Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin; to say that you are weak, or others are weak.
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda
Our second day in Kanpur started with a visit to the
NGO - Action for Women and Rural Development (AWARD). In the year 1993, a
handful of dedicated professionals got together under the name of AWARD with a
dream and courage to use their knowledge, skills and resources in voluntary
action. The organization started its social service programs in the district of
Kanpur with a view of facilitating the underprivileged and marginalized section
of the society especially women by enhancing their capacities and capabilities
to plan, implement, monitor and evaluate programs designed for their own
growth and development.
They are doing good work in urban
slums & rural areas. During the last decade of its journey AWARD has spread
its activities in various parts of the state and has direct intervention
programs for 2 to 3 lakh people approximately. AWARD’s target group includes:
1. Marginalized
individuals & communities especially women (In both rural and urban areas)
2. Young
people
3. Small
& marginal farmers and
4. Unorganized
laborers
Kanpur city has 350 urban slums. As most factories
have closed down, most people are unemployed and hence self employed in various
occupations such as street hawkers, vegetable vendors, transport laborers, rickshaw
pullers, milk distribution, house maids, painters etc.
Based on National Sample Survey’s latest report on
the state of employment and unemployment across India, Kanpur has the highest
unemployment rate for women at 22.7% among class 1 cities (Cities with a
population of one million or more are termed as class 1 cities) after Patna.
There is good potential for floriculture, especially
value addition in tomato and green chilies, products from leather waste,
organic farming, organic manure etc. Major exportable items include leather
& leather products, machinery parts, automobile parts, saddles, veterinary
needles, plastic items, handicrafts & artificial jewelry. 1500 tons of
waste is generated per day in Kanpur besides waste in temples. All these can be
converted to power.
Uttar Pradesh has a population of 21 crores (210
million) making it the highest populated state of India of which Kanpur is the
largest city with a district population is 45 lakhs (4.52 million)
There are over 42,000 vacancies in public
healthcare system as people do not want to work in the rural areas. Similarly
there are over 72,000 vacancies for teachers in schools. Mentor On Road suggested
AWARD to start imparting skills training and developing hand-made products for
which we will support with funding & markets. Mentor On Road will soon announce
the launch of first project soon.
Our second visit of the day in Kanpur was to Swaraj
Vridhashram, an old age home which provides a home to those senior citizens who
are either abandoned or mistreated by their family members. “Swaraj” means
Aazaadi and in “Swaraj Vridhashram”, every member of the family leads a tension
free life.
Swaraj Vridhashram was established by Mrs. Manju
Bhatia on 18th August, 2007 with 10 members. Around 65 people can be
accommodated comfortably into it. Since its inception, 121 elderly people have
stayed here and last rites of 59 elderly persons have been performed. Today,
the size of the family is 65 of which some are mentally challenged while the
others have been neglected by their family.
Swaraj Vridhashram has a self sustainable system
where each member of the family helps in running the activities of home
according to his/her talents and capabilities. It runs on a charitable basis
and does not get any financial help from the government. However, ration cards
have been provided by the government to its residents. Initial investments for
building the Vridhashram were borne by Mrs Manju Bhatia and recurring expenses
are taken care of through donations.
Mrs. Manju Bhatia, the found of Swaraj Vridhashram is doing extraordinary work, equivalent to Mother Teresa. She is now 65 years and has been carrying out social work since the age of 13.
We have promised to support her with funding.
Mentor On Road’s last meeting of the day in Kanpur
was at the Indian Industries Association, which had an engaging gathering. Among
the audience, the local industries and younger generation hailing from the final
year engineering colleges displayed a good mix of enterprise and youth. Mentor
On Road suggested them to start ‘Mobile Tuesdays’ for application development.
Many important questions were raised by the
audience members ranging on a number of issues and were adequately replied.
We were glad to know that Digital India is making
the life of businessmen easy through online applications and DigiLocker. DigiLocker
or Digital Locker is one of the key initiatives under the Digital India Program.
1. Digital Locker provides secure
access to government-issued documents. It uses authenticity services provided
by the Aadhaar card.
2. Digital Locker is aimed at eliminating the use of physical documents and enables sharing of verified electronic documents across government agencies.
3. Digital Locker provides a dedicated personal e-storage space to Indian citizens, linked to their Aadhaar numbers.
4. Digital Locker will reduce the administrative overheads of government departments and agencies created due to paper work. It will also make it easy for Indian citizens to receive services by saving time and effort as their documents will now be available anytime, anywhere and can be shared electronically.
5. To sign up for your Digital Locker, you need your Aadhaar number and a mobile number linked to that Aadhaar number. For further details, visit https://digitallocker.gov.in/
Our duty is to encourage every one in his struggle to live up to his own highest idea, and strive at the same time to make the ideal as near as possible to the Truth.
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda
No comments:
Post a Comment