A young activist from Bengaluru has embarked on a mission to help the deprived get their need-of-the-hour insurance policies amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with the help of an NGO. Meghana Narayanan, a young social activist based in Bengaluru, has helped more than 700 underprivileged workers get themselves insured with the help of 1M1B, an NGO that aims to find promising youth leaders. Meghana joined 1M1B foundation during the first lockdown and that is when she realised the danger of not having an active insurance policy. 

 

“My househelp gave birth prematurely and the baby passed away, just because of sheer financial incapability. I always knew the (significance) of financial security. So I decided to pitch the idea of insuring the underprivileged to my mentor in the organisation,” the 17-year-old said. 1M1B, a United Nations-accredited NGO, provides a mentor to each student in its ‘Future Leaders’ programme. In it, the young leaders undergo a classroom curriculum facilitated by 1M1B trainers to guide them through their respective projects.         

 

Meghana, with her mentors Ritu Misra Singh and Manav Subodh, named her project ‘Abhaya’, the Sanskrit word for safety or fearlessness, aiming to create financial security for the underprivileged. She added that she had to personally fill up the applications at first. “But that wasn’t the impediment. Many banks were reluctant in giving out policy sheets. They told me schemes like Pradhana Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) were defunct but that was untrue,” she continued.

 

Project Abhaya’s activities are carried out in Andhra Pradesh with the help of the state’s ‘YSR Aarogya Aasara Scheme’ and 1M1B members. Meghana decided to initiate an online fundraiser to purchase comprehensive COVID-19 insurance policies for sanitation workers. Funds raised amounted to Rs 1.5 lakh. With the money, she was able to purchase COVID-19 insurance for 260 sanitation workers. “I am working to launch a website for Project Abhaya which will include a database of available government insurance schemes,” she said.

 

In June 2021, Meghana was announced the recipient of The Diana Award for “positive social change” through her Project Abhaya. Manav Subodh, who is also the co-founder of 1M1B, said social innovation should start from school level. “I worked in the corporate sector before, and I realised young people are not being taught leadership and entrepreneurship skills. Social innovation should start from villages and high schools,” he said. 

 

“We aim at creating young leaders to serve the country and the society,” he added. He said that Meghana and about 50 other young leaders from different states would be presenting their projects before world leaders at the United Nations headquarters in New York soon.