Hailing from Rajasthan’s Dera Village, an 18-year-old is ensuring that children from low-income households go to schools. A large number of students were dropping out of their schools to become domestic helpers. These kids earn a couple of hundred rupees for some odd jobs. This money assured two meals a day for their families, however, at the cost of their future.
Lalita, who herself is a child, has rescued 57 children and made their parents re-enroll them in the village school.
“I along with other members of Bal Panchayat used to go door to door and convince the parents to re-enroll their child in school. We used to explain to them how important education is. However, some parents will ask us to leave and tell us that their child will work as a laborer like them to earn some money,” she said adding, “Convincing children and parents for anything is always a challenge, but we keep trying. Since we visit their house, again and again, people finally understand that we want the best for them.”
At 18, Lalita Duhariya is fighting against school drop-out rates, child marriage, child labor, untouchability, and other issues impacting the lives of children and young adults.
Duhariya has been an active member of Bal Mitra Gram — an internationally recognized model for child-centered rural development — since 2015. Now, at the age of 18, she is leading the Bal Panchayat (Children’s council) as a Sarpanch.
Not many in her village used to take Lalita and her friends seriously in the beginning, considering they were dealing with major issues at a young age. Even though the journey has been difficult, she said that people in her village have finally started showing support. She is influencing society by advocating for girls’ education, environmental sensitivity, health, and hygiene.
Lalita’s father is a construction worker and her mother is a housewife. She said that now her parents are supportive of the work she is doing but earlier when the villagers used to come and fight with her parents, they used to ask her to stay out of all these matters.
Lalita herself has gone through issues like class discrimination and untouchability. She says that when she was in Class 6 she was denied the distribution of food in her village because she is considered from the lower class but she took the matter to one of the Bal Panchayat meetings and fought for her right. Since then, she is working towards making the life of her community better.
Lalita has educated people on respecting all religions and castes and above all accepting fellow human beings. She initiated a “communal lunch” on the occasion of Makar Sankranti where she and other Bal Panchayat members from all castes and communities participate and have lunch together. Through this initiative, they wanted to spread the message to the entire community to join hands and work together for the development of the community.
Her awareness campaign together with Bal Panchayat led to the complete elimination of child marriage in her village and from the neighboring villages. She is a recipient of the Ashoka changemaker award and the Reebok fit to fight award.
Lalita has completed her schooling and is right now pursuing a BA degree along with a Teacher Training course. When asked about her future plans, she said ” I want to get into Rajasthan Administrative Services because once a person gets authority it becomes easier to implement things in order.” Although she is interested in the teaching profession as well, she wants to continue working for the betterment of her state.
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