AIM for Seva’s journey began with the goal of enabling children from impoverished rural and tribal areas to have the same advantages as children of means. This gave rise to the Chatralayam (free student hostel) model.
Our Chatralayams are secure residential facilities that provide students with the opportunity to attend school without interruptions – free of cost. Students stay in the Chatralayam, attend the nearby school, and benefit from a holistic system that offers all-round development (this includes tuition, books, uniforms, fortified food, yoga, sports and extracurricular activities).
Most of the students in the Chatralayam are first-generation school-goers, and come from economically and socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Each Chatralayam comprises of students from several neighbouring villages and tribal regions, and enables education for students from multiple villages at one go. The first Chatralayam was set up in 2001.