Archive · 4 Oct 2026
Dooars Social Worker Trains Girls for Independence and Safety
Sukla Debnath helps girls and women in the Dooars learn skills that can help them earn money.
She teaches beauty and grooming for free, and some of her students now work in salons.
She also talks with girls about staying safe and avoiding dangers such as trafficking and child marriage.
Sukla teaches basic karate so girls can build confidence and learn self-defence.
She visits tea gardens to give children books and stationery and provides sanitary pads to adolescent girls.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, she also shared cooked food with families in need.
She pays for much of this work herself.
Her goal is to help girls become independent and find opportunities close to home.
Sukla Debnath provides free beauty and other skills training to girls from underprivileged families, especially those connected to closed or sick tea gardens.
She says hundreds of trainees have learned the skills, and some now work in salons in cities including Bengaluru and Mumbai.
For about nine years, she has offered three-month training to help girls earn their own money and find livelihoods within or near their communities.
Her outreach includes awareness programmes on trafficking, child marriage, women’s rights and personal safety, as well as basic karate lessons.
Debnath also distributes books, stationery and sanitary pads, and says she funds much of her social work from her own earnings.
- Who
- Sukla Debnath, a 39-year-old social worker and trained beautician from New Hasimara.
- What
- She provides free skills training and safety-awareness outreach for women and girls, particularly in tea-garden communities.
- When
- She began offering training about nine years ago; the article was published around the September 28–29 event in 2026.
- Where
- New Hasimara and tea-garden communities in and around the Dooars, Alipurduar district, West Bengal.
- Why
- To help women and girls become economically self-reliant, build confidence and avoid exploitation.
- Age
- 39
- Training duration
- Three months
- Trainees
- She says she has trained hundreds of girls.
- Community outreach
- She says she has reached over one lakh girls and women.
- Training focus
- Beauty and grooming, alongside other skill-development training.
- Additional support
- Basic karate, awareness programmes, books and stationery, and sanitary pads.
- Event
- The fourth edition of The Telegraph School Awards for Excellence 2026 North Bengal was held September 28 and 29.