I have been physically assaulted by my in-laws so many times that I have lost count”, says adolescent Raghavi* from a village in Belagavi, India. Married at the age of twelve, Raghavi began facing abuse during the time of her first pregnancy. She was just 15 then. “The first time my mother-in-law beat me was...

During the last few months, the state of Karnataka has been enforcing curfews and lockdowns due to the surge of COVID cases in the country. Schools and colleges have been shut down, the unemployment rate has increased, and the number of COVID cases has been rapidly rising. People are experiencing isolation, loneliness and frustration created...

Mr. Marrepalli Raju a daily wage worker from a village in Warangal district, Telangana lost both his parents to COVID-19.  “I took a loan of  around Rs.14,00,000 for my parent’s treatment but I couldn’t save their lives. In order to pay back the loan, I’m in struggling to make ends meet and provide food for...

With an average of 50,000 new cases daily in the month of May, Karnataka witnessed a new peak in the COVID pandemic. The second wave did not spare children, teenagers, and youth in their 20s, who accounted for a large number of infections and fatalities. According to the official data, 7,06,449 people got infected between...

The Balmanch (Children’s club) in mica dependent districts, emphasises on promoting education, self development, managing and operating facilities provided to children. The Balmanch was formed by our project and the children in the club work towards addressing child exploitation as a result of child labour in the region.  Balmanch meetings are conducted once in every...

Just when the child marriage of a 12-year-old Sneha* was about to take place, the Regional Secretariat staff of Bagalkot, Karnataka, accompanied by the movement leaders of our IMAGE , reached the venue and stopped it.  Sneha, who has grown up seeing her cousins get married at the age of 10 to 12  in her...

Women and girls always occupy the forefront when it comes to gender-based interventions. While it holds true that most gender discrimination is faced by women, the fight for a world with gender justice cannot be won by mobilising girls alone. Keeping this in mind, our project IMAGE which works on the empowerment of child brides,...

With the outbreak of the second wave, the socio-economic condition of our children and their families has worsened. They have limited or no access to health care and COVID protection, are facing food insecurity, have lost their means of livelihood, lack awareness on managing the virus and are in a total state of panic. We,...

The prevailing COVID conditions places families dependent on mica mining at risk. Firstly, they have lost their livelihood and have no means to survive. This makes their children extremely vulnerable to drop out of school and work in the mines. Additionally, the region being rural and remote, lacks access to proper health care services, placing...

Children of India Foundation aims to eliminate worst forms of child labour from the Mica mining belt in Jhakhand, India,  One of the objectives in achieving this is connecting community members with relevant social welfare and social protection government schemes such as Prime Minister Housing Scheme, MNREGA Job cards, Kisan Samman Scheme, COVID-19 Vaccination, Girl...