Chandni Khan born in 1997 (age 26–27)[1] is an Indian activist and editor working for the welfare of street children in different parts of India. She founded the NGO, Voice of Slum along with Dev Pratap Singh.[2][3] She was the editor of the newspaper Balaknama, literally meaning "voice of children", published in New Delhi.[1][4] She is also called Chandni Di, the word di meaning "older sister" in some Indian languages.

Chandni Khan
Born1997
NationalityIndian
Other namesChandni Di
Occupation(s)children's rights activist and editor
Organizations
  • Badhte Kadam
  • Voice of Slum
Known for
  • Founding the NGO Voice of Slum
  • Contribution to welfare of street children in India.

Life and education edit

Chandni was a homeless child herself. At the age of five, she started performing street shows with her father in Noida.[5][2] He died in 2008, after which she and her mother survived by ragpicking and selling flowers at traffic intersections. She was twelve when she met some volunteers of CHETNA, an NGO that facilitates education and healthcare for underprivileged children. With the NGO's assistance, Chandni enrolled into an open school programme in 2010.[5]

Career edit

In 2010, Chandni started working as a trainee reporter at Balaknama, a newspaper brought out by and for street children in Delhi. CHETNA started the newspaper and continues to support it.[5][4] Four years later, she was promoted to the position of its editor.[5] Simultaneously, she started working for CHETNA's sister NGO Badhte Kadam.[1] As the National Secretary of Badhte Kadam, she has worked for the welfare and rights of homeless children in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana.

She co-founded Voice of Slum in 2015 with her friend Dev Pratap Singh, who had also grown up in slums. The organization, among other things, runs a school in Noida for children living in low-income neighborhoods.

She has delivered talks at different TEDx events, Josh Talks and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).[2]
She has worked with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), Child Relief and You (CRY), Save the Children, and Plan India.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Srinivasan, Sarayu (5 October 2015). "This is Chandni, a street kid-turned-newspaper editor, all of 18 years old". The News Minute. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Sharma, Khushboo (4 June 2018). "Chandni Khan Is The Slum Kid Who Reshaped Her Fate And Is Now Helping Others Like Her". Indian Women Blog. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  3. ^ Kumari, Pallavi (1 August 2018). "#KuchhPositiveKarteHain: एक सोच जिसने इस शख्स को भीड़ से बनाया अलग, आज सैकड़ों बच्चों को बना रहा है आत्मनिर्भर". Lokmat News (in Hindi). Retrieved 9 March 2019. लेकिन देव की ये चाहत थी कि जो उनके साथ हुआ वह किसी और बच्चे के साथ ना हो और इसी चाहत में उन्होंने अपनी पार्टनर चांदनी खान के साथ मिलकर एक एनजीओ खोला। जिसका नाम है- voice of slum।
  4. ^ a b Venkatraman, Shai (14 April 2016). "Meet the street children making their own newspaper in India". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d Sharma, Manoj. "Street performer to editor: 18-year-old Delhi girl makes news". The Hindustan Times. No. 23 November 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2019.


External links edit

Childhood Enhancement through Training and Action (CHETNA) in Member Directory -- Consortium for Street Children