FAQs

Yes, Swapath Trust is a Charity registered under Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat and is free to work on social issues anywhere in India. It is also registered under section 80-G under the Income Tax Act, 1960.

Yes, Swapath Trust is registered under the FCRA to receive foreign funds.

Swapath Trust’s support to children of the vulnerable categories is need-based and not so much merit-based. Swapath Trust believes that as these children are very susceptible to factors that go against their education, it is first of all important to get them into the mainstream education. Most of them belong to the first generation attending school.

The 'most vulnerable' children are those who are not only underprivileged due to economic poverty but are also disadvantaged due to other socio-cultural or political reasons. Examples include:

• Orphans and children with only one parent alive
• Street children
• Children of Commercial Sex Workers
• HIV-affected children (Children of parents who are HIV+)
• Child labourers
• Children of families who need to migrate for work (e.g., children of de-notified Tribes, brick kiln workers, construction labourers, sugarcane cutters, saltpan workers etc).
• Disaster-affected children of economically disadvantaged families

Definition of Vulnerability by Prof. Robert Chambers:

“Vulnerability refers to exposures to contingencies & stress, and difficulty in coping with them. Vulnerability has thus two sides; an outer side of risks, shocks, and stress to which an individual or a household is subject to; and the internal side, which is defenselessness, meaning a lack of means to cope without damaging loss.”

None and that by design. Swapath Trust believes in not spending huge money in infrastructure. It believes that children should go to the government or other accessible schools. For seasonal hostels that it manages, Swapath Trust believes in hiring available buildings in villages with high migration rates and pay rent rather than build their own hostels. This also internalizes the project resources and creates a stake for the community in the project. Project also, by choice, offers employment to locals for the hostels and even at the supervisory level