Vani is an educational undertaking that explores women's rights movements in South Asia, with a special focus on India. Gender inequalities are still rife in this part of the world, and Vani seeks to raise awareness and highlight the history of feminist thought, the grassroot movements in South Asia, and political practices evident in the sub-continent.
The original, self-developed Vani Curriculum covers the political history of women-led grassroots social movements from across India to shed light on the political and social reforms that women's contributions have made possible. Using this curriculum, Devangana led interactive classes at the partner NGO, Hamari Pahchan, speaking about the Chipko Movement, the Gulabi Gang, and Sugathakumari.
To raise further awareness, Devangana authored and collated a set of 7 factsheets, the Find your Voice Factsheets. This was a docket of information on the health, safety, and wellbeing of women across the workplace, household, and public spaces. By reviewing extant laws, clauses and subclauses relevant to women and their rights, the factsheets covered topics such as Property Rights, the Hindu Marriage Act, and Employment and Opportunity in Articles 16 and 39.
After having conducted extensive research into grassroots women's rights organizations in India, Devangana developed a unique method of quantizing the impact of these organizations and scoring them. This aided the development of a 50 member, open-access V-Score Database with organizations sorted by domains such as health, employment, and education. The database is an easily searchable tool that can be used by anyone hoping to make a difference.
Devangana has also been in conversation with several law professionals in New Delhi, and developed the pro-bono Vani Volunteers Legal Aid Network, that focuses ofn providing free legal aid to support women from underserved communities.
Working closely with Hamari Pahchan, the partner NGO, Devangana also facilitated the Vani Voices workshops, that were informational sessions on health, education, and vocational skills to help young girls at the NGO gain an understanding of their right. Devangana also raised a total of INR 84,000/- ($998/-) for the NGO, which was used to further their active internventions in the fields of women's rights and economic empowerment.