Dear all,

Many of you probably know or know of advocate Shakil Ahmed and his work. For those who don’t, Shakil is a human rights activist and secretary of Nirbhay Bano Andolan (NBA), a group that has been working towards making the state government more accountable to its citizens.He was born and raised in a slum in Wadala and has been working in the area relentlessly. Among many of his incredible achievements, he was one of the main crusaders for the implementation of the Shrikrishna
Commission Report, the Gundewar Commission Report, got a municipal school started in the slum and himself founded a pre-primary school for the children of the basti.

Two years ago, he started publishing a newspaper called “Janta Ka Aaina” avilabal  at aainanews.blogspot.in. The paper, that highlights injustice in society, corruption and so on, has been surviving on donations since its conception. He
manages to bring out 1,500 copies for each publication at a cost of Rs 7,000. While 50 copies are sold off the stands, the rest are sent to people who subscribe to the paper.

Currently, he is falling short of money to his paper going. Several political parties have come ahead and made offers for paid news just before the elections. Of course, he has rejected them.

Under these circumstances, he could really do with your help. If you like, you could help him in the following ways:

1) Give suggestions on a revenue model.

2) Volunteer to write stories for the paper. Of course, he won’t be
able to pay.

3) Subscribe to the paper. It will cost you only Rs 100 annually.

4) Donate as much as you can and feel appropriate.

5) Sponsor one or two or several issues.

You could write to him directly to  [email protected] or call him on 99699-25602/ shabnam 8898546574