Organisation:
Saaras Impact Foundation
Location:
New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh
Problem:
The Government of India spends a lot of money on over 400 welfare schemes/ policies to benefit disadvantaged communities. However, they have not achieved the desired impact due to lack of awareness, poor use of technology, and corruption.
Solution:
The Vision of Saaras Foundation, “Empowering the lives of disadvantaged communities by increasing their access to welfare policies” focuses on addressing information poverty by acting as a facilitator supporting sustainable access to policies in a fair manner.
Currently, the organization is working on the Right to Education and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana Scheme in Uttar Pradesh. RTE – 6 lakh potential seats but fill rate is less than 10%.
PMMVY(Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana) – In India, every third woman is undernourished and every second woman is anemic. An undernourished mother almost inevitably gives birth to a low birth weight baby. More than 68% of total under-five deaths in the U.P. are related to malnutrition. The urban areas are facing more challenges to get access to schemes/policies related to it.
Beneficiaries are supported via the help of technology to provide 360-degree support viz. information dissemination, grievance redressal, besides filing applications with the support of trained community volunteers, which makes the process self-sustainable and the community self-reliant.
Scalability and Impact:
The organization is working with Economical Weaker Section and Disadvantage groups of people. In the last 4 years, Saaras has made 75,239 citizens aware of their rights and supported 20,150 citizens to gain the access to their much-needed benefits. The organization is directly working in three districts of Uttar Pradesh – Lucknow, Kanpur, and Ambedkar Nagar. The organization has a presence in 6 more districts with the support of partner organizations and community champions.
Financial Requirements:
NA
Awards and Recognition:
NA