In 2017, at the age of 20, Tanu stepped out as yet another individual forced to accept the mandate which confined her to her mother’s reflected life; she began working at Kothis and collecting garbage from the adjacent areas. When we met Shabnam ji, during one of our camps at Santosh Nagar, Faridabad, we found in her, a lady, who, having faced the injustices of life herself, catered in her heart, a tenderness for those who suffered a similar fate. Upon getting to know about “Utthaan”, she saw in it a ray of hope for herself and her people. She has been volunteering as “Utthaan Sahayak” since. She began embracing our company, especially one of our community mobilizers, Indu ji. As conversations were exchanged, experiences were shared, one day she confined her concern revolving around the fear of witnessing her daughter, Tanu, being confronted with the evils she had to deal with regularly and the wish of sighting her daughter harbouring the opportunities of attaining education, but the hopeless image of her finances and daily subsistence brought her back to the harsh realities of her life. Being impacted by these conversations, Indu ji resolved to meet Tanu and make an attempt at counselling her father. As she briefed him about the Utthaan initiative and how she met Shabnam ji, in an almost miraculous shift of events directed by Indu Ji’s constant efforts aided with the convenience provided by concepts like distance learning and the social protection given to him and his family of various government schemes comprising of health security, food security and financial security under Utthaan, led to mould hisperspective and nurtured a broader perspective on things. In May 2024, Tanu took admission in class 12 under “National Institute of Open Schooling” (NOIS) and is pursuing Arts currently. For a comprehensive development and to broaden the horizons of future opportunities, Indu ji also enrolled her in a 40 days Computer Course, this July. Now, braced with the assistance of her educational qualifications she is employed in Flipkart, at Ballabhgarh, as a TechnicalAssistant. Henceforth, in Tanu’s story, her knight in shining armour, was not one person but the cumulative efforts of team CEGP, backed by “Utthaan” and initiative of UNDP India and Coca-Cola India

“A strength for her family and an inspiration for families around” She went through the roughest of days when her husband met with an accident, while she suffered from major health ailments, was indigent, and broke. Still, she stood and worked and has been the financial support system and a nurturer since, a provider for a family of 8 members. She works in 5 Kothis throughout the day, looking after the cleanliness and sanitation of the surrounding area. As Utthaan launched in Haryana, CEGP’s team was out for the baseline survey of SafaiSaathis, selecting from various areas, we chose to visit Santosh Nagar in Faridabad, that week. As we were interacting with the SafaiSaathis and the community around, at the back of our heads was to find somebody who comes from their space, who is imbued with their hardships and challenges, who can act as a bridge between us and the people who we were there for. While the data was being collected, and we were asking questions for the survey, a woman called Indu ji, our community mobilizer aside, asked her every question she possibly could, because she never came across people willing to work for those who work for everybody. While Indu ji was explaining the Utthaan initiative to her, the objectives to mainstream SafaiSaathis and the larger aspect of Waste Management, and how immensely she and her people are contributing to it, with exclamation she said, “Hum sab itna bada kaam kar rahe hain!” and since that day, Sabnam ji has been with us, in most of the camps we have organized, the Linkage Drives, the Data Collection Drives, Awareness camps and so much more. Earlier she had only heard about the government programs, which now she was a part of, through Utthaan, we provided her food security with Ration Card, Financial security through E-shram, and Health Insurance via Ayushman Bharat Yojana. A comprehensive protection to a family affected by uncertain adversities of times and many more such families during these 5 Months. Sabnam ji has not only worked for her family but has been an inspiration to people around her, she has been standing up against violence against women, and many such persuading stories of which she has been a protagonist. During our latest visit to Sabnam ji’s place, she informed us that finally in the coming months, she will get her heart treatment done, which was long overdue, she has been a heart patient, but now without any financial distress, she will be visiting the Safdarjung Hospital for her treatments, along with her Ayushman Bharat Card.