Rita Panicker

Rita Panicker Pinto is the founder and director of Butterflies India.

Early life and career
Panicker received her undergraduate degree in English literature from Fatima Matha College, Kollam. In 1976, she earned her master's degree in Social Welfare Administration from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. Later she finished her studies with a Masters in Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands in 1982.

She has been a faculty member in the Women's Studies Unit, at the TISS, Mumbai. While in Mumbai, Panicker was also the Founder of MASHAL – Maharashtra Association for Social Housing.

Between 1988 and 1992, Panicker held the position of Director at the Board of ChildHope.

In 1990, she was appointed Consultant to UNICEF New York and Nigeria to assist the UNICEF Nigeria office in formulating a national policy and programme for Children Especially in Difficult Circumstances (CEDC). Today this whole area is known as Child Protection.

Ms. Panicker was also the vice chair of the Board of Family for Every Child.

Engagement with street and working children
Rita Panicker's work with children living on the streets began when she lived in Mumbai and taught at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. While traveling to and from work, she saw a number of children at the station and on the trains, whom she eventually got to know. She was inspired by their positive spirit, generosity, and resilience.

When she moved to Delhi with her husband, late Gerry Pinto, after his job transfer to UNICEF Delhi, she decided to work with children on the streets. Panicker, along with Assistant Professor P. Nangia produced a report - "Situational Analysis of Study of Street and Working Children in Delhi" for UNICEF in 1988. It was the first study on the subject in the country and provided insight into the children's lives and why they were on the streets. Her interest deepened, and she decided to work with this group of children.

She founded Butterflies, an organization dedicated to protect and empower children and guided with the core value and belief that it must be a democratic organization and children's voices have to be listened to seriously.

Since its founding in 1989, her organization Butterflies has changed the lives of almost 45,000 children and reaches out to almost 5,000 children every day through several intervention programs.

Personal life
A native of Kollam, Kerala in Southern India, Panicker was born to Achutan Kunjukrishna Panicker and G.Rugmini Panicker. An early influence was an aunt who ran a Sanskrit school for Adivasi children in Paripally, Kollam. Her husband Late Gerry Pinto was a program officer at UNICEF. The couple decided not to have children of their own and dedicated their lives to serve the society.

Awards and recognition

 * Recipient of the International Cooperative Innovation Award 2020 by the U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council
 * Lifetime Achievement Award 2016 by the National Association of Professional Social Workers in India for her distinct contribution in the domain of child rights, especially street & working children at the 4th Indian Social Work Congress.
 * Rita Panicker was honoured by Shri Amitabh Bachchan on the new Star Plus show Aaj Ki Raat Hai Zindagi in 2015
 * Vanitha Woman of the Year 2012 by the Malayala Manorama group. The award was instituted to acknowledge the work done by Malayali women to serve Indian society
 * IGSSS Shrestha Puraskar, 2011, by the Indo Global Social Service Society in New Delhi for Panicker's pioneering work with street and working children.
 * Nominated and a finalist for the 2009 Right Livelihood Award.
 * Awarded the Zee Pehal Pioneering Personalities L. N. Goel Award in 2006.
 * Awarded the Women of Social Work Excellence by the Manava Seva Dharma Samvardhani Charitable Trust for Social Service Consciousness, Chennai, on 27 February 2002.
 * Children's Development Khazana started by her organization Butterflies in 2001 received the Second Prize in the 2006 Global Development Network Award for the Most Innovative Development Project.
 * The Ramachandran - Ikeda Award 1999 was conferred on Panicker's organization Butterflies

Books

 * Co-authored a Study on Children in Conflict with Law-Children and Crime in India- Causes, Narratives and Interventions- published by Palgrave Macmillan
 * Co-authored two Studies: "Situational Analysis of Street and Working Children in Delhi" and "Status of Children in Andaman and Nicobar Islands"
 * Published several papers on child rights issues