Vitaan means a traditional flower arrangement done on the floor on auspicious occasions. It also means a web and a canopy. Praajak does not see institutions as a walled space to confine children but as a potential web of relationships, of love, affection and trust. Praajak also sees an ideal institution as a place of safety and security.  Like a canopy an institution should not only provide shelter and refuge, but also be open to its surroundings, without the constraining walls of custodial laws and practices that cut children off from the larger society within which the institution exists. Only then can an institution become a model for harmonious relationships like the colourful flowers of a rangoli. Read more...

Muktangan is a protection initiative for children who live and work in the railway stations of West Bengal, India. Children who escape neglect, abuse and violence in their families and communities are seeking refuge in common transport terminals. The project aims to sustain changes in situations that aim to eliminate abuse, violence and exploitation of such children, and empower them to access their survival and developmental rights as children, gain access to community and state resources as citizens of the nation they live in, and in keeping with the principle of participation, are able to exercise their choices in the process. Read more...

Quality Institutional Care and Alternatives for Children

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Children in Conflict with the Law: Praajak has been conducting action research with boys and young men less than 18 years of age for the past two years at Dhrubashram, a state-run Observation Home for children in conflict with the law, in the suburbs of Kolkata. The Mentoring Programme is founded on Praajak’s conviction that attachments to prosocial others, commitment to socially appropriate goals, and involvement in conventional activities restrain youth from engaging in activities which lead to conflict with the law or other problem behaviors, because more socially bonded youth have more to lose by unhelpful behavior. Read more...

Children Vulnerable to Sexual Abuse and Exploitation: “Koti” is a South Asian term used to denote males with feminine demeanour that is effeminate males. “Koti” children, adolescentas and youths (KCAY) are victims of social stigma and gross human rights violations, and as a result face serious barriers to joining mainstream occupations. This has led to a situation where, in the absence of any other alternative, many join the “hijra” (eunuch) community and undergo illegal, secret and crude castration operations at great risk to their lives. Praajak believes that community development and mobilization has to be the starting point for all sustainable child protection programmes. This is especially true for marginalized children, like the KCAY, who are stigmatized and discriminated against the face of innumerable human rights violations because of their gender orientation. Such violations remain unaddressed especially in case of those from lower income groups and/rural backgrounds. Read more...