" SDF is a humanist organisation working to impart scientific education among people to eradicate superstition and myths regarding women and vulnerable sections of the society. Agrarian reform with a gender sensitivity is one of the prime focus of SDF apart from right to food, secular values and development of scientific temper among the community they are working with, such as tribals, Dalits, women, minorities and other backward communities in India like fishermen, scavengers and women from Muslim community."

      The stakeholders for which SDF has been working are tribals, Dalits, women, minorities and other backward communities in India such as fishermen, scavengers, women from Muslim community etc. SDF feels that without providing an economic alternative we cannot think of independence of women. Hence SDF has started several Women Empowerment Centres in different places of Uttar-Pradesh and Delhi. These centres are self financing except that we donated the sewing machines to them yet the students pay there and the mechanism is that anything free of cost does not function. We are not only training them in techniques but also imparting right based education among them. In Saharanpur district SDF has formed a school for the backward Muslim women. Now these girls are learning and happy with the changes they have seen.

      SDF is in the process of forming a Uttar-Pradesh Land Alliance (UPLA) a grassroot network of organisations working on the issue of land rights. Already SDF has formed Dalit Women Liberation Forum in Mau for the fisherwomen and Tal Ratoy Machhua Jan Kalyan Sansthan, a ooperative of the fishermen in Mau. UPLA is in the process though its executive as been formed yet it is still in the process with more and more organisations coming in it.

      SDF intend to focus on women and girl child. To inculcate the spirit of equality and empowerment among the women from the weaker sections of society, SDF has started certain training programmes. In the Gangoh town of Saharanpur district, Ms Rehana Begum has begun with a sewing center for the Muslim girls belonging to Gujar community. The school for the poor children is also functioning in Badi Mazara village near Gangoh town. The aim of the school is to educate these women and promote their product. Today, most of the girls coming to the center have learnt to read and write. They are also making basket, fans.

      Our second school is running at a Mushhar bustee in Deoria district of Uttar-Pradesh. Mushhars are among most oppressed and marginalized Dalit community and today thanks to local organization Dr B.R.Ambedkar gramin Udyog Sansthan, SDF has reached to these women in utter need.

      There are three training center being run at Mohammdabad block of Ghazipur district of Uttar-Pradesh. These centers provide education and sewing techniques to the poor Dalit and backward women. The centers are being looked after Mr Raj Kapur Rawat, who himself hails from the scavenger community.

     In Delhi, SDF has started one center in the resettlement colony of Samalaka. Women from various statesparticularly Uttar-Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Uttaranchal in particular are running this center. SDF has also helped formation of Dalit women Liberation front, in Maryadpur Mau which is running a sewing center and a school for the village children. The women’s are obviously happy that they have got a chance to strengthen their skills. SDF has been arranging exchange programme for these women.

     The aim and object of SDF is to link the grassroot organizations to the national and international forums, high light their issues through campaign, advocacy and lobbying. In this SDF use rights based approach and sensitise the other stake holders, authorities and civil society about the problems. SDF feels that one can learn a lot of lesson from not only success stories of others but also from the failures.

So far SDF has been working in different parts of Uttar-Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Delhi and has made alliances with like minded organizations and victim groups whose cases SDF continues to fight. SDF is not averse to have collaboration with humanist secular organizations working in the developmental field with a right based approach. SDF is also interested to spread its linkages especially the issue of land and right to food in other parts of India. Recently, SDF did a survey on Public Distribution System and status of right to food in Six PACS states of India. These states are Uttar-Pradesh, Maharastra, Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar. The study was sponsored by DFID and Development Alternative under their Poorest Areas Civil Society ( PACS) programme.

To inculcate the spirit of humanist values, SDF organized a seminar with the help and support of International Humanist and Ethical Union, London (www.iheu.org) on ‘Freethought, rationalist and Humanist traditions in Indian culture’, in Delhi in January and in Kanyakumari in March 2004. The aim was to explore India’s great secular rationalist humanist cultural heritage. Both the seminars were highly successful from the point of view of presentation and participation.

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