....................................................................................................Profile

Concern India Foundation  

Out of every 100 Indian children born

-         1 dies before birth
-         another does not live to see its first birthday
-         6-7 die when they are between 1&5 years old
      And only 15-20 grow to their full potential

There were two lakh cases of female infanticide between 1978 and 1991

Maternal mortality rate is 437 for every 1000 women.

Approximately 5000 dowry deaths are reported annually

Crime against women has been rising  at the alarmingly high rate of 14.6% per annum.

To curb all this the Concern India Foundation was born.  Started in 1991 Concern India Foundation is a non profit charitable trust that supports development oriented organizations working for the disadvantaged. These organizations bring about change in the areas of  education, health, community development and the environment.

CIF believes that the disadvantaged need an opportunity and not charity. CIF works closely with NGO’s who reach out to disadvantaged people such as destitute & orphaned children, deserted women, under trial prisoners ,the disabled and the aged.

In its endeavor to ensure  a self sufficient society , CIF provides financial and non financial support to development oriented organizations working at  thegrassroot level to bring about positive change. CIF reaches over  to 100 NGO’s through offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Calcutta.

Says Maya, a representative of Concern India Foundation, “ Our motto is to help people help themselves.”

The projects supported are Aasana, Aamcha Ghar, Aseema, Doorstep school, IAPA(Indian association for adoption and child welfare), Jaag, Mind, Mobile Creches, NSCC-I, Paramshantidham, Vrudhashram, Prayas, Prerna, Saathi, Sakhya, SAMPARC, Vasundhara and the Vatsalya Foundation in Mumbai.

They have other projects in Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

There  are other pressing problems like:

Only 50% of the children in the age group of 6-14 have access to primary education

Over6.7 lakh children die every year from diahorreal diseases with around 2000 babies dying everyday.

India is losing annually over 10% of its GDP on account of environmental costs and the degradation of its natural resources. Between 11%-26% of our agricultural output is estimated to be lost as a result of widespread soil erosion.

But despite these problems there have been triumphs like:

15 year old Manuaara lives in the ragpicker colony of Narendra slums at ITO New Delhi and supplements her parents income by working as a ragpicker herself. Social workers from the trust encouraged her to enroll in the NFE  classes at Kala Kutir. She won the first prize in a competition organised on the National Literacy day and is now preparing for her class X examinations through the open school.

And there are many more success stories like these ……………..

By : Latika Sidana