Solar lanterns for 1,15,000 children

It's a campaign aimed at improving the educational skills of a staggering 1,15,000 children from vulnerable communities across 14 states of India. In its recently launched second phase, the NGO is distributing solar lanterns among children of the age group 6-14-years-old to help them read in evening and night.

In the first phase of the 'Reading Improvement Campaign' the global child development NGO had distributed inspirational books to the children and also plans to set up mobile libraries for them in the near future. "The aim is to improve the reading, comprehension and learning abilities of children as well as to enhance the quality of education in schools," the national director of the NGO, Neelam Makhijani said. 

In the second phase, the aim was to remove one of the barriers to reading - the lack of electricity in many rural areas, Makhijani said, adding: "This will enable children reading in the evening and can also be used by family members for other basic purposes." 

 In first phase in December 2014, the NGO had distributed 'Reading bags' consisting age-appropriate multi-lingual reading books, encouraging children to read for pleasure. The NGO had also begun conducting activities around the books - story telling, skits, painting- to make the books come alive for the children.