Author: Smile Foundation

Women Rewriting the Rules of Rural Enterprise

Post author By Smile Foundation
Post date June 19, 2025
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In a village near Bangalore, Yajjiamma turned a domestic chore into a livelihood. “I have turned a simple habit into something more — a source of income, confidence and purpose,” she says. After joining Swabhiman’s entrepreneurship training last year, Yajjiamma began hygienically packaging and selling fresh paneer (“cottage cheese”) every other day. “Some people from nearby towns place regular orders. A local shop also buys from me,” she reports, and the extra income now pays for her son’s school books, letting her “save a little too”. Stories like hers are multiplying across rural India.

Figure 1 and 2: Yajjiamma (left) extracting paneer from curdled milk. She displays a plate of paneer (right) they now sell commercially, thanks to Smile Foundation’s Swabhiman training.

Nearby, Pavithra of Bangalore Rural had a similar transformation. “I grew up in a small village near Bangalore, where survival was all we knew… There was no room for dreams,” she recalls. With her husband’s encouragement, Pavithra tried Swabhiman’s training and “came across beekeeping. It seemed simple, but it felt right. Working with bees… gave me a sense of purpose.” Today she sells honey from her own hives, which “became a way for me to provide for my family and build something lasting.” For the first time, she felt she could create something of her own.

Figure 3: Pavithra with a jar of honey from the beehives she manages as an entrepreneur.

These personal accounts scoop up a broader trend: rural women are stepping into entrepreneurship at unprecedented rates. According to NITI Aayog’s latest data, women borrowers in India have surged with a 22% CAGR from 2019 to 2024, and most of the new borrowers come from semi-urban and rural areas. In fact, as of December 2024 some 27 million Indian women are monitoring their credit scores, a sign of rising financial awareness that grew 42% over the previous year. Importantly, women’s share of business loan applications has also climbed – reaching 35% of all business borrowers by late 2024 – though consumer loans (for personal needs) still dominate their borrowing. In sum, more rural women are seeking loans and education on finances than ever before.

Yet entrepreneurship remains a small share of the total. Women constitute only about 14% of all entrepreneurs in India, and they own roughly 22% of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) overall. The Economic Survey notes that women’s entrepreneurship falls off sharply with scale: women own 22% of micro-enterprises, but only 12% of small and 7% of medium firms. In rural areas the pattern is similar: most women-led businesses are micro-enterprises employing only family members or a handful of workers. Globally, India also lags. A World Bank analysis found female entrepreneurs account for less than a fifth of business owners in India, and female-led firms tend to employ more women than male-led ones.

Despite these gaps, the potential impact of rural women entrepreneurs is vast. The World Bank highlights that women-led enterprises in rural India already employ an estimated 22–27 million people. Supporting these growth-oriented, opportunity-driven enterprises (GOWEs) through tailored finance and services could dramatically expand rural jobs and reduce poverty. As one NITI report observes, encouraging women’s entrepreneurship “could create employment opportunities for 150 to 170 million people” while boosting overall economic growth. In other words, each village woman who starts a viable business can spark change far beyond her own home.

Systemic barriers towards women entrepreneurship

However, significant barriers still hold many rural women back.

Access to credit is a perennial challenge. Banks often require collateral that most rural women lack, and financial products are rarely designed for tiny micro-enterprises. The NITI report notes persistent “credit aversion” and collateral issues for women, despite rising awareness.

Formal financial institutions tend to focus on larger loans, leaving rural entrepreneurs dependent on informal SHGs (self-help groups) or local lenders with limited capacity. In practice, even women with proven small businesses hit a ceiling; one Tamil Nadu vendor, Bhai Amma, made ₹700–800 a day selling biryani and eggs, but couldn’t find the ₹100,000 she needed to expand beyond her local lending group.

Skills and training gaps compound the problem. Many rural women have valuable craft or agricultural skills but limited business know-how. They may not know cost-pricing, bookkeeping, or marketing. A recent World Bank feature emphasizes that rural women often “miss critical business development services like marketing, technology, and advisory”.

Another analysis highlights that rural women entrepreneurs suffer from limited business skills, weak market access, and technology deficits, along with a shortage of mentors and networks. For example, Yajjiamma needed training on hygiene, pricing and communication before she could scale her paneer sales.

Infrastructure and markets are also weak in rural areas. Poor roads, unreliable power or internet, and lack of cold storage can make scaling a dairy or food enterprise nearly impossible. Local markets may pay low prices or remain closed to small producers. Women entrepreneurs often have to travel long distances on difficult terrain or depend on middlemen who take a large cut.

Finally, social norms and time poverty limit many women. Even with interest in business, women typically bear the bulk of household chores and childcare. As Pavithra recalls, her “days were filled with chores and working in the fields” and “there was no room for dreams” until she found the courage and support to try something new. In some villages, families may oppose women traveling alone or doing “men’s work.”

Lack of mentorship means many women feel isolated. One report notes that rural entrepreneurs often lack exposure and networking, unlike urban businesswomen.

Support from the state and NGOs for women entrepreneurship

Recognising these issues, both government and civil society have launched numerous initiatives to help rural women entrepreneurs. The Government of India created the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) in 2017, an online ecosystem run by NITI Aayog. WEP aggregates information on funding, mentorship, incubators and skill training. Through partnerships it provides services in key areas like funding access, compliance assistance, mentoring and marketing for women entrepreneurs.

Other national schemes include Stand Up India (subsidised loans for women and SC/ST entrepreneurs), Mudra Yojana (collateral-free loans up to ₹10 lakh for new businesses, with 3–5 year tenures), PMEGP (subsidies to create micro-units), and targeted credit lines like Mahila Samriddhi Yojana. There are also industry-specific programmes (e.g. skill training for women artisans under the Mahila Coir Yojana).

At the state and local level, governments have set up incubators, startup grants, and women’s SHG federations to channel funding. For example, some states offer reserved industrial plots or reduced fees to women-owned enterprises. Broadly, policy efforts have raised awareness of credit access, launched entrepreneurship modules in rural livelihoods programmes, and created awards and capacity-building grants for women.

The Swabhiman approach

Development organisations and corporate CSR funds complement these schemes on the ground. Smile Foundation’s Swabhiman programme is a prime example. Launched in 2015 and now active in over 20 states, Swabhiman takes a holistic approach: it integrates health, nutrition, skill training, and entrepreneurship development in villages. Our team organises village-level groups of women and girls for regular sessions. These include

Nutrition education (teaching low-cost healthy recipes to combat anemia),
Health check-ups,
Life skills, and
Livelihood training.

Critically, Swabhiman runs Entrepreneurship Development Trainings: multi-day workshops led by experts that cover business basics, financial literacy, product development and marketing. Sarita Pradhan, who heads Swabhiman, notes that the programme “empowers marginalised women through nutrition, healthcare, and livelihood support” and uplifts them “through skill training [and] financial literacy”.

Since its inception, Swabhiman has reached thousands of villages and has benefited over half a million women and girls with its interventions. In one district alone, hundreds of women in Modgaon (Maharashtra) have completed Swabhiman’s training. They now help each other start cottage businesses or cooperatives. As Pradhan reports, women in remote Modgaon are learning to manage money and turn ideas into businesses – exploring ventures from small catering services to artisanal products. Elsewhere, Swabhiman groups have formed village savings clubs and even shared grain mills, multiplying their economic options.

Other NGOs and CSR initiatives follow similar models. For instance, ITC’s “Shakti” programme (corporate-sponsored) has enabled tens of thousands of rural women to sell FMCG products through rural retail networks. Microfinance organisations and NGOs like Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) provide credit and training to women artisans and farmers. Tech nonprofits (e.g. Digital Green, Agri-fintech startups) are also piloting business training and market linkages in villages. The common thread is combining training, access to markets and finance, and community support – as seen in Swabhiman and other programmes – to turn latent skills into viable enterprises.

Case studies: Beyond the expected

The case studies above show how women are pursuing unconventional enterprises tailored to their local context. Yajjiamma’s dairy-based paneer business and Pavithra’s honey enterprise are far from Silicon Valley startups, but they are just as entrepreneurial in spirit.

Similar stories abound: in Modgaon, for example, women have started roadside eateries serving locally-grown grains and vegetables, using recipes learned through Swabhiman’s nutrition workshops.

Figure 4: Women and adolescent girls learning to prepare healthy dishes using locally available ingredients through a session led by a nutrition expert,

Others have revived traditional crafts: one beneficiary, Ranjana, launched a backyard poultry farm during the pandemic, supplementing her family’s income by selling eggs in neighboring villages (with advisory support from Swabhiman on feed and hygiene). Another cluster of villages trained villagers to dry and package local chilies and herbs, creating packaged foods sold in city markets.

These ventures challenge conventional definitions of entrepreneurship. They are often informal (many women cook or craft at home), small-scale, and community-rooted, yet they produce real economic value and empowerment. They show that an illiterate farmer’s wife can be an entrepreneur too, given the chance. As one development expert puts it, “recognising and supporting growth-oriented women’s enterprises can boost rural job creation, close gender gaps in entrepreneurship, and drive long-term economic growth”.

Recommendations for scaling up

Experts and experience point to concrete steps government, industry and NGOs can take to amplify this transformation:

Improve Access to Finance: Tailor credit products for rural women – for instance through collateral-free loans, group lending, or loan guarantees by governments or CSR funds. Training frontline bankers to understand women’s enterprises can help overcome “credit aversion” and paperwork hurdles. Expanding microfinance and linking village banks to national programmes would channel capital to women’s ventures at scale.
Expand Training and Mentorship: Scale successful programmes like Swabhiman that provide practical business education. Bundling financial literacy, marketing skills and digital training is key. Establish mentoring networks or helplines so women entrepreneurs can get advice. As one report notes, “raising awareness, providing skill training, and improving access to government benefits” are cost-effective ways to empower women. Peer networks of rural entrepreneurs can also offer mutual support and collective bargaining power for inputs and sales.
Build Market Linkages: Create more platforms that connect rural women producers to larger markets. CSR and private companies can source directly from women-led SHGs (as in ITC’s Shakti or KKV Karghewale initiatives). E-commerce tie-ups, rural fairs, and incubators that help women entrepreneurs brand and package goods will increase sales. Public procurement (for school lunches or uniforms) can earmark quotas for women’s groups.
Leverage CSR and Public-Private Partnerships: Corporations should partner with NGOs to co-fund training and infrastructure (e.g. shared cold storage or solar power for village enterprises). CSR can sponsor joint projects linking entrepreneurship with health or education. Governments can incentivise such partnerships. For example, multi-stakeholder schemes could provide matching grants for CSR contributions to rural livelihood programmes.
Address Social Barriers: Simultaneously run social campaigns that normalise women’s entrepreneurship. Community meetings should involve husbands and elders to win their support. Providing childcare or flexible training schedules can help women juggle family duties. Tackling issues like safety, transport and time poverty will free more women to participate.

Implementing these measures in a coordinated way could have multiplier effects. The World Bank and NITI Aayog emphasise that integrated support structures and sector-specific programmes are essential for growth-oriented women entrepreneurs. Similarly, a government review stresses the need to streamline credit links, sensities bankers, and deliver efficient support mechanisms for rural women.

Breathe more life into these local entrepreneurs

In summary, India is witnessing a quiet revolution in its villages. From paneer-making in Karnataka to honey-harvesting in Tamil Nadu and nutritious food stalls in Maharashtra, rural women are transforming their limited resources into enterprises that support their families and communities. These unconventional entrepreneurs – often invisible in official statistics – are beginning to reshape local economies. The success of initiatives like Swabhiman shows the power of targeted training and community networks. To ensure that Yajjiammas and Pavithras become the rule rather than the exception, stakeholders across society must double down on policies, investments and social support that build on this momentum. With sustained effort, rural women’s entrepreneurship can truly drive inclusive growth and change in India.

Smile Foundation’s Swabhiman initiative presents corporates with a meaningful opportunity to align their CSR efforts with inclusive, grassroots development. By combining vocational training tailored to local economies with financial and digital literacy, Swabhiman equips women to launch and sustain viable enterprises. The programme goes beyond skilling — it builds confidence, nurtures leadership, and strengthens market linkages, enabling women not just to earn, but to lead.

Through a partnership with Smile Foundation, companies can help catalyse real, measurable change — empowering women to rise, enabling families to thrive, and contributing towards resilient communities. Swabhiman isn’t asking companies to rescue women; it invites them to partner with communities already pushing against the limits of the possible.

Sources: Recent government and World Bank reports, news analyses and NGO publications were used to compile statistics and insights.

Tags #womenentrepreneurship

Smile

Parent-Teacher Teamwork in Child Development

Post author By Smile Foundation
Post date June 18, 2025
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The Importance of Gender Budgeting Initiatives

Every child begins life as a spark—curious, energetic, and full of promise. But nurturing that spark into a steady, glowing flame requires more than just good intentions. It demands a collaborative effort between arguably the two most influential adults in a child’s life: parents and teachers. While schools provide the structure for learning, homes offer the emotional soil in which a child’s values and confidence grow. When these worlds align, the child doesn’t just succeed academically—they thrive emotionally, socially, and even physically.

This is not just a philosophy. It’s a principle that development organisations like Smile Foundation in India have put into action across thousands of communities. Through programmes that support both schooling and parenting, Smile Foundation is demonstrating how synchronised efforts between homes and schools can create an ecosystem where children truly flourish.

The evidence Is clear: Involvement matters

Decades of research underscore the value of parental involvement in a child’s education. Studies show that students with involved parents are more likely to earn higher grades, attend school regularly, have better social skills, and exhibit improved behavior. But “involvement” is no longer a matter of only showing up for parent-teacher meetings. It’s about establishing a meaningful, two-way relationship between families and educators—one that’s rooted in trust, frequent communication, and shared goals for the child.

In India, where millions of children are first-generation learners and their parents may not have completed formal schooling, building this bridge takes intent and innovation. Smile Foundation has increasingly invested in several models that prioritise family engagement—not as an afterthought, but as an essential strategy in child development. Whether it’s through structured home visits, parent facilitation groups, or community learning events, these initiatives send a clear message: the family’s role in education is powerful and irreplaceable.

Spotting challenges early: The preventive power of collaboration

One of the most profound benefits of strong parent-teacher collaboration is the ability to spot developmental challenges early. A teacher might notice that a child is unusually withdrawn in class, while the parent may observe that their child no longer seems excited to go to school. Alone, each of these signs might be dismissed as a phase. But together, they form a more complete picture—often revealing early signs of learning difficulties, emotional distress, or social anxiety.

Smile Foundation’s education programmes train teachers to engage in these diagnostic conversations with families regularly, not just during quarterly assessments. In Delhi’s urban slums, for instance, a school supported by Smile saw a dramatic turnaround in learning outcomes after initiating bi-monthly parent-teacher dialogues. Children who were previously struggling academically showed improvement—not solely due to pedagogical change, but because parents were now reinforcing learning strategies at home, guided by their teachers.

Early intervention is only possible when adults in a child’s life are paying attention, and talking to one another. This model is especially critical in under-resourced settings where access to clinical or counseling support is limited. In these contexts, a well-informed parent-teacher alliance can act as the first line of defense.

Personalised learning: Building on the strengths of home and school

Every child learns differently. Some absorb concepts best through visual aids, others by storytelling or physical interaction. Teachers bring insight into a child’s learning style in the classroom, while parents contribute essential knowledge about their child’s interests, cultural context, and emotional triggers. When this information is shared, children can receive the kind of individualised support that nurtures confidence and comprehension.

Smile Foundation recognises that true personalisation is a community effort. In our rural education centers across Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, teachers are encouraged to visit homes and invite parents into the planning process. In one case, a young girl with a speech delay began to flourish after her teacher incorporated local folk songs into lessons—something her grandmother had identified as a source of joy at home. This simple intervention, born of shared knowledge, helped the child communicate with greater confidence both in and out of the classroom.

Home-school alignment: A bridge of consistency

For children, the disconnect between what’s expected at school and what’s reinforced at home can be confusing. One place may value punctuality and silence, the other spontaneity and freedom. Without alignment, children may receive mixed messages about behaviour, responsibility, and values.

Smile Foundation’s initiatives take this insight seriously. In communities where formal schooling is new to the household, these sessions help parents understand school culture, routines, and behavioural expectations. More importantly, we emphasise consistency—not in strict rules, but in emotional tone and encouragement. When children experience a sense of continuity between home and school, they feel secure and supported, which in turn enhances their ability to focus and grow.

This alignment is especially crucial during periods of transition, such as starting preschool or moving to a higher grade. When parents and teachers work in tandem to prepare children emotionally and practically, these milestones become less stressful and more empowering.

Communication: The foundation of trust

The most effective parent-teacher partnerships are those where communication is open, frequent, and empathetic. Smile Foundation equips educators with simple but powerful tools: mobile messaging groups, child progress diaries, and even informal parent cafés where conversations happen over tea. These touchpoints build trust and shift the dynamic from transactional to transformational.

When parents feel seen and valued—not judged—they are more likely to engage proactively. This has a ripple effect on the child, who witnesses cooperation between the adults they look up to. In fact, schools supported by Smile report that once parents become active participants, student attendance improves, homework completion rises, and behavioral issues decline.

Academics matter. But so do empathy, self-regulation, patience, and resilience. These social-emotional skills are not taught in a single class period—they’re modelled, reinforced, and practiced across both home and school settings. And when those settings share a common language for kindness, boundaries, and emotional expression, children absorb it more effectively.

Smile Foundation incorporates social-emotional learning (SEL) into both its classroom pedagogy and its parent workshops. One such workshop teaches breathing exercises to manage anger—something parents and children practice together. Another encourages storytelling as a way to explore moral questions and develop empathy. The result? A generation of children who not only read and write, but relate and reflect.

Parents as co-Educators: Small acts, big impact

Involving parents doesn’t mean asking them to become formal educators. It means valuing the richness of their lived experience. When a father shares stories from his farming work during a science lesson, or a mother helps demonstrate a local recipe during nutrition week, learning becomes alive and relevant.

Beyond the educational value, these moments send children a powerful signal: learning is everywhere, and everyone has something to teach. It also fosters respect between educators and families—transforming the school into a hub of shared learning, not just instruction.

A child cannot learn if they don’t feel safe—physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Consistency between home and school rules helps children navigate expectations with clarity. When both spaces reinforce similar approaches to discipline, screen time, or respect for others, children experience less confusion and more confidence.

Smile Foundation promotes these safe learning environments through integrated health, nutrition, and mental well-being components in its education programmes. We also counsel parents on positive parenting strategies, equipping them to be not just caregivers but champions of their child’s development.

The numbers don’t lie

A longitudinal evaluation of Smile Foundation’s Mission Education programme found that children whose parents participated in regular school activities had a 27% higher rate of grade completion and a 33% improvement in reading skills over two years, compared to peers with less family engagement.

Globally, similar findings emerge: a meta-analysis by the Harvard Family Research Project concluded that parental involvement is one of the most consistent predictors of student achievement, regardless of income or background.

A call to co-create

Parent-teacher collaboration is a developmental imperative. In a country as vast and diverse as India, where children grow up in dramatically different contexts, this partnership becomes even more essential.

We are showing that this collaboration doesn’t have to be elaborate or expensive. It can begin with a home visit, a shared story, a note in the diary, or simply a question: “How is your child doing this week?”

Because when the most important adults in a child’s life come together, they don’t just raise a student. They raise a human being—resilient, curious, and compassionate. And indeed, it takes such a team to raise a star.

Women Empowerment

Women Against All Odds

Women Entrepreneurs Paving the Way for an Equal India

India is on the cusp of a demographic and economic transformation, and one of the most powerful yet underleveraged forces in this shift is rural women entrepreneurs. From bustling cities to remote hamlets, grassroots women are no longer waiting for change, they are creating it. Despite facing formidable challenges, from financial exclusion and gender bias to infrastructural gaps and limited education, many women are forging new paths through women-led micro-enterprises.

The hard-won road to economic participation

The path to entrepreneurship for rural women is strewn with hurdles. Cultural barriers, low digital literacy, and restricted mobility often prevent them from entering or scaling the market. According to a 2024 study by the Bhartiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST), over 44% of women entrepreneurs in India struggle to sustain their businesses compared to 36% of men. Only 13% have a presence on e-commerce platforms, and less than half use digital payment systems. Meanwhile, of the 63 million MSMEs in India, only 20% are owned by women.

This disparity should concern a country with ambitious gender parity goals. Active female participation in the economy, particularly in underserved rural regions, is essential not only for equity but also for national productivity. However, low financial confidence and limited social support leave many women isolated, without the tools or trust needed to succeed.

The power of women-led collective micro-enterprises

One proven strategy to overcome these hurdles is collective enterprise. Self-help groups (SHGs) and co-owned business models allow women to share risks, gain confidence, and pool resources. These structures also offer community validation, which is vital in societies where gender roles are rigid.

However, disparities persist even within these collectives. Gender segmentation in business types remains stark. Women are often nudged toward low-margin, low-growth sectors like handicrafts or food processing. There is a pressing need to open male-dominated sectors to women while also elevating the visibility and profitability of female-dominated fields.

Credit Access Challenge

You’re a woman running a small spice business in rural India. You want a ₹50,000 loan to expand. What do you do first?

Barriers that demand systemic redress

The obstacles facing grassroots women entrepreneurs are deeply embedded in India’s social and economic fabric:

Cultural Stigma: Traditional gender roles, family resistance, and social conservatism still deter many women from pursuing business activities.
Financial Exclusion: Banks often require collateral that rural women cannot provide. Financial products rarely cater to micro-enterprises run by women.
Knowledge Gaps: Many women lack formal education or business training. They may be skilled artisans or farmers but have no exposure to cost-pricing, branding, or customer service.
Infrastructure Deficits: Inadequate roads, power outages, and limited digital connectivity hinder scale-up efforts. Poor local markets force women to rely on intermediaries, eroding profit margins.
Time Poverty: With the burden of household responsibilities disproportionately falling on women, the time available for business pursuits remains minimal.

Addressing these barriers calls for a nuanced, multilayered approach that combines policy incentives, grassroots engagement, and corporate participation.

Exemplars of grit and innovation

Chetna Sinha, founder of the Mann Deshi Bank and Foundation, epitomises resilience. After her application to start a rural women’s bank was rejected due to the literacy levels of promoting members, she returned to her village to conduct literacy classes. Five months later, she reapplied and succeeded. Today, Mann Deshi Bank has over 100,000 account holders and has disbursed loans worth over ₹780 million. It offers customised products for rural micro-entrepreneurs and delivers training tailored to their evolving needs.

Bina Devi, the 'Mushroom Lady' of Bihar, began mushroom farming beneath her bed due to space constraints. Today, she has trained over 1,500 women across 100 villages in Munger district, democratising access to this high-nutrition, high-value crop. Her work earned her the Nari Shakti Samman from President Ram Nath Kovind.

Kanika Talikdar, a 27-year-old widow from Assam, turned adversity into opportunity by launching Jay Vermi Compost with just ₹500 and 1 kg of earthworms. Today, her organic compost is sold on Amazon and Flipkart, and she earns a monthly revenue of ₹3.5 lakh.

Pabiben Rabari, an artisan from Kutch, invented the "Hari Jari" embroidery technique to adapt to changing norms while preserving cultural aesthetics. Her enterprise, Pabiben.com, now supports over 300 women artisans and has taken her products to Bollywood and Hollywood.

These stories highlight both personal triumphs and also systemic cracks that, if bridged, could lead to large-scale economic inclusion.

The policy landscape: Foundations and fault lines

Several government schemes aim to promote women’s entrepreneurship:

Stand-Up India Scheme: Offers loans from ₹10 lakh to ₹1 crore to women setting up greenfield enterprises.
PM MUDRA Yojana: Provides collateral-free loans up to ₹10 lakh.
PM Employment Generation Programme: Offers higher subsidies to women applicants.

Many women are unaware of these schemes, and financial institutions still exhibit implicit biases. Effective implementation hinges on last-mile connectivity, community mobilisation, and continuous mentorship.

Swabhiman: Building from the ground up for women-led micro-enterprises

Smile Foundation’s Swabhiman serves as a model for scalable, grassroots intervention. Active in over 20 states, it combines health, nutrition, life skills, and entrepreneurship development. In 2023-24 alone, it impacted over 190,000 women and facilitated the creation of 68 women-led micro-enterprises.

Swabhiman offers:

Business workshops on idea generation, budgeting, and digital literacy
Training on e-commerce platforms and social media marketing
Linkages to government schemes and credit networks
Confidence-building modules and peer support

Beyond training, Swabhiman ensures women have the soft infrastructure of confidence, community, and clarity needed to scale.

Strategies for systemic scale-up

To harness the potential of grassroots women entrepreneurs, a coordinated, multi-stakeholder approach is essential:

Tailor Financial Products: Develop collateral-free, low-interest credit lines. Train bankers to assess non-traditional enterprises.
Build Market Access: Create rural-to-urban market bridges via online platforms, cooperatives, and CSR linkages.
Promote Inclusive Incubation: Rural incubators and startup bootcamps should offer business mentorship and marketing training specifically for women.
Mobilize CSR: Encourage corporate partners to co-invest in community-based entrepreneurship models. Programmes like ITC Shakti and Swabhiman demonstrate the power of CSR in grassroots development.
Break Stereotypes: Conduct social campaigns that challenge gender roles and promote success stories. Engage male family members as allies.
Invest in Infrastructure: Cold storage, transport, and reliable internet access are crucial for scaling.

The way forward

India’s economic narrative cannot remain incomplete by side lining half its population. The grassroots women entrepreneurs profiled here are not outliers; they are flesh and blood of what’s possible.

Investing in rural women’s entrepreneurship yields exponential returns—not just in GDP, but in societal wellbeing. As these women take control of their economic destinies, they uplift entire communities. The challenge is to turn isolated successes into structural shifts. Doing so will not only close the gender gap in entrepreneurship but also craft a more equitable, resilient India.

Sources:

Bhartiya Yuva Shakti Trust (BYST), 2024 Report on Women Entrepreneurs
Ministry of MSME, Government of India
Mann Deshi Foundation Annual Reports
Ministry of Finance, PMEGP and MUDRA Scheme Guidelines
Smile Foundation Annual Report 2023-24
World Bank Gender and Enterprise Analyses
NITI Aayog Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) Reports

Smile Partners In Change Partnerships

The Human Side of Business: Why Cause Matters More Than Ever

Post author By Smile Foundation
Post date June 16, 2025
No Comments on The Human Side of Business: Why Cause Matters More Than Ever

In today’s socially aware landscape, people expect more from businesses than just products or profits. They look for purpose, compassion, and accountability. Cause Related Marketing (CRM) is emerging as a compelling answer to this call, where brands actively support social causes while meaningfully engaging consumers. It’s more than a marketing strategy; it’s a reflection of the values a brand stands for.

CRM allows businesses to align profit with purpose, resulting in deeper consumer trust, stronger loyalty, and measurable community impact. As we look around the world and within India we see the growing impact of such partnerships, not just on balance sheets but on lives.

The Global Shift Towards Purpose-Driven Marketing

A growing body of research confirms what we see in practice: people want brands to lead with purpose. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer 2023, 75% of Indian consumers believe companies should take an active role in addressing societal challenges. This mirrors a wider global movement where brands are evolving from transactional to transformational.

At home, leading campaigns of cause related marketing in India such as Tata’s Jago Re and Hindustan Unilever’s Swachh Aadat, Swachh Bharat are excellent examples of how iconic brands are embedding purpose into their DNA demonstrating that social responsibility is not a side effort, but a core business imperative.

India, with its complex social challenges and vast economic disparities, provides fertile ground for brands to create meaningful social impact. A Nielsen report suggests that 73% of Indian consumers are willing to pay more for products and services from companies that are committed to the public good.

Is Cause Related Marketing a powerful proposition for businesses?

Enhanced Brand Reputation and Trust
Supporting real causes helps build authenticity. Consumers are more inclined to trust brands that act on their values, beyond just campaigns and slogans.
Stronger Customer Loyalty
When consumers see a brand taking real action to uplift society, they form emotional connections making them more likely to stay loyal.
Competitive Advantage in a Saturated Market
Purpose-driven branding stands out. It speaks to conscious consumers, future-focused investors, and talent who want to work where their values are mirrored.
Higher Employee Engagement and Retention
Working for a cause-oriented brand makes employees feel part of something larger than themselves, fostering pride, productivity, and long-term retention.

Embedding CRM into CSR: The Smile Foundation Approach

Cause Related Marketing becomes most effective when integrated into a company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy. This synergy transforms social investment into lasting stakeholder value.

Smile Foundation, one of India’s most trusted NGOs, offers a structured platform to make this possible. With proven impact in education, healthcare, livelihoods, and women’s empowerment, Smile Foundation helps businesses co-create campaigns that resonate with customers and deliver tangible change in underserved communities.

1. Telling Real Stories from Real Lives

At the heart of any CRM initiative lies authentic storytelling. With Smile Foundation’s grassroots presence, brands can build emotionally compelling campaigns that reflect lived realities from young girls accessing education for the first time, to mothers receiving timely healthcare in remote areas.

For example, the Powerपोटली—a thoughtful keychain product supporting girls’ education under the She Can Fly initiative. Every purchase funds access to learning, nutrition, and healthcare for girls. This simple yet powerful gesture enables consumers to turn everyday choices into acts of compassion.

2. Fostering Long-Term, High-Impact Partnerships

CRM isn’t about one-time donations. It’s about long-term commitment to a shared cause. Smile Foundation invites corporates to build thematic, multi-year collaborations that allow campaigns to scale, evolve, and make deeper impact.

For instance, a leading digital payments platform has joined hands with Smile Foundation’s education initiative to ensure continued learning for children in underserved regions. Such partnerships help bridge critical resource gaps, ensuring every child gets a fair shot at a better future.

3. Ensuring Transparency and Measurable Results

Consumer trust is rooted in transparency. Smile Foundation’s robust Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework ensures that every rupee, every effort, is accounted for with clear metrics and documented outcomes.

One such example includes a recent partnership with a global law firm during the Manali disaster relief initiative. Together, they upgraded Primary Healthcare Centres to provide timely care for affected communities demonstrating accountability through measurable, long-term impact.

Partner with Purpose

In a world where customers are seeking more meaningful connections with brands, Cause-Related Marketing is no longer optional-it’s essential. When integrated into your CSR strategy, CRM becomes a dynamic tool for both impact and growth.

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Education

Ten Scholarships Every Indian Student Should Know About in 2025

Post author By Smile Foundation
Post date June 15, 2025
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Scholarships for girls

While students from urban centres often chart their way to prestigious global institutions, millions of talented youth from rural or underserved communities struggle to even complete their secondary education. This disparity reflects not a lack of capability but a lack of opportunity. In this context, both international and Indian scholarships, serve as critical equalisers, bridging the wide chasm between ambition and access.

A global landscape of opportunity through scholarships

Across the world, numerous scholarships have opened transformative opportunities for Indian students. Each programme, from the Chevening Scholarship in the UK to DAAD in Germany, represents a passport to global networks, advanced research ecosystems, and leadership development.

Consider the JN Tata Endowment Loan Scholarship, established in 1892, which continues to support postgraduate Indian students pursuing higher studies abroad. Its model—a low-interest educational loan of ₹1–10 lakh—helps students retain autonomy while investing in their future. The Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation Scholarship, by contrast, provides fully funded opportunities in fine arts, social sciences, and environmental studies, carving space for those outside conventional STEM disciplines.

Meanwhile, the Fulbright-Nehru Fellowships, supported by the United States-India Educational Foundation, focus on returning impact: applicants are selected not just on academic merit but also on their potential to give back to Indian society. Similarly, Commonwealth Scholarships, ADB-Japan Programmes, and the Aga Khan Foundation International Scholarship Programme (AKF ISP) ensure that leadership potential in low-income and marginalised communities is not lost to systemic exclusion.

Together, these scholarships create a lattice of opportunity for Indians to gain world-class education across sectors. However, what remains largely unaddressed is who gets to the starting line, and more importantly, who doesn’t.

The uneven playing field

While international scholarships have expanded in inclusivity, their reach remains constrained by structural inequities in the Indian education system. Fluency in English, digital access, and knowledge of the application process act as invisible gatekeepers. The odds are stacked against students from rural regions, low-income households, and socially marginalised communities.

The National Overseas Scholarship offered by the Government of India, tailored for Scheduled Castes and other disadvantaged groups, attempts to address this head-on. But awareness and navigation of such schemes remain a problem. Institutional support at the grassroots is often missing. Even when a student from a remote town in Odisha or Bihar dreams of Oxford or Heidelberg, she may lack the mentorship, counselling, and internet access needed to apply.

India’s educational inequalities risk turning merit-based scholarships into privilege-based outcomes, unless the pipeline itself is diversified and strengthened.

Top 10 Scholarships for Indian Students

Top 10 Scholarships Every Indian Student Should Know

1. JN Tata Endowment Loan Scholarship

Offers ₹1–10 lakh at 2% interest for postgraduate and doctoral studies abroad. Merit-based selection.

2. Aga Khan Foundation Scholarship

50% grant and 50% loan for Master’s students from developing countries with strong academic background and financial need.

3. Inlaks Shivdasani Scholarships

Fully funded for humanities, fine arts, law, social sciences, and environment-related courses at top global universities.

4. National Overseas Scholarship (GoI)

Fully funds Master’s and PhD for students from SC, Denotified Tribes, and landless labourers. Age and income criteria apply.

5. KC Mahindra Scholarship

Interest-free loan of up to ₹10 lakh for postgraduate studies abroad in any field. Open to all Indian citizens.

6. ADB-Japan Scholarship Programme

For Master’s degrees in development-related fields. Covers tuition, living, books, and travel. Requires 2 years of work experience.

7. Fulbright-Nehru Fellowships

For outstanding Indian professionals pursuing education or research in the US. Covers tuition, travel, and living expenses.

8. Chevening Scholarships

Fully funded UK government award for one-year Master’s degrees. For future leaders and changemakers.

9. Commonwealth Scholarships

Support postgraduate students from Commonwealth countries to study in the UK. Based on merit and financial need.

10. DAAD Scholarships

Germany’s flagship programme offering full or partial funding for higher education across disciplines. Includes research and internships.

Smile Foundation: Strengthening the roots

Smile Foundation provides scholarships and educational support primarily through its flagship Mission Education programme. While it does not operate a large-scale, conventional scholarship scheme, the foundation plays a crucial role in ensuring that children and youth from low-resource settings are not forced to drop out of school due to financial hardship. Its efforts are directed at creating sustainable support systems that keep children in school and help them thrive academically.

One of the key avenues is through educational sponsorships. We offer need-based sponsorships, especially to first-generation learners, which cover not only school fees but also essential supplies like books, uniforms, stationery, and transport. These sponsorships are structured to provide continuity in education from the primary level through senior secondary schooling, helping children stay in school year after year.

We also address the needs of children who have either never been enrolled in school or have dropped out through its bridge and remedial education initiatives. These specially designed courses help children catch up with grade-level learning, preparing them for re-entry into formal schooling. In such cases, the educational support provided, while not termed as a formal scholarship, functions as a crucial financial and academic enabler for enrolment and retention.

Although limited in scale, Smile Foundation has also provided higher education support in partnership with corporates under their CSR initiatives. These opportunities are often career-specific, offering financial aid for vocational training, nursing courses, and computer education. These scholarships are usually extended to adolescents under Smile Foundation’s health or livelihood programmes, ensuring a path to employability for older students.

Another critical area of focus is the education of the girl child. Smile Foundation embeds scholarship support within a broader strategy to promote girls’ education. This includes interventions such as menstrual hygiene management, counselling services, and safe transport arrangements—factors that directly impact girls’ ability to stay in school. The foundation’s targeted efforts significantly reduce dropout rates and empower young girls to pursue their studies with dignity and confidence.

Through this multi-pronged approach, Smile Foundation ensures that education becomes a sustained reality, not a temporary relief, for the children it serves.

Reimagining the education mobility ladder

To create real mobility in education, what India needs is a continuum of support from grassroots-level school interventions to scholarships for global academic excellence.

This can be envisioned as a three-tier framework:

Access and Retention at the Foundational Level: Support like Smile Foundation’s ensures that vulnerable students are not lost to child labour, early marriage, or dropout due to poverty. This includes academic, health, and psychosocial support.
Bridge Programmes and Local Scholarships: At the secondary and tertiary level, students require help navigating public scholarship schemes such as National Means-cum-Merit Scholarship, Post-Matric Scholarships for SC/ST/OBC, and state-specific funds.
Global Readiness and Mentorship: For high-performing students from modest backgrounds, partnerships between NGOs, educational counsellors, and global foundations can provide training in SOP writing, test preparation, and interview skills for scholarships like Fulbright, Chevening, and DAAD.

In this journey, the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and public-private partnerships is immense. Companies can fund preparatory training, digital labs, or even create specific scholarship seats for marginalised students. Philanthropy can be the bridge between potential and platforms.

Research also shows that the success of scholarship recipients is about navigating elite institutions without isolation or imposter syndrome. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds often need support in adapting to new academic cultures abroad. Peer mentoring, cultural orientation, and alumni networks play an important role here.

International scholarship agencies would do well to collaborate with grassroots organisations in India—not only for applicant sourcing but also for post-admission support and re-integration. Returnee scholars often struggle to find roles where they can apply their global learning. Creating alumni fellowships, re-entry pathways in academia or policy, and platforms to mentor others could ensure a virtuous cycle.

Scholarships as catalysts for equity

At its best, a scholarship does not just change a student’s life; it transforms a community’s narrative. One student returning to her village as a doctor or researcher can become a role model, a local leader, a disruptor of generational poverty.

To make this a norm rather than an exception, India needs to:

Mainstream grassroots mentoring: Establish centres in collaboration with NGOs to identify and coach students from remote and marginalised communities for international opportunities.
Leverage CSR strategically: Corporate funding should not just support elite institutes but also pipeline-building from rural schools and government colleges.
Encourage inclusive eligibility criteria: Scholarship programmes should account for socio-economic disadvantage, not just academic scores, and should provide preparatory support.
Track and scale success stories: Government and private stakeholders should invest in documenting and publicising case studies of grassroots scholars who have excelled abroad.

India’s demographic dividend will only be realised if every bright mind has access to the best possible education. Scholarships are instruments of justice.

Smile Foundation’s grassroots interventions, when combined with the global outreach of international scholarship bodies, represent a powerful ecosystem for educational equity. Together, they create the conditions where a young girl from a slum in Lucknow or a tribal boy from Bastar can compete for—and win—a Fulbright or DAAD fellowship.

Tags #Top10Scholarships

Education

Why STEM Workshops Matter for India’s Next Generation

Post author By Smile Foundation
Post date June 14, 2025
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A quiet revolution is reshaping India’s classrooms—where underserved children build hovercrafts and code robots, guided by IIT mentors and grassroots champions. This editorial explores how STEM workshops, like those by IIT Bombay and Smile Foundation, are igniting curiosity, confidence, and career dreams in students from India’s most marginalized communities.

In a lab tucked away in an IIT Bombay STEM workshop, a group of schoolchildren stares wide-eyed at a flight simulator. Most have never been on a plane. Yet here they are—piloting, manoeuvring, learning. They aren’t tourists in the world of science; they’re beginning to belong.

Across India’s patchwork education system, where rote learning often prevails and resources remain unevenly distributed, such moments mark a profound shift. A soldering iron replaces the chalk, a DIY hovercraft replaces the textbook diagram. This is about giving India’s most underserved children a stake in the future.

STEM for a new India: Not a buzzword, but a blueprint

The global economy is being remade by algorithms, automation, and artificial intelligence. India, with its swelling youth population, stands poised at a crossroads. It can either cultivate a generation of builders, thinkers, and innovators, or risk leaving millions behind in the digital divide.

This is where STEM education—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—emerges as a social and economic imperative. It is not simply a response to future job markets but a tool of empowerment. For India’s most vulnerable students, it can be the lever that pries open otherwise closed doors.

Some of the careers in STEM

A model that matters: The IIT Bombay–Smile Foundation STEM workshops

To truly understand the power of early STEM interventions, one need only look at the year-long collaboration between Smile Foundation and IIT Bombay. Over the course of 12 months, more than 1,000 students—predominantly from low-income families and under-resourced schools were introduced to the wonders of robotics, 3D printing, astronomy, and aero-modelling.

Students built hovercrafts, explored flight simulators, and experimented with basic circuitry. They didn’t just observe but created, collaborated, and questioned. The workshops, aimed at children in grades VII to X, were designed not only to introduce technical concepts but to demystify them, This was to signal that STEM isn’t just for the elite, it’s for everyone.

Importantly, the setting itself—IIT Bombay’s state-of-the-art Tinkerer’s Lab—played a psychological role. It collapsed the distance between a child’s current reality and a future previously thought unreachable. For many, it was their first brush with such infrastructure. For some, it was the first time they felt science was theirs.

Why IITs must step outside their campuses

India’s premier institutions like IITs, NITs, and IISERs are symbols of academic excellence. But they must also become instruments of educational equity. The credibility, talent pool, and research infrastructure they house can, and must, be mobilised to reach those beyond their gates.

What IIT Bombay is doing with Smile Foundation through the STEM workshops is a national service. And it’s replicable.

If every IIT adopted a district or cluster of government schools, India’s educational landscape could change in a decade. Not because of more exams or more degrees, but because of a mindset shift: where students from underserved regions see themselves not just as learners, but as inventors.

From policy to practice: Aligning with NEP 2020

India’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 advocates a seismic shift from rote to experiential learning, from marks to mastery. It emphasises the integration of vocational skills and computational thinking as early as Grade 6.

Initiatives like the Smile–IIT Bombay partnership through its STEM workshops operationalise this vision. They don’t just tick boxes on a curriculum reform document, they transform lives. By making learning tactile and playful, they bring policy off the page and into the classroom.

This matters because it brings India’s educational aspirations in sync with its demographic needs and economic goals. But it also does something more difficult to quantify: it builds belief.

Smile Foundation’s role and STEM workshops

Smile Foundation has long worked at the intersection of education and equity through its flagship Mission Education programme. But its recent focus on STEM-infused learning signals a shift in strategy—from access to ambition.

Its approach is multi-layered. It provides basic schooling, uniforms, and nutritional support. But it also facilitates exposure through digital literacy camps, robotics labs in government schools, and partnerships with premier research institutions. It recognises that curiosity is a currency and one that children from all backgrounds must be allowed to earn and spend.

In the partnership with IIT Bombay, Smile Foundation didn’t just play facilitator. It brought the right children, the right questions, and a philosophy that learning should be hands-on, hearts-on, and minds-on.

Learning from the learners

The true success of STEM education can’t be measured by attendance figures alone. It’s in the students who now say they want to become engineers. In the girls who code. In the child who, after building his own drone, decides to improve its design.

For many participants, this was the first time they were allowed to fail, and try again. This failure, in fact, is success. It teaches resilience, logic, and creativity.

When underserved children experience this kind of agency, the effects ripple outward. Confidence spills into other subjects. Curiosity spreads into their communities. And STEM, once an abstract acronym, becomes a part of their vocabulary, and their identity.

Building a scalable ecosystem through STEM workshops

One initiative, however powerful, is not enough. If India is to truly democratise STEM, a national ecosystem must emerge. Here’s how it might look:

Institutional Replication: Other IITs and NITs should develop similar partnerships with local NGOs and schools, especially in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.
CSR as Enabler: Companies can fund STEM labs, mobile science vans, or even virtual mentorship programmes, aligning this with their statutory CSR obligations.
Training Teachers as Catalysts: STEM cannot flourish if confined to one-off events. Train-the-trainer models can empower schoolteachers to integrate basic tech and science modules in daily instruction.
Digital Equity: Virtual toolkits, gamified learning apps, and regional-language STEM content must be created to reach the digitally underserved.
Outcome Evaluation: Longitudinal studies tracking student progress, interest retention, and career aspirations will help refine interventions and validate investments.

From dreams to design

In India, access to science is often a function of zip code. The promise of STEM, however, is that it belongs to no one, and therefore, to everyone.

The IIT Bombay–Smile Foundation collaboration reminds us that with the right tools and intent, even the most marginalised child can dream in algorithms, code in Python, and ask questions that rewrite the future.

We often say that India’s strength lies in its youth. But strength without structure is wasted. If we wish to be a nation of innovators, we must first invest in the imagination of our children, especially those whom the system has long ignored.

Let us not wait for the next startup unicorn to emerge from a metro city’s elite school. Let it come from a child who once built a hovercraft in a workshop she never thought she’d attend.

That’s not just education. That’s transformation.

Smile

World Day Against Child Labour 2025

Post author By Smile Foundation
Post date June 12, 2025
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World Day Against Child Labour 2025

“Childhood means simplicity. Look at the world with the child’s eye—it is very beautiful.”

These poignant words by Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi capture what millions of children are still denied: a life free from labour, filled with learning, laughter, and love. As we mark the 2025 World Day Against Child Labour on June 12, we are reminded that beauty and simplicity are luxuries many children around the world cannot afford.

Despite global pledges, campaigns, and policy shifts, child labour remains a deep-rooted injustice. The 2025 theme, “Progress is clear, but there’s more to do: let’s speed up efforts”, calls for urgent, collective action. It is a wake-up call to governments, industries, and communities to stop treating child labour as an unfortunate by-product of poverty and start addressing it as a moral failure we can no longer tolerate.

The global picture: Progress, but not fast enough

In 2025, an estimated 138 million children worldwide remain trapped in child labour—many of them in hazardous conditions. That’s nearly 1 in 10 children globally, toiling in fields, mines, factories, homes, or on the streets. While this figure has declined from 160 million in 2020, progress is uneven and slow. At this rate, the world will miss the Sustainable Development Goal 8.7 target of eliminating child labour by 2025.

Most of these children (around 70%) work in agriculture, often in unpaid family settings. Others are engaged in services (20%) and industry (10%). More than a third do not attend school, and those who do often juggle gruelling work schedules. Girls, especially in poorer regions, disproportionately face the double burden of unpaid domestic work and caregiving roles.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the crisis is intensifying due to economic shocks, conflict, and climate disasters. But even in countries with declining numbers, like those in South Asia, the reality on the ground shows a different story: hidden labour, informal economies, and urban migration continue to pull children out of classrooms and into work.

India in focus: A complex journey

India has made significant strides in reducing child labour, but millions still remain vulnerable. The 2011 Census reported 10.1 million working children aged 5–14. While there are indications this number has fallen since then, the post-pandemic years saw a resurgence, particularly in informal and unregulated sectors.

From migrant children in construction sites to girls in domestic servitude or boys in roadside garages, the face of child labour in India is shifting but not disappearing.

Legally, India has tightened its stance:

The Child and Adolescent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, amended in 2016, bans all forms of labour for children under 14.
India ratified ILO Conventions 138 and 182 in 2017.
A rescue-and-rehabilitation mandate exists under the Juvenile Justice Act, and platforms like PENCIL have been developed to monitor enforcement.

Yet, challenges persist:

Loopholes allow family-based work under vague conditions.
Hazardous occupation lists do not cover many informal jobs.
The closure of special rehabilitation centres in 2021 weakened support systems.
Enforcement varies widely across states—while some regions like Telangana and Bihar lead in rescues and prosecutions, others lag behind.

2025: A year of renewed action in India

At the start of 2025, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) launched a countrywide “Rescue and Rehabilitation Campaign 2.0,” directing every district administration to crack down on child labour across industries Over a nearly three-month drive, task forces led by District Magistrates inspected hotels, restaurants, factories, workshops, farms, mines, brick kilns, construction sites and more – any place children are known to be working. The NCPCR explicitly instructed officials to not only rescue underage workers, but also ensure their rehabilitation as per the Juvenile Justice Act and the child labour law, and to involve education departments so that rescued children are immediately enrolled in school. This coordinated blitz reflects a new resolve to actively seek out child labour cases rather than waiting for complaints. It also recognizes that rescue is only half the battle – children need support to rebuild their lives afterwards.

These figures reflect growing intent. But intent must meet investment. Experts emphasise the urgent need to revive transitional education support, enhance family livelihood programmes, and protect civil society actors who play a key role in prevention and reintegration.

From exploitation to empowerment

Stories like that of Vicky Roy, once a ragpicker at New Delhi Railway Station, now a renowned photographer, remind us what is possible with timely intervention. Or Nisha Kumari, a child mica miner in Jharkhand, who—through grassroots activism and peer support—returned to school and now dreams of becoming a teacher.

Behind each statistic lies a life, a child with dreams interrupted and dignity denied. But also, a child with potential. One that flourishes when society steps in.

What needs to happen next

Eliminating child labour in India and globally requires multi-layered, sustained efforts:

Education First: Ensure rescued children are not just removed from work but placed into quality education with bridge programs and financial support.
Stronger Enforcement: Consistent prosecution, updated hazardous occupation lists, and improved inspections.
Social Protection: Cash transfers, food security, and employment schemes for parents can eliminate the economic need for child labour.
Community Engagement: Awareness campaigns, children’s collectives, and village-level monitoring (e.g. Bal Mitra Grams).
Business Accountability: Supply chains must be free of child labour, especially in sectors like textiles, mining, and agriculture.

2025 was supposed to be the year we ended child labour. That goal may have slipped through our fingers, but its spirit must not. This World Day Against Child Labour is not about lamenting what we couldn’t do—it’s about doubling down on what we still can.

Let us choose to no longer walk past children cleaning tables or carrying bricks. Let us choose to report, to support, to demand better. Because every child deserves more than survival—they deserve a childhood.

Tags #WorldDayAgainstChildLabour2025

Smile CSR Partners In Change Partnerships

CSR Partnership Today: Shaping a Future for People, Planet & Profit

Post author By Smile Foundation
Post date June 11, 2025
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In today’s dynamic business and social landscape, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is no longer a goodwill gesture, it’s a strategic imperative. As economies evolve and inequalities persist, CSR partnership is becoming a powerful tool to shape the social fabric through technical development, economic inclusion, and sustainable growth. The collaboration between businesses, civil society organisations and the government can unlock shared value, driving systemic change while strengthening long-term business viability.

Explore CSR partnership with Smile Foundation– write to us at cp@smilefoundationindia.org

CSR Partnership That Builds Societies

Corporate Social Responsibility refers to a business model where companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their operations and stakeholder interactions. CSR goes beyond philanthropy; it reflects accountability to communities, the environment, and society at large.

At its best, CSR is about creating inclusive value, supporting local economies, and strengthening institutions that enable societal progress.

A powerful example of CSR partnership in action is the collaboration between Smile Foundation and an industry leader in the paint industry – the ‘iTrain on Wheels’ initiative, launched in 2021, brings mobile skill development training to blue-collar workers, especially painters, across 24 states. Beyond enhancing technical capabilities, the programme includes modules on communication and entrepreneurial skills uplifting participants not just as skilled labourers but as micro-entrepreneurs and community leaders.

Women like Sakhiat Pala Laloo, Amrutben, and Bhanuben have leveraged the training to overcome personal and societal challenges, emerging as professionals and mentors within their communities. These stories underscore CSR’s transformative potential when businesses invest in human capital, communities thrive.

A meaningful distinction exists between corporate philanthropy and corporate social responsibility. Philanthropy often manifests as one-time charitable donations without long-term engagement. In contrast, CSR is strategic and sustained, embedding societal impact into core business practices. According to the EBSCO article “Corporate Philanthropy vs. Corporate Social Responsibility,” while both aim to address social issues, CSR delivers a more holistic, measurable, and long-lasting impact by aligning business operations with social objectives.

ASPECT	CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY	CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Nature	One- time Charitable donation	Strategic and Sustained
Engagement level	Minimal Long Term Involvement	Embedded in business operations
Goal	Altruistic Giving	Aligning business with social objectives
Impact	Limited and Short term	Holistic, Measurable and Long lasting

CSR with The Triple Bottom Line: People, Planet, and Profit

The triple bottom line (TBL) approach urges businesses to balance social and environmental responsibilities with financial performance. This framework doesn’t just enhance a company’s moral standing it drives tangible business outcomes:

Improved corporate culture: Companies focused on TBL see stronger employee engagement, retention, and workplace diversity.

Customer loyalty: Ethical performance influences consumer choices. Purpose-driven brands inspire trust and foster loyalty.

Business performance: TBL-focused businesses often outperform competitors by investing in long-term value.

Regulatory resilience: TBL practices help companies avoid penalties and reputational risks related to ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) failures.

Investor appeal: Transparent ESG reporting is now a critical factor for attracting responsible investment.

Major corporations like Apple, GE, and Procter & Gamble have adopted the triple bottom line, proving that aligning social good with profitability is not only feasible but beneficial.

CSR Partnerships Spreading Smiles

Smile Foundation’s collaboration with leading corporations have been instrumental in addressing community healthcare. livelihood empowerment and learning needs. For example-

A top-tier industrial equipment firm, Smile Foundation, is transforming rural healthcare delivery in Kamrup, Assam, through the Smile on Wheels initiative. This mobile medical unit reaches over 15,000 underserved individuals across 14 villages, offering free, doorstep access to essential healthcare supporting India’s mission for equitable, inclusive health services with compassion and consistency.

In a joint effort, a prominent risk management company and Smile Foundation have come together to strengthen the Every Child in School initiative. The programme combines foundational literacy, digital learning, health awareness, and personality development promoting academic achievement, behavioural transformation, and holistic well-being to nurture confident, empowered futures.

To combat anemia, a strategic partnership has been established for women and children in underserved communities. Combining resources, expertise, and on-ground implementation, the initiative delivers targeted nutrition interventions and health awareness programmes. This collaboration exemplifies how purpose-driven alliances can drive scalable impact and advance long-term community health and resilience.

These case studies reflect how CSR and NGO together can deliver impact at scale -by mobilising resources, aligning business objectives with development goals, and building resilient communities.

Redefining Business Through Responsibility- Partner Now

Corporate Social Responsibility today represents a critical convergence point for business, society, and policy. It’s no longer about giving back, it’s about moving forward together. When companies invest in CSR with a triple bottom line mindset, they fuel a ripple effect of empowerment, sustainability, and innovation.

Join us to lead through impact. Partner with Smile Foundation. Write to us at cp@smilefoundationindia.org to drive meaningful change. Let’s co-create initiatives that uplift people, protect the planet, and secure profits with purpose.

Tags Business And CSR Collaboration, Corporate Social Responsibility Models, CSR For Social Impact, CSR Partnership, CSR Partnership In India, People Planet Profit CSR, Sustainable CSR Initiatives

Health

Why Handwashing Still Saves Lives

Post author By Smile Foundation
Post date June 10, 2025
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One remarkably simple practice stands out for its effectiveness, affordability, and accessibility in the landscape of public health interventions:

Handwashing with soap.

From preventing diarrhoea and respiratory infections to reducing neonatal deaths, the humble act of hand hygiene is backed by decades of compelling evidence. Yet, despite widespread awareness and proven efficacy, regular handwashing remains elusive for many communities especially in low-resource settings.

This persistent gap between knowledge and practice raises a critical question: How do we turn awareness into sustained behaviour change? The answer lies in data, design, and deeply human-centred approaches.

The science is settled: Handwashing saves lives

Numerous studies confirm the many health benefits of handwashing. A systematic review published in The Lancet found that handwashing with soap reduces the incidence of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) by 17% in low- and middle-income countries. The same study reported reductions of 22% in lower respiratory infections and 26% in upper respiratory infections.

Its impact on diarrhoeal diseases is even more dramatic—reducing incidence by 30% to 48%, depending on context. Gastrointestinal infections drop by up to 31% when regular handwashing is practiced. Maternal and neonatal health outcomes also improve significantly: exposure to maternal and birth attendant handwashing has been associated with a significant reduction in neonatal mortality.

These numbers illustrate that handwashing interrupts the chain of infection. Most bacteria and viruses (coronaviruses included) have lipid membranes that soap molecules break down, effectively destroying the pathogens. Combined with scrubbing, this physically removes dirt, microbes, and contaminants from the hands.

And yet, this scientifically sound, low-cost intervention is underused.

The access and awareness gap

In 2023, only 71% of the world’s population had access to basic handwashing facilities at home. In the least developed countries, the figure was only 37%, according to the World Health Organization. But access isn’t the only issue. Even in households with soap and water, handwashing is often skipped due to habit, lack of prioritisation, or low perceived risk.

Children, who can benefit the most, are not always exposed to consistent hygiene messaging. A 2016 cross-sectional study in Mumbai found that while over half of surveyed children experienced illness in a single month with most missing school, only 18% washed their hands after using the toilet. Fewer than 1% followed all recommended handwashing steps.

The COVID-19 pandemic served as a global wake-up call to the importance of hand hygiene. For a time, handwashing rose to the top of public health priorities, supported by widespread campaigns and institutional mandates. However, as the immediate threat of the virus subsided, so too did the urgency around this basic preventive measure. The challenge now lies in translating that temporary shift into permanent behaviour change especially in communities where structural barriers and inconsistent messaging persist.

The economic case for handwashing behaviour change

Health benefits aside, handwashing behaviour change brings measurable economic gains. In schools, hygiene programmes can reduce absenteeism by up to 20%, per WHO estimates. Better attendance improves academic performance and life outcomes.

At the national level, a 2017 study estimated that implementing a behaviour change handwashing campaign across India could yield USD 5.64 billion in net benefits—equivalent to 0.3% of GDP—representing a 92-fold return on investment. The mechanisms are clear: fewer sick days, reduced healthcare costs, and greater workforce productivity.

When viewed through this lens, handwashing is not just a health intervention—it’s an economic accelerator.

Why people don’t wash their hands (Even when they can)

Despite the data, habits are hard to change. Several behavioural and systemic barriers stand in the way:

Resource constraints: In many rural and underserved areas, clean water is scarce. Soap may be considered a luxury item.
Invisible risk: Because germs are not visible, the consequences of poor hygiene seem distant or insignificant until illness strikes.
Competing priorities: In daily life, especially in under-resourced households, hand hygiene competes with urgent needs like earning a living or caring for family.
Weak social norms: If children don’t see adults consistently washing hands, they’re unlikely to internalise the habit.
Psychological distance: Many families view diarrhoea or respiratory illness as routine, not preventable. It takes a crisis—like COVID-19—to disrupt that belief.

What’s needed are behaviour change interventions that are not only evidence-based but emotionally resonant, socially embedded, and habit-forming.

Behaviour change that works: The ‘School of Five’

Among the standout examples is the Lifebuoy ‘School of Five’ campaign by Unilever. Launched in India, the campaign used storytelling and child-centred design to instil handwashing habits at five key moments each day—before meals, after using the toilet, and during bathing.

The programme’s innovation lay in its delivery: five superhero characters guided children through a 21-day routine designed to form a habit. It used comics, songs, games, and public events. Teachers, parents, and community leaders reinforced the message, creating an ecosystem of behavioural nudges.

The campaign reached over 458 million people globally. In Madhya Pradesh’s Thesgora village, the incidence of diarrhoea dropped from 36% to 5%, and handwashing before meals rose by 26%. Nationally, it’s been associated with a 20% reduction in under-five mortality.

This success illustrates a key principle of behaviour change: frequency builds habit, and emotional engagement sustains it.

Local innovations: Smile’s work

In India, Smile Foundation has been integrating hand hygiene promotion into community health initiatives, particularly targeting children, young mothers, and vulnerable populations.

As part of our Health Cannot Wait campaign, over 150,000 hygiene kits containing soap, hand sanitisers, and masks were distributed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through tele-counselling and WhatsApp groups, frontline health workers educated thousands on handwashing practices, reinforcing key techniques.

In October 2023, a workshop at Nilgiri Hills Public School in Noida reached over 700 students. Children were taught about oral hygiene, personal cleanliness, and hand hygiene, empowering them to become agents of change within their communities.

Smile Foundation’s mobile health units, operating under the Smile on Wheels programme, deliver routine hygiene education to underserved communities. Health workers regularly demonstrate correct handwashing steps and engage mothers in protecting their children through hygiene.

In total, Smile Foundation supported over 1.2 million people across 16 Indian states in 2024 through its hygiene and health initiatives.

Making the invisible visible

What all these campaigns have in common is a shift from transactional health messaging to transformational community engagement. They make the invisible—germs, risks, behaviours—visible and emotionally relevant.

To sustain behaviour change at scale, we need:

Reliable access: Ensure soap and water are readily available at homes, schools, and public places.
Early education: Introduce hand hygiene habits in early childhood through school curricula and storytelling.
Behavioural insights: Use behavioural science to shape interventions—habits form with repetition, rewards, and social proof.
Cross-sector partnerships: Collaborate across health, education, WASH, and private sectors to create consistent messaging and infrastructure.
Local leadership: Equip frontline health workers, teachers, and parents to be role models and messengers.

A simple habit that still saves lives

Handwashing with soap remains one of the most powerful, scalable, and affordable tools in global health. But its true impact depends not just on the presence of water and soap but on sustained human behaviour.

We’ve seen what works. Pair science with storytelling. Combine infrastructure with empathy. Make the healthy choice the easy choice. In doing so, we build healthier, more resilient communities.

As policymakers and practitioners look toward solving complex health challenges, the story of handwashing behaviour change offers a clear lesson: never underestimate the power of small acts, repeated often, by many.

Tags Benefits Of Handwashing, Hand Hygiene Awareness, Handwashing, Handwashing With Soap, Hygiene Practices For Children, Importance Of Handwashing

Education

Mindful Screen Time: What’s Okay (and What’s Not) During the Break

Post author By Smile Foundation
Post date June 9, 2025
No Comments on Mindful Screen Time: What’s Okay (and What’s Not) During the Break

By now, the question of screen time feels like white noise. We all know it’s a problem. We all know it’s not going away. But maybe we’re asking the wrong question. Instead of “how much is too much?”, perhaps we need to ask: how are we using our screens and why?

Let’s be honest: we live in a digital world. Demonising screens is not only unrealistic, it’s unhelpful. Technology can open doors. It can teach, connect, and even heal. But like most things, it’s the balance that makes or breaks us and our kids.

With the holidays rolling in and routines going out the window, screen time tends to skyrocket. So this break, how about we rethink the way we engage with technology—not just for our children, but for ourselves?

Not all screen time is created equal

The word “screen time” lumps everything from watching cat videos to learning astrophysics under one vague umbrella. That’s part of the problem. The quality of screen time matters more than the quantity.

Take learning platforms like Khan Academy, Duolingo, or interactive coding tools. When used right, these digital tools don’t just pass the time—they fuel curiosity. Children can explore new skills, express creativity, or even bond with grandparents over video calls. Some games encourage strategy, teamwork, and problem-solving. Others leave kids wide-eyed and wired at 2 a.m., scrolling endlessly without purpose.

It’s this difference—between active engagement and passive consumption—that’s crucial. Watching an hour-long documentary together? Valuable. Losing three hours to auto-played cartoons and “shorts”? Not so much.

When screens start to take over

Let’s talk about the warning signs. Binge-watching, aimless scrolling, gaming marathons—sound familiar? Most kids (and adults) don’t set out to waste time. It just happens. Because tech is designed that way—to grab our attention, keep us watching, keep us clicking.

We all fall into the multitasking trap too—texting while watching, watching while eating, eating while scrolling. Studies show this kind of fragmented attention isn’t helping anyone. We’re not learning faster or relaxing better—we’re just training our brains to never sit still.

And the consequences show up quietly: poor sleep, anxiety, restlessness, and a resistance to anything that isn’t instantly gratifying.

So what can we do about screen time?

Start with the basics. Talk to your kids. Not in lecture-mode, but as a fellow screen user. Set simple, shared rules—no devices at meals, no phones in bedrooms, no YouTube until chores are done. Use screens in visible places, not behind closed doors. Choose content together. Reflect on how it makes them feel.

And yes, set limits—but with purpose. It’s not about punishing them for watching; it’s about protecting what they’re missing when they do.

Most importantly: model it. If your phone is your constant companion, your kids will assume that’s normal. If you can put it down, go outside, read a book, or just sit quietly—they’ll learn that’s normal too.

The offline world still matters

One of the simplest antidotes to screen overuse is movement. Kick a ball, ride a bike, dance in the kitchen, join a clean-up drive. Anything that gets the blood flowing and the brain breathing. Balance doesn’t come from banning screens—it comes from building better habits beside them.

And here’s something we often forget: kids don’t always know how to process what they see online. We need to help them reflect. Ask: What did you learn? What did you feel? Would you want to watch or do that again? Why?

That’s not nagging—it’s parenting.

Smile Foundation: Building screen-resilient spaces

At the same time, the responsibility doesn’t just lie with parents. Schools and community spaces have to help children unplug in healthy, meaningful ways.

Across 18 locations, Smile Foundation is creating vibrant, screen-free classrooms that make learning interactive and joyful—no phones required. From sports kits and musical instruments to upgraded teaching methods and teacher training sessions, our focus is clear: if classrooms are fun, children won’t miss the screens.

By integrating movement, music, storytelling, and games into everyday lessons, Smile Foundation is showing that engagement doesn’t need a backlit screen. It just needs intention.

In the end, It’s about awareness, not alarm

Screens aren’t going anywhere. And that’s okay. But in this always-on world, the challenge is staying aware—of how we feel, how we behave, and how our children respond to what they consume.

Let’s not aim for perfection. Let’s aim for presence. The goal isn’t zero screen time. The goal is meaningful screen time and enough space around it for everything else that makes us feel alive.

This holiday, let’s unplug with purpose. Even if it’s just for an hour a day.

Your kids will thank you. And maybe, your brain will too.

Tags #ScreenTimeForChildren

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ABOUT US

Smile Foundation

161 B/4, 3rd Floor, Gulmohar House, Yusuf Sarai Community Centre New Delhi - 110049 Delhi, India

Contact Us: Tel: +91-11-43123700 | E-mail: info@smilefoundationindia.org