Working for a change

Prerana is an award winning, internationally-recognised NGO that has globally pioneered several activities for the welfare of commercial sex workers and their children in India, reports Tasneem Nashrulla.

Prerana is an award winning, internationally-recognised NGO that has globally pioneered several activities for the welfare of commercial sex workers and their children in India.

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However, the NGO’s 30-year-old centre at Kamathipura still functions out of a decrepit, narrow corridor in the confines of a municipal school in one of Asia’s largest red-light districts.

With an annual budget of Rs 1 crore, the NGO is dependent on donor funds.

Which is why, Dasra, a Mumbai-based venture philanthropy NGO, organised a site visit for interested parties to Prerana as part of the launch of the Indian Philanthropy Forum, which aims to build a community of philanthropists committed to providing solutions to India’s poverty.

Prerana not only acts as a night crèche where children can sleep while their mothers work at the brothels, but it also helps nurture mother-child relationships.

While thousands of children find shelter here, the cramped space restricts many more from being housed there.

“Even if we have build a few more rooms, we can take in so many more children,” said Pravin Patkar, director of Prerana. “We need more national corporate funding and partnerships,” he said.