ASHA KA JHARNA PROFILE

‘Asha Ka Jharna’ as a voluntary non-profit organization has been working for the cause of disability and child rights since 1998. Our Three special schools for children with intellectual disability (including cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, autism and other developmental disabilities) as well as those with hearing and speech impairment have been providing services in the semi-arid rural areas of north-western Rajasthan (INDIA). School based special education, therapeutic, vocational training, guidance and counseling services (both special schools & in inclusive setup) to around 270 children with disabilities and their families are provided on a regular basis. Remedial teaching support to students enrolled in inclusive education setup is also being provided. Open employment and livelihood options are sought for young adults with disabilities to ensure their rehabilitation into community. Training of educator trainees, capacity building in the field of rehabilitation and outreach services is also being undertaken. 140 Trainee Educators are currently undergoing Diplomas in special education (DEd Intellectual Disability) & (DEd Hearing Impairment) at our RCI recognized training institute.

Children with Disabilities Being Benefited as on 1st November 2024

Apart from special school set up, we also provide OPD services for physio & speech therapy; referral; need based home therapeutics & special education facilities etc. Asha Ka Jharna is an Empaneled Access Auditor with Department of Empowerment for Persons with Disabilities, Govt of India for a period of five years effective 29^th February 2024.

AKJ ACCOLADES:

v  Asha Ka Jharna is the recipient of “BEST NATIONAL ORGANIZATION AWARD 2014” by The National Trust (Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Govt. of India) as well as “BEST STATE NGO AWARD 2009” by Rajasthan Government. We also got National “Nina Sibal Award 2018” for Best Organization in Disability Sector. ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ Media Group awarded us during March 2019.

Services & Facilities

ü  Survey & Identification

ü  Special Education

                   – For Children with Intellectual Disability

– For Children with Hearing Impairment

ü  Training College for Diplomas in Special Education DEd (ID) & DEd (HI)

ü  Physiotherapy

ü   Speech Therapy & Audiometric services

ü  Counseling & Guidance

ü   Training for Parents/ Siblings

ü   Training for Govt. School Teachers Under SSA Inclusive Education Stream

ü   Advocacy, Opinion Building among Govt. Bodies, Mass Media & General Population

ü   Awareness Among Local Community

ü   Community Rehabilitation

ü   Computer Assistive Learning

ü   Govt. Social Benefits Schemes facilitation services

ü   Inclusion in Regular Schools & Remedial Teaching

ü  Medical Checkup by Various Medical Professionals

ü  Networking, Capacity Building & Resource Sharing among Fellow NGOs

ü  Orientation Sessions for Regular School Teachers

ü  Providing Aids/ Appliances , BTE Hearing Aids Through Various Camps

ü  Referral Services

ü  Social Services to Local Community

ü  Child Rights & Child Protection

ü   Vocational Guidance, Training & Job Placement

ü  Access Audit of the Built Environment following Recommendations to make these Barrier Free for Persons with Reduced Abilities

Ultimate aim of Asha Ka Jharna is to make the lives of children with disabilities more meaningful and dignified by attaining their rightful place in the society.

OUR IMPACT & ACHIEVEMENTS SO FAR

·       Regular ongoing special education, training and therapeutics services to more than 200 special need children and their families every year since 1997. More than 5000 children with disabilities have been regularly served by us.

·       Accessibility and Inclusion made possible to more than 1000 beneficiaries through disability certificates, assistive devices, aids & appliances, polio corrective surgeries.

·       Free distribution of high quality behind the ear hearing aids to 669 children across the surrounding region with support from Starkey Hearing Foundation.

·       Community counselling services to more than 5000 persons.

·       Massive school/college awareness programmes on disability in the Shekhawati area. 50000 school students and teachers covered.

·       Formal Training courses in association with Indira Gandhi National Open University New Delhi delivered to 360 Govt teachers and 80 parents.

·       ‘District Games for Disabled’ Conducted at Sikar under the scheme of Ministry of Sports & Youth Affairs (232 Special Needs Athletes participated)

·       ‘District Games for Disabled’ Conducted at Jhunjhunu under the scheme of Deptt. of Social Justice, Govt of Raj (400 Special Athletes participated)

·       ‘Regional Parents Meet’ by NIMH & PARIVAAR organized at Jhunjhunu. (112 Parents from Rajasthan and Gujarat participated)

·       ‘Regional Parents Meets’ Facilitated by us completely at Jaipur , Ajmer , Udaipur & Sawai Madhopur as well as National Parents Meet & Self Advocates National Convention at Udaipur (More than 1000 Parents & 300 Self Advocates Across the country benefitted)

·       Community sensitization events at different places (> 50000 targeted)

·       Special needs children taken to Special Olympics, Abylampics, excursions, adventure expeditions, fairs etc. to various places all over India. Around 1000 children have explored Darjeeling, Dalhousie, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Delhi, Jaipur and many towns across the country.

·       349 Nos. of special needs children passed School Board levels A, B and C (equivalent to class 8^th) from National Institute of Open Schooling so far.

·       More than one hundred young adults with hearing impairment have pursued higher education up to graduation studying in inclusive setup facilitated by us.

·       More than one hundred youth with disabilities placed successfully in gainful employment through our handholding, mentoring and livelihood support.

·       Our children have participated and won laurels in Special Olympics National Level Athletics & Volleyball Events. They have also shown skills in Abylampics.

CHILDLINE SIKAR ACHIEVEMENTS :

AKJ has been a collaborative partner for eight years managing CHILDLINE (1098) – Nationwide Toll-Free Helpline for children in distress providing round the clock emergency outreach services at our Sikar center. From inception since July 2015 till handing over of the project to Government of Rajasthan on 7^th October 2023, we reached out to 3821 children & their families in need of care and protection vide a whole range of intervention services:

During this period around 13000 calls were received on our Helpline No 1098

INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT

1.Three school buildings at Nawalgarh, Jhunjhunu and Sikar (Rented Premises). There are two hundred and eighteen children [Intellectually Disabled (131) and hearing impaired (87)] getting special education / training & allied services at all the schools. Besides, 50 children are getting remedial teaching support in inclusive mainstream education. We are catering to 268 direct beneficiaries (students with disabilities) as on date.

2. Institute of training & inclusive rehabilitation at Nawalgarh with necessary physical infrastructure & human resources offering two years diplomas in special education (intellectual disability & hearing impairment) duly recognized by RCI with sanctioned seats of 70. In two batches, 140 trainee educators are enrolled as on date.

3. Human resources: Multi-disciplinary team of 50 trained & experienced personnel’s with professional qualifications in special education, therapeutics and social work.

4. Well-equipped Physiotherapy & Speech Therapy Departments consisting of physio therapy equipment’s along with sound proof booth, audiometric & speech trainer.

5. Library with more than two thousand books, journals, reference books, regular newsletters/periodicals on disability, special education, leisure reading for children and staff, govt. schemes etc.

6. Multiple Psychological tests and assessment tools for pedagogy.

7. Well-equipped ICT rooms at all units with thirty computers, printers, scanners, inverters.

8. Audio-Visual facilities comprising of three colour T.V., CD and DVD music players, Cameras etc.

Various Registrations/Recognitions for Asha Ka Jharna (Valid As On Date)

Ø  Registered under Society Registration Act 1860 No. 33579 Dated 27.08.1998

Ø  Registered and Recognized with Department of Social Justice & Empowerment Govt. of Rajasthan under Persons with Disabilities Act. 1995 & Revised Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 since 27.11.2002

Ø  Registered and Verified Voluntary Organization with NGO Darpan (NITI AAYOG) Govt. of India vide Unique Id. RJ/2009/0000175 since 2009

Ø  Vetted & Verified By Guide Star India , Give Foundation  &  Benevity

Ø  Registered under Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 1976 with ‘Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India’ vide Regd. No. 125620007 Dated 08.04.2003 valid Up to 31^st March 2027

Ø  Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) Approved Training Institute (Code RJ122) conducting Diplomas in Special Education DEd. (ID) & (HI)

Ø  Accredited with ‘National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) for ‘Open Basic Education’ OBE level A, B and C (up to 8th class)

Ø  Registered with ‘National Trust for the Welfare of persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Intellectual Disability and Multiple Disabilities, Delhi’ Valid Up to 3rd July 2027

Ø  Registered under Income Tax Act 1961 U/S 12AB No. AAATA3825HE20214 Valid Up to 31^st March 2026

Ø  Registered under Income Tax Act 1961 Exemption U/S 80G No. AAATA3825HF20214 Valid Up to 31^st March 2026

Ø  Registered with Ministry of Corporate Affairs for undertaking CSR activities vide Regd. No. CSR00000984 Effective from 07^th April 2021

Ø  Registered with Voluntary Sector Development Centre Rajasthan (VSDC/2023/JAIPUR/655)

Ø  Institutional Member (Membership No. 6037) of Voluntary Action Network India    (PAN INDIA apex body of voluntary organizations)

AKJ and its Secretary has been nominated for the following committees

v  Rajasthan’s First Certified & Trained Access Auditor for Built Environment By Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Govt of India.

v  Former Executive Council Member at National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (NIEPID), Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Govt of India

v  National General Secretary of PARIVAAR NCPO ‘National Confederation of > 300 Parent Associations of Persons with Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities’.

v  Former Member of ‘Rajasthan State Commission for Protection of Child Rights’ statutory body nominated by State Govt.

v  Member of Rajasthan State Level Coordination Committee constituted by ‘The National Trust’.

v  Member of Jhunjhunu District local level committee constituted by ‘National Trust for the welfare of persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Intellectual Disability and Multiple Disabilities, New Delhi’.

v  Member of Jhunjhunu District monitoring committee constituted under RPD Act

v  Member of District Resource Groups (DRG) constituted by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Distt. Jhunjhunu and Distt. Sikar.

v  Member of Jhunjhunu District ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan Samiti’

v  Regularly Providing Sign Language Interpretation, Support Person & Braille Expert Services to Local Police, Judiciary and District Administration.

v  Active Networking with other NGO’S and charitable organizations like Lions Club, Rotary Club, Bharat Vikas Parishad, Inner wheel Club, other likeminded organizations, regular schools etc.

v  ‘AMBA Certified Partner Centre’ conducting professional back office visual data entry & livelihood program for young adults with intellectual disabilities

Vision: A Society with Just & Equal Opportunities for All

Mission: To serve less privileged community such as children with special needs & those in need of care & protection with the aim to make them achieve rightful place in their settings with the active participation of all stake holders

Belief & Values: Every child has the inherent right to life, survival and development, including the right to the highest attainable standard of health to facilities for the treatment of illness, the right to education and the right to benefit from social security. Every child has a right to a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.

Our Guiding Principles are Accessibility, Awareness, Education, and Livelihood leading to Inclusion & Empowerment.

Admin Office & Special School 1: Harlal Ka Kothi NAWALGARH – 333042

      Phones 91-1594-223094 & 91-1594-222930

Special Teacher Training College: Opp. Railway Station NAWALGARH – 333042 Phone 91 1594 299235
Special School 2: Khemi Shakti Temple JHUNJHUNU – 333001 Phone 91-1592-237537
Special School 3: Subodh BEd College Campus, Kisan Colony, Nawalgarh Road SIKAR – 332001 Phone. 91-1572-256537 Rajasthan (INDIA)

Emails: sudeepgo@rediffmail.com &  info@ashakajharna.org
Visit us at: www.ashakajharna.org

FB Page : www.facebook.com/akjrajasthan          Twitter Handle : @akjnwl

Instagram: ashakajharna

M 9414036896 (SUDEEP GOYAL, CHIEF FUNCTIONARY & SECRETARY)