Plan India

Plan India (Plan International India Chapter), a member of Plan International, is a nationally registered independent child development organisation committed to creating a lasting impact in the lives of vulnerable and excluded children, their families and communities in India.
Since 1979, Plan India and its partners have improved the lives of millions of children by providing them access to protection, basic education, proper healthcare, a healthy environment, livelihood opportunities and participation in decisions which affect their lives.
Plan India implements long-term programmes in 10 Indian states, i.e., Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. It also runs short-term programmes in Assam, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.
History
Plan was founded in 1937 by British journalist John Langdon-Davies and refugee worker Eric Muggeridge. Originally named “Foster Parents Plan for Children in Spain,” the aim was to provide food, accommodation and education to children whose lives had been disrupted by the Spanish Civil War. During the Second World War, under the name "Foster Parents Plan for War Children," the organisation expanded to work with displaced children throughout war-torn Europe. By the 1970s, Plan gradually began working with children throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Currently, the organisation works in 71 countries across the globe directly supporting 1.4 million children each year through sponsorship and implementing more than 4,000 projects. In India, Plan has initiated numerous programmes including Because I am a Girl, Let Girls Be Born, Learn Without Fear among others.
Approach
Plan India’s unique rights based approach puts children and youth at the heart of everything it does - whether it is long term development work or humanitarian response. It enables the organisation to address the root cause of child poverty.
Its distinctive approach to creating a lasting change for excluded children and ending child poverty is called Child Centred Community Development (CCCD). The approach is built on two principles:
# Ensuring that all girls and boys realise their full rights by putting them at the heart of our endeavours
# Supporting groups of people to come together, mobilise and tackle issues that affect them
Programmes
Plan India’s strategic response gives due attention to the rights of children as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The major programmes include:
# Maternal Health, Child Survival and Optimal Development: Plan India works consistently to increase access to quality health services in 6,000 villages and urban slums benefitting 1 million adolescents, including 300,000 children under 5 years.
# Water, Sanitation and Hygiene: Improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene services in 6,000 villages reaching 2 million children and youth aged between 13-18 years.
# Quality and Holistic Education: Develop holistic learning and quality education (pre-primary to secondary education) in 3,000 ECCD/Anganwadi Centres and 3,000 schools directly impacting 1 million children aged between 3-18 years.
# Employability and Economic Empowerment: Advance youth skill development, employability and financial inclusion in 3,000 villages and urban slums supporting 100,000 youth including at least 50% girls.
# Child Protection: Increase protection and effective redressal from all forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence in 6,000 villages and urban slums reaching 2 million children between 0-18 years, especially girls.
# Disaster Risk Reduction: Build disaster resilient communities through comprehensive disaster risk reduction and humanitarian assistance in 1,000 villages and urban slums reaching out to 300,000 children, youth and families.
Projects
Plan India runs numerous projects across the country including working with children and families in slums and urban villages and rehabilitation of communities after disasters. Here are few of the projects the organisation implements:
* Because I am a Girl (BIAAG): BIAAG is Plan's global campaign to promote girls' rights and lift them out of poverty. It is geared towards equipping, enabling and engaging girls of all ages to acquire the assets, skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in life.
* Digital Learning Centres: Digital Learning Centres, set up by Plan India in collaboration with Ericsson, utilise technology solutions to provide quality education to young women between 15-25 years within their own communities, thereby overcoming the challenge of limited mobility.
* School on Wheels: Plan India’s School on Wheels project is an integrated approach towards improving the quality of education for underprivileged children.
* Saksham: Saksham is an initiative to support marginalised youth, especially young women in India to enable them to realise their dreams by equipping them with essential life and market oriented vocational skills.
* Support My School: Plan India is a strategic partner of the Coca-Cola NDTV Support My School campaign, one of the biggest campaigns of its kind in India which was launched to work on revitalisation of schools.
* Young Health Programme: The Young Health Programme aims to make a meaningful difference in the health and well-being of marginalised and disadvantaged adolescents.
Funding and Accountability
The majority of Plan India’s income comes from supporters who sponsor children and the remainder is raised through donations and grants.
Notable Associations
Anil Kapoor has served as Plan India’s Goodwill Ambassador for more than 10 years. Notably, Govind Nihalani was the Chairperson of the organisation’s Board of Directors and is currently the Chair Emeritus. Danny Boyle, along with the cast and crew of Slumdog Millionaire, including Freida Pinto and Dev Patel, have supported programmes run in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Other notable associations include Euphoria, whose song “Main Hoon” was produced for the Because I am a Girl campaign. It was selected as the campaign song for the Government of India’s Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao initiative. Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwariya Rai, Rani Mukerjee, Akshay Khanna, Sunil Shetty, Shabana Azmi, Virender Sehwag have also lent their support to Plan India in the past.
Plan India is continuously working with corporate organisations like Samsung, HSBC, Oracle, DLF, Ericsson, Coca-Cola and Axis Bank among others. Plan India also works on projects with government departments including Ministry of Women and Child Development, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, National AIDS Control Organisation, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and more.

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