Sharad Patel, a farmer’s son from Mirzaganj village, district Hardoi, came to Lucknow to fulfill his academic endeavors. Every day, he took a bus from Charbagh, Lucknow. In Charbagh, right outside the Hanuman temple, he often saw beggars sitting on the divider. For him, it was a completely different sight as compared to his own village where seeing somebody beg was a rare sight. The sight of human beings having to arrange for food in the most inhumane manner deeply troubled him. Sharad recalls an incident in 2013, when a beggar approached him for ten rupees but instead of giving him money, he took him to a nearby hotel and gave him food to eat. The way he was begging was heart wrenching.  His distressed face, torn clothes, dirty appearance and hoarse voice left a disturbing image on Sharad’s mind.  It suddenly struck him that buying one meal would only solve the problem for the time being. It would be wonderful if he is taught the skill of growing paddy or wheat. This way he would become self-reliant. The idea was to make beggars skillful and involve them in some gainful employment for a dignified living. This is how the inspiration behind Badlav took shape and “Bhikshavratti  Mukti  Abhiyan” got initiated on 2nd October 2014. In Lucknow, he carried out a socio-economic study on beggars and recognized 3500 beggars living on footpath. In 2015, Badlav was formally registered as a Not-for-Profit organization. 

Transformation Story: 

“Money earned from hard work gives peace to the mind”- Rajan, has spent 35 years in Lucknow begging for food at the Hanuman temple. He came from Unnao with his father and got lost in the city. Since then, he has spent his time standing in the queue for food and sleeping on the footpath. Today, after getting help and rehabilitation from Badlav, he plies the peddle rikshaw all day to earn his living. Rajan says, “Throughout the day I work hard and earn 250-300 rupees, I eat in relief from my hard-earned money”.  

Read more transformation story’s click here https://badlavindia.org/transforming-stories/  

BADLAV the Mission: 

Since 2015, Badlav has been working to change lives of people who had lost everything and were stranded without food, shelter, and even, dignity. Badlav, after various experiments has adopted a robust model towards Bhikshavratti Mukti Abhiyan. They have been working actively to recreate the identity of the persons engaged in the act of beggary by providing them with sustainable livelihood. However, helping someone relive life again is not an easy task. So along with providing food and shelter for 6 months, Badlav also focuses on helping the individual overcome the psychological and social traumas that have been inflicted upon them. 

                         
Sharad says, “We found that most of the beggars apart from drug addiction, suffer from diseases like Tuberculosis, cancer, and asthma”. Though every human being wants to live a dignified life by earning for themselves, circumstances sometimes force them to spend their days in temples and nights on footpaths. Badlav’s model facilitates the transition from begging to a life of dignity.  

                                   
Over the years, Sharad and his team have helped recreate several lives like that of Rajan’s. However, Badlav is not going to stop- they want to rehabilitate around 300 more adult beneficiaries and replicate the Bhikshavratti  Mukti  Abhiyan in Kanpur by 2025.
The unit cost of per beneficiaries 87737.00 Rs.

Website: https://badlavindia.org/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IndiaBadlav/ 
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/IndiaBadlav  
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/indiabadlav/ 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indiabadlav/  

Links to our several articles:
https://www.thebetterindia.com/121040/sharad-patel-bhikshavrutti-mukti-abhiyan-lucknow/ 
https://30stades.com/2022/01/05/badlav-foundation-lucknow-sharad-patel-beggars-rehabilitation-micro-enterprises-dignified-life/ 
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/times-special/badlav-from-begging-to-earning-a-living-dignity/articleshow/94040571.cms 
https://www.thehindu.com/society/alms-and-the-man-the-beggar-who-is-now-a-schoolteacher/article20787940.ece 
https://thelogicalindian.com/story-feed/get-inspired/sharad-patel-helping-poor-destitute/ 
https://en.gaonconnection.com/farewell-to-alms-200-beggars-in-lucknow-have-become-self-reliant-thanks-to-the-efforts-of-sharad-patel-and-his-team/