Ekal Vidyalaya has a presence in over 90,000 remote villages of India with a population of over 90 million people. For the development of these remote villages, Ekal has three programs – Education, Arogya (Health and Hygiene) and Economic development. At this time all activities have been diverted towards the fight against COVID. Ekal’s Arogya program consists of Prevention and Control of the pandemic, and patient-physician contact via Telemedicine.

Telemedicine – Helpdesk and Call Centre. This service has been established in collaboration with Intelehealth and NMO. 50 call centres are planned in various regional languages throughout India. Close to 400 doctors have registered as volunteers to staff the helpdesk. The number of patients to be supported is estimated at 250k over 3 months.

Anemia Eradication Project for Rural Women and Children

• 86.5% – prevalence for Anemia in rural women
• 83% – improved post-treatment (in women)
• 35-50% – prevalence in children (6 – 59 months)
• 45-50% improved post-treatment

Anemia is the world’s second leading cause of illness and India is among the countries with one of the highest prevalence (70%-80%) of Anemia. It is estimated that about 20%-40% of maternal deaths in India are due to Anemia. The alarming number of women suffering from Anemia in rural India is 86.5%, inspired us to start a program to control Anemia in Ekal Villages. A donation of $1,200 covers Education and Arogya (Health) for one village for one year.

India has been missing out in global ranking based on Human Development Index (HDI) largely due to health related parameters. One of the major contributory factors for such low ranking is related to high mortality rate, MCH and nutritional disorders owing to Anemia, particularly in rural and tribal areas. These issues attracted the attention of the Ekal while intervening on the educational issues in rural and tribal areas.

Initially for Ekal, literacy was the main medium for development of deprived segments of the society in India. However, with the experiences over two decades, Ekal volunteers found that the health problems of rural folks and elimination of poverty were equally important issues that need to be tended for holistic community development. Therefore, Ekal thought it to be its social responsibility to chalk out projects to address the issues related to health and healthcare.

Ekal Canada website: https://ekal.ca/

A contribution of CAD $500 helps run one Ekal school for an entire year, educates 30 children and has a positive impact on 30 rural families. Ekal runs over 90,000 schools that educate 2.6 million children in rural, remote parts of India. Ekal Canada is a registered Canadian charity / non-profit organization engaged in the education of tribal, indigenous children in rural India and Nepal. It is the largest grassroots movement of its kind in the world. Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of Canada was registered as an Ontario Corporation in 2006 and attained Canadian charitable status in 2007. Charity Registration Number (Canada): 853421162RR0001.

Ekal Foundation in numbers (present day):-

92,175 schools in rural and tribal areas

2,639,821 total students

1,316,096 boys are currently enrolled

1,323,725 girls are currently enrolled