Nirantar initiated Sahajani Shiksha Kendra (SSK) in 2002. 'Sahajani' in the local language means ‘one who helps women’. The programme broadly aims at empowering women and adolescent girls through literacy and education – an education that makes connections with their lived realities and rights, and enables them to develop analytical skills on gender, development and other issues.

So far 2145 women and adolescent girls in 112 villages have undergone an intensive program of literacy, continuing education, awareness and empowerment. They have also been organized into 72 village level women’s collectives. Over the years, a resource group and cadre of 50 women facilitators have been trained and established from among the newly literate women from the local area. 100% of the programme’s outreach is amongst women from marginalised communities like Dalits and Adivasis.