‘Enrich, Educate, and Empower’That is the motto I live by.I am the co-founder at Ek Pahel, an NGO relentlessly working to illuminate the future of underprivileged India.My journey with Ek Pahel started back in 2009, but the vision for it can be traced back several years before. Since my childhood days, I had a desire to play a role in the development of the disadvantaged and deprived section of society. With like-minded people, I started Ek Pahel. Our mission is to ‘Educate, Enrich and Empower’ underprivileged children, youth, and women of our country and create a fostering environment so that they can carve a brighter future for themselves. I believe education is the light that can help the lower strata of society emerge from gloom and darkness. Our journey began when we started taking classes with 30 students under the tin shed and faced difficulties - but the fire to bring the change is what kept us going. Because of our efforts from the past 14 years, we now support the education of 750 students in 2 schools. We ensure to handhold the children right from primary education till higher education and support them end-to-end. The National Education Policy introduced in 2020 emphasizes inclusive and equitable education and we can especially see its relevance for children who come from the lower strata of society.At Ek Pahel, we are the torch-bearers who want to take this vision closer to reality.As a career counselor, I have always understood the importance of education in an individual’s life, and how the right guidance and opportunities can help them excel in overcoming social barriers. Students from the less privileged sections often struggle with choosing the right career streams for themselves and even after that, they fight for decent employment. With effective career counseling, they can carve the right life for themselves.I also believe empowered children are raised when the mothers are empowered. This is why we started the project ‘Swabhiman’ to educate the women from weaker economic sections who were deprived of it in their childhood. We impart functional literacy, basic numeracy, and give them knowledge about civic sense and women’s rights and duties. Ek Pahel is always on the lookout for organizing events that can bring light to people’s lives and provide them with wings so that they can reach closer to their dreams.My vision is to uplift and empower more people from disadvantaged communities in the coming years and provide them with good education, healthcare, and livelihood opportunities.