Partners

Led by Dr Vimal Kumar, whose parents were sanitation workers and who was once expected to follow the same path-MSC reflects his refusal to accept a life bound by caste. Rising from discrimination to become a PhD scholar and leadership coach, Dr Kumar has turned his journey into a movement for dignity, equality, and empowerment, becoming an example for young people across India.

At the heart of MSC’s work are the Dr B. R. Ambedkar Community Resource Centres-learning hubs that provide children and youth with study materials, computers, games, career counselling, and opportunities in entrepreneurship. These centres nurture creativity, critical thinking, and confidence, enabling young minds to imagine possibilities beyond inherited limitations. Through workshops and community-led learning sessions, MSC’s Fellows for Equality share knowledge, mentor peers, and strengthen leadership from within.

MSC’s mission extends beyond education: it is about reclaiming dignity and transforming generational cycles of sanitation labour into stories of self-worth and opportunity. Through education, organising, and leadership development, MSC builds bridges from exclusion to empowerment.

Under Dr Kumar’s leadership, MSC continues to awaken long-silenced voices, advancing a movement where marginalised communities rise as changemakers choosing a life of freedom and hope.

Project with MHI 

The partnership between the Movement for Scavenger Community (MSC) and the Mariwala Health Initiative (MHI), launched in August 2025, is a transformative step toward building community-led mental health ecosystems rooted in dignity, agency, and collective healing. This initiative strengthens emotional well-being across MSC’s four Dr B. R. Ambedkar Resource Centres in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, and Kashmir, integrating education, psychosocial support, and leadership development for children, youth, and sanitation workers.

At these centres, daily evening tuition classes and a community library nurture academic growth, curiosity, and belonging. Weekly Youth Circles provide safe and inclusive spaces where young people can share experiences, build coping skills, and develop emotional literacy. Led by trained community fellows and supported by mental health mentors, quarterly workshops on well-being, leadership, and resilience deepen awareness and promote healing through dialogue and collective action.

Recognising that mental health is intertwined with social realities, the project also engages parents, caregivers, and sanitation workers through community sessions that address emotional distress stemming from caste discrimination, livelihood insecurity, and intergenerational trauma.

Together, MSC and MHI are cultivating a sustainable model of grassroots mental health care-one that moves beyond treatment to empowerment. By anchoring well-being in the community’s lived experiences and resilience, the partnership seeks to break cycles of silence and stigma, creating pathways where every individual can reclaim their dignity, voice, and emotional freedom, turning healing into a collective act of courage and change.

 To find out more about MSC, head to their website here.
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