Since beginning of October month on occasion of World Mental Health Day, and through November keeping in mind the occasion of Indian Constitution Day, we have launched our Anubhuti Youth Research Fellowship – Finding Truth Behind Experiences with 20 NT-DNT, Bahujan fellows across Thane District.
Regular trainings have provided capacity-building on the importance of research, research as a tool for finding facts and for advocacy, how research can and should be accessible for all – especially for those who have lived experiences, as well as on technical aspects such as research design, ethics, data collection, analysis, and writing.
About 15 of them carried out research this year on topics related to their own lived experiences. 14 of them who completed their research, presented their research process and findings at a Consultation on 11th December. Media expert Sukanya Shantha and Minority Rights Activist Hasina Khan were the guest speakers – who marveled at the depth of understanding, clarity of ethics, and sensitivity of the topics chosen by the youth. This was possible because these researchers come from the same communities as the topics of study.
This unique Community Youth-Led Research model shall be continued and developed further next year with another batch.