Submitted on: 26/ 06/ 2014 1 Reaching the un-reached: Case studies of the learning initiatives of the street children in Kolkata Susmita Chakraborty Department of Lib. & Information Science, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India Email: susmitachakraborty94@gmail.com Copyright © 2014 by Susmita Chakraborty. This work is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Abstract: This paper showcases three education initiatives from the Niharakana Rehabilitation Centre, the Nabadisha Project by the Women’s Interlink Foundation and education-related projects by the Hope Foundation. These initiatives were coordinated by a school teacher, government bodies (Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Kolkata Police) and a Non Government Organisation (NGO). All three aim at facilitating learning and information among the street children as well as distressed children in Kolkata City in the state of West Bengal in India. Keywords: reading, learning, outreach services, street children, Kolkata India 1. Introduction The Indian subcontinent has a dense, multicultural and multilingual population; diverse geographic conditions; and different levels of growth and development. With a developing economy and often shoe-string budgets, it is difficult for the Government alone to cater for the basic needs of its citizens. Collaboration and cooperation between the various stake holders, public and private organizations and citizens, is necessary to ensure that the benefits of learning and education reach even the Below Poverty Line (BPL) population. 2. Objectives This paper showcases three education initiatives from the Niharakana Rehabilitation Centre, the Nabadisha Project (Women’s Interlink Foundation) and education-related projects by the Hope Foundation. These initiatives were coordinated catered by a school teacher, government bodies