BEYOND MONEY


Trees too need a support group;Dr Nita Mukherjee finds one rooted in Pune After witnessing the relentless felling of trees by builders and, as always, the bureaucracy turning a Nelson’s eye, for over a decade, Tasneem Balasinorwala could take it no more. She had moved to Pune in 1993 when it...

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Dr Nita Mukherjee interacts with women from Vadodara redefining their space and their identity Olakh, which means identity in Gujarati, calls itself ‘A Space for Women’ and reflects a conscious decision by its founders to call it a feminist group. In today’s age, says Nimisha Desai, a...

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Aditya Kshirsagar writes about an NGO at a Mumbai suburb that is giving slum children a better life Vijay Karande, founder of the Social Development Centre (SDC) and Dreamz Home, gives a literal meaning to the proverb, ‘if wishes were horses, beggars would ride’. A child being made to beg is an...

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Amritha Pillay reports on the philosophy and activities of The Health Awareness Centre, an NGO focused on women and child welfare Amidst a barren landscape where you see nothing but weeds is a large plot with a small, modest-looking house surrounded by tall, thick trees and lush greenery....

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Going beyond women's welfare and working for gender freedom. Amritha Pillay describes Educate a girl child and you educate the whole family’ is a popular slogan aimed at promoting girls’ education in India. And many do, indeed, believe in it. Here is an organisation which started with...

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Dr Nita Mukherjee describes how this NGO is marrying traditional knowledge with modern building technologies The post-quake rehabilitation in Kutch saw wide usage of rammed-earth construction, based on the traditional knowledge of artisans and the strengths of traditional building systems....

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In arid Kutch, an NGO uses the most abundant renewable resource, Dr Nita Mukherjee describes how Sahjeevan, literally sah, which means together, and jeevan meaning living, was founded as a response to the needs articulated by Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan in the early 1990s. These rural women...

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Dr Nita Mukherjee describes the efforts of a Gujarat-based NGO in conserving natural resources Of the many activities that concerned civil society activists take up as a challenge is the conservation of natural resources. They believe that people’s participation is crucial for this effort; no...

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Moneylife profiles Rajendra Singh’s war for water conservation and community water rights It is his relentless pursuit of water conservation techniques that has earned Magsaysay award winner Rajendra Singh, the title of Waterman of India. His mission, however, is a little wider. It encompasses...

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Yashika Krutik Shah visited this unique organisation that lights up lives through guidance, treatment and match-making Do all the good you can, by all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. In any manner you can. To all the people you can. However little you can....

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Aniket Bhatkhande travelled to Dhamapur toexperience Syamantak, a unique learninginstitution inspired by Dr Srinath Kalbag’s work The abiding myth is that kids stay off schools to help parents. The truth is they are leaving in droves because ‘education’ there is boring! Teach them things to do...

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Dr Nita Mukherjee spots a new kind of fairy in Pune -- Pustak Pari When Meenakshi Apte retired as head, family & child welfare department, Tata Institute of Social Science after 32 years and shifted to Pune, she was certain she wanted to continue the work she had started in Mumbai -- mitigation...

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Karmayog finds that only 10 Indian companies make the grade in corporate social responsibility. A Moneylife report At a time when ethical investing and corporate social responsibility (CSR) have become buzzwords, not a single one of India’s top 1,000 companies obtained the highest grade (Level...

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Dr Nita Mukherjee describes a voluntary group rehabilitating orphaned and traumatised girls When they come to us, they are in a pitiable state -- battered as they are, physically, mentally and emotionally. Most have gone through such trauma that their world seems to be collapsing around them....

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Dr Nita Mukherjee describes an all-India effort in engaging with development workers The National Foundation for India (NFI) is an autonomous, professionally managed trust working for disadvantaged communities. It was set up in 1992 by a group of eminent citizens led by late C Subramaniam...

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Dr Nita Mukherjee 09 April 2009
Shikshantar is making a difference in education. Dr Nita Mukherjee describes how At the turn of this century, when Manish and Vidhi Jain returned from the US, many friends asked what they planned to do. Manish’s answer was: “to unlearn my Master’s degree in Education from Harvard University.”...

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Dr Nita Mukherjee describes the efforts of an NGO in improving healthcare in slums When a medical doctor leaves a lucrative practice and settles in the voluntary sector, it speaks of his passion and commitment to medical care. Dr Siddharth Agarwal, executive director, Urban Health Resource...

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Dr Nita Mukherjee describes the AEIOU of fighting ostracism Sasakawa India Leprosy Foundation (SILF) was set up in November 2006 at Delhi as a charitable trust to infuse dignity and meaning into the lives of those affected by leprosy. Its credo is -- A: acceptance; E: education; I: income...

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Dr Nita Mukherjee describes a Mumbai NGO that provides more than sneha When Dr Armida Fernandez, former Dean of Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital (better known as Sion Hospital), Mumbai, founded an NGO in 1999, she aptly called it Sneha -- affection. It is an acronym for Society for...

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Dr Nita Mukherjee describes the Setu experiment in Kutch The concept of a Setu Centre, which could facilitate relief and rehabilitation of the earthquake-affected communities, emerged from the chaos and distress of the earthquake that struck Gujarat on 26 January 2001. Literally, within three...

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