Case2-May-2017
The walkathon organised by DHAN Foundation in over 25 places across India was focused on the theme “Giving Forward”. The message has reached more than 2,00,000 people by way of pamphlets, exhibitions, and rallies. More than 1,00,000 people participated in the rallies held in various places.
Giving forward is an expression of maturity in the act of thanksgiving. So far, charity is seen as giving back to the society, but giving forward is a movement which aims at multiplying the benefits to the needy to maximise wellbeing through their collective action. Realising the gestures of mutuality exists in the community in various forms from its more than three decades of grassroots work, DHAN has poised to further this value among the collective institutions promoted by it.
Though written 2000 years ago, the views expressed in the couplets by Thiruvalluvar, a Tamil sage-poet on the ‘act of giving’ are still relevant today. He advocates a universal behaviour of helping people in need. He emphasises the need to do any act without any expectation. He says that all our acts should be aimed at helping a fellow human, who is in desperate need without expecting any compensation. The following couplets depicts the “the art of giving”.
All the wealth that toils give Is meant to serve those who deserve. (Kural: 212)
Strong is the strength of enduring hunger, But stronger still is the strength of relieving it. (Kural: 225)
Meaning: All the wealth acquired with perseverance by the worthy is for the exercise of benevolence. The power of those who perform penance is the power of enduring hunger. It is inferior to the power of those who remove the hunger (of others).
The self-help groups promoted by DHAN start meeting
their costs of operations from day-one of their inception
and over a period they manage to meet the costs of
operations of the next-level institutions promoted by
them such as cluster development associations and
federations. In 2016 alone, people have contributed र 146
million, one-third of the overall costs of management.
Community to contribute its share in the overall
development endeavour has been a non-negotiable
component in DHAN’s strategy. People save in their
SHGs and contribute towards rehabilitation of water
resources for collective benefit. Surprisingly, their
contributions stood at 54% (र 724 crores) outshining
the support came from government and banks in 2016
(र 617 crores). The community contribution triggers the
support from others.
The People Movements promoted by DHAN with women, farmers and coastal communities kindle the feeling of giving. Every year, they generate Jyoti contribution from families to support people in need, help communities facing emergencies and affected by disasters and reach out to left-out poor families. They also contribute materials (pidiarisi – handful of rice set aside every day, pooled and shared for the needy) and involve in voluntary labour (shramdhan) to maintain the common properties.
Eradication of poverty requires collaborative efforts and resources. If we consider India as a country with rich and varied heritage of giving, we could say the same about other countries too. In India especially, there are various kinds of dhan (donations). Shramdhan is giving labour, Annadhan is giving food and Vidhyadhan is giving knowledge. These were various ways available in the past. However, today and for the future, especially in the present context, there exists a need for various ways of giving. DHAN is working on promotion of a sharing culture among the poor communities with whom it is working, the general public both in India and abroad, and corporates through creating meaningful opportunities and partnerships.
Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) spoken everywhere is expected to contribute to sustainable development by delivering economic, social and environmental benefits for all stakeholders beyond their companies. It denotes their sense of responsibility towards the community and environment (both ecological and social) in which it operates. Companies can invest in local communities and participate in their collective efforts towards development. In order to account for the importance of social and ecological considerations in doing business, some organisations advocate the concept of the “triple bottom line”: social, environmental and economic – or “people, planet, profit.” Today, a shift has occurred in the way people conceptualise corporate social responsibility. Now, many entrepreneurs consider profit and social-environmental benefit to be inextricable.
In the era of CSR, where there is a legal requirement for the corporates to set aside a portion of their profits for CSR, the businesses should balance profit-making activities with activities that benefit society; it involves developing businesses with a positive relationship to the society in which they operate. The corporates can work with community centred initiatives by partnering with them with their support matching the contributions of the local community organisations. They can help people’s organisations to build community schools, hospitals, renovation of water resources and other development programmes being implemented by the peoples’ organisations based on the specific requirements of the local communities.
“The future of our country is in the hands of youths,
who are transforming our nation with their productive
engagement. We are yet to make a giant leap in tapping
their potential. We need to nurture good behaviours
from early childhood”, said Madurai District Collector
Veeraraghava Rao. Lauding the theme of the Walkathon
‘Giving forward’, Rao highlighted the role of women
SHGs in furthering their economic empowerment
and their contributions in helping the needy in his
felicitation address. He addressed the participants of
Madurai Walkathon 2017 focusing on “Giving Forward”
organised by DHAN Foundation in Gandhi Museum,
Madurai on 18 February, 2017. Overwhelmed by the
participation of women and school students in large
numbers Veeraraghava Rao has called for their collective
action to make Madurai free of pollution (Maasilla
Madurai). He advised them to construct toilets in their home with government subsidy or use common toilets
to avoid health hazards and environmental pollution. He
also insisted on following the ban of polythene bags and
avoiding dumping of plastic wastes in the water bodies.
The event in Madurai attracted participation from more
than 5000 women, farmers, college and school students,
and general public. A.Gurunathan, Director, Tata-Dhan
Academy welcomed the gathering. M.P. Vasimalai,
Executive Director, DHAN Foundation pointed out in
his speech that the poor women organised by DHAN
through the Kalanjiam Movement had saved र 600 crore
and mobilised another र 600 crore from banks as loan.
Today, these women are sharing their benefits with other
poor women by way of their philanthropic gestures.
B.T.Bangera, Managing Director, Hi-Tech Arai Limited
appreciated the good work and intention of the SHGs
of women and farmers in protecting River Vaigai.
R.Sreedher, Member, Screening Committee, Ministry
of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India
called for farmers and women federations to set up and
run community radios, which is supported by the GoI.
S.Ahila Devi, Regional Coordinator, Madurai Urban
compered and concluded the event with vote of thanks.
The Sivagangai Walkathon was conducted the first time this year; the rally was flagged off by the Sub- Inspector at Aranmanai. Nearly, 1,000 students from 18 schools and around 750 member farmers and Kalanjiam members actively participated in the Walkathon event chanting the Walkathons slogans; the participants of the rally walked around 2 km and reached the collector’s office. The guests at the rally were D. Ilango, M.A., B.Ed., District Revenue Officer and G. Ilango, Project Director, TNSRLM, L. Vinodh Kumar, LDM; and Punjab National Bank Training Centre staff attended the function and shared their thoughts. The DRO insisted on clearing the Juliflora jungle in tanks, public places, and individual land. The LDM spoke on bank linkage and the relationship between NGOs, banks, and SHGs. The project Director of TNSRLM explained the TNSRLM project and the role of NGOs in development sector. The Punjab National Bank training centre staff explained the importance of Asola cultivation as a livestock fodder in dry season. All the guests encouraged the students to study well and maintain discipline for a bright future. Pambar Basin Vayalagam Mutual Movement leaders invited the guest J. Mohan who delivered the welcome address to the participants andValli delivered the vote of thanks.
In Cuddalore, the rally was flagged off by Ravichandran, Inspector of Police from S. Mary Middle School and it reached Government Higher Secondary School, Manjakupam. The guest spoke on safeguarding the environment, the need to help the poor and downtrodden, health and hygiene. Velumani, District Coordinator, Swatch Bharath Mission,Thirumurugan, Branch Manager, Puduvai Bharathiar Grama Bank and T.Asai Thambi, Team Leader, DHAN Foundation were present at the rally.
In Kovilambakkam (Chennai), the community mobilisation was initiated recently with CSR support from Cognizant. (After the Chennai 2015 floods, Cognizant came forward to collaborate with DHAN.) The core theme “Community Financing” was well interwoven in the cultural programmes that captured the attention of the community. The cultural events helped to bring and retain a larger captive audience and interestingly focus on DHAN’s ideals, Kalanjiam and community banking, community financing, farmers apathy and bankers empathy. The event was conducted with the participation of the community which was hardly about six months old. Sustaining the spirit of community participation in all developmental initiatives make it a model worth emulating even in a highly urbanised setup. Archana Kalyani, IFS, Director for Tamil Nadu Tribal Welfare Development Department, A.Umarani, CEO, Kalanjiam Foundation, M.Kathiresan, Retd GM, Indian Bank, V.Dayalan from DHAN Foundation, and S.Kanjana, Branch Manager, Pallavan Grama Bank participated in the event.
In Mysore region, more than 2,000 members participated in the walkathon event. Many department officials attended the walkathon rally and the subsequent event. The health department which has been conducting Haemoglobin test for all members through PHCs has planned awareness programmes and health camps in the coming months. Officials from other departments have agreed for future collaborations with the federations in the region. The Kannada Cultural Department sponsored the cultural activities. M. Rangaswamy, DGM, Corporation Bank, Mysore; Basavaraj, District Health Officer; Dr. Vijayalakshmi, Professor, Food and Nutrition Department, at VC Farms Mandya, Radha, Deputy Director, Department of Women and Child Development; Povayya, Sub Inspector; H.Chinnappa, Department of Kannada and Culture; Anand, Thirumala Aashwini Nikethana Kalyan Mantapa, Somasundar, Joint Director, Agri. Department, and Arun, KVK, Mysore participated in the event.
DHAN Collectives of Ramnad District (CALL Programme, KCBP Programme & DVDF Programme) had jointly organised the Mugavai Walkathon-2017. Natarajan IAS, District Collector flagged off the Walkathon from Aranmanai, the rally ended at Raja Higher Secondary School Ground. The district collector also walked along with the participants of the rally. The rally was organised to build awareness about the presence of Proposis juliflora and its implications and importance of its removal, conservation of water bodies such as agricultural tank, village pond and farm pond, implication on open defecation and need for the Individual toilet construction. More than 4,000 students and members from 16 Schools, 5 Colleges, the general public, Kalanjiam members, and Vayalagam and Meenava Kalanjiam members of CALL Programme, Movement Leaders of Kalanjiam, and Vayalagam and Neithal walked in the rally. Suresh Babu, LDM shared that construction of toilets by each family is leading to prevention of open defecation and that it was a proud contribution to the Swatch Bharath Mission. Kumarasamy, APO, Mahalir Thittam, reinforced the need for the community contribution to the environment and the importance of individual toilets, implication of open defecation and need for conservation of water bodies. Students of Thassim Beevi Abdul Kader Women’s College, Kilakarai performed a drama on the importance of removal of Proposis juliflora and need for conservation of water bodies such as village pond and agricultural tank. Navaneethan, District Coordinator, Swatch Bharath Mission, Deenathayaalan, National Green Corps, Kumar, Environment Coordinator also participated in the event.
In Nagapattinam, the rally was flagged off by P. Jhonson, Nagapattinam Municipality Commissioner and A. Chandrasekaran, BM, Bank of India. The rally started from Avury Thidal, and went through Devi theatre, Ansari hospital, LIC, and ended at Blue Star Thirumana Mahal, covering 3 km. Thomas Gerald, GM, LIC shared the importance of poverty reduction and how LIC is working towards ensuring the same. He promised to donate 1000 tree saplings towards the cause.A. Anuradha, MSc (Ag) Ph.D., Programme coordinator, KVK, Sikkal delivered a speech on low cost agriculture practices, trees and its importance, deforestation effects and climate change, role of youth in conservation of natural resources, etc. Dr. Krishnan, Professor, PAJANCOA, C. Muruganantham, BM, Corporation Bank and K. Subramanian, LIC, Tanjore; shared their thoughts. Before the walkathon, competitions such as essay and poetry writing and drawing were conducted at school level focusing on the importance of donation and poverty reduction.
At Salem, 750 Kalanjiam women and 400 school students participated in the walkathon rally that started from Asthempatti, Muniappansamy temple and ended at the Vijayaragavachari Mahal.. Sivarani, Regional Coordinator recounted the earlier walkathons and briefed the participants about the current theme. She explained why we need to address development issues such as anaemia, community health, open defecation and collaborate with departments to ensure last mile linkages.Udayakumar, LDM in his remarks emphasised the need for keeping our environment clean. C.R. Gobikrishnan, DGM, Indian Bank stressed the need for having individual bank accounts and ensuring education for the girl child. He also asked Kalanjiams to make efforts to enroll left-out socially deprived people as members. He also highlighted the importance of using loans effectively.M. Santhosh Kumar, GM, Pallavan Grama Bank, Ramakrishnan, LIC, and N. Sivakumar, Environment Coordinator also participated in the event.