Lucknow: When children in slum settlements of Tedhi Pulia and Purania struggled to enter formal schools, Lucknow University‘s MA economics student Utkarsh Singh and his team extended support to the families. Through NGO, Erada, Utkarsh set up two schools and helped children secure admission under the Right to Education Act. The team identifies school dropouts and helps families understand admission requirements to ensure that children are educated.“I use my education to make opportunities accessible to the deprived lot,” said Utkarsh, one of several students of universities and colleges in the city using their extra time for community work. On International Youth Day, their initiatives offer a glimpse into the different ways students are working on education, cleanliness, legal awareness and gender equality.PhD scholar at a private university in the city and national head of the Better Society Foundation, Ambuj Rai works with 1,700 volunteers. The foundation conducts cleanliness drives, community awareness activities and education-related programmes.“Volunteers visit communities, speak to residents about waste disposal and hygiene and encourage youth to help keep public spaces clean,” he said.The volunteers divide responsibilities according to their availability, with teams handling field activities, awareness programmes, volunteer coordination and community outreach. For five-year integrated LLB student at LU, Urvashi Singh, legal education helps support those who cannot afford legal representation. Through her network and with help from ministry of law and justice, she has helped more than 60 from financially weaker section access legal support and adopted three villages in BKT and also raised legal awareness. “I was an intern with National Legal Services Authority, which exposed me to pro bono legal work, including research visits to Tihar Jail,” she said.A youth-led initiative, ‘Mast Bol’, focuses on gender equality. In Lucknow, 11 members are involved in the campaign, which has over 300 youths carrying out over 50 social action projects and recording 30 impact stories. Focus is on conversations around gender stereotypes, equality and everyday discriminatory practices.Chandan Tiwari, an MA Social Work graduate from LU, associated with the initiative, said, “We prepare young leaders who can challenge social practices that promote gender inequality.”Institute of Engineering and Technology students work with children from nearby slum settlements through Parmarth and teach basic literacy, mathematics, English and other subjects, while helping children move towards formal schooling, daily after 5 pm.“Education and empathy bring real and lasting change,” said founder Saurabh Singh, an IET graduate.
