Hyderabad-based healthcare NGO, Helping Hand Foundation (HHF), has partnered with mosques across the city to launch Rahnumai centres. These centres aim to connect citizens with various government schemes, services, and utilities to promote social development.
Each centre, located in a mosque, will be managed by a team of trained counsellors and experts who are knowledgeable about government schemes and programmes. Initially, the Rahnumai Centers will be established in 15-20 mosques, primarily in vulnerable urban slums in the southern part of the city. To ensure authenticity, a special app has been developed to record the details of each family.
The launch of the Rahnumai Centers took place at Masjid-e-Mohammedia in Langar Houz, with Mohammed Shabir Ali, Advisor to the government for Minority Welfare, inaugurating the initiative. Surveys conducted by HHF revealed that members of the Muslim community were not adequately enrolled in government schemes and services.
The surveys indicated that 32% – 35% of voters did not possess Voter ID cards, 35% – 38% had invalid ration cards that required correction, 25% did not have ration cards at all, only 14% of children attended government schools, and over 75% did not have Arogyasri cards. Furthermore, utilization of government scholarships was also low.
Mujtaba Hassan Askari from HHF highlighted that the Rahnumai Centers would primarily focus on helping disadvantaged children who have dropped out of school or whose parents struggle to pay school fees. These children will be linked to nearby government primary and secondary schools. HHF has already mapped all government schools and Anganwadis near each center using Google Maps. Real-time maps will be used to guide and encourage parents to enroll their children in government schools. The surveys indicated that around 10% -12% of children in the city dropped out of school after the pandemic.
Askari added that government schools within a 5km radius of the Rahnumai Centers have been geotagged, and counsellors will assist students and parents in enrolling for government scholarships in education, pre-matric and post-matric scholarships.
The centers will also support single women in registering and correcting birth and death certificates, obtaining Voter IDs, PAN cards, marriage certificates, Sadarem certificates, Aadhaar cards, ration cards, Arogyasri cards, and street vendor cards. For other individuals, the centers will serve as a source of guidance and counseling to access all government entitlements. HHF has collaborated with Meeseva centers to facilitate easy registration and enrollment in each area.
Additionally, the centers will provide guidance and assistance to single women for enrolling in various schemes such as old age pension, widow pension, single women pension, Mahalakshmi Scheme, Shadi Mubarak/Kalyana Lakshmi Scheme, and Arogya Lakshmi Scheme. They will also offer premarital and post-marital counseling and legal assistance through trained counsellors and legal experts. Moreover, the centers will assist individuals in obtaining LOC from the CM Relief Fund, Ayushman Bharat, and Arogyasri Cards for healthcare purposes.
