Deepalaya is an Indian Non-governmental organization that aids the development of the urban and rural poor in India, with a focus on children. Founded in 1979, it is headquartered in Delhi. Deepalaya primarily serves the urban slums of Delhi, but also works on rural development in the states of Haryana and Uttarakhand. Deepalaya focus is on sparking sustainable development from within a community From 2009–2010, 23.18% of Deepalaya's total income came from donations and 52.37% from government grants. HSBC India also supports Deepalaya through donations and voluntary works. Deepalaya experienced US$236,741.42 in deficit for this period Deepalaya was awarded Sat Paul Mittal Award of appreciation in 2018.
History
From 1977 to 1979, three of the seven founding members met regularly, discussing how to launch a programme of education and reaching out to the poor. They were T. K. Mathew, Y. Chackochan and P. J. Thomas. They were later joined by Grace Thomas, C. M. Mathai, Punnoose Thomas and T. M. Abraham. They started the "Deepalaya Education Society" and opened the first school on 16 July 1979. The school had five children, two teachers and an investment of Rupees 17,500 from the founding members. In these initial days the school focused on pre-school education. By 1985, the number of students had increased to 133 with seven staff members. As the annual budget grew, Deepalaya started focusing on to primary education. During this time, the organization gained access to both national and international funding, increasing its resource base. Deepalaya started reaching out to a larger number of slum dwellers through education, health, income generation as well as community development, thus stepping beyond mere education to ‘integrated development’. By 1992, Deepalaya was servicing 13,000 students and had 400 staff members. According to Deepalaya's publication Yatra – The Institutional Memory, the core belief of the organisation in the success of community empowerment and building of self-reliance became crystallised into fundamental developmental paradigms in the organisation's phase of consolidation in the 1990s. In 2000, Deepalaya was servicing over 35,000 children, their families and communities. Since 2002, Deepalaya become an international organisation with offices in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. In 2003, Deepalaya was appointed one of the NGOs for capacity building of smaller NGOs by REACH India. By 2005, Deepalaya had become the largest operational NGO in Delhi, providing services to 50,000 children in 76 slums and 84 villages in Mewat and seven villages in Uttarakhand.
Gender equity
Deepalaya has started a Gender Equity Program that provides educational opportunities to underprivileged girls, Deepalaya created the Education for Girls Project in September 2009. RDDEFG is supported by the Robert Duvall Children's Fund.The project aims to provide girls with education opportunities by supporting them financially though the informal earlier stage of education, till they enter formal education after achieving certain education standard, "education is free thereafter" in the government school.
Education
Deepayala's flagship program Education strives to improve the literacy rate in India. Deepalaya has built 337 educational institutions where 50,000 receivers are educated via formal and non-formal education. Through the joint assignment, Education for Girls, it prompts fathers to protect their daughters’ rights and put them through schools. Innovative methodology for education of children at risk aims to toughen formal and transitional schooling programmes.
Health
Deepalaya has "Mobile Health Units" that visits households, educate them about diseases such as AIDS, and provide health care services. Deepalaya is involved in two health projects, A.P Dewan clinic and the Kalkaji Extension. The A.P Dewan clinic is funded by the Dewan Foundation Ltd. The clinic has served more than 7,000 patients to date. With pre-natal and post-natal treatments provided, Deepalaya has also brought down significantly the cases of abortion and infant death.
