Vani's Background

BACKGROUND:

The genesis of VANI is traceable to humble beginning in Kotputli Block of Jaipur District where the issues of gender discrimination, malnutrition among children, societal restrictions on overall development of girl child, and lack of education among women and girls were rampant. The people of that area were voiceless sufferer as there was no organization devoted to concerns of poor farmers of the area. In this backdrop, a rural woman social worker Smt. Vimla Devi laid the foundation of "VANI", an organization which provided voice to voiceless people. With this philosophy in mind, the validation of this organization was ensured through enrolling it under the Society Registration Act, 1958, in the year 1989. The first significant step of the organization was to work towards the education of girl children. Hence, the VANI Adarsh Bal Niketan educational organization was set up in village Purushottampura (Kotputli). Starting with this task and gaining experience, the organization took strategic steps towards articulating future roles of the organization by addressing the relevant concerns of deprived people. Thus, in the year 1995 the organization devoted itself to serve the children of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in Dausa district and other rural areas. At the same time, the organization continued to expand its capacities. An important early effort was to organize several training programs, especially for the rural workers under the teachers program. Several other activities were initiated simultaneously. At this stage the need was felt to have an active headquarters. Hence in the year 2004-05, this organization's central office was shifted to Jaipur. Presently, VANI is regarded as a ground-breaking organization devoted to concerns of children and women, especially of the weaker sections. Vani is sensitizing the people about their rights and it is also fighting for removal of child labor. Among its major objectives are women empowerment, social development and increasing awareness and capacity development among the scheduled caste, scheduled tribe, small & marginal farmers, landless, poor, displaced people and women to ensure self-reliance among these people.