About

Trutiya Ratna was founded based on the lived experiences of caste, class, gender, language, and region since the childhood of the founding members when they were enrolled in educational institutions for schooling and higher education. Our team comprises young feminists, research scholars, and first-generation higher education aspirants working in education and promoting critical consciousness among youths from historically marginalised communities.

During the COVID-19 imposed lockdown, it was the need of the hour to support children, adolescents, and youths by providing them with a safe space for learning and access to the digital world. Young students with whom we had worked contacted us. The children approached us requesting ration (rice, wheat flour, lentils, oil, salt, spices, shop, sanitary pads, etc.) as their parents were struggling to arrange a one-time meal for them. We approached our allies and friends for support in purchasing one month’s ration for 80+ homeless families living in the slums of Patna.

Eventually, students realised they were missing school and started forgetting whatever they had learnt. So again, they contacted us and shared their concern that they needed a safe learning space to study. We approached a youth who used to provide paid tuition to students. We requested that he provide a safe learning space and help the students learn. He was ready to do so on an honorarium basis. We slowly realised that children and youth in rural areas were facing similar issues. So, we decided to expand our work to children and youth in rural areas. We have a dedicated team of youths, who are also themselves higher education aspirants, working to provide students with safe learning spaces. We also greatly emphasise youth leadership and ownership. We aim to build a sustainable model where young people take charge and feel accountable for taking the group’s mission ahead.

Through our work, we have been able to create a support system for youth as well as for children. The organisation was founded to provide educational and digital support to young kids, adolescents, and youths in one of the most backward states in India, namely Bihar. The team members and students with whom we work belong to historically marginalized communities known as Dalits (ex-untouchable) and socially, economically and educationally backward castes (other backward castes and economically backward castes).

Trutiya Ratna has also started expanding its work in other domains of human rights, leadership development, gender equality, sexual and reproductive rights, etc. We have collaborated with many other organisations and activists working on legal training on child rights to create a safe space for children. For youths, we organised training on gender, sexuality, masculinity, mental health, media, and other education and consciousness-building.

With crowdfunding, Trutiya Ratna successfully runs its work in 4 districts of Bihar, namely Aurangabad, Jamui, Jehanabad, and Patna. However, crowdfunding has not been enough to implement the organisation’s work smoothly.