India Fieldwork

Establishing a cultural presence of compassion in Kolkata

Charity in India

Lily Foundation’s India operations started as soon as the foundation was born in the year 2000. The primary purpose of establishing an outfit in India was to support the missions of Lily Foundation by implementing programs and projects in India. Although not a formal organizational entity then, Lily India volunteers actively engaged themselves in all spheres of planning and implementation for the foundation. Its areas of activity continue to expand till today with Kolkata as the control center. Mother Teresa’s Kolkata has abundant reputation of being a compassionate city, which is why it becomes the natural choice for the foundation’s center of operations.

Goals

• Maximize the utilization of donations Lily Foundation receives
• Ensure quality education in the schools and quality training in the centers
• Encourage students for higher level achievements

Projects

• SMILE Scholarships
• AALO Study Homes
• AALO Coaching Homes
• Computer Center
• Vocational Center
• Partnership Programs


Warfronts

The war on illiteracy has to be fought in ways that are appropriate for the target groups. Lily Foundation has been collecting data over the years from its own schools and made on-site surveys in various parts of cities and suburbs about the target group’s profession, living style and attitude. The foundation fights the problem in four different ways:

Group 1 (Basic Literacy Group)
Low income group families are generally run by men who are ricksha pullers, taxi drivers, street vendors or hawkers by profession. They earn just enough money to live in modest homes, often just a room with shared facilities. When families are run by women (often abandoned by husbands or husbands are deceased) they are maid-servants or vegetable vendors. Such familes generally send their first one or two children to state-run schools (or madrasas in some neighborhoods). But when the number of children in the family increases to four, five or six, then the head of the family cannot run it by one income, and so must send some chidren to work instead of schools. Thus, children are forced to become illiterate laborers, often working in tea-stalls or helping adults in small trades, such as tailoring.

Group 2 (Low-Ranked High School Students)
Mostly in villages where illiteracy is relatively high among poor families, there are high school students who barely pass (or at times don’t pass) some subjects. Without coaching help it is fairly certain that these students cannot clear the high school barrier.

Group 3 (High-Ranked High School Students)
There are families in villages or small towns whose parents are normally engaged in seasonal farming help or have low-paying government or private jobs. Occasionally, some own very small businesses of their own. Usually, they have to maintain large families, commonly four to eight people including ailing grand-parents and distant relatives without shelter.

Group 4 (Job Skill Development for High School Students)
India is known for its software expertise around the world. So-called advanced nations now all outsource software jobs to india. But unfortunately, the software-knowledgeable people are localized in a handful of big cities. The fruits of India-shining are enjoyed only by an elite few.


Team India

Our efforts on the ground throughout India would not be possible without the passionate dedication of our local team.

Operation Team
Abhijit Acharyay
Ajoy Maharaj
Ajoy Sebai
Alok Goswami
Amit Saha Roy
Anup Kumar De
Arijit Khan
Arup Choudhuri
Asit Chakraborty
Babu Dey
Bandana Mahanta
Barid Das Mohanta
Bikash Paladhi
Biplab Kumar Adhikary
Biswanath Singha
BV Kulkarni
Chaitali Nath
Chhanda Roy Chowdhury
Dinabandhu Ray
Dolan Saha
Gitashree Chakraborty
Indranil Ghosh
Indu Prakash Singh
Jayanta Malik
Jitu Lohar
Jyotishka Sircar
Kalyan Mukherjee
Keya Mukherjee
Mohan Tripathi
Mousumi Bhattacharya
Partha Mohanta
Paulami Dutta
Poulami Pathak
Prabhati Middya
Prasad Sarkar
Prasenjit Banerjee
Pritam Majumdar
Palash Roy
Rabindranath Khanra
Rajesh Patra
Runa Chowdhury
Sampa Roy
Sanjoy Mandal
Santana Chatterjee
Santana Roy
Santu Dey
Satyajit Pati
Sharmila Basu
Smita Majumdar
Soma Singh
Soumitra Mukherjee
Subhasis Majumder
Subir Mitra
Sudipta Charan
Sujoy Ghosh
Sukla Roy
Sunil Mondal
Supriya Bose
Swarup Mandal
Tanmoy Basu
Tilok Karmakar
Tirtha Sankar Dutta
Uday Pal


Reaching Out

We are eager to hear from you regarding support or participation in Lily India’s efforts.

Address
Gitashree Chakraborty
125/10/1 Chander Village Road
P.O. Haridevpr, Kolkata 700082

Phone
Main Office: 8100073703
Mobile (Gitashree Chakraborty): 81000-73703