Introduction
Medical Entitlement Literacy Assistance (MELA) works to ensure that no individual is denied healthcare, education, and other essential services simply because they do not know what they are entitled to, or through lack of documentation.
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MELA, which means ‘festive fair’ in Hindi, works in the heart of urban Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. This vibrant city, home to over three million people, also includes hundreds of slum communities where families live in informal settlements, often beside railway tracks or sewage canals. Across such underserved communities, people are often eligible for government healthcare, insurance benefits, and free services, but remain excluded due to lack of awareness, documentation barriers, or system complexity.
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Addressing this gap requires more than information alone. MELA works with communities as active participants in shaping their own development journeys, combining learning, engagement, and action to build both individual capability and collective resilience.
Background
India has a wide range of public health and welfare schemes, designed to improve access and affordability of essential services. Yet, for many communities, information about such schemes does not reach them, or systems feel intimidating and inaccessible. Therefore entitlements remain underutilised.
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​Community health outreach models have shown that awareness, early screening, and guided access can significantly improve health outcomes and service uptake. MELA builds on this understanding, focusing not just on awareness, but on guided navigation through the system.
Goals and Objectives
MELA’s mission is to ensure that no individual is denied access to essential services and entitlements due to lack of information, support or documentation. The programme focuses on three key areas:
Medical
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Equip people with skills and knowledge to confidently engage with healthcare systems.
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Support patients with serious or life-threatening conditions to access government health services.
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Reduce the burden of tuberculosis on the community.
Entitlements
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Assist eligible people to gain access to government schemes and services, such as pensions, health insurance (Ayushman Bharat) and gas connections. After the initial effort, these government schemes offer long-term or life-time benefits to the recipients.
Literacy
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Build functional Hindi literacy and numeracy, providing the foundation for further education, and to accessing services and benefits of modern society.
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Encourage and assist enrolment in government schools, and regular school attendance.
Implementation Strategy
MELA operates through a community-based model that combines access to entitlements, healthcare support, and foundational learning within underserved settlements. Other than regular activities in each of the main programme areas, MELA reaches underserved communities through camps, field visits, and partnerships to bring services closer and build trust in public systems.
Medical :: Access and Support
Navigating public healthcare systems can be overwhelming. MELA provides practical, on-ground support to help patients access government hospitals, and facilitate essential diagnostics and medicines. The project assists patients to access health-related funds and schemes, and also offers financial assistance for those most in need.
Through patient interactions and community activities, MELA encourages preventive care and early diagnosis, enabling individuals to seek care in a timely and informed manner.
MELA has a significant focus on reducing the burden of TB on the community, through community awareness and screening activities, and direct support to affected people and their families. All TB related activities utilise and support the government NTEP program services. MELA also works closely with tb.care to produce and disseminate accessible local-language information about TB, designed with low-literacy audiences in mind.
Entitlements :: Accessing Schemes and Services
MELA supports individuals and families in accessing essential entitlements that they are eligible for, but often unable to claim. This includes Aadhaar updates, pension applications, and access to LPG gas connections, where upfront costs can be a barrier. In such cases, the programme supports families by covering a part of the initial cost, making it easier for them to adopt safer and healthier alternatives.
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The programme also works closely with local government systems, supporting activities such as vaccination drives, Anganwadi surveys, and health awareness camps. By doing so, MELA helps bridge the gap between communities and public systems, ensuring services actually reach people.
Literacy :: Fun & Fast Foundational Learning
MELA strengthens foundational learning within communities through its literacy programme based on the ALfA (Accelerating Learning for All) method created by DEVI Sansthan. The approach is interactive, child-led, and designed to make learning engaging and accessible, especially for children who have missed or struggled with formal schooling.
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​Learning centres within communities provide a safe and supportive space where children gain basic literacy skills, while enjoying participation and building confidence. The programme also engages interested adults who missed out on education, helping them build confidence and gain functional literacy.
Community engagement and trust building
Across all its work, MELA prioritises regular engagement through camps, field visits, and community interactions. By mainly employing local residents in the project team, MELA is consistently present within informal settlements and intrinsically builds trust, understands local needs, and ensures that support is relevant and accessible.
MELA team performing a skit about TB and stigma, at a community celebration honouring patients who successfully completed treatment.
Impact
MELA has supported thousands of patients, learners and community members to access medical services, achieve literacy and receive entitlements:
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Key outcomes as of early 2026 include:
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3,000 patients assisted to access to timely and affordable healthcare
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500 plus children supported in achieving basic literacy, through 8 learning centres
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2,000 plus individuals supported with Aadhaar updates
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600 plus families enabled to access LPG connections
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300 plus individuals connected to government pension schemes
Health camp offering general health check-up alongside TB awareness and basic screening to identify people needing further medical care.
Future Vision
MELA is envisioned as a scalable and adaptable model for community transformation.
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​The programme aims to expand to new urban settlements, integrate digital tools to enhance access to information, and deepen integration with public systems.
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​In the long term, MELA seeks to enable communities to lead their own development journeys with dignity and confidence.
