Eleven Young Changemakers Graduate from Jana Nayika Fellowship, Launch Citizen-Led Campaigns Across Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Eleven young people from different parts of Odisha graduated from the Jana Nayika Fellowship on Friday, concluding a year-long programme on gender and citizen leadership with campaigns aimed at addressing issues ranging from gender equality and disability inclusion to caste discrimination, healthcare dignity and digital access.

The fellowship, organised by Safe Odisha For Her, brought together youth from diverse social and geographical backgrounds with the objective of encouraging active citizenship and community leadership. Over the past year, participants underwent online learning sessions on gender, caste, disability, discrimination, inclusion, gender-based violence and constitutional values before developing campaigns rooted in issues they had personally experienced or witnessed.

Unlike conventional leadership programmes, the fellowship encouraged participants to identify challenges within their own communities and design practical interventions rather than large-scale advocacy initiatives.

Among the graduating fellows, Jasmine has launched “Boys for Equality,” a campaign encouraging boys and young men to become partners in promoting gender equality and healthy relationships. Sweta Suman Das is advocating for dignified treatment of patients in public hospitals after her own experience of discrimination while accompanying her mother for treatment.

Sudipta Das, a special educator and a woman with cerebral palsy, has initiated a campaign demanding more accessible public transport, while Sourav is advocating for gender-inclusive campuses with gender-neutral washrooms and more responsive grievance redressal mechanisms for queer and non-binary students.

Other campaigns focus on improving media representation of LGBTQI+ communities, strengthening police accountability through an independent Police Complaints Authority, reframing crime reporting to shift attention towards perpetrators, improving internet connectivity in rural areas, expanding access to sanitation and challenging caste discrimination through community dialogue.

Some initiatives have already produced visible outcomes. Fellow Abanti successfully mobilised local authorities to approve the construction of a new Anganwadi building in her village after sustained engagement with stakeholders. Binapani, a fellow from Kalahandi, helped ensure that 35 Dalit families, previously left out of the Swachh Bharat Mission, were included for toilet construction. She is now preparing to launch “Chai Pani,” a campaign that uses everyday social interaction to challenge caste-based exclusion.

Organisers said the fellowship was designed to demonstrate that leadership does not always require large organisations or public movements but can begin with individuals taking responsibility for problems within their own communities.

“The campaigns reflect the lived realities of the fellows. They show how young people can transform personal experiences into collective action that contributes to more inclusive and equitable communities,” Pranay Manjari, founder of SOFH said.

The graduation ceremony marked the formal conclusion of the fellowship, but organisers emphasised that the citizen-led campaigns launched by the fellows would continue beyond the programme.

The Jana Nayika Fellowship, launched in September 2025, is a one-year online initiative by Safe Odisha For Her that seeks to build leadership among young people by helping them understand structural inequalities and supporting them in designing community-based campaigns for social change.