India has never surveyed orphan children in the country. Poulomi Pavini Shukla, author of Weakest on Earth: Orphans of India, has been fighting for the rights and reservation of orphaned children.
When Supreme Court lawyer Poulomi Pavini Shukla was pursuing law, she had decided to become a criminal lawyer. However, working in close quarters with orphan children led her on the path of social activism and she developed an interest in the Constitution and human rights.
Disturbed by the lack of any “structured way for an orphan child in our country to go to college,” she went down a rabbit hole of researching provisions, schemes and care infrastructure for orphans online and visited hundreds of orphanages across states to understand the ground reality.
the 29-year-old lawyer authored Weakest on Earth: Orphans of India and launched the personal initiative and campaign of the same name. That year she also petitioned a public interest litigation, laying out demands for standardised education, an official survey on orphans and reservations in education and jobs. Her PIL led the National Commission for Backward Classes to recommend orphans be considered part of OBCs and prompted several states and Union Territories to extend education reservations and financial aid to orphaned children.
Recognised by Forbes India in its 30 Under 30 list, Poulomi continues her long-term mission “because when you meet these children, they really inspire you… If you can get even one of them in a good school, or someone to sponsor their education after 18, it is a great feeling of accomplishment and the work makes sense.”
To Make Orphans Equal Citizens of India
Poulomi authored the book Weakest on Earth: Orphans of India, before starting a campaign with the same name to highlight the plight of India’s nearly 30 million orphaned children.
Discover the untold story of India’s most vulnerable children—orphans who are often forgotten and left behind. In Weakest on Earth: Orphans of India, compelling accounts gathered through interviews, field visits, and policy analysis expose the invisible barriers these youths face—from lack of legal identity and social stigma to scarce educational and economic opportunities.