Proaction Foundation (PAF) under the ‘Women and Child Care Project’ works with children (age group 4-14 yrs) living in and around Thane slums and also with their mothers and family members. PAF supports children by running Day Care Centres (DCCs), providing supplementary education supports, nutritional supplements, and regular health check-ups. It is known that an adequate and well-balanced diet is crucial for child survival, health and development. Well-nourished children are more likely to be healthy, productive, and ready to learn. Undernutrition has the opposite effect, it stunts intellect, reduces productivity, and perpetuates poverty.

To make India a ‘knowledge economy’ it becomes increasingly important that the country should focus on the advancement of skills and these skills have to be relevant to the emerging economic environment. It is well known that skills and knowledge are the driving forces of the economic growth and social development of a country. In rapidly growing economies like India with a vast and ever-increasing population, the problem is two-fold. On one hand, there is a severe need for highly trained quality labour, while on the other large sections of the population possess little or no job skills. The objective of this project is to bridge this gap by increasing the knowledge and skills of the targeted women coming from excluded socio-economic backgrounds by providing capacity building, awareness, and skill development initiatives. Along with capacity development, the intervention ensures specific support in case of sudden emergencies as poor people feel difficulty while dealing with an unexpected situation.

To ensure opportunities for interaction and cultural growth, PAF also organizes exposure visits or recreation trips for women and children. Usually, these women are so involved in taking care of the needs of their families that they cut themselves from the outside world and children do not get outside exposure because they are simply excluded from mainstream society, but these trips provide them with an opportunity to discover the world and expand their horizon of knowledge.