The idea of Udyam was fructified and brought into being in 1995, when Mrs Neeru Juneja, based on her interactions with her household help, realised that she wanted to do something to make the lives of their children meaningful and fuller. It was another three years before the idea started taking a concrete shape and Udyam eventually came into being.

In the year 1998, Udyam began as a two hour language, art and story-telling class, which was conducted by Mrs Juneja under the trees in the slums around AIIMS. As time passed and help came through in various shapes and forms, we were able to grow and cater to a larger number of children across different age groups and levels of learning.

In 2001, Udyam was adopted as a project by the Prayas Institute of Juvenile Justice and christened as Udyam Prayas. The very next year, we were granted space by New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) for a period of three years to run the school in one of the Primary Schools, post school hours. We also received recognition from Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, a flagship programme of the Government of India for achieving universalization of Elementary Education.

Sadly, in 2004, a slum demolition drive forced several of our students to relocate and eventually drop out. We had to shift the classes to the founder’s residence. This was one of the major setbacks faced early on by the organization.

Today, we function as a Registered Trust and have the financial support of our friends and family members of the founder, key team members and past volunteers. We run the study centres at three different locations in South Delhi. We employ a significant number of staff and have a continuous stream of full-time and part-time volunteers. We offer our students opportunities to not just become literate but also to concentrate on their personalities and value system.

We truly believe that the smiles on our children’s and women’s faces, the happy hours they spent at Udyam and their sense of “being someone who matters” are its biggest victories. Concurrently, the Udyam takes pride in the significant transformation in the volunteer’s thought process and personalities that it succeeds in bringing as they spend time with its students and women; they transform themselves from the altruistic want “to give” to the learned desire “to empower” the remaining underprivileged sections of the society. Our works have touched millions of hearts. Here is the brief overview:

• Our works have touched the lives of over 1000 children and 50+ women and counting! We know that we are in a long-term intervention and results are not immediate. Beginning with one girl in Chandigarh to scores of students across multiple centres is a huge highlight of our work.
• We have a very low school drop-out rate of the students, who are attending classes at Udyam regularly. Now that we are a community, we encourage the kids in our system and their mothers, brothers and sisters to continue with the education so as to be able to have a better shot at life.
• There has been year-on-year improvement in attendance rates. We understand that we run fortification programs, which sit atop the base education provided by the schools. Therefore, attending school is very important, which was at dismal levels earlier.
• So far we have multiple centres across different locations in South Delhi and further plan to open more such centres. This is an important point in our overall agenda. From a point where we didn’t know where to sit to a place where we can choose where to open the next center.
• We have conducted workshops across a variety of topics, such as sexual health, hygiene, career options, drawing, crafts, sports etc so that kids can learn via different modes of expressions.
• We ensure that students have exposure to the real world; selling to people in a corporate office, making gift bags, organizing melas and events to ensure kids don’t lag behind when they step out in the real world to earn their livelihood.
• An year, which is full of calendarised events to ensure kids have something to look forward to and they help organize and make a success. From holding an Annual Day in the Park with 10 people, last year we got to host one in Siri Fort auditorium for our participants, volunteers and donors.
• Structured Learning rather than Whimsical Teaching to ensure kids are learning with an outcome in mind. Pedagogy and consistent pedagogy is an important aspect.
• Helped students complete schooling by passing class 12 exams successfully, children who would earlier sit at home after failing middle school.
• Nearly all children, who started at Udyam at the nursery level, are at the age appropriate learning level and not lagging behind unlike those who started late.
• We have seen increased involvement of parents in their children’s education and progress at school that would bring a holistic change towards the future in the ecosystem.
• We have seen a high level of volunteer attendance and continued association with Udyam, particularly from IIT Delhi and DU; bright talent ensures that we are able to pass the light to those who need it.