Strong start

With free tuition and access to sanitary pads, a non-profit in Prayagraj provides children in low-income areas a chance to complete their education 

- SAUMYA JYOTSNA

TILL FIVE years ago, Aanchal Kumari was not sure if she could complete her elementary education. This year, after scoring 87 per cent in class 10 examination of the Uttar Pradesh Board, she has chosen to pursue science in class 11, and hopes to become a doctor one day. Kumari, who lives in the Alopibagh township in Prayagraj district, attributes this turnaround to all the blood, sweat and tears of the teachers with non-profit "Shuruaat-ek jyoti shiksha ki" who have been visiting her colony for the past five years and teaching children for free. "My father, a vegetable vendor, splurges almost his entire earnings on alcohol. The family environment has been so grim that my schooling was never prioritised. This changed with Shuruaat," she says.