boAt and KSCF come together to empower children of urban slum communities

Delhi: Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation (KSCF) along with Imagine Marketing Limited, under its flagship brand boAt, launched a talent development programme for children—Meri Awaz Suno (Hear Me Roar)—across four urban slum communities in Delhi.

The programme will be conducted across the slum communities of Sanjay Camp (Chanakyapuri), Indra Kalyan Vihar (Okhla), Israil and Inder Camp (Rangpur Pahadi, Vasant Kunj).

KSCF had intervened in slum communities from 2018 through its Bal Mitra Mandal (BMM) programme.

The Bal Mitra Mandal programme—based on a sustainable and holistic model—was conceptualised by Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi to intervene for child protection and development in urban slum communities.

The BMM programme strives for the safety, freedom and education of every child in these communities. It protects these children from multiple forms of exploitation, such as child labour, child sexual abuse, child trafficking and child marriage.

Under the ‘Do What Floats Your boAt’ philosophy, boAt aims to create a community of young people who are inspired to follow their passion and empower themselves through their talent regardless of the norms. This program with KSCF is one of the many initiatives that boAt is taking to grow the young talent and become a strong voice for a generation that's continually progressing towards achieving big dreams and living purposefully.

The talent development programme—geared towards the theme of child empowerment—seeks to provide marginalised and underprivileged children in slum communities an opportunity to develop and showcase their talent in the fields of music, dance, theatre and cricket.

Senior artists and sports personalities will be invited to offer specialised training to the children under this initiative. At the end of the training, talented children will be selected for a competition based on the theme of empowerment. The event will be judged by a professional jury and the winners will receive scholarship prizes to further their talent.

The talent hunt will go on from April to December. The training programmes will begin in April and culminate in a final talent competition and cricket tournament in December.

A key highlight of the programme launched on Sunday is the Gully Cricket League. Here, children having flair and aptitude for cricket will be identified. The selected children will then form a team. After regular training, the team will represent the community in a cricket tournament—the Gully Cricket League.

On this occasion Shark Tank India fame Aman Gupta, who is also the co-founder and CMO of Imagine Marketing Limited, launched the programme. Rakesh Senger, executive director-programmes of KSCF was also present at the event.

Vivek Gambhir, CEO, Imagine Marketing Limited said, “boAt resonates with the ethos of Gen-Z and has always believed in fuelling their passion and offering them a space where they can express themselves. We are very happy to team up with KSCF to offer a stage to all these young talents.”

Rakesh Senger, executive director-programmes of KSCF said that the programme was a unique experiment in providing opportunities to deprived children. “The programme will recognise the talent of children who are bereft of the basic facilities. It will also empower children and provide them with leadership skills,” he said.