Gadadhar Abhyudaya Prakalpa (GAP)

🌸 An Overview of the Gadadhar Abhyudaya Prakalpa (GAP)

A Project for the Holistic Development of the Underprivileged Children for the underprivileged children of the localities

The Background of the Project – Gadadhar Abhyudaya Prakalpa (GAP):

The children in modern society, being fortunate enough to have come under the influence of technological development and other sweeping changes in socio-political sphere, are empowered by the benefits of a global way of life. On the other hand, a still larger section of children in society, caught in the jaws of poverty, illiteracy, superstition, and narrow-mindedness, are unable to break through the entry barriers to the benefits of modernization. India’s vast number of slum children, street children and rural children are deprived of the basic necessities like food, nutrition, medical care and education.

🌸 The Primary Aims of GAP

(a) To instil moral and cultural values in the aforesaid targeted children

(b) To educate them with special coaching on their school subjects

(c) To inculcate a sense of cleanliness and hygiene in them

(d) To nourish them for their physical development

(e) To prepare them to be good citizens of India

Facilities in the field of education, health and hygiene & food supplements for overall development has been extended among 55 needy and poor children in the age group of 4 to 12 years at Viveknagar.

Apart from the aforementioned initiatives, During Durga Puja new dresses were also distributed to underprivileged children of MASSK and GAP. A total of 200 students benefited from this initiative – 145 from Ma Sarada Siksha Sahayata Kendra (MASSK) and 55 from the GAP program.

🌸 The Implementation of GAP

The GAP is a composite programme having different activities for physical, mental and intellectual development of the aforesaid targeted children (aged 5 – 12 years) as explained below. This programme is conducted daily for about 2 – 3 hours (about 25 days in a month), in the morning and/or evening.

🌸 Activities for Physical Development:

The children get a scope to participate in various games and exercises. They are provided sports items for the same. Students are given basic training on health and hygiene, in toilet practice, necessity of safe drinking water, brushing teeth, washing hands, clipping nails, using mosquito net at night, etc. Developing a sense of community participation in keeping the living quarters and environment clean and hygienic, are taught to the children by creating general health awareness. Periodical health check-ups are organised to monitor their body-weight and height, etc., and thereby keep them healthy. Minimum medicines, wherever required, are administered as per the doctor’s advice. At the end of each day’s programme, nutritive food supplements are served to all the participants, to counter the problem of malnutrition.

As a part of the Physical Development, the GAP children are periodically provided with the following items: umbrellas / raincoats, footwear, warm clothes, toiletry items (e.g., toothpaste, toothbrush, tongue-cleaner, soap, oil, nail-clipper, towel, etc.), etc.

🌸 The Impact of GAP

The GAP project provides an opportunity to thousands of underprivileged children – irrespective of caste, creed, colour, religion, etc., hailed from city slums and interior villages in different parts of India, for their aforesaid 3-fold development. The project created an immense impact on these children, their parents and localities, so much so that the inhabitants of those areas urge us to continue the project.