Rajasthan Mahila Kalyan Mandal (RMKM) is a voluntary organization inspired by community developmental strategies of Mahatma Gandhi. RMKM strives to improve the lives of rural/urban underprivileged communities and the disabled.
The establishment of the organization happened in 1975 when due to a major flash flood about 250 families got stuck in low-lying and dangerous areas of Ajmer. Lt. Mr. Sagar Mal Kaushik, then a railway employee came forward and assisted all the disaster-ridden families through the mobilization of relief materials like food, clothing and medicine with the help of his neighbours.
And so the journey began. Mr. Kaushik and his accomplice officially registered the organisation as a voluntary and non-profit one in 1987. The organization emphasizes its empathy with the most vulnerable social segment of the area which in this case are women. The founder secretary of the organization believed that if women of India are educated, economically empowered and emotionally strengthened then the growth of the complete nation would be inevitable.
RMKM works with rural/urban communities, disabled to rehabilitate them by enabling ownership over environment, institutions and communication. The organization has grown in terms of population coverage, geographical areas, multidimensional and varied development intervention supported through dynamic development strategies with prime focus over people living below poverty line, persons with disabilities , women and elderly. RMKM seeks to partner with and empower these groups to face the incongruities of their demanding home-land with the modernizing world.
RMKM operates to empower the rural/urban population to become helathy, self-reliant against growing challenges in survival. It also engages in programmes which promote independence and sustainability. with a special focus on persons with disability , women, children and high risk populations to create a more equal society.
What we do
RMKM takes a holistic approach to development
We engage the community in decision-making, planning, and implementation for a more equitable future. The Major Areas on which the organisation works
Education and Inclusion : Education is a powerful instrument of social change and often initiates upward changes in social action. Hence, providing access to the right of education to special needs children becomes more important to break the cycle of poverty and exclusion. India by ( UNCRC) United convention on Rights of Child and united convention on rights of persons with disbility (UNCRPD) promoting Inclusive education system strongly.and to support India’s mission. In 2006 RMKM did a paradigm shift in its approach by doing reverse inclusion in its two special schools in Ajmer, Rajasthan and ever since it has been promoting inclusion as a right for persons with disability and supporting 2500 persons with disabilities through different interventions.
Health :
The healthier the citizens of a country, the more effective the workforce; SDG 3 (sustainable development goal 3) aspires to ensure health and well-being for all, including a bold commitment to end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other communicable diseases by 2030. It also aims to achieve universal health coverage, and provide access to safe and effective medicines and vaccines for all. RMKM strives in this objective by working with high risk population viz, injecting drug users, commercial sex workers and migrant poulation to save them from the infection of HIV/AIDS. Along with this RMKM does a strong intervention in nutrition programmes , early identification and intervention of children with special needs and vaccination.
Livelihood Promotion and Micro-Credit :
Eradicating poverty is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development Over the past 40 years RMKM has empowered thousands of women who were living in poverty to become self-reliant through its Microfinance and livelihood initiative which supports women in farm and non-farm livelihood. When women have money in their pockets, it drives other key outcomes like better health for the family, education for their children, lower birth rates, and promotes sustainable communities.
At the moment around 3500 women spread across 300 villages are benefited by the microcredit programme and their loaning capacity has grown to rupees 5 crore. RMKM is continuing its upscaling of rural women with specific Animal husbandry midwives (pashu sakshi) to help families to take care of their small animal husbandry stock and support livelihood.
Human Resources Development :
SDG 4 aims for all children to have access to primary and secondary education by 2030,which includes children with disabilities too, but to address the needs of all children, trained teachers are required so that all children can be provided quality education right from the beginning. Keeping in mind differences in the classroom by promoting Universal design for learning as a tool to teach all children.
Since 2007 RMKM has been preparing a work force in special education. It’s by training preservice teachers through D.ed and B.ed in special education, by training existing inservice teachers through seminar workshops on inclusive education and understanding disabilities in the classroom and fostering inclusion through UDL.
Child Rights and Child Protection
As per constitution of India Every child has the right to protection. This not only includes children who are in different circumstances and those who have suffered violence, abuse and exploitation, but also those who are not in any of these adverse situations and yet need to be protected in order to ensure that they remain within the social security and protection net. Child protection is about protecting children from or against any perceived or real danger/risk in their lives, personhood or childhood. It is about reducing their vulnerability to any kind of harm and in harmful situations. RMKM is trying to support every child in distress through 24×7 child helpline 1098. Here, RMKM is working in collaboration with childline India foundation. Another collaboration effort of RMKM is with Kailash Satyarthi foundation in protection of child rights.
RMKM supported 7 Sustainable Development Goals out 17
