Meet Delhi’s Jyoti Anand: A young messiah helping destitute, street children

A face to face with truth fourteen years ago on the streets of Delhi changed Dr Jyoti Anand’s perceptions towards the world completely and her life as well. Thanks to her father and their chance encounter with a poor girl on a busy street of Masihgarh in the national capital.

“Me and my father were out on the streets for a walk when this girl, holding a grimy doll in her hands, approached us asking for money,” she recalls, adding, “Without giving a second thought, I reacted sharply and just told her—Look at the dirty doll you are holding. You look like the same as this doll is—and we moved on.”

“Daddy didn’t say anything to me at that. After we returned home, he told me very politely—we should be thankful to the God that he has given us enough to survive and enjoy but this doesn’t give you a right to look down and misbehave with a girl on the street”.

Her father’s words went deep into her heart.  

“I couldn’t sleep at night as I kept recalling how I reacted to that girl and what my father said later to me. And I was full of regrets for what happened that day. Towards the end of the night, I decided to go and meet the same girl and apologise to the girl. I did so, also gave a new doll to her a gift. And that changed my life completely,” recollects Dr Jyoti.

She was then just 14, but this did not stop her to decide that she will follow her father’s ideology and way of life, and help the most destitute and deprived children living on streets. She began her journey working with some non-government organisations (NGOs) in her neighbourhood in spare time helping children living in slums.

After volunteering for 6-7 years, Dr Jyoti realised that the children of the beggars on the streets were not getting any attention from anyone, and that their parents were also using them for begging.

In her next decisive step later, she formed her own NGO—Anand Organisation for Social Development and Education—to help people who are unable to meet their basic needs—food, and shelter. She named her NGO after her father Anand who completely changed her perceptions towards the most deprived community.

“My Daddy was my hero. He was always there for me whenever I needed him. He listened to me and taught me so many things,” she says with pride as she remembers her father.

Dr Jyoti is today “a superwoman” for 300-plus street children, beggars and people living in slums at various location in the national capital due to her dedication and selfless work that she does for their welfare. She provides free education to children living in slums. The Delhi Police has supported her by providing their booth which she is using as a classroom.

Amid high number of cases of child molestation reported in India every year, she is preparing children to deal with any such situation educating them on what would be a “good touch and a bad touch” when someone comes in contact with them as she feels that young kids, especially girls, are abused and people touch them inappropriately. So far more than 50,000 children have attended her workshops on the theme: ‘Good Touch and Bad Touch’.

With her growing expertise and experience in the domain, she is invited to hold sessions on ‘Good Touch and Bad Touch’ in various states . 

She is also actively engaged in empowering women in many ways. She provides women in slum areas with free sanitary napkins to enable them maintain hygiene and also educate them on various aspects and necessities of maintaining hygiene besides teaching them how to use sanitary napkins. She has held many sessions at government observation homes to educate women on sex and related topics.

During the Covid-19 pandemic which began in 2020, she helped more than 1,000 families with groceries and food.

Jyoti has faced many challenges after she lost her father but she managed to successfully beat all odds and continue her journey along with fulfilling her family responsibilities. In absence of her father, her mother has been her “energy booster” and a source of confidence and strength which keeps her going on her mission.