INTRODUCTION 

 

It is said that Awareness is only next to Literacy. PARAS India perceives creating awareness as one of the foremost ways in which man can be emancipated socially. Due to the lack of proper awareness among the people, they are devoid of their rights. People start considering their Rights which they derive from the constitution as charity. This makes it immensely important to make people realize they are a part of “WE THE PEOPLE” in the Preamble. Lack of legal and social awareness inhibits people from realizing their full potential. It is like a bird who doesn’t know that it has wings to fly. 

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Generally, it is seen that poor and rural people do not have sufficient knowledge about existing laws like Dowry Prohibition Laws; they are unaware that Pre-Natal Gender Screening is illegal under the PC-PNDT Act; they don’t realize that they are included under the Minimum Wages Act. The women from the urban slums working in high-end societies as domestic help, have no knowledge about the guidelines against the sexual harassment at workplaces to their rescue as a legal tool. 

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Further, due to lack of education and awareness they do not understand the importance of hygiene and sanitation. The staunch need for a Swacch Bharat Abhiyan and Darwaza Band Abhiyan points out to the fact.

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PARAS India works in generating awareness among these communities on the above discussed topics, so they are empowered enough to raise their voices against injustices on their own. 

 

AIMS/OBJECTIVES

 

• We endeavor to create awareness of various kinds among the deprived sections of the communities. 

• We spread social, legal, environmental and political awareness in various parts of India to bring the most marginalized section at par with mainstream.

• We raise awareness on various government schemes and policies, particularly for the BPL households and women related schemes. 

• We organize awareness campaigns for the economically and socially weaker sections of the community including tribal areas, slum areas, village areas and remote areas.

•  The prime step is to make them aware of their Rights, like the Right to Constitutional Remedies, to rekindle lost dreams and to give them concrete action plans to follow.

 

APPROACH WE FOLLOW

 

We have focused on the following aspects to spread awareness:

 

Social Awareness is raised in areas of Child Marriage, Child abuse, programs on Beti Bachao- Beti Padhao, Female Foeticide, Good Touch- Bad Touch, Awareness on disability and their rights, Dowry System and its ill effects, Self-Help Groups, Awareness on nutrition to pregnant women, benefits of Yoga, Road Safety and Menstruation.

 

Environmental Awareness has been generated by conducting rallies on Environment days by the school students, on the harmful effects of plastics, Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, Urban Flooding, Water Scarcity, Sanitation and Hand Wash.

 

Legal Awareness has been raised by the help of various professionals, lawyers of our team and by campaigns which are conducted to resolve the issues around domestic violence, Human Trafficking, Property rights etc. 

 

Political Awareness - The awareness drive of PARAS India has been implemented in areas of voting awareness facilitated by the Delhi Election Commission. Other areas include Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties, RTI and RTE.

 

Government Schemes Awareness is spread by medium of public lectures on various schemes like Jan Dhan Yojana,Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana,Jan Aarogya Scheme, Ladli Laxmi Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana, Schemes related to education for single girl child, various scholarships and fellowships available for higher education etc 

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METHODS

 

We include the following methods to implement our projects on Awareness-

• Street plays, Puppet Shows, Magic Shows were organized by a team of professionals time and again.

• Rallies have been conducted in various areas on diverse issues as would be mentioned below.

• Distribution of IEC material in the form of brochures, pamphlets and magazines.

• Social Media Coverage - Widespread use of digital platform like Facebook, Twitter, What’s App has been made by PARAS India 

• Workshops and training have been used by PARAS India as a medium for a better understanding of Political and social awareness by interactive sessions

• Road Show and exhibitions are utilized as a way to generate interest among the communities in our programs.

• Cultural Events are organized regularly.

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TO SUM UP

 

• A better understanding has been developed among the communities related to various government schemes after our intervention. 

• Increase in active participation of the communities in social life as aware citizens by our various programs.

• People now understand the value of their Right to Vote and various other fundamental Rights. The Right to constitutional remedies, known as the heart and soul of the constitution, has become a known right in the communities now.

• The target groups including women and children have a sense of contentment that issues of domestic violence and the importance of Girl education has not been neglected.