Can islands of welfare initiatives change
the larger picture for children in India?
Companies are running projects for children, but the scattered nature
of these makes them drops in an ocean of need.
These efforts are earning the companies brownie points, but they do not
help reduce the problems for India’s children, whether it is in
education or health-care. For no one is willing to put two and two
together and scale up efforts.
Actor Mahima Chaudury is to launch distribution of winter clothes for
Godrej as part of its Godrej Eezie Rahat: Ek Abhiyan. Since Eezie, the
product, is also part of the campaign, it does help the product, but
whether it will help every street child, at least in Delhi where it is
launched, is not known.
Whether many companies together could find a permanent and more
sustainable solution for winter woes of street children is something no
corporate is known to be considering at present. Ditto in the case of
child labour. DuPont runs an Academy for Street and Working children in
five of its project areas.
Humana People to People India, an NGO, is helping it run its schools
where children come and learn in an informal way and are motivated to
continue till higher classes.
Saumik Pal, the spokesperson for their social welfare programmes says
that the idea is to scale it up gradually . It is also an attempt to
look at child labour in a different way. Instead of pulling children
out of work, the idea is to add quality to their lives by teaching them
to read and write, besides pursue skills they show inclination for.
But how many such schools can it start? And how many children can
benefit from them? The Government’s own child labour project-schools
remain in oblivion and in need of attention and publicity, even as
companies are projecting their individual models.
Pal says DuPont would certainly be shaping a long term agenda that goes
beyond a few projects. Mc Donalds, the American food chain, is in a
tie-up with Dr Shroff’s Eye Hospital and is raising funds for eye
treatment of indigent children. It says it has helped 450 children so
far with funds raised in two years.
KPMG is helping educate children in 2000 schools in 43 countries, which
includes India.
The number of children would be again small and is another island of
effort surrounded by conditions of almost universal deprivation of
quality education and economical assistance for children in need. It
also has single projects on child labour and skilling for children in
five towns.
UBS, the Swiss bank, runs two night schools for working children in
Pune and Tamil Nadu. “UBS is supporting several aid projects worldwide
and not only in India. Some of the important relief is done through our
Optimus Foundation," says its chief, Mathias Wuethrich.
Aptech has tied-up with Rotary Club of Greater NOIDA to extend computer
education to students of Chetram Sharma Girls Inter College at Village
Chalera.
It is again providing free IT education to children of leprosy patients
in Barrackpore, besides village children near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu,
all through NGOs. It claims to have provided multi lingual basic IT
literacy to over five lakh students.
Says Pooran Pandey, who heads Times Foundation: “These scattered
efforts, unless put together, cannot have an impact. For, there is no
guarantee that good models are replicated with every company trying to
re-invent the wheel.”
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