Students aim for social change
Students to visit villages and help provide basic necessities like electricity, toilets
MUMBAI: At a time when people are busy making new year’s resolutions to benefit themselves, many college students have decided to make time to bring about a change in the society instead. The only difference is that unlike other New Year resolutions that one tends to give up on, these students and colleges have made it a point to not only stand by their resolution, but also work towards bridging the missing links in the society.
Students at K C College, Churchgate, have decided to provide electricity to all households in a village in Saphale and at the same time also build toilets for each household. The National Service Scheme (NSS) students had adopted Karvale village near Saphale in Maharashtra a couple of years ago and have helped build over 40 toilets in the village. “This year students have resolved to build 60 more toilets and also ensure electricity supply to each household in that village,” said Manju Nichani, principal of the college. She added that the students have already been talking to sponsors and are charting out a plan to be able to turn their dreams into reality.
Not far away, students at HR
College spent Christmas vacation in college, brainstorming for ideas. The aim is to design and invent a wheel that could be used by women in villages to carry water, especially in areas of water scarcity. “We spent the vacation in college, coming up with a suitable design of a wheel which is not only light, but also durable for the benefit of women in rural parts of the state,” said Kanupriya Sharma, a member of ENACTUS, a group of HR students working towards an entrepreneurial approach to building a sustainable community. This team of students is also planning to visit more villages and find out other bare necessities that are missing and hope to fill in the gaps.
While many colleges have adopted either villages in rural Maharashtra or railway stations in the city, the ‘Swachch Bharat’ campaign seems to be top priority for many colleges this year.
“Our college stresses on going beyond our curriculum and this year we have decided to look into
the Prime Minister’s Swachch Bharat campaign and take it to every doorstep. We have already undertaken workshops on waste segregation and the importance of compost pit in some rural villages. This year we have decided to take it to slums of Mumbai,” said a student of St Andrew’s College in Bandra.