The idea of Udyam took seed in 1995, when based on her interactions with her household help, Mrs Neeru Juneja realised that she wanted to do something to make the lives of their children fuller. It was another three years before the idea starting taking shape and Udyam was born.
In 1998, Udyam began as a two hour language, art and story-telling class 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. 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 School post school hours. We also received recognition from Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, a flagship programme of the Government of India for achievement of universalization of Elementary Education.
In 2004, a slum demolition drive forced several of our students to relocate and consequently drop out. We also 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 are a Registered Trust and have the financial support of our friends and family members of the founder, key team members and past volunteers. We operate the study centres at three different locations in South Delhi. We employ a staff of seven and have a continuous stream of full-time & part-time volunteers. We offer our students opportunities to not just become literate but also concentrate on their personalities and value system.
