“The majority of the children had no ambition. We started the project with the main aim of addressing their low self-esteem and lack of confidence and guide them to be better citizens.The team also shared with the children various career options and introduced job-oriented courses to the older youth. A carefully curated selection of motivational movies about successful people who started with humble beginnings was regularly shown to the young people to inculcate self-belief.

“A few times I was threatened by those affiliated with militant groups to stop the programme as they needed to maintain the status quo. But I did what I had to do and I am glad it has borne fruit,” he says.Hejang Misao is one of three social entrepreneurs sponsored by RYTHM Foundation under the Sadguru Gnanananda Fellowship, a project of Manava Seva Dharma Samvardhani Trust (MSDS). The fellowship is offered to young citizens who are socially conscious and work with people in rural areas or marginalised groups. Through the fellowship, the recipients are given a monthly grant for three years, to help them scale their projects to benefit their local communities and turn them into a sustainable source of income.