Report on SAKSHI/GRC

April, 2015

General information on Sakshi/GRC:

Facing a severe lack of educational, health and hygiene
facilities especially in Indias marginalized and deprived
sections of the society, Dr. D. Anand decided to establish
the SAKSHI-Center for Information, Education and
Communication in 1993. Believing that the development
of
a sustainable society can only be fostered if rights of
children
and women are protected and ensured, several
programs all
over Delhi have been launched within the last years motivating them to
become an integral independent and leading part of the community.
In this context, the government partnered "Gender Resource Center" (GRC) in
Chandanhulla (southern border of Delhi) can be seen as a role model-project
for the implementation of the SAKSHI-philosophy.
Installed in 2010 the GRC was set up to "Reach out for the Unreached". This
target should be achieved primarily through gender justice and the
empowerment of those socio-economically weaker sections featuring key
areas such as:

economic empowerment through Vocational Training

social empowerment and self-reliance through the institution of

women's Self Help Groups (SHGs) aiming for microcredits and
microfinance

rights awareness through legal workshops and legal aid

health and nutrition awareness through camps and public activities

literacy through different forms of Non Formal Education

GRC/SAKSHI serves more than 30.000 households and therefore reaches >
200.000 people; leaving a huge footprint in this particular part of South-Delhi.
Acknowledging the great success in the past two decades the organization is
aiming to further develop the Chandanhulla area and build on what has
already been achieved.
One example is the cooperation with the ETASHA-society which still is in the starting phase.
Founded in 2006, the Non-Profit-Organization successfully provides
progressive forms of vocational training as well as employability skills and
career guidance to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds especially

Report on SAKSHI/GRC

April, 2015

in Delhi and Mumbai.

Recently, India is facing a huge lack of 'job ready' candidates and therefore is
not able to sufficiently meet the high demands of employees needed to
match Indias strong economic growth. Being aware of this fact, ETASHA
launched a wide range of programs to slowly close this gap by offering e.g.
Computer Training, courses in spoken and written English as well as in soft
skills such as interpersonal relations, adaptability and teamwork.
By fostering several partnerships with leading companies in both the
industrial and service sector (e.g. Big Bazaar, KFC, Tata AIG, Whirlpool), the
organization guarantees a secure working place for each and every
participant who runs through one of the different programs, creating a winwin situation for both, the companies operating in India, that are in need of a
well skilled workforce and the
people that get employed by the
companies participating in the
partnership scheme.

Recent problems and

future perspective:
Being convinced, that the
cooperation with ETASHA will be
an important step forward especially in terms of the
empowerment of women, SAKSHI is already planning to open a centre for
computer courses in Chandanhulla, while further components should soon
follow.
Unfortunately, since the change of the Delhi Government in January this year,
the monthly funds have been completely stopped with the new government
even thinking of closing the GRC entirely. In order to keep the project running
as long as possible, SAKSHI has taken a loan on 500.000 rupees. In the
meantime, negotiations with the new political leaders have been either
unsuccessful or remained unanswered. With the loan running out and the
financial shortages becoming more and more overwhelming, the projects
activities had to be cancelled for the overall very first time this April, causing
a massive decline in the GRC's influential power.

Report on SAKSHI/GRC

April, 2015

Being aware of the fact, that there is no other NGO in the Chandanhulla area
caring for the needs and development of the hundreds of thousands of
inhabitants, SAKSHI decided to quit with the Delhi Government as an
unreliable partner in terms of social work and start an own independent and
restructured project similar to the approaches of the former GRC.
This new program intends to focus on the educational and vocational part (in
co-operation with ETASHA-Society) including the Non Formal Education, the
SHGs and traditional forms of Vocational Training (Beauty/Cutting & Tailoring
courses) already offered by SAKSHI. An overview of the structure and
estimated budget can be found in the attachments.

A personal point of view:

My name is Luca Scheid and
I'm not only helping to work
out this report, but most
importantly have the honor
to gain experience in the
sector of social work by being
employed in GRC/SAKSHI as
a volunteer for more than 7
months now. Since I joined
the organization in the end of
September last year, I got to
know Project Director Mr.
Zuber Khan as well as
Coordinator Mr. Nand Lal and
his staff-team as
outstandingly selfless and trustworthy people, for whom social work is not
only a job, but the fulfillment of their personal dreams and desires. Within the
last months I have witnessed and spoken to a number of people in the
Chandanhulla- region who hugely benefited from GRC, which has become a
very important part in many of their lives.
The end of social work on a grass root level would not only question the
credibility of SAKSHI in the catchment areas, but would furthermore be a
long-lasting setback for the masses of beneficiaries!
Also keeping in mind the gain for foreign companies entering the Indian
market, which will highly benefit from a growing number of qualified and
diversely skilled workforce, we kindly ask you for support in a financial or

Report on SAKSHI/GRC

April, 2015

materialistic way to keep this ambitious project running by becoming a

partner of the scheme. Regarding the low per beneficiary costs (as stated in
the attached budget plan), even a small contribution would be of great
importance for the different components. The SAKSHI-Team is looking forward
to further contact, response and questions and hopes for an intense
cooperation in the future!

Yours sincerely,
Mr. Zuber Khan, Mr. Nand Lal, Mr. Luca Scheid