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Class 12 student starts women-only running club, raises Rs 8L for streetlights

By · Via Times of India · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Driven by a desire to help women exercise safely outdoors, Kridha Gupta expanded her women-only running club to more than 200 members and raised nearly Rs 8 lakh to install five streetlights. Her community involvement quickly widened into athletic and civic development across Haryana, including organizing a memorial run with the Indian Army that raised approximately $1,000 for martyrs' families. Gupta was later nominated by the Mayor of Ambala to the Chief Minister's Good Governance Associates Programme, where she conducted career and leadership workshops across rural schools.

Key points

  • Grassroots sports initiatives can effectively mobilize local funding to address critical…: Grassroots sports initiatives can effectively mobilize local funding to address critical public safety and neighborhood lighting deficits.
  • Community-level organizing helped Gupta reach over 7,000 rural government school students…: Community-level organizing helped Gupta reach over 7,000 rural government school students with educational, leadership, and gender equity workshops.
  • The Khel Vikas program created sustainable career paths by certifying 40 former national-…: The Khel Vikas program created sustainable career paths by certifying 40 former national-level athletes to serve as high-school sports coaches.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

For some women, going for a run is a simple way to stay fit. For others, it involves checking whether the route is well lit, finding someone to accompany them and deciding whether it is safe to be outdoors after dark. Class 12 student Kridha Gupta from Ambala began noticing how these everyday concerns shaped women's access to fitness. Her own experience played a part. When she wanted to exercise more seriously, her mother was uncomfortable with the idea of sending her to a gym where there were few women. Outdoor workouts were not always convenient either, particularly in poorly lit areas.

Instead of accepting these limitations, Kridha decided to bring women together. What began as a small group of five or six runners eventually grew into RunX, a women-only running club with more than 200 members. But the initiative soon became about more than running. As women began sharing their experiences, the group started looking at the conditions that made public spaces difficult to use. Poor street lighting emerged as one of the concerns they wanted to address. “Access…

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