Nitin Wadhwani - Founder Director:

Greetings all,

92% of all Startups fail within 3 years of their inception, a staggeringly large percentage of failure;
however CACR completes 3 years in June 2016. It gives us great pleasure to note that we
have not only survived but done so with great credibility, improving our performance each year,
impacting the MCGM School system not only with our ongoing projects, but by also adding more,
all within the framework of the MCGM Education system.
A deep bow of gratitude to all our members, volunteers and interns who participated whole
heartedly in each and every project. Many more colleges stepped forward to support CACR this
year and we are extremely pleased to note that our youth today are a sensitized citizenry, aware
about the importance of ensuring good quality education and healthcare for the disadvantaged.
CACRs positive and result oriented efforts have also improved the confidence of our donors and
we thank them for their continued support and look forward to scaling up the impact of all our
projects during the coming years.
CACR continues to look at and plug the systemic gaps in the MCGM School system, ready
to hand hold the establishment to make it function effectively and ensure that this change is
sustainable.
Thank you all once again and do continue to shower us with your good wishes and support and
we will do our best to ensure better municipal schools for our children.
Citizens Association for Child Rights - CACR
CACR is a not-for-profit organization, registered under Section 8 of the IT Act and has approval
for tax benefits to donors under Section 80 G of the IT Act. CACR is Mumbai centric, working
towards improving access to education for children belonging to economically-challenged
backgrounds. The focus of CACRs work is to ensure that basic education and health care
remain accessible to all, ensuring that disadvantaged children are protected from further
vulnerabilities. CACR works to ensure that Mumbais Municipal Schools function effectively,
providing opportunities for children to learn, grow and realize their full potential. A dedicated team
of professionals, volunteers and like-minded citizen volunteers closely monitor, visit and work in
many of these Schools, to improve the system of education and health care for underprivileged
children, improve accountability in the system.
CACR GOALS
1. Ensure increased student enrolment in MCGM Schools (MS)
2. Work towards reducing student dropout rates in MS
3. Extend basic civic rights to marginalized communities
4. Improve processes for ensuring right to health care
5. Demand rehabilitation of children who are presently employed by businesses, in violation of
the Child Labour Act.
6. To ensure that basic educational facilities to handicapped and special children are available.
Projects Undertaken:
1. Computer Literacy Programme - CLP:
"Digital India is a vision of our respected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi under the National

Projects Undertaken:
1. Computer Literacy Programme - CLP:
"Digital India is a vision of our respected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi under the National
Digital Literacy Mission. It is also a reality for many Indians, but only a dream for most, it is a
dream which CACR is striving to help fulfill for these disadvantaged also.

Digital Literacy Mission. It is also a reality for many

Indians, but only a dream for most, it is a dream which
CACR is striving to help fulfill for these disadvantaged
also.
With the aim of assisting under privileged children in
our Municipal Schools to be computer literate, CACR
continued the implementation of Computer Literacy
Programme in the schools within our reach, imparting
the basics of Computer Literacy, i.e. Keyboard familiarity, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, shortcut to
keys, etc.
This was the 3rd consecutive year of implementation of this project and there has been both a
quantitative and qualitative improvement this year.
Compared to the previous year, there was a 102% increase in number of students who
underwent computer training.
Total number of students benefitted- 2100 students
Number of Schools - 25 Schools
The MCGM Wards included H/W, K/W, K/E, L, T, R and G/N, and some schools in Byculla and
Gilder Lane near Mumbai Central.
Students Bodies Volunteering for the CLP - Enactus HR
College, NSS HR College, NSS TSEC, NMIMS, NSS
Ruia, K J Somaiya Engineering College, Vivekanand
Engineering College, St.Xavier's Technical Institute,
Thakur College, Mukesh Patel Institute of Technology,
etc.
The encouraging part has been the fact that the youth
volunteers from these colleges and NSS teams supported this project wholeheartedly under the
able guidance of CACR member Zinal Shah; through them CACR could make a sizeable impact
in this project.
2. Train The Teacher - TTT:
Early on we had realized that even with all our very sincere efforts to reach each child in the
MCGM school system to ensure she is computer literate, we would fail, unless we educated the
teachers. To make the Computer Literacy Project successful and sustainable, it was absolutely
essential to train the teachers and enable them to carry this education forward to their students.
Based on the success of our pilot project, this year TTT was extended. After approvals from the
MCGM Education Department, CACR identified and appointed Master Trainers from amongst
its pool of Citizen and Student Volunteers, to conduct the TTT sessions across all the 12 Urban
Renewal Centres URC, across the city, with a Test
to evaluate the effectiveness of the training sessions,
between September 2015 and January 2016.
To address the high turnout of teachers in most URC,
morning as well as afternoon sessions were conducted
in batches of 20/25 teachers each, spread over 10
sessions of 2 hours each.

Most of the teachers had completed MSCIT several years ago and were vaguely familiar with the
basic computer skills, having lost touch due to lack of facilities to practice at their place of work.
They were generally found to be quick and keen learners and were grateful for the opportunity
to reinforce what they had learnt earlier. It is estimated that over 325 teachers underwent
training across the 12 URCs, covering all the Municipal Wards. Their learning was upgraded,
refreshed to develop further skills to impart this knowledge to their students as also in areas such
preparing their time tables, schedules, tabulations, reports, correspondence, animated Power
Point presentations etc. Their earlier learning was
reinforced through keyboard familiarity, text typing,
editing, saving and opening a document, making
a spreadsheet, inserting photos in a document,
creating charts, through extremely simple but highly
effective measures.
Apart from the Basics, there was also a session on
the effective use of emails, which should help the
teachers to compile and share their administrative
reports with their superiors with greater accuracy and speed, helping save their precious time
and effort, which today they expend doing this manually. Those successfully completing the TTT
programme were issued CACR Certificates.
One quote from a MCGM teacher:
My name is Hiteshi. The new computer training programme in MG. Bhole Marathi medium
school computer lab is of very high standard. We have learnt a lot more here than the previous
programme of MSCIT. There is a lot of personal attention and every doubt was cleared. We
learnt a lot of keyboard shortcuts which we didnt know earlier. A lot of useful commands were
shown by Yogesh Sir. We have learnt the table format in excel which is very useful for us in our
office work as well as teach the children how to calculate the marks and take out average. We
will surely implement this. Thank you....
Each year, at each meeting with the MCGM Education officials CACR has stressed the
importance of incorporating classes for computer education in the curriculum and the schools
time table, thereby effectively formalizing this important and essential arm of empowerment of
the MCGM school child.
We are extremely proud to announce that at last the MCGM Education Department has
incorporated Computer Education in their time tables.
Apart from implementing the CLP programme in municipal schools, CACR was also actively
involved in advocating with the MCGM Education Department and has successfully facilitated
the sanctioning of Rs.17 crores in the Education Budget for setting up 200 new computer labs
in municipal schools, drawing closer to the ideal of a computer lab in every Municipal School
building.
CACR continues its follow up with the MCGM Education department to ensure that every
Municipal School Building has a Computer Lab. Besides, the existing Computer Labs had quite
a few non functional computers with old software and operating systems which was making it
difficult for everyone to operate. CACR members have followed up this issue with the MCGM IT
Department and have activated the regular maintenance of these computers. This process has a
long way to go but has begun.

Our project on Computer Literacy Programme for children in MCGM schools, impacting 2100
children in municipal schools, supplemented with the Teacher Training Programme, gave us an
unique opportunity to reach out to 325 MCGM teachers across Mumbai; and is now one of the
most important projects in the Education Department. This effort will go a long way in bridging
the Digital Divide, we hope that it will arrest the rapid decrease in enrolment in municipal schools
and in fact help in improving it in the near future.
CACR Master Trainers
Aditya Chinamalla

Aman Grover

Ayesha Khan

Aditya Pappu

Akshay Shaligram

Bindita Joshi

Chhaya Angadi

Deyasini Choudhury

Himanshu Singh

Himesh Tulsiani

Ishan Mehta

Kosha Raval

Mansi Jain

Mihir Kulkarni

Mohindru Mirchandani

Narinder Madan

Niranjani Pandey

Purnima Mehta

Rohit Bharadwaj

Rushi Vajani

Smit Ambardekar Sarang Batra Sahil Ratnani Varsha Kamath

Ved Kulkarni

Vinita Menon

Yogesh Kolhatkar

What Aman had to say: ''Im working with Hitachi Metals in Mumbai as a Senior Engineer
Sales and Marketing. I love motivating and mentoring teenagers in my free time. The idea
behind this is to keep them informed of the hurdles they are going to face in next 5-7 years so
they can be better prepared to face new challenges. Working with CACR on weekends gave
me an opportunity to assess the real issues faced by children studying in Municipal Schools.
Throughout my association with CACR, I taught basic computer skills to Municipal School
teachers, who in turn passed this knowledge to their students. Im sure this initiative by CACR
will benefit millions in coming time.''
What Himanshu had to say: ''I am a computer engineering student under the Mumbai University.
I am currently studying in the third year of my bachelors degree. I am ever ready for a cricket
and a chess match I enjoy the company of kids. I believe in giving freedom, gaining responsibility
& respect, thinking for others and finally putting efforts beyond the box to get a social satisfaction
that is must for every socially responsible citizen.
It was a really great experience working with CACR. With the constant guidance of Mr. Nitin
Wadhwani I was able to develop many new qualities like public speaking, managing time and
especially the MCGM TEACHERS. Overall I would like to conclude this experience as an
opportunity to interact with new people and to take on challenges that included some fun also as
I was lucky enough to get very sincere batch of teachers who always attended the sessions and
supported us and our initiative.''
3. Health Check Up in Municipal Schools:
All children in Municipal schools are entitled to regular
and extensive health checkups once every 2 years as a
part of the School Health Programme.
Besides, free treatment for minor or major illnesses is
to be provided to children in municipal dispensaries and
school clinics across Mumbai under the Government
approved Accident Insurance policy as well as the
Jeevandayee Bima Yojana.

Unfortunately, CACR members have observed the

extremely shabby implementation of these health
checkup programmes. During one visit to a municipal
school, it was observed that a few children were sitting
on the floor very close to the blackboard. On checking
with the teacher, it was found that these children were
myopic, but on examination of the childrens health
checkup cards, no note or any recommendation to a
specialist was found nor was their shortsightedness mentioned.
This lacuna was brought to the notice of the MCGM Education Department and officials of the
School Health Programme; meanwhile CACR went ahead and organized a pilot Dental/Eye
Check up camp at one school, the Petit Municipal School in the H/W ward in Bandra with the
support of SMILES32 and the Lotus College of Optometry, sponsored by the Rotary Club of
Bandra in January 2016.
Our Observations were:
More than 90 children out of the 184 examined had serious dental
problems, some requiring immediate medical treatment. Approximately
10% of the kids had eyesight problems too. Free spectacles were by CACR
and MCGM as well, provided to children with weak eyesight.
These observations were instantly shared with the officials of the School
Health Programme and immediate action was initiated by them with
children taken to the neighbourhood municipal hospital for detailed dental
examination and treatment.
CACR has now increased its interaction with the officials of the School Health Programme and
will be organizing many more health check up camps in 2016-17 with support and guidelines
from Indian Dental, Ophthalmology, Tuberculosis, Dermatology and Pediatric Associations
to ensure that the Health Check up Camps are conducted properly in accordance with their
guidelines. Then based on the data collected the children will get proper treatment through the
MCGM Health Department.
The addition of the Health Check up Camp project in our schedule gave us vital insights into the
badly implemented School Health Programme in the MCGM schools.
4. English Teaching Programme:
Children everywhere learn better in their mother tongue. They are more likely to enroll and
succeed in school, their parents are more likely to communicate with teachers and participate
in their childrens learning. Girls and children in rural areas with exposure to only one language
stay in school longer and repeat grades less often. It is primarily with this objective in mind that
MCGM schools provide primary education in 7 Indian
languages but the compulsions and aspirations in a
large metropolis like Mumbai are changing and it has
been a sad observation that the enrolment in most of the
mediums except Hindi and Urdu has decreased rapidly in
the last few years.
The reason is the perceived increased importance of

learning English, even at the pre primary and primary

level. While children from privileged families achieve
this proficiency by learning in aided or private English
medium schools, it is not so easy for children from
MCGM schools. But, it is also a fact that children with
multilingual education tend to develop better thinking
skills compared to their monolingual peers. The poor
quality of English teaching in municipal schools with
little or no learning assistance from parents is the main reason for decreasing enrolment of the
disadvantaged children in these schools. Economically backward parents are striving beyond
their capacities to enroll their children in non MCGM English medium schools.
Hence a serious attempt has been made by the MCGM to increase the number of English
medium schools, known as Mumbai Public Schools (MPS) and it has been observed that there
has been an increase in enrolment in these 84 MPS schools in the last few years.
However the problem of getting proficient full time English teachers remains, impacting the
quality of education in these schools, resulting in their dependence on NGOs providing external
support.
While CACR fully endorses and supports the Government's decision on providing primary
education in a child's mother tongue, there is no doubt
that learning English is gaining importance, especially
in a metro city like Mumbai. And though one viable
option could be the instruction of English as a language
right from the time a child enters school, the problem of
adequate and quality education would remain.
To hand hold during this transition period, until an
effective number of proficient English teachers are
appointed by the MCGM, CACR tied up with the following partners to implement programmes in
English teaching:
a. E Teach Spoken English Programme by BCPT:
For the purpose of teaching English to children in age group 6-8 years, Class I to III studying
in MCGM schools, the use of curriculum based audio visual DVDs with animation videos was
introduced by CACR in municipal schools 3 years back.
This has helped both children and teachers and made the learning fun and interesting.
DVDs facilitated by the- Bombay Community Public Trust and developed by Tata Interactive
Systems are now slowly gaining popularity in municipal schools and there has been a sizeable
increase in the number of children benefitting from 750 in 2013-14 to more than 6298 in 2015-16,
in more than 72 municipal schools in various wards across Mumbai.
Number of children in:
Class I- 1878
Class II- 2361
Class III- 2059
Total number of children - 6298
b. English is Fun:
Based on the extremely positive feedback received from the teachers and children in the Marol
Police Camp Marathi medium municipal school, CACR decided to continue with implementing

partner Gyanodayas project, a community engagement initiative for children in Class V to VII.
One of the important aspects of this programme is to help children read and comprehend their
English text books and encourage them to write a paragraph in English from their lessons done
in the class each time.
This programme is conducted with help of volunteers twice a week for about 45 minutes each
and the emphasis is on giving the students an opportunity to speak English and improve
comprehension.
Singing nursery rhymes and action songs etc. make the programme fun and exciting and
children look forward to these interactions.
There has been a marked improvement in the performance of the participating students who are
now confident enough to read and write in English.
An estimated 100 plus children benefited from this programme.

c. Project Saarthi:
CACR had initiated this project with Enactus HR in 2015 with the aim of enhancing English
language skills of primary students.
Enactus HR had partnered LeapForWord (LFW), a NGO working in the English teaching space
for past 6/7 years and had successfully impacted over 4500 children in municipal and Zilla
Parishad schools.
This project was implemented in Nityanand MPS in K/E Ward with the help of 2 Saarthis and 109
children benefitted from this programme during the year 2015-16 from classes 1 to 8.
The assessment showed a marked improvement on completion of the programme and children
were able to:
A) Read Sentences and Paragraphs made up of 3/4 letter words.
B) Read complex breakable words from 2nd and 4th grade English text books
C) Comprehend substantial number of words from their respective text books.
Target student group: 1st to 8th grade students.
5. Dance:
In continuation with the initiatives taken during the earlier year, CACR helped in organizing the
training of Classical Dance in 3 municipal schools in K/E ward through well known Nalanda
Nrityakala Mahavidyalaya and 1 municipal school by Nateshwar Nrityakala Mandir during the
year.

a. Nalanda Dance Research Centre, a non-profit public

trust, is a premier institution enjoying a unique position
in the world of dance and education. Established in
1967, by the renowned dance exponent and scholar
Dr. Kanak Rele, as an institution to impart traditional
training in classical Indian dancing, Nalanda Nrityakala
Mahavidyalaya accredited by NAAC is permanently
affiliated to
the University of Mumbai in the Faculty of Fine Arts/
Performing Arts awarding Degrees.
Through CACR's involvement, they have been
conducting weekly classes in 4 municipal schools in K/E
ward and more than 450 children are now getting the
benefit from this very prestigious College.
b. Nateshwar Nrityakala Mandir has been established by Smt.Chhaya Khanvate, a student of
Sri Rajarajeswari Bharat Natya Kala Mandir and late
Guru T.K.Mahalingam Pillai. She is the recipient of the
National Cultural Scholarship for classical dance for
the years 1960/63, where she was judged by eminent
dancers and has also won the 1st prize at the All India
Murphy Radio Contest.
The weekly training programme for children is
presently conducted in 1 municipal school in Bandra
and there are 45/50 children participating every week.
Continued Efforts:
CACR looks forward to continue its partnerships with
Nalanda Academy and Nateshwar Nrityakala Mandir
in the coming academic year as well and hopes to
stage a show wherein Municipal School children can
showcase what they have learnt and be encouraged
to continue their involvement with Indian Dance. Our
mission is to reach as many Municipal Schools as
possible.
6. Screening of Childrens Movies in Municipal Schools:
The Virtual Private Network at the 4 MCGM Virtual Studios presently allows simultaneous
beaming of educational content to over 580 schools.
As reported last year, to improve the utilization of the MCGM Education Departments investment
in the Virtual Studios and also provide an opportunity to stimulate creativity of the children,
compassion and critical thinking, CACR tied up with the Childrens Film Society of India - CFSI.
CFSI is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, formed to
exhibit exciting and socially relevant, childrens films.
Presently CACR, with CFSI, continues to reach out to nearly 580 MCGM Schools at a time, with
these films. With at least one CFSI film a month on the last working day of the month, 10 films
are screened every academic year. An estimated
1, 88,850 children have enjoyed these films in the last Academic year.

7. Educational and Fun Trips:

a. Half Marathons:
This time, CACR organized the participation of nearly 500 children from municipal schools from
K/E, L and T Wards in the Powai Hiranandani Half Marathon Annual Events at Powai on 3rd
JANUARY 2016 and the Thane Hiranandani 14/2/2016
in the 4 Kms category.
Excellent support was extended by the Teachers of the
Physical Education Department to the event. They were
extremely pleased with the arrangements made for their
children by the organizers and CACR.
Perseverance and willingness to fight it out were two
qualities displayed by the MCGM School children in
these marathons. They had the opportunity to interact with several participants and it was a
unique and enjoyable experience for them. The excitement level amongst them was very high
and they are now very keen to participate in more such
events.
All participating children were provided with goody
bags, breakfast and medals by the organizers.
CACR believes that children in municipal schools
should be given every possible opportunity to
participate in such large public events, which will help
these children get a lot of exposure and confidence and
improve their awareness on physical fitness.

b. Nehru Planetarium:
CACR organized and sponsored educational trips for 500 plus MCGM School children to the
Nehru Planetarium, Museum and Science Centre
etc. during the year. Later MCGM acknowledged
these efforts of CACR and has since included such
trips as a part of their curriculum and sent more than
17,000 children to the Planetarium. CACR will now
be focusing on improving and fine tuning this project
during the academic year 2016-17, as there are many
other such opportunities for educational trips for the
children.
c. Kala Ghoda Art Festival Workshop on 6th and 7th Feb 2016:
CACR organized and sponsored the participation of 130 children this year, from the Nityanand
MPS, Dixit Road MPS, H P Keluskar, Chakala, and Adarsh Nagar Municipal Schools in the Kala
Ghoda Art Festival workshops at the Prince of Wales
Museum garden, listed below and conducted by renowned
artists.
i. EXCHANGE IT! PRESENTS 'BOOK SWAP FOR KIDS! Was about developing the childs reading habits Children
could trade their book for another here exchange it for
another also enjoy innovative craft activities along with it.

ii. STORIES IN THE PARK - Posters with jumbled-up

stories were put up in the park. Children had to read the
story and then answer the quiz based on it at the end.
Iii. THE TARA SHARMA SHOW - This was an interactive
session with children and their parents to discuss various
topical parenting issues followed by a yoga session.
iv. SOLDIERS OF SOIL - ROLLERCOASTER
EDUTAINMENT - Eco-friendly craft activities
were designed to foster a childs creativity, to help them imbibe a sense of environmental
consciousness and a sense of belongingness within the community. A simple and fun way to
encourage kids to take Green Actions!
v. FINDURCLASS.COM PRESENTS 'DISCOVERING INDIAN MUSIC' Children rediscovered
the rich, traditional folk music of our diverse land through songs, games and performances.
vi. CREATIVE MOVEMENT BY RHYTHMUS HAPPY FEET - With age-appropriate music,
syllabus and approach, this workshop provided a perfect balance between fun and learning. The
focus of the workshop was to touch all developmental parameters of a child, through dance with
games, props and music that got every childs feet tapping.
8. Programme on Self Defense:
Nothing feels better than knowing that you can take care of yourself mentally, financially, as well
as physically. However for a lot of people, the physical part is just exercise. Being able to protect
yourself in all situations is a confidence booster as much as it is a reassurance; a reassurance
that can only be gained through acquiring some form of
self defense ability.
Hence, CACR organized an introductory camp on Self
Defense for around 100 kids children of the Manilal
Municipal School in K/W Ward with the support of
CACR member Bimal Bhuta and his team of self
defense instructors, Chinmay Yajnik, Perumal Swami,
Jainesh Jaisur, Niket More and Siddesh Shirgaonkar.
Each move was defensive in nature; the children were carefully instructed to not provoke
violence at any time and to assist others in danger. Besides they were encouraged to interact
with the local Police if required. The students response was overwhelming, some of them
begging for regular classes.
If CACR is able to put together a sufficient number of qualified instructors in future, the childrens
request will definitely be attended to.
9. Plays by Mujeeb Khan's Idea Theatre Group:
As a part of Swachhata Abhiyaan, CACR organized
street plays in 3 municipal schools on the importance of
Cleanliness and Hygiene which was well attended by more
than 1000 children and officials of the MCGM Education
Department.
The short 20 minutes plays were entertaining and conveyed
the very important social message on how it is important
for children to keep their surrounding clean and practice
hygiene on a daily basis. Our volunteer Avinash Barve,
coordinated these events for CACR.

10. School Management Committees ( SMC) in Municipal Schools:

The School Management Committee is a constituent body formed in accordance with the Right
to Education (RTE) Act 2009, to monitor the various amenities, facilities, budgets, infrastructure,
and most importantly the quality of education. The School Management Committee has to be
constituted in every School, other than an unaided School, within six months of the appointed
date, and reconstituted every two years.
As per RTE Act 2009, 75% of the strength of the
School Management Committee shall be from amongst
parents or guardians of children i.e. 15 parents from 20
members.
NGO representatives as SMC in municipal schools
have a very huge responsibility.
As empowered citizens, they act as a conduit between
the system and the parents of under privileged children and it is the in responsibility to share
the knowledge of the system, information on facilities and amenities for children, monitor
the infrastructure of the schools in compliance with the RTE Act, check quantity, quality and
nutritional value of mid day meals, plan proper utilization of the School Budget, etc.
It is expected that SMC members work together with the authorities in improving accountability
as regards the functioning of the Municipal Schools. CACR members managed to participate and
activate regular SMC meetings in about 10 Schools
and some of the best meetings were held in the K/E
and H/W Wards Schools. Our members Bimal Bhuta,
Mani Patel, Mohindru Mirchandani, Narinder Madan,
Sanjivanee Kashikar, Vinita Menon, maintained a good
rapport with both, the Head Masters as well as the
parents of their respective schools, which helped in
the conducting of regular monthly meetings, with a fair
degree of involvement from all the participants.
CACR also continues to conduct SMC Orientation sessions for parents in some Schools as well
as a few Resource Centres of the MCGM Education Department to help proper implementation
of this important clause of the RTE Act. CACR looks forward to greater active participation from
both citizens as also the community during the coming years. This will help strengthen the SMC
in Municipal Schools which will in turn help to improve accountability, functioning as well as the
quality of education.
Due to this participation in the SMCs by CACR members:
a. There have been discussions on important issues like utilization of School Development Fund,
the mid-day meal quality and visits to the kitchens of
the Self Help Groups, monitoring of the health checkup
cards, the school infrastructure, housekeeping and
security, virtual classroom programme, etc.
b. Our continuous intervention through these SMCs
has resulted, for the first time since the inception of
this scheme, in the distribution of the 27 items due to

a Municipal school child, on the very first day of this academic year in the schools. The MCGM
problem was their skewered tendering schedules. Once our gentle but constant suggestions for
a change in these were accepted by the authorities, all fell in place. But we still need to be very
vigilant, for the coming years.
c. CACR is the only NGO wherein some of the active SMC members have highlighted their
concerns with the School Infrastructure Cell (SIC) of the MCGM Education Department..
In 205-16, after organizing joint visits with the officials of the School Infrastructure Cell to various
schools, CACR members managed to get the following municipal school buildings taken up for
major and minor repairs:
Apart from advocating for these budgets to be
sanctioned, CACR members were also actively
involved in the supervision of the work in progress to
ensure that the amount spent is well utilized and good
material was used.
SMC member Meena Kaura reports that the budget
sanctioned for Major Repairs to Gazdar Bandh
Municipal School was Rs.1 Crore of which 95 lakhs was utilized.
Further, the SIC is at present conducting a survey of additional work in the school and another
Rs.65 to 70 lakhs is expected to be sanctioned soon.
The Guzdar Scheme Residents Trust members are monitoring the work in the school along with
Meena.
Petit Municipal School: Due to the timely follow up of member Mani Patel, the contractor was
pulled up as some of the quality of work was not up to the mark resulting in leakages, etc. Since
the repair work completed was still under the MCGMs guarantee period, the contractor was
called back and asked to re do the work wherever required.
This is a first instance that we are aware of, of any contractor being pulled up and made to redo
work in a Municipal School during a guarantee period.
Khar Danda: The survey is complete and major repairs will be taken up once the budgets/
estimates are finalized.
We need more such active citizen and community participation during the coming years to
strengthen the School Management Committees in Municipal Schools, which will go a long
distance in improving the functioning and quality of education received by children as well as
enhance the accountability of the system.
11. Mid-Day Meals:
During the past years, our members have functioned as very productive and proactive SMC
members in various Municipal Schools. One of their duties as responsible and active SMC
members has been to check on the vital and a programme with far reaching consequences, the
midday meals provided for the school children on a daily basis for quality and quantity.
Their observation over a long period of time is that the mid-day meal given to the school students
is of execrably poor quality. We have made multiple efforts, meeting the Self Help Groups (SHG)
in common meetings, individual meetings, visits to their kitchens, maintaining photographic

evidence as well as videos and of course

informing the concerned MCGM officials
regularly of all above, especially about
the filthy conditions under which these
kitchens work.
One extreme instance was in the month
of Dec 2014, one of our volunteers Ms.
Roshni Singh found numerous worms in
the Khichadi supplied by the Amruti Mahila
Mandal SHG. This worm infested food
was distributed to the students of Chakala
Hindi medium Morning batch without being
checked by the School Building in Charge.
Moreover, when the worms were found in
the Khichadi he didnt bother to send the
food sample to Dadar midday meal lab for
analysis. Instead the SHG representative
was just called to the school and was
mildly scolded by the in Charge and the
Headmaster.
Subsequently and shockingly glass
shards and worms were also found in the
food at the Dixit road school, Vile Parle
(E). The school Head Mistress had complained about the food quality and sent food samples
to Dadar. The SMC parent members from Chakala Marathi No.1 School also went to visit the
kitchen of the SHG in Jogeshwari and found the rice was infested with white fungi like powder.
They had immediately called the mid-day meal supplier of that school building and showed their
representative the sub-par food sample.
We need to note that this one SHG alone supplies food to almost 5000 students in 3 MCGM
school buildings that house numerous schools!
But, instead of being permanently barred for this in our opinion, criminal act, the Amruti Mahila
Mandal was blacklisted by the MCGM officials in Jan 2015 for a very short period from one
school and not at all from the others.
Besides the unhygienic and unhealthy mid day meals, we also find that most suppliers are
flouting the Mid-Day Meal GR by not giving biscuits and meals as per the quality and quantity
given in the GR.
Also the types of Khichadi provided are never as per the GR. Importantly many times the
unhygienic and tasteless Khichadi provided is thrown away uneaten in the schools.
Hence it was with a sense of relief that we read the order of the Honble Bombay High Court
regarding implementation of Centralized Kitchens for the MCGM Mid day Meals in the WP No.
4353 of 2012. A point of interest is that several letters were written by the MCGM officials too,
to the Government of Maharashtra regarding the issue of appointing centralized kitchens for the
Mid Day Meal Programme in Mumbai MCGM Schools. In fact three sites have been identified,
one each in the Eastern, Western suburbs and in the Island City by the MCGM for these
centralized kitchens. Unfortunately the Government of Maharashtra has yet to act on this order.
Meanwhile, to satisfy ourselves of the efficacy of the MCGM GR regarding the quantity and the

nutritional values to be provided to the school children through the meal, and the claims of the
SHG about the low quality food grain provided by the FCI, we prepared and video graphed this
preparation for one child following the GR Guidelines for Std 1 to 5, to the word, in the presence
and guidance of Ms. Shubhangini Joshi, a noted Nutritional Expert and Ex In charge Principal
& Head, Dept. Food Technology, P.V. Polytechnic, S.N.D.T. Women's University and author of
the book - Nutrition and Dietetics. We sourced the rice from one of the SHGs we interact closely
with.
Through this exercise we wanted to:
1. To understand and implement the cooking of one of the meals as per the GR on the Midday
meals for school children on a micro level.
2. To understand and verify the claims of the SHG regarding the problems faced by them during
the cooking of this one meal.
3. To check the weights prescribed in the GR.
We then sent the meal we cooked to the Ramkrishna Bajaj CFBP Consumer Education &
Testing Centre of the SNDT University to check its nutritional values. Scan and attach report
Our conclusions regarding the meal even cooked as per the GR:
1. The dal to rice proportion is far below adequate nutritional levels for proteins.
2. Total quantity of Khichadi cooked was more than 600gm much beyond the quantity prescribed
in the GR (270gm). Reducing the water content to make it weigh less makes the Khichadi too dry
and unappetizing, this is a common complaint from the children. That is, the total quantity of the
meal cooked as per the GR is much more than can be consumed by a child in the age group of
Std 1 to 5.
3. The raw rice contains impurities, but is not of poor quality and can be cleaned through
thorough sieving and washing.
4. There needs to be wider variety in the Khichadi types.
5. To increase the Protein values of the meal, sprouted beans, drumsticks, etc should be added.
6. Include food items like Missal Pav, Bhel made with sprouts etc. to increase a childs interest in
the meals provided to her.
Keeping our findings in mind we have recommended to the authorities that the MCGM GR needs
to be amended to: Reduce the quantity of rice per child in the age group of Std 1 to 5 from 100
gms to much less than 75 gms and increase the Dal from 20 gms to around 30 gms and reduce
the quantity of rice per child in the age group of Std 6 to 8 from 150 gms to around 75 gms and
increase the Dal from 30 gms to40 gms, immediately to ensure that the MCGM School Child is
provided a nutritious meal. Besides include some variety in the food items as well as sprouted
beans, drumsticks etc to further increase accessible proteins in both categories.
CACR is convinced that this amendment in the GR needs to be implemented on an urgent
basis, besides the Government needs to expedite the execution of the order of the Honble
Bombay High Court to implement the Centralized Kitchens, wherein there will be accountability,
accountability which is completely missing in the present system and will benefit the
disadvantaged Mumbai children for whom this scheme was drafted in the first place.
CACR will continue to advocate for the expeditious implementation of the above Court Order.

12. International Literacy Day:

International Literacy Day is celebrated on August 8 every year. This year, the members of the
Rotaract Club of Ramnarain Ruia College decided to celebrate International Literacy Day like
never before. This International Service initiative was aimed at increasing global understanding
among young children in MCGM schools, in collaboration with CACR. The headmasters/

mistresses of four MCGM schools in the Mumbai suburbs agreed to give them two hours with the
students to celebrate this day.
The volunteer members brainstormed for a week over the kind of activities that could be
conducted and which where fun and educational for the children, then began organizing
materials for the event. Chocolates and paper were purchased in bulk to minimize costs. CACR
arranged to provide crayons for all the children.
All the volunteers were split into four groups that went to the four schools listed below:
1. Nityananda School (Vile Parle)
2. Dixit School (Vile Parle)
3. Tank Lane School (Santa Cruz)
4. Petit School (Bandra)
The volunteers interacted with the students, teaching
them to draw and recognize flags of different
countries, got them to speak a few sentences in
French, German and Spanish, sing a song in German
and finally held a quiz to test what they had learned.
The winners were given chocolates and crayon
boxes. The children were also shown a power point
presentation on the importance of literacy and the
Right to Education Act in India. Through this project
they reached out to over 400 students from standard
3 to 9 to spread the message of literacy.
With the help of our enthusiastic volunteers we were able to make this project a huge success.
Both the children and the volunteers had a blast.

Future Projects Planned, besides the Current Continuing Efforts:

We definitely plan to continue all the other projects detailed above as long as needed, besides
start those mentioned below in the coming year:
a. Project Green:
We will soon be implementing the Project Green on Organic Gardening/ Composting as a pilot
project in some municipal schools during the year.
Recently, there has been a very strong wave to educate citizens and school children about waste
management and using sustainable efforts to reduce our carbon footprints. Unfortunately, we
find that our MCGM school children and their families are not included in this awareness drive.
To activate this section of our society in this important national effort we propose the following
programme be implemented in all the MCGM School system.
CACR will implement this with the help of experts in the field of sustainable waste management.
A further step is to educate the children regarding the possibilities of growing ones own
vegetables, flowers, greens etc, and afforestation.
The Aim is
To give the children a participatory exercise with hands on experience of composting and learn
how waste changes into food.
To help develop an aptitude for team work in the children.
To bring children closer to their environment.

To carry this knowledge to their friends and families.

The Methodology:
Learn about why composting is needed and create compost.
Learn what waste can be composted.
Learn the methods of composting through the composting bins provided by CACR to schools to
help them compost their own waste.
Learn about plants that can be grown and type of pests affecting them and their treatment.
Herbs like mint, coriander leaves, leafy vegetables like Spinach, Methi, and climbers like Karela,
Bottle Gourd, and Tomatoes etc.
Create mini pots from recycled material for growing individual plants from seeds.
Prepare common beds using bricks on ground, with protection nets for sowing of seeds.
Understand the relation between their care for the plants and their survival. Learn about water
saving methods like home made sprinklers and drip irrigation etc.
Our Target is 3 schools in the H & K Wards.
We are happy to note that we have the MCGM permissions to implement this important pilot
programme in the two MCGM Wards mentioned above.
We also plan to modify our presentation to be used as an educational tool through the Virtual
Classroom medium.
b. Revive the School Health Programme:
CACR plans to take forward and monitor closely the extremely important School Health
Programme for children. We need to ensure that the Health Check-up programme is
implemented well and also that the more than 120 Municipal Dispensaries and 5 Municipal and
Government Hospitals provide better support with respect to treatment for minor and major
illnesses if any, especially for children enrolled in MCGM Schools. We also plan to organize
counseling sessions on cleanliness, health and sanitation during the year in some Municipal
Schools as a pilot project. On examination of the current MCGM Health Check up Card for its
school children, shows an extremely elaborate check up system. Unfortunately a majority of the
checkups as per these MCGM norms cannot be conducted by a General Practitioner (GP).
In any good health systems, the GP is the first step for a patient, only when this doctor has
a doubt that the patient is referred to a specialist. But the MCGM has unfairly loaded the
responsibilities of many specialists on to their GPs. We presume this is one of the reasons for
the total apathy in the check up systems. With the MCGM GP not knowing where to begin and
end, they are not even bothering to expose the child to the basic mandatory examinations that is
their duty as Doctors; leave alone inform the childrens parents if they need further examination
by the concerned specialists and treatment thereafter.
We have started to advocate a change in the health check up norms and systems, so that the
MCGM GP has an implementable programme in hand and does not blindly mark the checkup
cards, thereby totally abdicating their basic responsibility towards the welfare of the Municipal
School Child.
The MCGM GP must work as the first defense against any illness in the Municipal School child.
Besides a GP, ideally should also guide the child and her parents on issues regarding the basic
personal hygiene practices that must be incorporated in their daily habits. No such guidance is
available this Child.
As a part of bridging one such gap CACR has tied up with UNICEF to implement Hand Wash
with Soap. UNICEF has successfully implemented this in the interiors of several States in India.
The programme is implemented through the play method in 13 sessions covering movies &

practices. Initially it is proposed to take up a pilot in some Municipal schools, to be scaled up

later. Towards this the UNICEF staff conducted an orientation session for WASH for CACR
volunteers, WASH is the collective term for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.
A very elaborate programme has been chalked out starting with star ratings for the infrastructure
in every school as per the guidelines laid down under the Swachh Bharat Swachh Vidyalaya
programme to teach children how to wash their hands especially before and after their meals.
This pilot project is expected to reach out to around 300/400 kids during the first phase of its
implementation.
c. Advocacy with the officials of the Education Department of MCGM and other concerned
authorities during 2015 -16:
Meetings with officials of the Education Department of MCGM continued during 2015 -16 as well,
with inputs and suggestions on improving the functioning and quality of education in Municipal
Schools. Issues related to implementation of various important projects like Computer Literacy
Programme, Spoken English Programme, participation of members in School Management
Committees, strengthening the E learning Programme through Virtual Studio, giving children
an opportunity to learn dance, participate in health and sanitation programmes, monitoring
the quality of mid-day meals, highlighting the delays in distribution of 27 items to children in
Municipal Schools, etc. to bring about positive change. Frequent interactions with the authorities
during the year, both at Ward and Zone level and with the Education Officer, DMC Education,
AMC, the Education Commissioner and also the State Education Minister have helped to
network and advocate for the right to education.
d. Career Counseling:
CACR hopes to partner with eminent counselors to offer the MCGMs secondary school children
quality education and vocation counseling regarding their future plans. This is extremely
important today to ensure that the child steps out of school with focus regarding her future.
e. Videos:
CACR has definite plans to partner with the St. Pauls Institute of Communication Education
(SPICE) Bandra, to produce small videos on issues concerning a Municipal School child, be they
concerning health, relationships or play.
f. Computer Literacy Workbook:
Based on the considerable experience of our CLP Volunteers and Master Trainers we plan to
design a step by step instruction manual or Workbook. We hope to advocate the use of this
Workbook for the MCGM School children, as also the teachersv.
CACR Partners:
CACR has been fortunate to have collaborated with key institutions and experts many mentioned
in the report, in the implementation of the programmes in Municipal Schools across Wards in
Mumbai. Partnerships have in fact proved to be very effective in reaching out to more children
and enhancing the quality of our programmes. We will continue to network in the coming year
and forge new partnerships with organizations and domain experts.
CACR has an extensive dedicated and committed network of citizens and students from various
Organizations like the:

H (W) Ward Federation

Guzdar Scheme Residents Trust
Rotary Clubs, etc.

CACR has also has dedicated support from various committed students organizations and
colleges.

Enactus H.R.
NSS Ruia
NMIMS Students Body,
SoRT team of VESIT, etc.
K J Somaiya Engineering College
Vivekanand Education Society's Institute of Technology
Thadomal Shahani Engineering College
H R College
K C College
Ruia College
Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies
St.Francis Institute of Engineering
Thakur College
Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management and Engineering

CACR Citizen Members:

CACR Citizen Members who Drive the Change with Their Exemplary Spirit and Dedication to the
cause of Child Rights and the Right to Quality Education are:
In alphabetical order

Amrapali Salvi

Caroline DSouza

Cdr. S.K. Jana

Debonita Biswas Mani Patel Mohindru Mirchandani

Mr. Natrajan Narinder Madan Sanjeevani Kashikar
Shobha Madye
CACR Core Committee:
Deyasini Choudhary is a B Arch and M Arch both from the Sir JJ College of
Architecture, Mumbai University. She has 17 years of professional practice in
architectural design including large infrastructure structure projects like Fortune
Hotel at Hyderbad, Baramati Textile Park and HAL electronic center, Kasargod;
as well as a couple of years of teaching as visiting Faculty at the IES college of
Architecture. She has now taken a sabbatical from her professional life and joined
CACR first as a volunteer for computer literacy programme, later to help with developing an easy
format to develop computer literacy amongst MCGM teachers and students. She believes in the
CACR aim to activate the MCGM school system to improve its condition, to the extent that no
citizen would be ashamed to send their child to its schools. She strives to inculcate the freedom
of thought in these school children to think up new ideas and inspires them to take them forward.

Mohindru Mirchandani is a retired Engineer and Finance professional, from

Santacruz West. He is committed to voluntary work since five years. Citizens
Association for Child Rights (CACR) provides a platform for enhancing Education
in Municipal Schools (MS) in H West Ward, his residential locality. There are
nearly 40 schools, covering Primary, Upper Primary and Secondary with many
media of instruction. Spoken English, Computer Literacy Programmes, for
both Teachers as well as the students, enhancing the Virtual Class Room experience, Extra
Curricular Activities are some of the initiatives aimed at providing an opportunity for the all round
development of tomorrow's generation.
Purnima Mehta, an alumnus of KC College, Mumbai has a BA in Psychology
from Mumbai University. She has adorned various professional roles from being
Real Estate & Human resources consultant, to a tutor mentoring school kids. She
has actively worked with organizations such as AGNI, H West Federation & the
Relief Road Residents Association.
Purnima feels that the real change can take place through the future generation.
She has been working for the upliftment of impoverished kids, there by empowering them.
Tina Sarkar has worked as a teacher previously in privileged environments
but also works for the needy and underprivileged students and derives a lot
of satisfaction from it. Convinced that to think about doing something for the
society is easy, she looked for long for a platform to channelize such thoughts
constructively. Her passion is dance and performing in shows as a part of worship.
She hopes to contribute her best as a teacher, to society through CACR.
Varsha Kamath is a PhD in Life Sciences and has worked in Biomedical
Research for 12 years. Later she taught DMLT students for 2 to 3 years. A
teacher by vocation, she believes that an empowered and educated child is the
only viable future citizen of our country. A logical step from this belief, for her, has
been to join CACR to help activate and improve the MCGM School System.
Vinita Menon has donned several hats over the years, but contribution towards
the betterment of society has always been her underlying motive. She holds a
M.Sc. (Micro) MU, a Dip. Bus. Admn (XIC Mum), a PG Dip. in Sp Sc & Nutrition,
SNDT Cert. in Diet Therapy and a Train the Trainer Certification.
A sports nutritionist by profession, motivational speaker, trainer and lecturer,
her aim is to contribute to the betterment of the community, especially the
underprivileged children and youth, as well as to an improved civic society. Through her work
with various organizations, she has empowered herself to fulfill this desire. The process of
improving and not substituting the MCGM School System is a belief that she subscribes to.

CACR Advisory Team:

Mohinder Pal Singh Bachher is a businessman dealing in Marine Equipment - Sales and
Support. The Marine business includes selling equipment and spares for ships and represents
marine equipment manufacturers of India in U.K, New Zealand and Germany, amongst other
countries. He has also undergone first level training for Water Jets, Outboard Motors and
Stabilizers. M. P. Singh has been the President of the Rotary Club of Bandra, Bombay and is
involved in many social activities. He is associated with the Guru Harkishan School, Santacruz
West as a Life Member and the H (W) Ward Federation.
Sandra Shroff has been actively involved in the United Phosphorus Limited Company from its
inception and is currently its Vice Chairman. Some of the positions she holds include Director at
Enviro Technology Limited, Bharuch Enviro Infrastructure Limited and Vapi Waste and Effluent
Management Company Limited, Member of ICC (ICMA) western region, Associated with FICCI
& ASSOCHAM, Chairman of Burns Association of India, Airoli, Chairman of Smt Sandra Ben
Shroff Gnyan Dham School in Vapi, Chairman of Ankleshwar Industrial Development Society,
Ankleshwar, Governing Board Member of Sharada Mahila Vikas Society (promoted by Sewa
Rural) Bharuch, Governing Board Member of Development Support Centre (DSC) Ahmedabad,
Governing Council Member of GIDC Raju Shroff Institute of Management Studies, Donor Trustee
of Haria Rotary Hospital and Trustee of Gnyan Dham Vapi Charitable Trust. Most importantly she
is actively involved in the social and welfare activities of village Schools and has been successful
in establishing Schools and hospitals in South Gujarat.
Naresh Karmalker is a citizen activist for over 20 years. He has been involved in the formation
of many Mumbai-based citizens associations. He was also one of the founder-members of
Mumbai 227, which attempted to create a common platform for independent candidates in
the 2012 Municipal elections. He is an environmental activist associated with bodies such
Clean Bandra Campaign working with 15 Schools in the H (W) Ward on the issue of waste
management, Stree Mukti Sanghatana and the Burhani Foundation. Naresh is associated with
Habitat for Humanity, an international NGO working in the field of right to housing and sanitation,
and with Business Network International (BNI). Besides he is on the Editorial Board of The
Teenager Today magazine and co-founder of its event Teen of the Year.
Nanjibhai Shah Born in a small town in the Kutch area of Gujarat, Nanjibhai Shah came to
Mumbai in 1970 to become a doctor. Since his financial conditions were not good, he couldnt
fulfill his dream. He had two options - either to wait for his financial condition to change or step
ahead to change it by hard work. He chose the latter. He worked as a labourer, sold kites and
washed vessels, tirelessly keeping in mind his determination to amount to something. In 1980
he opened a shop at Khar West, Mumbai with a very nominal sum. Thus Neelam Foodland
was born. Today Neelam Foodland is a byword for those who want to buy high quality foodstuff,
including rare products that are difficult to procure anywhere else. Nanjibhai Shahs store
Neelam Foodland is today a popular landmark in Western suburbs.
Meena Kaura is a teacher and social activist. She has been a lecturer at the Chandigarh College
of Higher Education. For the past 25 years she has been a full time volunteer and devotee at
the Ramakrishna Mission in Mumbai. She runs the Sharda coaching classes at the Mission
for children from underprivileged families attending Schools nearby. She also organizes and
conducts the annual Elocution Competition for all Mumbai Schools at the Mission. She is a
Trustee of the Guzdar Scheme Residents Trust (GSRT) since its inception, which addresses the
civic issues faced by the residents of Santacruz (W).

Dr. Wagle is an IIT Bombay 1969 batch (EE) alumni. Post PhD in Computer Science at U of
Nebraska-Lincoln, US he was Asst Prof, Computer Science, IIT, Chicago, before returning to
India. He has worked in TIFR Computer Group, headed the Communication Group in CMC
and has been Director C-DOT, MD Aspect Development and Senior Architect at Mphasis. His
computer science and computer industry career spans 40 years. Since retirement Dr Wagle
changed his career from computers to social work. He has been associated with CACR for over
3 years now and likes the CACR policy of energizing the MCGM education system to do its own
work. He also believes that primary school students must get a rounded education that includes
for example visits to planetarium, participation in running races and training in dancing.
Dr Wagle also manages the Nachiket Bal Wachanalaya, Amravati an NGO which runs 20+ library
branches in the rural areas of Amravati district for underprivileged students. He has recently set
up Engineers for Service (efors.in) NGO with his IITB69 class mates to carry out technology
projects that can help rural communities. He is a member of MCGM's Technical Advisory
Committee that over sees initiatives aiming to bring transparency in the MCGM vis a vis the
citizen. Dr Wagle is also passionate about expanding the Marathi Wikipedia.
Indrani Malkani has involved her trust V Citizens Action Network (VCAN) in the particular
matters of Revision of Electoral Rolls, and Voter Registration/Deletion to positively impact voter
turnout. As Trustee, VCAN, and Founder Trustee & Hon Secretary of Malabar Hill Residents
Association, she is associated with many non-profit organizations, citizens groups, and NGOs
who value her experience and guidance.
CACR Directors:
Project Director Dr. Richa Singh is a dentist, amateur painter, and voracious
reader. She has completed her graduate degree (BDS) in Dental Surgery from
Mumbai and obtained a professional diploma in financial management from
Thadomal Shahani Trust, Mumbai. She also holds a certificate in Management
Principles as well as CSR and Value creation from Audencia Nantes School of
management. Richa is passionate about the causes of education and healthcare
and has volunteered with NGOs such as AGNI and CRY. She has been part of the CACR team
from the genesis of the organization and has played an active role to build and expand its impact
and reach.
Nitin R. Wadhwani the Founder Director is a Science graduate from Mumbai
with a Diploma in Radio Electronics. He is a Director of a company, which is
in the business of distribution of Electronic Components, specializing in the
field of Power Electronics. He is also a promoter of a joint venture - Indo Italian
manufacturing company - which manufactures transformers for export and
domestic markets. On the social work front, Nitin has been volunteering to
improve the quality of education in Municipal Schools of Mumbai since 2008,
before founding CACR in 2013. He believes in networking with like-minded citizens, institutions
and NGOs in the field of education and health to strengthen and supplement the system.

Vidya Vaidya Director is an Artist and Social Activist. She is an Alumnus of the
Sir J.J. School of Fine Art, Mumbai and has held a number of art exhibitions
in Mumbai and other cities. She is fully involved in community work for almost
25 years now and deeply associated with advocacy groups to protect Public
Spaces and Child Rights. She is the Trustee of the H (W) Ward Federation,
Hon. Secretary of the Gen. A. K. Vaidya Nagar Rahivasi Sangh of Bandra
Reclamation and a member Trustee of BRAVO and Celebrate Bandra Trust
which has organized the popular Celebrate Bandra Festival in Bandra since 2003. She is also
associated with the RTI groups of Mumbai and is one of the founder-members of Mumbai 227,
which attempted to create a common platform for independent candidates at the 2012 Municipal
elections.
She says:
''To implement these projects and programmes in Municipal Schools, we need a vigilant
citizens group who will meet the MCGM Education Departments to share their observations
and suggestions and follow up with the concerned officials and authorities in improving the
functioning and quality of education. CACR believes that it is every childs right to learn in a safe,
clean and encouraging environment and is given equal opportunities in life. CACR invites you to
join us in ensuring that every child has access to free and quality education and in advocating for
better standards in education implementation and monitoring in MCGM Schools. These rights,
when fulfilled can effectively build a strong and prosperous nation with happy, healthy and able
citizens. Of course there is a lot to do and more to learn, but we have begun.''
Join Team CACR.
www.ngocacr.com
www.cacr6.blogspot.in
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 Credits

Cover Design: Anagha Nigvekar

Graphics: Richa Singh

Edited by Vidya Vaidya

Inputs from: Nitin Wadhwani, Vidya Vaidya, Deyasini Choudhury and Mohindru Mirchandani.

Published by CACR

Layout and Printed at Samir Scantech