Social and Development Research and Action Group (SADRAG) is a registered not-for-profit organisation. Established in 2004, the organisation has primarily been working in the Delhi NCR region and various districts in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It also has a footprint in Tamil Nadu and Punjab.
SADRAG envisions a world of dignity and self-respect, a world where everyone has equal access to opportunities for participation in social and community life.
Our interventions span three main areas:
1. Education: Literacy and education for children and adolescent youth, and strengthening the government school system.
2. Protection: Addressing violence and abuse against women and children, and promoting safe and inclusive workplaces for women.
3. Livelihood: Skill development and livelihood opportunities for youth and women in rural and peri-urban communities.
Over the course of our 20+ year journey, we have been supported by numerous partners who have placed their trust in us. Together, we have brought about qualitative changes in the lives of those deprived of their rights to education, protection, and livelihood.
We have enjoyed long-term, impactful partnerships with both domestic and international partners. Notably, we have had an excellent partnership with FRC, which supported various initiatives from 2017 to 2021.
Partnership in Education
SADRAG’s partnership with FRC began in 2017, focusing on the education of migrant children in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Dr Vinita Gupta was then the Programme Manager and our main contact. She appreciated our Ugta Suraj model for out-of-school children from migrant communities in Noida. This programme was initiated in 2007 and has continued with a robust, community-centric approach in various Noida villages.
Together, SADRAG and FRC curated and implemented a strong community-based programme for children in Village Nithari (Noida) and Village Tughalpur (Greater Noida). Each centre was set up within the community space: Barat Ghars and enrolled 45-50 out-of-school children from vulnerable migrant families. This partnership brought about meaningful change under the RTE Act 2009 with the motto: Each Child in School.
Thanks to FRC’s support, hundreds of children are now enrolled in school and integrated into the formal education system in the Noida and Greater Noida areas.
Around this time, we also launched an online campaign: Safe Childhood is Happy Childhood – to raise awareness about laws, provisions, and issues concerning child safety.
Organisational Development
FRC also supported SADRAG’s organisational development. We received a grant to strengthen our staffing structure, define core values and ethos through team participation, revamp our website, enhance our social media presence, and initiate branding exercises based on our grassroots work.
The OD grant enabled us to hire professionals to raise SADRAG’s profile and expand its network for future growth. This investment paid dividends, and we successfully broadened our base of support.
Knowledge Sharing Workshops
FRC brought us together with other organisations from across the country through knowledge-sharing workshops. These workshops were a tremendous opportunity for us to learn and share our strategies and approaches with peers working in the areas of child education, rights, and protection.
It was a uniquely enriching experience, allowing us to learn directly from founders, development practitioners, and dedicated social workers. We have remained in contact with many of them to continue sharing, learning, and collaborating.
Contribution During COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic brought severe challenges, particularly due to strict lockdowns. We witnessed families trapped in tiny shanties, desperately in need of food, milk for their children, and basic rations for survival.
FRC supported our relief efforts by helping us distribute food and rations in migrant-dominated localities, aiming to nourish children and prevent the spread of COVID-19.
In 2021, with FRC’s support, we prepared and distributed 1,000 Nutrition and Prevention Kits (NPKs) to children from migrant communities in Gautam Buddh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh.
Each kit included nutritional food items and personal protective equipment (PPE) for children like Milk powder, Parle Biscuits, Cracked wheat porridge, Semolina, GluconD, Dettol Soap and Reusable cotton Face masks.
With FRC’s support through Emergency funds, we nourished 1000 children and prevented them from Corona virus at the same time.
– Shared by SADRAG Team
sadrag.org