Gurukshetra Stories and Incidents

M/s Gurukshetra Consultancy has focus on strategic communication (Advocacy), Promotors, senior Leadership and CXOs image & positioning, aligning Corporate Social Projects with corporate objectives and streamlining internal communication of corporate structure. M/s Gurukshetra Consultancy is all about defining unlimited contribution and scope of Gurus of Corporate World towards positioning industry, society at large and the country, their Kshetra. Gurukshetra would also feature success stories of CXOs and professionals - people who matter and are Gurus of their own Kshetra.
Showing posts with label Indian Children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indian Children. Show all posts

Gandhigiri of Young Munna Bhais against Child Labour in Society


It was as usual morning hours when people leave for the office. While crossing the parking area Dinesh saw a small child of about 10 years cleaning a car. The child had a bucket and a small towel and he was cleaning the tyres of the car. Everyone passed by this boy, ignoring the act, but Dinesh could not stand. He went to the boy, asked his name, but the boy did not reply, as if he was trained not to respond to any query. Dinesh again asked his age, and the boy again did not reply. Finally, Dinesh asked whose car was he cleaning, and after listening this the boy took the bucket and ran in a hurry to the stairs, with tears in his eyes.

Dinesh is a member of "Khushi" and thought of not leaving this matter here.  He went to his office and called up his son, who is of similar age, and who informed him that this boy is new and daily comes and stands in a corner when they play football. Many a times they have asked him to play but he refuses. If you insist he runs away and starts crying. Dinesh son also informed that his friends have seen this boy picking heavy house-hold groceries, sweeping the floor and doing various other work of the house.

The matter was quite clear. The boy has been engaged as a child labour and has been strictly told not to talk to anyone in the society and if people insist just come back to the house.

Dinesh had two thoughts,  one, as it was a society matter and complaining against the gentleman, who had employed this child as labour, could lead to an internal society issues,  and secondly, allowing such an act to continue right below the nose was also not acceptable. Thus a way was to be found out to sort the issue in such a manner that it does not hamper the relations and also resolves the issue.

Here came the gang of Young Munna Bhais in hand. The young children of society got together and decided to politely persuade this gentleman to free the boy from child labour. It was decided to make a beautiful card every day with a message .. "Please uncle, let the child play with us. His age is to play and go to school and not to work.. thank you"... and hook the card on his door.

The first day, the message was read and the card was mercilessly thrown away.  Second day again the card was flown like a helicopter in the corridor of the society. But these children had decided to continue with their efforts. 15 days passed and no one was listening them. Meanwhile this child had stopped coming even down and was hardly seen.  On the 16th day, when a member of this Young Munna Bhais gang had come quietly to attach the card, he found one greeting card was already placed with a bunch of 12 chocolates....the card read  "I have told Raju that he can play with you and have also got him admitted in the nearby government school. I shall be gladly looking after his education, uniform and other expenses..... Young Munna Bhais of my society, I Am Sorry".... The children were thrilled, more for the greeting card and even more for the chocolates.

Next day, they all lined up to see Raju coming from school.. Guess what.. right at 2 PM Raju came holding finger of his father, with a smile on his face..... just to say 'thank you and good bye'.

Munna Bhais of Dinesh's society deserve a salute for their incredible thought.

Story sent by Dinesh Kumar from Delhi..
Visit : www.facebook.com/groups/vedantakhushi and become a "Khushi" member ..

Vedanta “Khushi”, that says all about Child Care

Vedanta “Khushi” is a mission driven by the vision of Mr. Anil Agarwal, Chairman – Vedanta Group’s that “no child in India should remain malnourished and be deprived of education and primary health. Let India be a child malnourished free nation.”

Scribbling  some  figures  on  the  net  and  in  certain reports of Indian Economic  Survey,  UNICEF, UNDP, etc. a not so much usual fact came forward and  that was the child population in India, the growing number of deprived or  underprivileged  children  in  India,  the number of street children in India,  the number of child deaths in India, and the number of children who dropout from schools every year in India.

India,  a  country  with  largest  child  population, largest malnourished children, largest child deaths, and largest street children in the world, put our  minds  and  thoughts  in  a  thinking-hat  mode.  For once, we felt apprehensive about building India for a bright and progressive future. It was sure, government, NGOs, corporates alone cannot bring this problem to a solution and common masses need to align and join on such national missions.

This is where we decided to launch an awareness campaign “Khushi”, which was aimed to spread the message of care for the underprivileged children and building a life of dignity for them.  The message was clear that about 50% of India’s child population needs attention – attention towards their nutrition, education and good health. The message was also clear that without the involvement of similar minds, India would never be able to make it to a developed nation.

With this thought, on 10th April 2012, Vedanta Group designed “Khushi”, an in-house campaign on social media - on blog and on the Facebook.  We also decided to make “Khushi” a 100% non-funding campaign that would strongly engage with people and spread awareness to encourage them to take individual steps and initiatives. Where the blog, www.khushi-creatinghappiness.blogspot.in, became a platform for encouraging   people  by  uploading  success  stories,  articles  and  statistics;  the  Facebook became  a  platform for on-line discussions and debates and spreading  awareness. By now, on “Khushi” group, about 60 debates have been carried out on a number of issues like girls’ education, infrastructure in schools, problem of street children, beggary, quality of education, rehabilitation, disparities in urban and rural education, sending underprivileged children back to school,  malnutrition, corporal punishments to children, child labour making crackers,  effects of TV advertising on children, portray of Indian Children in Cinema,  mobile phone and their effects on Children,  Safety of Children etc.

The debates became a platform for knowledge sharing and a guiding factor for proposed actions. Taking forward the outcomes, 150 schools have bee adopted in Rajasthan for completely changing their infrastructure, study material and other facilities.

Vedanta “Khushi” also spent days with the street children to understand their issues and problems. Accordingly, workshops were conducted to inculcate the importance of education, health and hygiene, nutrition and behaviour change.

To further strengthen the objective of “Khushi”, 75 child care centres have been adopted in Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh. These centres have about 2500 deprived and underprivileged children.  These children are provided daily nutritious breakfast, lunch, books and primary health check-ups.

Recently, Vedanta’s “Khushi” came together with NDTV for the girl child campaign – Our Girls Our Pride.  The campaign ambassador was the gorgeous Bollywood film actress Ms.  Priyanka Chopra.   Ms.  Krishna Poonia, the Padamshree, and the ace international athlete also became joined “Khushi” campaign.

Today,  when we are about to complete 2 years in this mission (10th April 2014), we are quite pleased that we are able to communicate our message clearly to a number of opinion makers which include journalists, professors, engineers, social  workers,  bureaucrats,  students,  doctors,  management graduates, entrepreneurs, etc. 

Vedanta “Khushi” has become a global mission and there has been increasing interest from Indians living in different parts of the world. People are engaged and spreading message of child care through direct engagement with people and also through their social media presence.

One thing we could successfully bring forward through "Khushi" has been change in the behaviour of people towards deprived children.

Vedanta “Khushi” is growing every day and so changing the society.

Vedanta as a group has worked so far with 14,000 child care centres in India – in the state of Rajasthan, Karnataka, Chattisgarh, and Odisha, reaching out to more than 500,000 deprived and underprivileged children, since 2008.

Taking cognizance of the issue, Government of India has sanctioned Rs. 129,000 crore in the current plan to be spent under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) within 3 years.



CAMPAIGN "KHUSHI" ADOPTS 75 CHILD CARE CENTRES IN INDIA - VEDANTA INCREASES ITS FOCUS ON CHILD CARE

Rajasthan (18), Odisha (35), Chattisgarh (10) and Tamil Nadu (12) - 2500 rural deprived children to benefit...50% girl child in each Centre...




"Khushi" awareness campaign on child care launched by Vedanta Group in 2012 has the objective to spread the message towards care for the underprivileged children, their education, nutrition and health, and give them a life of dignity. This project of Vedanta has now moved ahead and adopted 75 child care centres in Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Chattisgarh.




These Centres are located in deep rural areas and the intervention by "Khushi" project of Vedanta will bring awareness and motivate about 2500 rural children.

"Khushi" has currently adopted 12 child care centres in Tamil Nadu, 18 centres in Rajasthan, 10 centres in Chattisgarh and 35 centres in Odisha. 
The children are below 6 years of age and would be provided nutrition, regular health check-up and will be taught through play-way method. These centres will also become a place for common immunization and knowledge sharing on health, nutrition and education issues.

These children need to be exposed to colourful books, colourful posters, toys, cleanliness in terms of sanitation & hygiene, besides finally upgrading them to join formal schools.




The world largest child population lives in India and it is also true that nearly one third of the malnourished child population also lives in India. The country also accounts for largest child deaths and school dropouts. The condition of girls is even worse. Taking cognizance of the issue, Government of India has sanctioned Rs. 129,000 crore in the current plan to be spent under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) within 3 years.



"Khushi" will also focus on enrolling as many girl child in the centres. "Khushi" is looking to have a minimum 50% girl child in each Centre and will ensure they are attended on priority. Each centres is expected to enroll about 30 children and right from the weight measurement, the height, an overall growth chart will be prepared of each child. We would also keep their parents involved so that within the process they also learn the importance of education, health and nutrition in family.

These child care centres have been named as "Khushi - Vedanta Child Care Centres" and the community relations executives of the company are working door to door in villages for sending the children in the centres.


Recently, Vedanta's "Khushi" has joined hands with NDTV and Priyanka Chopra for a campaign " Our Girls Our Pride" that has focus towards girl children in India. This event has also ensured education for about 2200 girl children.

Khushi has a strong membership base on facebook with more than 34,000 members from across the globe -www.facebook.com/groups/vedantakhushi. The campaign uploads success stories on the blog www.khushi-creatinghappiness.blogspot.in. The campaign that connects people of similar minds and thoughts...


Members have gone ahead and helped these underprivileged children at their own level.







JOIN "KHUSHI" at www.facebook.com/groups/vedantakhushi

RYAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL JOINS VEDANTA KHUSHI

"Khushi" gets brand ambassadors of class 6th and 7th Standard, will campaign aggressively.. 

Ryan International School, Udaipur joined Vedanta “Khushi” campaign with a commitment to organize workshops for the underprivileged children in Udaipur.  “Khushi”, a communication campaign by Vedanta Group, which is creating awareness towards care for the underprivileged children – their health, nutrition and education, has turned out to be a global campaign with people joining from all over the world.

The workshop was undertaken by Pavan Kaushik, who is the anchor of the campaign that saw participation of over 150 students and 8-10 teachers. One could feel the energy and enthusiasm they had towards “Khushi” mission. The workshop was more of interaction and experience sharing, where children were encouraged to make projects for the deprived children to bring them in the main stream.   

‘Students got immediately aligned with the idea of Vedanta Khushi, they know what our country is going through and they believe that individual efforts will bring the change’, said Mr. Pavan Kaushik, Head Corporate Communication. He also shared his experience with the Pulse Polio Campaign where students and teachers took up the gigantic initiative for creating door to door awareness and suggested that similar steps can be taken to make India a child malnourished free nation.

To further strengthen the association, the Ryan International School has made a Social Transformation Club comprising 30 students who would voluntarily and closely work with Vedanta “Khushi” team.


There is no looking back as all the 120 branches with strength of 250,000 students of the Ryan International will become the ambassador of Vedanta Khushi to support in sensitizing people about the children who are deprived of education-nutrition-health.

‘We are glad that our children have got the opportunity to get aligned with such a noble mission, “Khushi” would again inculcate the social values in them. My students have also started planning a workshop for the deprived children in Udaipur’– says Ms. Poonam Rathore, Principal, Ryan International, Udaipur. 

“Khushi” campaign has been initiated with a thought that government, corporate and NGOs together cannot do it all, there has to be a direct participation from the individuals.  People need to be sensitive towards the issue & concern and participate equally for its prevention and cure. The Campaign has the associations of schools, colleges, opinion makers, and eminent people at large who are not only part of this campaign but also taking it forward.  The “Khushi” Facebook group is now has 32,500 members and the success stories are uploaded on the “Khushi” blog at www.khushi-creatinghappiness.blogspot.in, which is already touching about 90,000 page views.

VEDANTA KHUSHI : Film Star Boman Irani Speaks on Girl Child : OUR GIRLS OUR PRIDE

Vedanta Group and NDTV have joined hands to promote Girl Child in India through campaign "Our Girls : Our Pride".  The campaign has been launched under Vedanta's "Khushi" awareness campaign, that is already promoting care for the underprivileged children, their health, nutrition and education.  

Film Star Boman Irani  speaks for the Girl Child, "What would I be without mu mother? There are so many issues whether it is just plain and basic respect, for starters!"... watch the video below....


Ms. Priyanka Chopra has been named the Brand Ambassador of the campaign "Our Girl : Our Pride" .  The campaign launched on 19th August 2013 in New Delhi,  will address key issues like nutrition, education, health, foeticide and infanticide.  The focus of the campaign will be to educate people at large, bring awareness, bring policy changes and sensitize people towards girl child and build a respect for the gender.

Looking at India, the country houses the maximum number of children in the world but it is also true that around 50% of child are suffering from malnutrition and the number of girls is large. The ratio of females per 1000 mails has been continuously decreasing since last more than 30 years.  There is a conscious need to not only protect the girl child but also bring in dedicated efforts towards their education, nutrition, health and overall development.

VEDANTA KHUSHI CAMPAIGN

VEDANTA KHUSHI : Shashi Tharoor Speaks on Girl Child : OUR GIRLS OUR PRIDE

Vedanta Group and NDTV have joined hands to promote Girl Child in India through campaign "Our Girls : Our Pride".  The campaign has been launched under Vedanta's "Khushi" awareness campaign, that is already promoting care for the underprivileged children, their health, nutrition and education.  

Shashi Tharoor, Hon'ble Minister of State for HRD speaks for the Girl Child, "Lets hope the Girl child continues to become the educational star of our Country"... watch the video below....





Ms. Priyanka Chopra has been named the Brand Ambassador of the campaign "Our Girl : Our Pride" .  The campaign launched on 19th August 2013 in New Delhi,  will address key issues like nutrition, education, health, foeticide and infanticide.  The focus of the campaign will be to educate people at large, bring awareness, bring policy changes and sensitize people towards girl child and build a respect for the gender.

Looking at India, the country houses the maximum number of children in the world but it is also true that around 50% of child are suffering from malnutrition and the number of girls is large. The ratio of females per 1000 mails has been continuously decreasing since last more than 30 years.  There is a conscious need to not only protect the girl child but also bring in dedicated efforts towards their education, nutrition, health and overall development.

VEDANTA KHUSHI CAMPAIGN

VEDANTA KHUSHI : Film Star Abhishek Bachchan Speaks on Girl Child : OUR GIRLS OUR PRIDE

Vedanta Group and NDTV have joined hands to promote Girl Child in India through campaign "Our Girls : Our Pride".  The campaign has been launched under Vedanta's "Khushi" awareness campaign, that is already promoting care for the underprivileged children, their health, nutrition and education.  

Film Star Abhishek Bachchan speaks for the Girl Child, "Its a long term process but we should start with Educating our Girl Child"... watch the video below....


Ms. Priyanka Chopra has been named the Brand Ambassador of the campaign "Our Girl : Our Pride" .  The campaign launched on 19th August 2013 in New Delhi,  will address key issues like nutrition, education, health, foeticide and infanticide.  The focus of the campaign will be to educate people at large, bring awareness, bring policy changes and sensitize people towards girl child and build a respect for the gender.

Looking at India, the country houses the maximum number of children in the world but it is also true that around 50% of child are suffering from malnutrition and the number of girls is large. The ratio of females per 1000 mails has been continuously decreasing since last more than 30 years.  There is a conscious need to not only protect the girl child but also bring in dedicated efforts towards their education, nutrition, health and overall development.

VEDANTA KHUSHI CAMPAIGN


VEDANTA KHUSHI : Film Star Anil Kapoor Speaks on Girl Child : OUR GIRLS OUR PRIDE

Vedanta Group and NDTV have joined hands to promote Girl Child in India through campaign "Our Girls : Our Pride".  The campaign has been launched under Vedanta's "Khushi" awareness campaign, that is already promoting care for the underprivileged children, their health, nutrition and education.  

Film Star Anil Kapoor speaks for the Girl Child, "Girls and Women of India should be progressive, happy and proud to be a Girl"... watch the video below....





Ms. Priyanka Chopra has been named the Brand Ambassador of the campaign "Our Girl : Our Pride" .  The campaign launched on 19th August 2013 in New Delhi,  will address key issues like nutrition, education, health, foeticide and infanticide.  The focus of the campaign will be to educate people at large, bring awareness, bring policy changes and sensitize people towards girl child and build a respect for the gender.

Looking at India, the country houses the maximum number of children in the world but it is also true that around 50% of child are suffering from malnutrition and the number of girls is large. The ratio of females per 1000 mails has been continuously decreasing since last more than 30 years.  There is a conscious need to not only protect the girl child but also bring in dedicated efforts towards their education, nutrition, health and overall development.

VEDANTA KHUSHI CAMPAIGN

25% Schools Function Without Blackboard: Survey

Dear all,

It has always been support of media that helps in building awareness, coming out with different stories highlighting the facts and figures. Vedanta Khushi presenting you yet another story "25% Schools Function Without Blackboard".. reports M Ramya from TNN, Chennai.

25% Schools Function Without Blackboard: Survey

CHENNAI: While tablets and smart screens enter a few classrooms, nearly one-fourth of schools in India function without blackboards.

A sample survey titled 'Learning Blocks' conducted by non-governmental organizationChild Relief and You (CRY) has revealed that primary and upper primary schools in the country do not meet basic requirements expected in an educational institution. The study was conducted in 750 schools across 71 districts in 13 states, including Tamil Nadu,Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka, and three metro cities - Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. 

"School education is synonymous with the blackboard. Education without blackboards cannot be imagined," said Vijayalakshmi Arora, director, Policy, Research, Advocacy and Documentation wing of CRY. 

The study found more than 75% of schools lacked furniture and fixtures like tables, chairs and benches, and in 41% of schools, students were taught in open space. Experts said the reason for teaching outside the classroom could be attributed to poor condition of the classroom, nonavailability of teachers or inadequate number of classrooms. In the absence of a boundary wall, teaching outside the classroom could distract children and cause disturbance while teaching. 

The study also rates our schools poorly on hygiene. While 11% of schools don't have toilets, and of those available 34% are unusable, almost one of two schools doesn't have water near toilets. In the north, almost 70% of schools did not have water near toilets. And, half the schools do not have soap near toilets for children to wash their hands after using the toilet. Healthcare experts advocate hand-washing after using the toilet to ensure that children do not fall prey to diseases like diarrhoea. 

Another area of concern is that close to 80% of schools surveyed did not have cleaning staff to keep the toilets clean. The study also found that only 7% of schools with a large number of tribal children have cleaning staff. "Lack of cleaning staff in schools indicates that children are forced to study in unhygienic surroundings. It also means that children are asked to do the cleaning. Experience shows that these tasks get assigned on social group basis," CRY said. 

About 44% had no electricity, particularly in schools in the east where almost 74% schools did not have electricity. The CRY release said, "Availability of electricity in schools can open a completely new world of possibilities. Besides, ensuring well lit rooms and keeping children in comfort it can also provide computer aided learning and web-based learning." 

The study also found that three years after the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 came into force, schools across the country still did not meet the mandatory requirements. 

Shortfalls: 

— 11% schools don't have toilets 
— 49% have common toilets for staff and students 
— 20% don't have drinking water 
— 18% don't have a designated kitchen to prepare midday meals 
— 74% schools don't have a library 
— 60% don't have playgrounds 
— 66% demanded proof of previous studies and 46% asked for transfer certificate 
— 9% did not have school management committees, and in 53% of the schools they were not involved in monitoring use of grants 
— 21% of primary schools and 17% of upper primary schools reported involvement of teachers in activities other than teaching 
— 28% primary schools and 31% upper primary schools did not have principals 

Source Times of India : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/25-schools-function-without-blackboard-Survey/articleshow/21906707.cms 

Vedanta Khushi : Spreading Happiness

Story in The Hindu on Khushi :
A social media campaign promoting the welfare of underprivileged children in Rajasthan’s Udaipur district has completed one year of spreading awareness on vital issues such as nutrition, health and education.

Titled Khushi(happiness), it has made its presence felt through a blog and on the Facebook platform. The blog uploads success stories of people who have come forward and made a difference to the lives of marginalised children. The Facebook platform discusses issues relating to their education, nutrition and health.

Conceived as a campaign that connects people who think similarly, it searches for individuals genuinely concerned with development and growth of the country and willing to put that extra bit to either churn out new strategies or bring the cause to the notice of common people and policy makers.

Though the campaign started with only seven people, it has now crossed the figure of 25,000 members, while the blog is touching 58,000 page views. People from different professions like professors, teachers, students, doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs, management graduates, journalists, social workers, writers, development practitioners, etc., are part of the Khushi group and taking the campaign forward.

Pavan Kaushik of Udaipur-based Vedanta Resources who carved the campaign says it is a non-funding drive that encourages people to come forward and understand the problem and take individual steps for probable solutions. “We even decided to develop the blog and maintain and operate it in-house. Many members have come forward with donations but Khushi encourages them to take direct steps. This has brought a sense of belonging towards the campaign.”

After one year of operation, the first change that Khushi feels it has been able to cultivate is that of people’s temperament towards the deprived children. The thoughtful online discussions and debates on education and infrastructure development in rural schools, nutrition and education for street children, problem of children involved in making crackers, increasing drop-out rate in rural schools, teachers’ problem, the menace of begging, child labour, vocational training, among others, have brought forth ideas on how as individuals we are capable of addressing these problems and working towards solutions.

Post launch of the campaign, many members went ahead and took some strong decisions. Some of them now sponsor education of children of their domestic helps, some have employed parents of children who beg on the streets or near traffic-lights, some have gone ahead for adoption, some are providing education to the street children on a regular basis, some are engaged in organising creative workshops for them and some others are collectively taking extra classes in rural schools.

Slowly and steadily, the campaign is gaining momentum. To understand the problems relating to street children, Khushi team spent two days with them in the Malla Talai locality of Udaipur. It has also organised a workshop for them and held a painting competition. Here over 125 children between the age of one and 13 years attended, some along with their parents and listened to the Khushi team’s talk on health and hygiene.

The campaign won the Rotary Community Service Award this year, and Arjuna Award winner athlete Krishna Poonia also joined the campaign with the resolve to take the issue forward.

A social media campaign – Khushi -- in Udaipur district attempts to tackle nutrition, health and education among children.

वेदांता ख़ुशी : ‘‘नन्हे-मुन्हे बच्चे तेरी मुटठी में क्या है’’, अनिल अग्रवाल

‘‘नन्हे-मुन्हे बच्चे तेरी मुटठी में क्या है।’’ हम सभी ‘‘बूट पॉलिश’’ फिल्म के इस गीत को सुनते हुए बड़े हुए हैं। यह गीत बच्चों के उस सुनहरे सपने को दर्शाता है कि आने वाला भारत इन बच्चों की मेहनत व हिम्मत से बनेगा ।

विनोबा भावे ने भी अपने गीता प्रवचन में लिखा है कि ‘‘बच्चे जो तीन से चार वर्ष आयु में सीखते हैं वहीं उनके मष्तिस्क पर अंकित हो जाता है। बाल अवस्था में ही ज्ञान प्राप्त शुरू हो जाता है’’ ।

भारत में विश्व के सबसे ज्यादा बाल संख्या है तथा तकरीबन 16 करोड़ बच्चे 6 साल की उम्र से कम है । तकरीबन 20 लाख बच्चों की 5 साल की उम्र से पहले ही मुत्यु हो जाती है। हर 12 बालिकाओं में से एक, एक वर्ष की उम्र तक नहीं पहुंच पाती। अगर यही चलता रहा तो देश कैसे तरक्की करेगा।

भारत को ऐसे बाल अभियान की जरूरत है जिसके द्वारा वंचित बच्चों को उनका अधिकार- एक अच्छा स्वास्थ्य, सुपोषण एवं शिक्षा  मिल सके। इस अभियान को सफल बनाने के लिए समाज, सरकार, तथा आम जनता को मिलकर काम करना होगा।

सरकार के आंगनवाड़ी कार्यक्रम को सुदृढ़ करना इस अभियान का एक महत्वपूर्ण हिस्सा हो सकता है।

1975 में भारत सरकार ने आंगनवाड़ी कार्यक्रम की शुरूआत की थी जिसके द्वारा पहली बार बच्चों के विकास पर जोर दिया गया। आज 14 लाख आंगनवाड़ी केन्द्र भारत में मोजूद है जिसके द्वारा 7.5 करोड़ 6 वर्ष से कम उम्र के बच्चों तथा 1.8 करोड़ माताओं को लाभ पहुंच रहा है । इसकी प्राथमिकता को देखते हुए एकीकृत बाल विकास योजना के लिए 12वीं पंचवर्षीय योजना में भारत सरकार ने 1,29,000 करोड़ रु. का  प्रावधान रखा है।

माननीय सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने अपने एक महत्वपूर्ण फैसले में एकीकृत बाल विकास योजना के सक्ष्तिकरण एवं विस्तार पर जोर दिया है। सरकार ने 14 लाख आंगनवाड़ी केन्द्र बनाकर एक विशाल बुनियादी संरचना तैयार की है परन्तु अभी काफी काम बाकी है।

आज हमें बड़ी कंपनियों द्वारा समाज सेवा के कार्यक्रमों की जरूरत है जिसके द्वारा ना सिर्फ आर्थिक मदद मिलेगी बल्कि प्रबन्धन अनुभव, प्रषिक्षण व्यवस्था तथा आंगनवाड़ी कार्यक्रम को सुचारू रूप से चलाने में भी मदद मिलेगी ।

वेदान्ता समूह ने सरकार के साथ मिलकर इस दिशा में एक छोटी सी शुरूआत की है जिसके द्वारा वेदान्ता समूह, वर्ष 2008 से, 14000 आंगनवाड़ी केन्द्रों द्वारा लगभग 5,00,000 वंचित बच्चों तक पहुंच पाया है । इस कार्यक्रम में और अधिक उद्योगों के जुड़ने की जरूरत है।

मूलतः बड़े उद्योग तीन क्षे़त्रों में सहयोग कर सकते हैं । प्रथम, आंगनवाडि़यों में आधारभूत सुविधा उपलब्ध कराना। वर्तमान में ऐसी कई आंगनवाड़ी केन्द्र हैं  जहा मूलभूत सुविधा नहीं है तथा बच्चों के लिए शौचालय की व्यवस्था भी नहीं है।

दूसरा, आंगनवाड़ी कार्यकर्ता या अध्यापक जो कि सुचारू रूप से आंगनवाड़ी संचालन में महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका निभाता है, का सही प्रषिक्षण होना चाहिए तथा उसका चयन स्थानीय समुदाय से ही होना चाहिए। सही आंगनवाड़ी अध्यापक सही प्रषिक्षण के साथ, आंगनवाड़ी के बच्चों के भविष्य में सुधार लाएगा।

तीसरा, सुपोषण व स्वास्थ्य की महत्ता है। आंगनवाड़ी के बच्चों को सही सुपोषण मिले तथा उनके स्वास्थ्य का पूरा ध्यान रखा जाए, जिससे इनका सम्पूर्ण विकास हो।

भारत में लगभग 50 प्रतिषत बच्चे कुपाषित है और हमें इस अन्तर को अन्य पूरक द्वारा कम करना है । ‘‘आंगनवाड़ी अपनाये’’ अभियान को हमें देश भर  में एक महाअभियान के रूप में सामने लाना है। इस अभियान में सभी हिस्सा ले पाये- दान द्वारा, नयी शिक्षा पद्वति द्वारा, अध्यापकों के शिक्षण द्वारा, वंचित व गर्भवती महिलाओं को शिक्षण द्वारा, यह सुनिष्चित करना है।

अन्ततः हम सभी चाहते हैं कि 6 साल से कम उम्र के बच्चों का भविष्य सुधरे । यह उददेष्य सरकार के साथ-साथ प्रमुख राजनितिक घोषणा में आना भी जरूरी है । मूलतः इसलिए भी कि भारत अगले आम चुनाव की ओर अग्रसर है।

जिस प्रकार कल के बच्चों ने आज के भारत का निर्माण किया है उसी प्रकार आज के बच्चे भारत का भविष्य लिखेंगे। जरूरी है कि यह बच्चे शिक्षा, सुपोषण तथा स्वास्थ्य से परिपूर्ण हो ।

एक दिन हम सब इन बच्चों पर गर्व करेंगे - मुटठी में है तकदीर हमारी हमने दुनिया को बस में किया है।

अनिल अग्रवाल
चेयरमैन - वेदांता समूह

Vedanta Khushi : Nurturing future of tomorrow’s India



VEDANTA CHILD CARE CENTRES IN RAJASTHAN.... 70 SECONDS SHOW-REEL

Nurturing future of tomorrow’s India

Vedanta Hindustan Zinc has always supported the efforts of the Government in the field of Community Development. One such initiative is Vedanta Bal Shakti Anganwadi Project, to provide nutrition value to over 42,000 underprivileged children of age group 2-5 years through adoption of 1500 Government Anganwadi Centres in four districts of Rajasthan - Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Bhilwara and Rajsamand.

India houses largest number of children in the world. And as they say, Children are the future of any nation so it becomes the responsibility of the each individual to groom and nurture them into a responsible citizen.

Through this initiative, Hindustan Zinc has provides nutrition rich hot morning breakfast comprising poha and groundnut with clean drinking water, colorful books, toys and other regular items needed for the overall development of these children. One could see remarkable improvement in attendance of children with progress in their health and hygiene practices. All the Anganwadi children undergo periodic health check-ups and weight measurement. One more thing that will amaze you is all the teaching happens through colorful charts, toys, books and poems i.e. great lessons are taught through interactive play-way method.

Click on the link below and get the glimpse of how Vedanta Anganwadis are bringing smiles on the faces of these Children -


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGLLJrkSNbU&feature=youtu.be

VEDANTA KHUSHI : SADHU ADOPTS ABANDONED CHILD

By OMAR RASHID

Bajrangi was found outside his ashram three years ago

Almost three years ago, a tyagi sadhu — one who essentially renounces worldly life — spotted a baby lying outside his shabby ashram on the banks of the Sangam. He initially assumed that the baby was dead. The baby though ill and emaciated was breathing. Overcome by compassion, the sadhu decided to take him under his care.

Born Srikanth Narayan Das, he quit his job as a spinning master in a textile mill in Punjab’s Ropar district, leaving behind acres of land, to do penance.

Nobody knows for sure how the infant ended up there but according to the sadhu, the baby might have suffered from an illness which his parents did not expect him to survive or were too poor to cure.

The sadhu, known for his keen interest in environmental conservation, utilized the crop of herbs behind his tent to nurse the baby back to health.

He, however, hoped the baby’s parents would come.

“I waited for days, then weeks. But nobody came. Maybe this was god’s wish.”

He eventually adopted the baby — now called Bajrangi. But barely three months into it, the sadhu had to contend with allegations of kidnapping and fraud.

“It was as if I had committed a crime by giving shelter to this child. They wanted to take him to the orphanage. Everybody knows how they treat children there. Most of them end up begging on the streets!” he says.

As expected, the sadhu faced demands to hand over the baby to a child-care centre, but he did not buckle even under intense pressure.

Incidentally, he is also popular as Flood Baba, as last year he climbed onto a tree during a flood and stayed there in a yogic posture for more than two weeks. The administration had to step in and ask him to come down for safety reasons. But the ascetic refused to oblige.

The child, into his third year, can be found playing with his toys or pets — a litter of puppies — on the banks of the Sangam, with the lean, matted-haired sadhu, keeping a close watch. Devotees often visit the ashram for a peek at their singular bond. Not only has the child brought new responsibilities for Das, but he has also altered his life view.

"I wake up daily at 4 a.m. and give him lessons on the English and Hindi alphabet. He can already count till 25," says Das. He has begun rearing cows so that Bajrangi is fed well.

Story published in The Hindu