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This social startup is providing care and support to children who leave orphanages and care homes after turning 18.




At eight years old, Girish Mehta lost his father. His mother, unable to care for him, sent him to his uncle in Mumbai to attend school. Instead, his uncle put him to work in his restaurant. Seeing her son's situation, his mother brought him back to Rajasthan and enrolled him in a child care institution at age 12. Mehta lived in two homes in Jaipur until he turned 18, continuing his education and living with other children who were orphaned, abandoned, or whose parents couldn’t care for them.

Anisha Sharma recounts, "In 2018, a month before I left the home, they asked about my plans. I had completed a short course in hotel management after finishing school but had no understanding of the outside world. I was estranged from my mother and accustomed to living in a group," Mehta recalls. He joined thousands of care leavers who exit Child Care Institutions (CCIs) and other alternative care centres every year, feeling confused, worried, and uncertain about their futures. Children who must leave orphanages after turning 18, according to government regulations, are known as care leavers. Mehta’s experiences as a care leaver led him to establish CLiC–Care Leavers Inner Circle Forum in 2021, a non-profit startup dedicated to supporting care leavers as they transition to independent life.



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