The focus of this book is on the movement for right to education, one of the new social movements in India, spearheaded by M.V. Foundation, an innovative NGO. Based on the perspective that any child out of school is a child labourer, the campaign initiated by MVF has transformed over four lakh children from workers to schoolgoers. The MVF approach has shown how education can be a powerful agency for social change and provision of equal opportunity for disadvantaged social groups. Its approach is rights-based, inclusive, consensus-building and non-violent. It questions conventional wisdom on two counts: that the poor cannot send their children to school as they need the income of their children; and that not all child labour is bad. The example of MVF demonstrates that, given conviction, it is possible to totally abolish child labour and make education a reality for every child. This book will be of interest to policy makers, NGOs, social activists, advocacy groups and all those interested in the rights of children.

Sucheta Mahajan is Professor in Social Sciences, Centre for Historical Studies, School of Social Sciences and Chairperson, Archives on Contemporary History, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Her works include India's Struggle for Independence (with Bipan Chandra et al), Independence and Partition of India: The Erosion of Colonial Power in India and H.M. Patel: Rites of Passage (ed.).

**Contents and Sample Pages**