When India gained its independence 76 years ago, few would have predicted that scarcely three generations later, the nation would become the world’s most populous country, with an economy that is the world’s fifth largest (eclipsing that of the former colonial master), and one of the fastest growing anywhere. There is clearly much to celebrate on this historic occasion.
While these milestones are incredibly worthy of global note, the troubling reality that this progress has not benefited all citizens cannot be ignored. Labor force participation of women in India has been declining for years. According to the World Bank, in 2005 32% of Indian women worked; by 2021, that figure had dropped to 19%. Few experts have a plausible theory about the cause of this worrying trend. But that doesn’t mean that we lack pragmatic solutions to address the crisis.
Celebrating a nation’s independence, whether it be India’s or that of the United States that we marked last month, should give us pause to contemplate all of the ways that independence, or autonomy, can manifest itself in our society for the benefit of all. With the colonial era far behind us, we believe that it makes more sense to think about how people, families, and communities can become independent from any forces that oppress them, and able to chart their own futures free from any unnecessary impediment or interference.
One of the most potent ways ever identified to promote social and economic independence is girls’ education. More than 1,000 studies conducted in dozens of countries have demonstrated that having a girl child in rural areas graduate from even the fifth grade typically has a transformative impact on her ability to adopt progressive farming practices, find gainful employment, educate her children, build assets, defer marriage and childbearing until adulthood, and live a healthy life. In doing so, she will often not only improve her own life, but her actions will also benefit the entire community.
We have shown that we have been able to make meaningful progress on this to date. We should celebrate that over 98% of all children are enrolled in school, and that over the last 10 years, they are not only enrolling but completing the elementary level. Today’s eighth graders – whether boys or girls – are often among the first in their families (especially in rural areas) to reach this far in their educational journeys. This impressive achievement has been made possible by families, communities, organizations such as ours and governments all working together.
Let us therefore commit on this Independence Day to redouble our work to ensure educational opportunities for each and every Indian girl. We will work together to ensure that each of our three organizations’ programs increase their outreach and deepen their impact, and we invite others to join us.
Pratham’s program with children has always been equity-centered, focusing on all children, girls and boys. Seeing specific needs on the ground, Pratham started its Second Chance program in 2011, aimed to provide school dropouts, especially girls and women, another chance to complete secondary schooling. In 2017, Pratham initiated a program providing “catch up support” as well as life skills training to girls enrolled in residential schools for “at risk” students. As Pratham’s work in the domain of youth and skilling has expanded, several industry specific trades usually preferred by women were also developed (e.g. healthcare and beauty) as well as in several non-traditional skilling areas like electrical and automotive repair, where we are seeing rising participation of girls. These diverse models, activities, and resources are providing the basis for Pratham’s more comprehensive and cohesive strategy for enabling girls and women better prepare for a future with stronger basic foundations, exposure to different learning opportunities and eventually more successful pathways for life and livelihoods. By 2026, Pratham aims to integrate Girls and Women programs in at least 10,000 core communities across 20 states in India.
The Akanksha Foundation supports 14,000 students through the formal-school education program and 4600 alumni from underserved backgrounds across Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur. Its 26 schools run from kindergarten to grade 10 in partnership with municipal corporations and no fee is charged to the student. In the next five years, Akanksha aims to reach 500 public schools and impact 5,000 educators and 80,000 students, mainly by strengthening the public school ecosystem starting in Nagpur and Pimpri Chinchwad. Many of the female students in Akanksha-run schools are at risk of dropping out of school once they reach puberty. Akanksha works closely with the students and their parents to emphasize the need for continuing school education and its importance for a stable life through adulthood. Building trust in the communities, combined with constant engagement and mentoring, has enabled these girls to not just complete school but also to receive a college degree and employment.
The Foundation for Excellence (FFE) was founded with the mission to award college scholarships to students who, although financially constrained, showed great promise in the Engineering, Medical, BPharm and law programs, these being some of the most expensive higher education programs in India. To date, more than 95,000 scholarships valued at $45 million have been awarded, including more than 13,000 in 2022-23 alone. A growing number of these scholarships are funded by FFE alumni who have found gainful employment as a result of their educational achievements and hard work. FFE works hard to promote women in STEM education by increasing the percentage of women scholars each year.
Independence, properly understood, does not necessarily mean going it alone. While our nonprofits are independent organizations, our impact is often magnified by working with local and state government agencies and with each other. For example, recently a female Akanksha graduate received a scholarship from FFE to pursue her higher education in law.
Our commitment to exploring the possibilities of collective impact is why we have joined the India Philanthropy Alliance that includes organizations such as Agastya, AIF, Arogya World, Children’s Hope India, CRY, Sehgal Foundation, and Teach for India that each have breakthrough educational programs that could and should be brought to a larger scale through increased support.
That is also why we each play leadership roles in India Giving Day, a national campaign in the United States focused on effective giving to India. Our first annual campaign culminated in a national day of giving on March 2, 2023, and we are gearing up for a second effort in March 2024 that we will be announcing on Gandhi Jayanti in October.
In fact, we believe that Gandhi would, if he were alive today, be one of the first to say that we should focus our independence celebrations on the opportunities and challenges before us. He would likewise recognize that one of the most important opportunities is supporting education so that every girl is in school and learning well – a reality that we can hopefully celebrate together by the time India turns 100.
Manisha Bharti, MPH, MBA, is the first CEO and Global Executive of Pratham USA, the US-based organization mobilizing support for Pratham’s global efforts. Manisha has been a leader across a range of global development organizations, including GHR Foundation where she served as Chief of Strategy and Programs and at FHI 360, where she served as Chief Strategy Officer. Manisha has also worked for the United Nations Joint Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), McKinsey & Company, UNICEF, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, FXB Foundation, and the Canadian and Ontario governments. Her current work is informed and inspired by her early professional experiences living in the Volta region of Ghana and the Pali district of Rajasthan. Manisha graduated with honors from Harvard University, earning an interdisciplinary undergraduate degree in social studies. She also earned two master’s degrees with honors, in business administration and public health, from Johns Hopkins University.
Sejal Desai is the Executive Director of Akanksha Education Fund, an education nonprofit that runs 26 public private partnership schools in India for children from low-income communities. She has been a passionate advocate and supporter of various US and India based nonprofits focusing on education, hunger relief and women’s issues. Her 30-year career includes work in sectors like venture capital, M&A, accounting, entrepreneurship, nonprofit and corporate social responsibility. Most recently, she worked at Communities Foundation of Texas, where she led a strategic initiative focused on engaging businesses in the community. She also has experience supporting individuals and families with their philanthropic giving and engagement. Among other career highlights, she was a co-founder of a tech incubator, STARTech, she also started a social venture, SevaYatra focused on engaging US based universities and multinational corporations with India based NGOs. Sejal was born in India and lived and worked in Mumbai for 20 years. She is a Chartered Accountant from India and holds a Masters in Business Administration from University of Texas at Dallas and Masters in Liberal Studies from Southern Methodist University. Sejal is a passionate and engaged citizen of both countries and joined Akanksha in 2021 with a strong desire to transform lives through education.
Minoo Gupta is inspired by collaborating with people who have a growth mindset and who solve critical problems for corporations and society. She is the current President for “Foundation For Excellence” (www.ffe.org), a non-profit supporting college bound underprivileged students in India to become professionals in engineering, medicine, law and pharma. During her last 10 years of volunteering in this role, she has seen the organization grow to support over 13,000 students per year across India. Her laser focus on operational excellence, systems thinking and engineering driven problem-solving mindset has helped propel the organizations forward consistently. As Senior Director of Engineering at Citrix products, she worked across four geographies, leading and managing the Engineering Operations teams, to help deliver a frictionless customer experience. She enjoys reading, hiking and pottery in her leisure time.
