MUKTI Urban Program: A Journey from Vulnerability to Opportunity

Every Lane Has a Story

Walk through the narrow lanes of Jorasanko and Narkeldanga in North Kolkata and you will find stories everywhere. Stories of children trying to study in overcrowded rooms, young people searching for opportunities, women carrying the responsibilities of their families, and parents working tirelessly in informal jobs just to make ends meet.
Many families live in small congested settlements where access to quality education, health services, livelihood opportunities, and social protection remains limited. In some areas, several families share a single toilet. Children often grow up in cramped living spaces with little room to learn, play, or dream. Women frequently face barriers to education, employment, mobility, and decision-making. Young people, despite their potential, struggle to find pathways to meaningful employment.
Yet behind these challenges lies another reality—strength, resilience, determination, and hope.
It is this hope that inspired MUKTI’s Urban Program.

Understanding the Urban Reality

Kolkata’s urban slums are not just places of poverty; they are vibrant communities filled with people striving for a better future. Families survive through daily wage labour, domestic work, street vending, transport services, waste collection, small businesses, and other informal occupations.
However, poverty in urban areas has a unique character.
Unlike rural communities where social networks are often stronger, urban deprived communities experience high mobility, overcrowding, fragmented support systems, safety concerns, educational gaps, unemployment, and increasing exposure to social risks such as child labour, trafficking, substance abuse, violence, and digital exploitation.
These challenges are interconnected.
A child who drops out of school may become vulnerable to labour or exploitation. A young person without skills may remain unemployed. A woman without economic independence may have limited decision-making power. When one challenge affects a family, it often impacts the next generation as well.MUKTI realized that addressing only one issue at a time would not be enough.A different approach was needed.

Why MUKTI Adopted an Integrated Model

Traditionally, development programs often focus on a single issue—education, livelihood, health, or protection.But in urban communities, these issues are deeply connected.
If a child receives educational support but the family remains economically vulnerable, the child may still leave school.
If a woman learns a skill but lacks confidence, financial literacy, or market access, income generation remains difficult.
If a young person gains knowledge but lacks employability skills, opportunities remain out of reach.
MUKTI therefore adopted an Integrated Community Development Model that works simultaneously with children, youth, women, families, schools, communities, and government systems.
The idea is simple:
Support the child. Empower the youth. Strengthen the woman. Engage the family. Mobilize the community. Connect government systems.
When these elements work together, lasting change becomes possible.

How the Model Works

The MUKTI Urban Program is built around five interconnected pillars.
1. Education and Learning Support
Children and adolescents receive academic support through Mukti Kisholoy Support School (MKSS) and Mukti Support School (MSS).
The objective is not only to improve learning outcomes but also to reduce dropout, build confidence, and help children stay connected with education.

2. Youth Employability
Many urban youth complete schooling without acquiring practical skills demanded by the job market.MUKTI addresses this gap through computer education, spoken English, scholarships, life skills, and employability-oriented interventions that prepare young people for future opportunities.

3. Women’s Empowerment and Livelihood
Women are at the centre of family and community development.Through tailoring training, entrepreneurship orientation, financial literacy, and livelihood support, women gain skills, confidence, and opportunities for economic independence.
The Women’s Empowerment Centre is more than a training space—it is a platform where women can discover their potential, strengthen their voice, and become leaders within their communities.

4. Child Protection and Safe Communities
MUKTI works closely with schools, families, community leaders, and government child protection systems to create protective environments for children.
Awareness on child rights, digital safety, adolescent health, prevention of child labour, trafficking, violence, and early marriage helps communities identify risks and take action.
Ward Level Child Protection Committees play a critical role in building local ownership and safeguarding children.

5. Community and Systems Strengthening
Long-term change cannot happen through projects alone.
That is why MUKTI actively collaborates with schools, health facilities, child protection systems, ICDS centres, police departments, and local authorities.
By strengthening community structures and linking families with government services, the program ensures that support continues beyond project activities.

The Urban Development Cycle

Each component strengthens the other. This creates a cycle of development rather than isolated interventions.

Looking Ahead with Hope
Today, hundreds of children, adolescents, youth, and women are participating in MUKTI’s urban initiatives. Behind every number is a personal journey—a child who continues school, a young person learning new skills, a woman gaining confidence to earn an income, or a family finding support when facing crisis.