ABOUT US
How It All Started
In 1976, a group of youth who were passionate about justice and rights got together to address the case of exploitation of coolies (hamalis or loading and unloading workers) working at the Secunderabad railway station in Telangana (formerly in Andhra Pradesh), whose job was to load and unload materials such as steel plates and steel poles that would come in the wagons. Their work in Hyderabad through 1976 to 1985 and success in the case led to other calls for help from further and further afield, mostly from urban slum communities where the urban marginalised and oppressed lived. In 1981, the group formally registered a society, Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA), in Hyderabad.
While working in Hyderabad with migrant construction workers, the founding members realized that many of these families had members working in Bengaluru city, and many of them working as bonded labourers. These migrant workers lived in deplorable conditions, and their children, with little to no space to develop, had been pushed out into the streets to beg, work as street children or rag pickers. Based on the needs of these migrant worker families and the requests from families in Hyderabad to provide shelter and skill training, APSA established an Administrative Office in Bengaluru in 1985 in order to work with such vulnerable groups. The work with migrant workers and their families continued till 1991, when APSA expanded its interventions to working with urban slums and including street children and women, men and youth groups.
APSA has come a long way since then. That fledgling action group that started way back in 1976 has today grown into a nationally-recognized NGO with a large team of committed staff, volunteers, and experts working in 125 urban slums through 20+ different projects in Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
From its inception, APSA has addressed issues of inequality, justice and rights facing the urban poor, especially women and children in distress. ‘Development Without Exploitation’ APSA’s tagline, aptly describes the pioneering work of APSA in designing unique interventions at grassroots level combined with sustained lobbying and advocacy with the state and duty-bearers to deliver justice and rights to the urban poor.
APSA believes that all people have equal rights irrespective of socio-economic, political or cultural backgrounds; that there is strength in collective endeavour and collective action.; APSA’s experience has shown that marginalised and vulnerable people can become their own change agents with the right information, supportive programs and guidance.
Vision
APSA’s vision is to work with the community at the grassroots, with the privileged sections of society and with the government towards preventing exploitation and marginalization of the underprivileged, and to evolve social paradigms based on values of justice and non-discrimination for those already in exploitative situations.
Mission
- Catalyze the process by which underprivileged and deprived communities use their own strengths and efforts to solve their problems and improve the quality of their lives.
- Develop new social paradigms within which comprehensive plans could create better lives for the communities with which we work.
- Enable social development rooted in justice and equity through local people’s organizations devoted to social mobilization, raising awareness and economic and social empowerment
- Ensure participation of populations frequently under-represented in development – especially women and children
- Strengthen the expression of local cultures and issues through the use of traditional and folk forms of art, theatre, literature and music
Objectives
- To provide practical and strategic support to children in need of care and protection and children in distress, with special focus on the girl child..
- To work with underprivileged and marginalized peoples in urban slums to bring about change in the social and economic quality of their lives.
- To motivate such communities, in particular women and youth to access from the government, their entitlements as citizens.
- To sensitize privileged sections of society, government and international community to the issues of the underprivileged and marginalized in urban slums, in particular children and migrant communities.
- To provide avenues for sustainable employment to disadvantaged youth from urban slums through market-relevant skill training and prepare them for employability.
Sensitize children and young people to issues of alcohol, tobacco and substance abuse.
Our Projects
From the start of APSA’s work with urban poor youth in the slums of East Bengaluru in 1992
Founder & Director
P. Lakshapathi
Founder and Executive Director
In the 1970s, Laksha was instrumental in securing land rights for slum dwellers in Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Arguably an inspirational leader, Laksha has walked across hundreds of slums in the two cities in his mission to address the concerns of the urban poor. Laksha is credited with implementing the innovative collectives of children which are active in Bengaluru and Hyderabad even today.
Laksha conceived of Nammane (Kannada for Our Home), a 24-hour residential crisis and rehabilitation center for children in Bengaluru and among the best models of open shelter in the country. Laksha was the driving force behind Kaushalya, a skill training centre for adolescent youth, and sensitization training programmes for police and government personnel on child rights. He further established the Dream School, an inclusive education institution offering non-formal education to children from underprivileged families and those who are unable to attend mainstream schooling. The Dream School is the first of its kind in Karnataka State. Also, to Laksha’s credit are the conception of the Suraksha Open Shelter for housing adolescent girl survivors of trafficking, and Navajeevana Nilaya, a hostel for young women into their first year of employment. He also started a corporate volunteering programme that is helping Nammane youth. Laksha is a member of various Committees at National, State and District Levels related to the welfare and protection of children.
Sheila Devaraj
Director
Sheila Devaraj is a woman with a strong commitment to issues of justice and rights, in particular those of children. Sheila has been with APSABengaluru since inception in 1985. She is on the Managing Council of APSA and is also the Director of the organization.
The pioneering work led to Sheila and others founding APSA, which has been directly involved in child rights and child protection work in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. She is one of the founding members of Makkala Sahaya Vani (the Childline for Karnataka state) along with Bengaluru City Police. She has also been involved in the sensitization of thousands of police and social welfare personnel from the state on issues related to child rights, street children and drug abuse.
Sheila co-created along with Laksha, Nammane (Our Home), a 24-hour residential and rehabilitation centre for children in crisis at Bengaluru. Nammane is considered a model of open shelter for children in south India. Sheila is widely travelled both in India and abroad, and brings her wide exposure to bear on the work at APSA. Her liaison and networking skills with urban slum communities, government and the private sector have resulted in tremendous goodwill and support for APSA from the civil society eco-system and state stakeholders alike.
Some of our Donors
