Nurturing the finer aspects of human nature
Not so long ago, Chennai was devastated with huge floods. The entire city came to a standstill and the estimated loss due to the non-working four days of havoc, ran into an estimated one lakh thousand crores.
Yet, the human spirit that rose up to the occasion, with huge help flowing from all over the country and abroad, was something that seemed to be unheard of.
The question that arises is this: can we institutionalize such voluntary efforts, by offering some organized platforms, so that such good work gets done, even in normal times.
The answer to the aforesaid question will always be in the affirmative. All that we need to do is to make certain efforts and help the movements attain a certain momentum, so that they become very concrete in terms of their foundations, at any point in time.
The first area of concern that comes to one's mind is to have an apex voluntary organization, which can be managed by persons of absolute integrity, and where funds obtained are uploaded on the website, along with expenses of any sort. This apex organization can guide various voluntary organizations in taking up meaningful social work. For example, even today, there are several slums in urban cities that depend totally on tankers for their drinking water needs. If only some good tankers are installed in such places, the people can easily get their drinking water needs satisfied. Help in the form of college fees or even books for the really poor but bright students can also be organized, so that there is a big movement, There are several hundreds of IT professionals who would be happy to donate to such noble causes and what is really needed is a big organized effort.
Let us join together and make this organized effort possible.
The second area of concern that is really worthy of consideration is to make continuous efforts to educate people on the need for public hygiene. The people deserve a far better ecosystem for public hygiene. However, nothing can be done, without the help of people. This is exactly where the voluntary organizations can help. For example, these organizations can engage in massive campaigns to keep public spaces clean.
Some efforts, for example, have been made to keep the superb Marina beach in Chennai, clean. However. whatever be the efforts, the public does not cooperate and things are back to square one.
In places where women have to work and get back to work, the safety and security of such women is becoming a matter of great concern. The police can enlist the support of volunteers from each area to give vital information on rowdy elements or men who are inclined to physically disturb women. Such volunteers can also help the police to keep a big watch over sensitive points at any time after 8PM, to enable girls and young women to reach their homes safely.
Some thought needs to be given to make this idea work, but such a thought should be very comprehensive in nature.
The third area where voluntary help can really play a big role is the support that can be extended to train the youth belonging to weaker sections and economically weaker sections, is the training of such youth in highly job-oriented or self-employment oriented trades such as motor mechanic, the electricians, TV mechanics, plumbing and so on. There is the National Skill Initiative of the Government of India, but this is highly urban centered. It has still not entered the small towns and the areas that are not serviced by formal training institutions. It is such areas that need to be taken care of, through voluntary organizations.
For instance, the self-help groups of Tamil Nadu, have been effectively able to engage a huge number of women in self employment, and a huge number of these run profitable ventures in terms of small hotels. Similarly, it is very much possible to make these groups take up training in other trades like basket making, toy making and so on. Most of these trades are highly profitable and a huge amount of revenue can indeed come to the hands of such groups, if voluntary groups chip in the required support and technical expertise.
The fourth area where the voluntary movement can help in a big way is to network with other organizations in the field in environmental protection. Some work is being in this regard, but such work is not sufficient to sustain the momentum required. For instance, tree planting of a tall order can indeed be taken up as a very big alternative in several areas.
The fifth area of voluntary movement is to make the public conscious about their human rights and about the dangers posed by fringe groups that are keen on dividing the nation, in the name of religion. The public needs to be very much aware of such dangers and should come out more openly in the public. This is not happening at all, and the communal parties are going ahead with their agenda with gay abandon.
The sixth area of voluntary involvement is to reduce the amount of corruption that has now become unmanageable. It is becoming very clear that corruption is eating into the very fabric of the society. It is making the poor, poorer day after day.
IT solutions are very much possible, and the IT professionals should network with the Government agencies to minimize corruption wherever possible, but the help of voluntary groups is vital.
The formalization of voluntary groups could happen through citizen committees that could be formed in every area covering one lakh people in the cities. Let these groups be managed by persons of high integrity, such as retired judges, the police officials, the environmental experts, lawyers, doctors, engineers and social workers. Such groups can also network with Government agencies at all levels, to ensure effective implementation of social welfare schemes.
The scope is enormous, but the "how" will depend on the availability of various resources and the need for intervention in specific cases.
We need to nature the finer aspects of human nature through voluntary help. This is an urgent priority.
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