Narang Deepalaya Learning Centre

The cross-sector partnership between Ramditti Jiwandaram Narang Public Charitable Trust (RJRN) and Deepalaya is a 20+ year association between a company trust and an NGO, towards making quality education accessible to slum children. The partners leverage their resources to achieve the partnership objectives by creating a replicable model in service delivery.

The Narang Trust strongly supports increased access to books and learning for all people. With this end in mind, the family has been instrumental in supporting the creation of a community library in the Ramditti J R Narang Learning Centre run by the Deepalaya NGO. The Community Library Project was founded by Deepalaya volunteers in January of 2015. Support from the Narang Trust has allowed the library to offer free membership including borrowing privileges to children ages 4 and above and to adults of all ages. Three dozen volunteers and a Student Council of 14 youngsters work together to run the library. More than a dozen read-aloud, tailored for different age groups, are conducted weekly. Recurring workshops cover a range of subjects including teen wellness, health and safety, career planning, Science, arts and crafts and creative writing. A visiting artists and authors series invites members to enter into the intellectual life of the city.

Through a donation of books and infrastructural support from the Trust, the community library has provided over 1200 children and adults, primarily first generation learners, with free membership in the lending library.

Project Partner: Deepalaya

Deepalaya is an ISO 9001:2008 certified non-government organisation that believes in enabling self-reliance and is committed to working on issues affecting the urban and rural poor, with a special focus on women and children.

Apart from providing education, healthcare and counselling, Deepalaya also runs vocational training programmes in art and craft, computers, dance, tailoring, etc. Till date, the organisation has reached out to more than 2,91,000 children, given vocational training to 12,216 adults and formed more than 1,200 self-help groups with 14,291 women who have together saved INR 791 million with a community revolving fund of INR 1,431 million. Deepalaya’s growth, however, has not been a solitary one, the organisation takes the initiative to collaborate with private partners and trusts.

Please visit the website www.deepalaya.org for further details.

Goals

Deepalaya and RJRN Charitable Trust entered a partnership in December 1994 with the objective of running a school for slum children, keeping a focus on the girl child. The Ramditti J.R. Narang Deepalaya School has been formed under the partnership, and is located in a slum cluster called Jagadamba Camp at Panchsheel Enclave in New Delhi. The project started in February 1995 with the enrollment of five girl children.

The school over the years catered to over 450 students every year living in the nearby slums, thereby educating more than 8,000 students.

The Community Library Project, in addition to serving its membership, also functions as a lab for learning about successful practices for creating low cost libraries in communities of first generation learners. It strives to share its learning with other libraries and to collaborate with others to create more libraries.

Governance Structure

The partnership objectives are aligned with national development goals, including the National Policy on Education, 1986, and the Directive Principals of State Policy which mentions free and compulsory education. Additionally, Right to Education is a Fundamental Right within the Constitution of India.

 In terms of international goals, the partnership aims to achieve the MDG of Universal Primary Education by ensuring that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling in the identified area. Also, the partnership aims to practice non-discrimination, as per Article 2 of United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The partnership is governed by an agreement signed by the partners at the time of its conception in 1994. The roles and responsibilities of both the partners are clearly outlined in the agreement, under which the trust has constructed the building for the educational institute for underprivileged children, and Deepalaya’s role is to run the school in a professional manner. Through the school, Deepalaya teaches formal, non-formal and vocational education for illiterate adults, school drop-outs, and all other children in the area, without discrimination but with preference to students from economically backward families living in slums around and/or near the school. A three-member managing committee takes care of the management of the school.

Partnership Exploration

After its formation, RJRN Charitable Trust was in search of an organization to partner with, towards achieving the trust’s objectives of working for improving the quality of life of marginalized communities. Being aware of Deepalaya’s initiatives to promote education for the poor, RJRN Charitable Trust approached Deepalaya, and a series of consultations followed, at the end of which both parties agreed to start a project on child education, and a formal agreement was signed.

The initiative started with a survey of the slums of Panchsheel Enclave area in New Delhi to identify a suitable location for a school, and the outcome of the efforts was Ramditti J.R. Narang – Deepalaya School, which is located in a slum cluster called Jagadamba Camp.

In 2013, Deepalaya School transitioned into a Learning Centre after the implementation of RTE, which houses an informal school serving 150 children in Grades LKG to Class II and an after-school remedial learning program serving another 150 children of all ages and grades. The Centre also houses the ASHA program which aims to transition girls who are not enrolled in school back into schools, and an after-school initiative FADA (Father and Daughter Alliance) to help maintain the girl child in school through inviting the support of her father and community. There is a Computer Learning Centre providing beginning and intermediate level courses and a Vocational Centre for training girls and women in tailoring.

In 2015, the Narang Trust supported the creation of a Community Library in the Deepalaya Learning Centre.

Partnership Building

This concept of a Learning Centre located in an area with so many slums was to provide quality education to underprivileged children. The Learning Centre focuses on the holistic development of the child by providing quality pre-primary education combined with extra-curricular activities and academic inputs. The goal is to create an environment conducive to learning so that children can learn successfully.

A plot of land of around 250 sq. yard owned by the Narang family was used for the construction of a two and a half storey school building for use by Deepalaya to run the school. After construction, the building was provided with all required furniture and equipment by the Narang family. The school began in January 1995 with five girl children, and by March 1997 the number of children on the roll had increased to 231. Today (2017), the Learning Centre serves over 400 children, and the library has an active membership of over 750 children and adults.

The work of the learning centre was preceded by the community project wherein house visits and discussions were held, which helped to break the ice and also motivated the community to participate in the school project. Under this project, the adult literacy programme, Pulse Polio campaign, counselling services, sanitation and hygiene awareness were also undertaken for the benefit of the community.

Partnership Maintenance

With a weekly footfall of over 600 children and adults, Deepalaya Learning Centre is the heart of the community in which it serves. It has come a long ways since opening its door in 1995 to 5 children. Over the years, Deepalaya has built a very good rapport with the community. Active community participation is an essential component of this partnership initiative that has made this project sustainable for the last 15 years.

Review and Reporting Mechanism

Periodical reporting is a part of Deepalaya’s system of monitoring and evaluation of its activities, and weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual reports detailing both financial and program activities are prepared for all its programs. Under the partnership with RJRN Charitable Trust, Deepalaya regularly assess its financial requirement for one academic session vis-à-vis the funding received, and takes necessary remedial action to make good the shortfall or ensure utilization of surpluses elsewhere. On the non-fiscal front, there is ongoing evaluation of the physical outcome of the partnership intervention by way of assessing the number of children educated, the impact of the intervention on the community, and lastly, the outcome in relation to the initial objectives of the partnership.

The overall monitoring and evaluation of this project is done jointly by Deepalaya and the Narang family. To facilitate this, a coordination committee has been formed which includes representatives from both partners. Members of the committee make periodic visits to the learning centre and the community to review the progress of the program. Deepalaya and the Narang family exchange narrative as well as financial reports. Additionally, Deepalaya updates the Narang family about developments in the project through publications, e-mail and letters. The trustees of RJRN also visit the learning centre every month to interact with the children and management.

Project Outcomes

This partnership has successfully completed 22 years (as of 2017), and as a result of the partnership initiatives:

• 400 children and adults receive quality education and /or quality remedial education and extra-curricular preparation for success as learners in a formal school setting.
• The enrollment ratio of boy and girl children is 53: 47.
• A sewing project has been initiated for girls in the community.
• During summer vacations, special classes on music, art and craft, needlework, painting, drama and dance, etc. are taken by school teachers and volunteers.
• Community health is also given due focus through medical check-ups, health awareness campaigns on AIDS, cancer, tuberculosis, etc.
• A community library within the Learning Centre has enrolled over 1200 children and adults in the area. It maintains an active membership of over 650 members. In the 2 years since its founding, over 650 children have read 10 books or more, and over 25 children have read 100 books or more. Every week the library issues around 1000 books.

Partnership Outcomes

The initiative by Deepalaya and RJRN has evolved into a replicable model in service delivery through cross-sector partnership, and is serving as a live example for other businesses and NGOs.

On different occasions, information about this partnership has appeared in various print and electronic media. Deepalaya’s in-house publications have also featured information about the partnership.