Dev Pratap Singh’s NGO ‘Voice of Slum’ empowers the poor kids by providing different education programs

Dev Pratap Singh

Gone are the days when pursuing education and having a thriving career was only meant for the rich. Dev Pratap Singh has brought a wave of change for the children of slum areas who cannot afford education and remain unemployed. Growing up in slums, Dev absconded from his home at the age of 11 and lived on railway stations. Born in the Dabra region of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, he always strived to live a better life. For the same, he moved to Goa and worked as a waiter in the restaurant. After saving enough funds, Mr. Singh moved to Delhi intending to start a mobile repairing shop.

Unfortunately, things became topsy turvy when Dev Pratap Singh lost his mother that left him depressed. With months passing by, he bagged a job as a territory sales manager. Even during this time, he wanted to start an organization of his own. He then crossed paths with Chandi Di who came from a similar background. While the duo was brought up in slums, their primary goal was to empower the slum children with education and employment opportunities. This saw the birth of ‘Voice of Slum', an NGO that was founded by them on January 25, 2015.

Dev Pratap Singh's dreams always impelled him to do something extraordinary in life. Establishing an NGO was the first step, but sustaining it was a major hurdle for Dev and Chandni. Their rigorous effort saw major funding from the mentors across India. The NGO is running successfully today and is helping almost 500 slum kids annually by providing them with education. Along with different educational programs, the children are also given vocational training and are trained for various personality programs.

Speaking about the initiative, Dev Pratap Singh said, "We intend to not imbibe theoretical knowledge in children. But we want to develop them on different levels and help them work in different areas of life." Furthermore, the social entrepreneur explained that nurturing today's generation in the right way will benefit the coming generation. "The future can only be bright if we focus on improving the present situation", added Dev Pratap Singh.

Apart from various projects and campaigns, the NGO has one interesting project called ‘Feed The Slum'. The motive behind this project is to help the people in slum areas by providing them with free meals and essential commodities. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the organization has already distributed more than 20 lakh meals in the slum areas of the country. Feeding the hungry, Dev Pratap Singh further stated that no one should live with starvation. The commendable works that he is doing have helped him achieve different laurels like the Karmaveer Chakra Award and Sawera Award.