At Dakshini Prayash, nutritious meals are provided to all students attending school and morning coaching to support their physical growth and cognitive development. These meals are well-planned and include a balance of protein, carbohydrates and vitamins. Since last year, this vital initiative has been strengthened through the generous support of Zomato’s Feeding India initiative, helping us ensure that every child receives balanced nourishment every day.

What began with a few passionate runners on our team has grown into a tradition. Since 2015, several students from our school and coaching centre have trained for and participated in city marathons like Pinkathon and TATA Steel Marathon - with a few of them earning podium finishes regularly. Beyond medals and timings, these runs offer something deeper: a sense of belonging. Running alongside thousands from across the city helps our students feel part of a larger community, breaking barriers of background and showing them what’s possible with dedication. Taking inspiration from them, many of our staff members have also taken up running, building a shared culture of fitness, resilience, and joy. 

In the early 2000s, Dakshini Prayash successfully eradicated a scabies outbreak from the Madurdaha community. Since then, ensuring healthy bodies has remained a central part of our mission. Today, we conduct weekly health check-ups, during which children receive multivitamins and deworming medication. Through regular vaccination drives, hygiene sessions, and health awareness camps, we support the students, their families, and the community at large.

With the support of the Inner Wheel Club of Calcutta Mahanagar, we have installed a sanitary napkin vending machine and an incinerator on campus to ensure easy and dignified access to menstrual hygiene for our adolescent girls. We periodically organise awareness workshops in collaboration with partners like Young Indians, creating a safe space to discuss menstrual health openly and break the stigma around periods. 

Physical activity is key to a child's holistic development. We offer structured, after-school sports training in football, table tennis, and self-defence. These sessions build not only physical fitness but also teamwork, confidence, and discipline among our students.

To nurture the emotional and mental wellbeing of our students, we conduct weekly counselling sessions in collaboration with Antara, a renowned psychiatric hospital and rehabilitation centre in Kolkata. These sessions provide children facing learning difficulties, emotional stress, or challenging home environments with a safe, supportive space to express themselves and receive professional guidance.

Dakshini Prayash’s self-reliance unit supports women of Madurdaha on their journey to financial independence. Throughout the year, over 40 women—some regular, others part-time—engage in meaningful income-generating work. In September 2025, the initiative took a significant step forward with the registration of Dakshini Prayash Seva Nidhi, a dedicated entity that provides hands-on training and creates sustainable livelihood opportunities for women in the community.

n 2024, with the generous support of Rajani and Gaurav Jalan of mPokket, a connection facilitated by Social Venture Partners, Dakshini Prayash began building its new Empowerment Centre—a milestone in our self-reliance journey. This dedicated space will house both our self-reliance unit and a skills training hub, offering women in the community a place to learn, grow, and take confident steps toward financial independence.

At Dakshini Prayash Seva Nidhi, ongoing training helps women deepen their craft and explore new avenues of income. Regular embroidery sessions by Mithu Bhadra have helped refine techniques and elevate the quality of products like cushion covers and napkins. In December 2024, a candle-making workshop led by Kanika Agarwal taught the women a new skill—resulting in the launch of hand poured candles for Rakhi 2025. These evolving skillsets continue to fuel creativity, confidence, and economic independence.

Launched in 2020, our Diwali hampers became more than just a seasonal product—they became the turning point for the self-reliance unit. What began as a modest effort soon took our handmade products beyond Kolkata, and eventually, beyond India. The overwhelming demand during this time doubled the women’s earnings, gave rise to new collaborations with NGOs like GRIRR, and helped us grow our team. Most importantly, it turned our quiet dream of scale into a tangible path—one where the women’s skills, confidence, and pride grew with every hamper packed and every home reached.

Launched in 2016 by Kamal Prakash, Grow with Love encourages people to gift plants instead of cut flowers—offering a greener, more lasting way to show love. From air-purifying Sansevieria to vibrant Marigolds, our plants have made their way into countless homes across Kolkata. The initiative also created a new path for us, where women learned about plant care, eco-friendly gifting, and creative packaging—adding both skill and joy to their work.

Waste Segregation is strictly practised within the school campus, to ensure environmental protection, easier recycling and improved public health.

Tree plantation is done by the students of the school. Additionally, Rain Water Harvesting is also practised by children to increase their knowledge  on water conservation and creating awareness on environmental sustainability.

To promote reusing of clothes and other household essentials, Dakshini Prayash conducts garage sale every year before the Durga Pujas, where the school and the community people get pre-loved materials at a subsidized cost. It helps recycle goods in usable condition, allows people to shop them at low prices, and sets the mood for celebrations as we head into Durga Puja.