What we actually do
Six program areas, matching the six pillars of our founding mission. Each is grounded in a real community problem and aligned with national priorities, and we are upfront about how far each one has actually progressed.
Foundational Learning Program
Millions of children in India attend school but cannot read a simple sentence by the time they finish Grade 3. Across Project TAARAA's villages in Amrapara Block, this gap is especially visible. Our foundational learning program works at the community level to address this — supporting children to build basic reading and numeracy skills.
Low Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) in primary-age children — especially in the rural villages of Amrapara Block, Pakur District. Many children are in school but not learning.
We support community-level learning activities aligned with the primary-grade component of NIPUN Bharat guidelines. This includes structured learning sessions, volunteer engagement, and family awareness to reinforce learning at home.
School-going children, primarily aged 6–10, across Project TAARAA's villages in Amrapara Block, with a focus on first-generation learners and children from marginalized households.
Daily-stage initiative with growing outreach. Our goal is for children in our program to reach grade-appropriate literacy and numeracy benchmarks — in line with national NIPUN targets.
Government Alignment: NIPUN Bharat (National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy). Launched 2021; targets foundational literacy and numeracy from age 3 through Grade 3. Our current work covers the primary-grade component — supporting already school-enrolled children with reading, writing and numeracy — and does not yet extend to pre-school/anganwadi-age children.
Nutrition Awareness & Support
Pakur district faces significant rates of stunting, wasting, and anemia among children under five. Many families are not aware of the problem — or know it exists but lack access to actionable support. We work alongside Anganwadi workers and community health volunteers to change this.
High rates of malnutrition — especially among children under five and adolescent girls. Low awareness of nutrition practices, compounded by food insecurity and limited health service access in remote areas.
As of FY 2023–24, this is carried through routine household visits — volunteers discuss food habits, feeding practices, and available nutrition services directly with parents, and encourage families to use Anganwadi and ICDS services already in place. It has not yet grown into standalone awareness camps or sessions.
Children under five, pregnant and lactating mothers, adolescent girls, and families from marginalized communities in Amrapara Block, Pakur District.
Early-stage initiative with growing outreach. We aim to see improved awareness and uptake of nutrition-related government services (ICDS, POSHAN 2.0) among households we work with.
Government Alignment: POSHAN 2.0 (Prime Minister's Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment), ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services). Our activities complement existing public infrastructure.
Community Support & Entitlement Access
Many families in Project TAARAA's villages are entitled to government services and welfare schemes — but do not know about them or cannot navigate the system to access them. We work with communities, especially women and marginalized groups, to bridge this gap.
Poor awareness of government entitlements. Barriers to access — language, literacy-distance, institutional complexity — leave many eligible families outside the reach of public welfare schemes.
We facilitate awareness of government schemes, connect families with services, and support women and self-help groups to participate more actively in village-level governance and decision-making.
Rural households, particularly women, elderly persons, and marginalized families across Amrapara Block, Pakur District.
Improved social inclusion, higher enrollment in key government welfare initiatives, and greater community self-reliance over time.
Government Alignment: National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI), and State Welfare Schemes.
Community Health Access
Public health infrastructure exists on paper across Amrapara Block, but distance, awareness gaps, and mistrust keep many families from using it. We work to close that last mile — connecting households to the health system they're already entitled to, rather than running parallel services.
Low uptake of maternal and child health services (immunisation, antenatal/postnatal care) — not because services don't exist, but because of distance, awareness gaps, and inconsistent outreach in remote villages.
As of FY 2023–24, health is raised as part of our regular household visits — volunteers talk with parents about child health, hygiene, and immunisation, and encourage families to use existing PHC/CHC and Anganwadi services. We have not yet run standalone health camps or immunisation drives.
Pregnant and lactating women, infants, and families with limited access to health services across Project TAARAA's villages in Amrapara Block, Pakur District.
Early-stage initiative with growing outreach. We aim to see higher uptake of immunisation and antenatal/postnatal care among households we work with, alongside stronger family-level health awareness.
Government Alignment: National Health Mission (NHM) and Ayushman Bharat; we connect families to existing public health infrastructure rather than operating outside it.
Child Protection & Safety
Children in remote, economically stressed villages face real risks — early marriage, child labour, unregistered births that later block access to services, and simply a lack of safe spaces. We work to identify these risks early and connect families and children to the protection systems already meant to help them.
Vulnerability to child labour, early marriage, and school dropout, compounded by low awareness of child rights and gaps in birth registration that later restrict access to school admission and welfare schemes.
We run community awareness sessions on child rights and safety, support families with birth registration and school re-enrolment, and refer at-risk cases to the appropriate Child Welfare Committee or protection authority — we do not act as a substitute for statutory child protection systems.
Children and adolescents, especially girls and out-of-school children, across Project TAARAA's villages in Amrapara Block, Pakur District.
Early-stage initiative with growing outreach. We aim to see fewer children out of school, improved birth registration coverage, and stronger community awareness of child rights.
Government Alignment: Mission Vatsalya (Integrated Child Protection Scheme) and the POCSO Act framework; we work as a community-level link to statutory child protection systems, not a replacement for them.
Sustainable Livelihoods & Environment
Most households in Amrapara Block depend on small, rain-fed agriculture and casual labour — both unreliable, and both under growing pressure from unpredictable weather and degrading land. We support families to build more stable incomes while protecting the natural resources they depend on.
Heavy dependence on rain-fed agriculture and casual labour, limited access to skills training or alternate income sources, and environmental pressures — soil degradation, water stress — that make existing livelihoods less reliable with each year.
We support self-help group formation and strengthening, facilitate access to livelihood and skill-building schemes, promote sustainable farming and natural resource management practices, and raise awareness on water and environmental conservation.
Women's self-help groups, small and marginal farming households, and underemployed adults across Project TAARAA's villages in Amrapara Block, Pakur District.
Early-stage initiative with growing outreach. We aim to see stronger, more active self-help groups, wider uptake of livelihood schemes, and more sustainable land and water use practices among households we work with.
Government Alignment: National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM), MGNREGA, and Jal Jeevan Mission; we help households access these existing schemes rather than build parallel ones.
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