WHAT WE DID THIS WEEK
1. Project Sankalp – Crucial Workshop Held
- Between 11–13 September, Sewa Nyaya Utthan (SNU) Foundation held a second workshop under Project Sankalp – our major campaign in leading colleges of Bhopal launched on 31 July 2025.
- The workshop was held at the campus of Sage University – the same university where our first workshop was held, but this time for a different department.
- The project was launched after a spate of cases reported from Bhopal of young women students being drugged, sexually assaulted, blackmailed, and forced to change religion. Human Rights Commission member Priyank Kanoongo himself flagged the possibility of an organised racket behind these crimes, noting that most culprits came from one religious community while victims belonged to another.
- The objective of Project Sankalp is to make Indian campuses ragging-free and communally safe, beginning from Bhopal with the aim of creating replicable models nationwide.
- At our second workshop, students were trained to identify threats, resist communal targeting, and understand the law. SNU has partnered with Network for this project.
- SNU has collaborated with Network for Access to Justice and Multidisciplinary Outreach Foundation for this project.
2. Campaign to Prevent Legalisation of Teen Sex Taken Forward
- After a lobby petitioned the Supreme Court to legalise teen sex and reduce the age of consent from 18 to 16, SNU, in collaboration with Network for Access to Justice and Multidisciplinary Outreach Foundation, launched a landmark research report titled Intrusion on Civilisation, exposing the dangers of the proposal. The report includes a research paper by Sanjeev Newar.
- The report was launched at the Constitution Club of India in New Delhi on 18 August and has since become the intellectual cornerstone of resistance against attempts to normalise the exploitation of minors. It has already formed the basis of several intervention petitions in the Supreme Court, including one by SNU.
- In the second phase of activism around the Supreme Court plea, a round table was organised at the India Habitat Centre.
- The event was sponsored by SGT University, Gurugram, and supported by National Medicos Organisation and Aarogya Bharti.
- Leading policymakers, doctors, lawyers, academicians, and activists participated, with NHRC member Priyank Kanoongo as chief guest.
- A consensus was reached to oppose the proposed change at all costs, and the perspectives of all stakeholders were included.
3. Vidya Kendra – Pakistani Hindu Refugee Kids Get Crucial Learning
- SNU’s Vidya Kendra in Jodhpur, launched in September 2023, continued to provide free education to 150+ Pakistani Hindu refugee children this week.
- Focus areas: written Hindi, spoken English, physical fitness, and confidence building through activities and competitions.
- For children whose families fled persecution, SNU’s Vidya Kendra is a life-transforming space. From this centre, students have even gone on to participate in robotics competitions at IITs.
4. Skill Development Centre – Refugee Youth Learn Crucial Skills
- At our free Skill Development Centre in Jodhpur, refugee youth continued learning computer literacy and digital skills.
- This centre equips the most marginalised youth with tools to compete in the modern economy—breaking the cycle of forced labour and vulnerability.
5. 70+ Tribal and Underserved Kids Received Martial Arts Training
- At SNU’s free self-defence training centre for tribal and refugee children, more than 70 enrolled children continued receiving crucial skills.
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This week reaffirmed that Sewa Nyaya Utthan Foundation is not engaged in ‘ordinary NGO work’ but is addressing the most urgent civilisational battles – campus safety, child protection, refugee dignity, digital empowerment, and physical resilience. It is an initiative of Swati Goel Sharma and Sanjeev Newar.
