Manjita Chaudhary

Indentured Daughters Program Alumna

Financial Manager, Freed Kamlari Dev’t Forum
Vice Chair, Community Development Committee
Educator & advocate against gender-based violence and early marriage

Manjita Chaudhary was 9 years old when her father sold her into kamlari bondage. For three years, she endured grueling labor and violence, enslaved in a stranger’s home. “I lived in constant fear, unable to speak freely.” Her suffering earned her family only $25/year.

Manjita escaped kamlari bondage in 2001, when she met NYF—but it wasn’t easy. Now age 12, she had to stand up to her parents in order to access what was then the brand-new Indentured Daughters Program. She was fueled by our powerful slogan: “Daughters want education, not slavery.”

“I received NYF support from 2001 to 2008,” Manjita says. “I became deeply involved—participating in street dramas, awareness campaigns, rescue operations, peer counseling, and rallies. I helped lead protests for kamlari rights, organized fundraising efforts, and worked directly with the government to establish identity cards and scholarship guidelines for freed kamlaris.” All this while completing her education!

Manjita helped build the Freed Kamlari Development Forum (FKDF) from the ground up—helping form local, district, and central committees, and establishing and expanding cooperatives. Her peers elected her the founding president of this powerful, locally-led organization.

Manjita has devoted her career to economically empowering the women and girls of her community through local government efforts, grassroots education, and activism.

Today, she is leading strong economic development in her region: strategically expanding & strengthening local women’s cooperatives, matching women with training & entrepreneurship opportunities, running financial literacy & business workshops, and mentoring women towards independence & leadership.