Cuttack: In an important initiative to advance child rights and social inclusion, the Centre for Child Rights (CCR) of National Law University Odisha (NLUO) and the University’s flagship community outreach initiative, Project KUTUMB, jointly organised a Special Aadhaar Enrolment Camp on February 25, 2026, at the Balmiki Nagar Community Centre, CDA-13, for over 50 children from the Balmiki Nagar, Brajabiharipur, and Baba Tilkanagar urban settlements of Ward No. 3, Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC).
The flag-off of the Special Aadhaar Camp took place in the presence of Commissioner, Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC), Kirandeep Kaur Sahota; NLUO Vice Chancellor, Professor Ved Kumari; Chief Minister’s Chair Professor cum Director, Centre for Child Rights – NLUO, Prof. Biraj Swain; Additional District Education Officer, Cuttack, Abhijita Bhaskar; Social Worker – District Child Protection Unit, Cuttack, Congress Rout; and Corporator of Ward No. 3 – CMC, Pradeep Rout. The initiative was led by Dr. Swagatika Samal from CCR–NLUO and Dr. Akshay Verma, Coordinator – Project KUTUMB, and supported by Durbadala Mantry, M. Vijay Bhaskar, Dr. Pradipta Kumar Sarangi, Ankit Kumar Keshri, and Amulya Kumar Swain of CCR–NLUO. The camp ran over February 25 and 26, 2026.
The camp is part of NLUO’s commitment to creating Child-Friendly Communities in line with the NITI Aayog mandate and the Sustainable Development Goals. It marks a milestone in Project KUTUMB’s mission to ensure the social inclusion of vulnerable children.
Launched in August 2022, Project KUTUMB is NLUO’s flagship outreach programme, implemented under the shared leadership of the CCR. It seeks to transform the urban settlements of Brajabiharipur (Upara Sahi and Tala Sahi), Baba Tilkanagar, and Balmiki Nagar into aspirational communities with active citizenship and responsive state mechanisms. The project takes a rights-based, community-driven approach by empowering families, children, and local institutions to actively participate in child welfare and protection. Through awareness-building, capacity enhancement, needs assessment, and vulnerability mapping, Project KUTUMB aims to establish sustainable, locally led child protection systems with long-term impact.
Founded in 2015, the Centre for Child Rights (CCR) is the oldest research, teaching, and advocacy center at NLUO. It is also the second oldest CCR in any National Law University in India and the only Chair Professorship on Child Rights in India (including both law and non-law universities), thanks to the efforts of Vice Chancellor Prof. Ved Kumari. The CCR is committed to advancing child rights through teaching, legal research, policy advocacy, training, and community engagement. As a key actor in Project KUTUMB, CCR has conducted extensive vulnerability mapping and needs assessments in the adopted settlements to ensure that interventions are data-driven, need-sensitive, and place the best interests of children at the forefront, in line with NITI Aayog-mandated indicators.
Abhijita Bhaskar, Additional District Education Officer, Cuttack, while addressing the gathering, stressed that Aadhaar enrolment strengthens service delivery and emphasised the importance of providing accurate information—specifically a functional mobile number—during the Aadhaar enrolment process.
Addressing the audience on the genesis and vision of Project KUTUMB, Prof. Ved Kumari, Vice Chancellor of NLUO and Patron-in-Chief of CCR–NLUO, who conceptualised Project KUTUMB, noted that legal identity is a gateway to dignity, citizenship, and equal opportunity for children. Substantive progress in child protection is possible only through consistent collaboration between communities and state instruments, and when children have a voice and agency in shaping their own and their community’s futures. She further added, “NLUO is not just an institution to train legal professionals; it is also committed to the agenda of justice and to enabling underprivileged children and communities in the neighborhood to have better lives and life chances, which is a core ambition of Project KUTUMB and NLUO. Children need encouragement, and it would make me very happy to see some of you enroll in NLUO one day.”
The Keynote Address was delivered by Kirandeep Kaur Sahota, Commissioner, Cuttack Municipal Corporation, who formally flagged off the Special Aadhaar Camp by enrolling two children from the communities. She emphasised that inclusive urban governance requires proactive outreach to vulnerable populations and lauded NLUO’s sustained commitment to community engagement.
