Shalvi Shah, a senior student in our BBA (Hons) programme, has been awarded a microgrant by the Study of the United States Institutes (SUSI) Programme for raising awareness on sexual reproductive health and menstrual hygiene among rural women in Gujarat. Shalvi was part of SUSI’s Young Women Leaders in Public Policy Making in 2022. She says, “After five weeks of the Programme, we had to put together a capstone project, and my chief concern areas were education and menstrual hygiene. My application for the microgrant was on the challenges around sexual health and menstrual hygiene that women face in Gujarat.”

Shalvi has been closely associated with the Bengaluru-based NGO U&I, a platform that invites students to join forces to make education accessible to girls. Herself only 19 then, she would engage with adolescent girls on menstrual hygiene and good/bad touch. She says, “I realised that these girls have no access to basic education, and there are innumerable growing-up girls out there with these challenges. Through this microgrant, I plan to impact their lives.” Beginning with Ahmedabad, Shalvi plans to collaborate over the next six months to a year with various independent organisations and gynaecologists to address the issues faced by young, marginalised women. Her goal in studying management is to start an NGO eventually.