West Bengal

About Organization :

SPAN envisages a society that is economically productive and equitable, socially just, environmentally sound, and genuinely democratic. SPAN’s mission is to work alongside the socially and economically excluded groups of people, starting with children. It works to enhance the rightful and equitable share of development for all who are disproportionately placed, by facilitating the process of empowerment and good governance. The organization promotes an environment of openness, transparency, non-discrimination, and accountability.

The approach of the organization is participatory and right-based. It works both in urban and rural areas of eight districts of the state of West Bengal namely Jalpaiguri, Murshidabad, Birbhum, Purulia, Bankura, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, and Kolkata. The major target group of the organization is children, women, youth, and informal labourers from the poorest and most excluded sections of the community such as SC, ST, Minority, Tea Garden labourers, domestic workers, migrant labours and other informal workers.

Convener (West Bengal) : Prabir Kumar Basu

Name of the Organization: Society for Peoples’ Awareness
Head of the Organization: Prabir Kumar Basu
Address: 66/2, Sarat Chandra Dhar Road, Kolkata – 7000690
Telephone: 9331992897
Email: wbcacl@gmail.com
info@spanvoice.org
stateconvener.wb@caclindia.org
Website: www.spanvoice.org

Popular Programs of the organization–

  1. Strengthening Poor and Marginalized Citizens’ Collectives and Leadership by the promotion of leadership among youth and women leadership which energizes the village panchayats to act on the food, shelter, and livelihood and in the bargain push the agenda of universalisation of education, conservation of environment, skill raining of the youth and the employability of education.
  2. Strengthening Public Finance for Children in West Bengal through government budget analysis.
  3. Capacitating and organising youth in Youth Councils to mobilise and activate them on universalisation of right to education, right to employment and democratic participation. The Youth Councils also spread their network with youth from seven other state and formed a national federation of youth.
  4. Partnering with Youth as big friends of children for providing education support to child labourer  and eradication of child labour in select urban and rural location.
  5. Skills for Life Programme provide vocational training and job placement support to the rural and urban youth, particularly the youth of the Tea Garden Labour families (Jalpaiguri) who don’t have a career plan or any idea of moving further with education. 

Major Activities conducted in the last three years

Arresting Child Trafficking for labour through Youth Movement in 25 Tea Garden of Jalpaiguri Districts is the program regarding elimination of child labour. One of the aim of this program was ensuring  school education for the vulnerable children of the Tea Garden Labour community to prevent their possibility of getting engaged in child labour or getting trafficked away. SPAN ensured school admission of 750 out of school children and school drop outs through 25 Intermediary Education centre were operational in 25 Tea Gardens of Mal, Meteli  and Nagrakata block of Jalpaigury Districts. The program was possible with active participation of 100 youth volunteers from the Tea Garden Labour Community 349 girls who were trafficked and engaged in labour were rescued through this program and connected with education or vocational training during the period  2016-2019.
Along with this in the Pandemic period SPAN started identifying the most vulnerasble children who are completely disconnected with school education and joined labour sector in Kolkata and district