From a peer collective to a platform for girl-centred change: How Ausmita Sarkar led the evolution of RANG Foundation

The first wave of COVID-19 was at its peak. Fear and uncertainty were omnipresent. For Ausmita Sarkar, though, a hot cup of chai (tea) and candid conversations with her friends became a haven away from the negativity unravelling outside. 

Soon, a realisation dawned on Ausmita: the safe space she enjoyed was rare. And with that realisation came a resolve: she wouldn’t let it remain rare. She would make it her mission to make such spaces accessible to queer individuals and girls.  

“I want girls to grow up having access to information, resources, rights and safety …” shares Ausmita. 

Her vision of inclusive spaces for queer perspectives and girls gave rise to RANG, an initiative committed to intersectional justice, feminist values and community-led change. Its core programmes are centred on gender sensitisation, rights awareness, and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) education. Annually, RANG reaches 150 girls, and since its inception, has reached more than 400 adolescent girls in rural and peri-urban areas of India’s West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh states. 

On the operational front, “RANG didn’t have a clear blueprint”, explains Ausmita. “We didn’t know how or when we’d register as an organisation… but what we had was clarity about the gaps we saw and a deep sense of urgency to act.” 

During the three-year-long Girl-Centered Incubator, Ausmita learned a host of skills and tools that helped her shape RANG’s values, mission, vision, and Theory of Change. More importantly, though, the incubator equipped Ausmita to integrate girl-centeredness in all of RANG’s programmes. 

This fundamental learning first reflected in AISCA, an arts-based sexuality curriculum and one of RANG’s core programmes. Here, Ausmita facilitated a process whereby girls from Muslim-majority communities could step in and co-design the curriculum.  

In addition to this on-ground, programmatic change, Ausmita went on to officially register RANG as a nonprofit, having secured 12A and 80G certifications and developed the child protection policy and code of conduct. 

Over the course of the incubator, RANG evolved from an impassioned collective to a formally recognised, girl-centred safe space for the Gender, Sexual and Romantic Minorities communities. 

“The fellowship gave us more than just resources — it gave us momentum. We began to build intentionally: forming our Governing Board, creating internal structures, and having real conversations about how we wanted to grow,” elaborates Ausmita, summing up her learnings.   “We still have a long way to go, but looking back, we’re no longer the same team that entered the fellowship.”

Her biggest takeaway was more heartfelt than she set out to achieve. “I have found this group of amazing co-fellows whose work inspires me every day…”