In the poorest district of Bihar, an open-air classroom teaching Indian Constitution

The roads of rural Kishanganj district in Bihar are lined with heaps of stubble -- fuel for cooking stoves for nearly six months. He says, “The people of this settlement have the right to education, to ration as well as healthcare but in the past two years that they have shifted here, they have not been able to access them.” Shantana Devi, a 26-year-old who is moderating the gathering with an attendance sheet in hand, says, “It is our right to participate in gram sabhas but in most of Kishanganj, they exist only on paper. Besarbati is one of the exceptional villages which had one meeting and some of us brought up the issue of Nayatolla Prakashnagar there.” These are some of the over 450 youth who have been gathering in Kishanganj since 2023 as part of a programme on political education and active citizenship called the Rural Youth India Leadership program. This has transformed the dynamics within my own family where my mother now has the freedom to step outside without being berated for it.” “I used to think that the Constitution is just a book of laws but now I have learned that it is much more than that,” says Akriti Bharti, a 25-year-old from Chhattargachh village, whose father runs a a mall hardware shop. I was also able to figure out what kind of harassment we could be subjected to.” The RIYL program run by an NGO, has become one avenue for the youth to not just get exposure to opportunities and political awareness but learn digital and communication skills, as well as project or financial management abilities while also gaining networks of support and peer groups.