SOFTEN: Infosys staffers' initiative

IT professional S L Manjunath e-mailed the other day asking if I could help him identify some localities of the poor who might need the used clothes his friends on the Mysore Infosys campus had collected. First, I thought it was rather naïve of my young friend to have come up such request. Because, the poor are found everywhere in our country. I thought all that Mr Manjunath and his friends needed to do was step out of their swanky campus to look out for them.

On reflection I sensed their problem. Not all poor people need be needy for the kind of clothes Mr Manjunath and friends wish to distribute – old jeans, branded shirts, skirt and tops, and salwaar-kameez. Handing them out at random to alms-seekers in front of temples may not be a good idea. I have seen well-to-do devotees doling out their used clothes to the poor lined up in front of Raghavendra temple on Thursdays. In most cases the takers are not the end-users. And the discarded clothes find their way to the neighborhood flea market.

Mysore Infosys is an exclusive township, housing some 4,500 company trainees, who come from all over India and abroad for a 16-week training course. Many of them, given to an upscale lifestyle, often discard clothes and things they sparsely use. Manjunath and a group of his campus residents hit upon the idea of reaching out to the needy with clothes they collect on the campus.

They formed a Social Forum to Enable the Needy (SOFTEN), initially to help the economically disadvantaged children in Mysore’s corporation schools to acquire soft-skills such as proper communicating and analytical abilities and improvement of language skills, notably, English. During the current school vacation SOFTEN plans to run a ‘soft-skills’ course for the benefit of deserving Class X students from some local corporation schools.

Presumably, the idea for collection and distribution of used clothes is a SOFTEN spin-off. In advanced countries they have Salvation Army and thrift shops through which the collected clothes are distributed. Collection of clothes and other useful items from those on Infosys campus would be easy, given the initiative of spirited township residents such as Munjunath. The problem is in evolving an effective distribution system.

If an operating system with a clothes collection centre on the campus, and distribution outlets in the city, can be put in place in Mysore, it could serve as a working model for Infosys and other IT corporate townships elsewhere in the country. Orphanages and old age people homes would be natural outlets for consumer useables. Public-spirited individuals and institutions that can spare show-room space and a couple of volunteers could come forward to set up used-clothes outlets, run by volunteers.

NGOs such as Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP), Rotary and Lions Clubs, Institution of Engineers (which routinely rents out space for sales of books, garments, handicraft and other consumer items) can designate space for SOFTEN’s distribution outlet, where the poor and the needy could go to pick up the clothes they need.

It has been my observation that NRIs, notably young professionals, are given to discarding clothes, shoes and other serviceable consumer items as they go out of fashion, or when new styles and models are in the market. It would help if each NRI were to set aside five kg (out of their total baggage allowance of 60 plus kg) for bringing their used clothes on their every trip to India. The parcels of clothes they bring in could be deposited in drop-boxes set up at airports, to be picked up by the NGO coordinating distribution among the needy.

Crossfiled in zine5 and Desicritics.

Pratham: some thoughts

Pratham, Mysore, organized a meeting the other day in a borrowed venue (The Hive school, Yadavagiri) to create awareness and to raise funds. The pretext was the release of the NGOs house magazine – State of Education in Mysore. Managing trustee Mr Ashvini Ranjan was pleased with the turnout, and, possibly, the day’s collection.

“I am overwhelmed by the response,” said Mr Ranjan. He admitted that those at the Pratham, in the last five years of its existence, had been accustomed to seeing empty halls and vacant chairs. As it turned out, Mr Ranjan, was unwittingly responsible for creating awareness of the wrong kind. Something he said on the Cauvery verdict didn’t please some people. They stormed Pratham office, smashed furniture and windows, shouting slogans.

Pratham, for the unfamiliar, is an NGO involved in educating children from weaker sections through non-formal home intervention and in training those volunteering to teach slum children. Mr Ranjan and his team would like to see wider public involvement in the work Pratham is doing.

Convening meetings like the one held at The Hive is okay. Besides, the core group at Pratham would need to do some homework, to reach out to specific interest groups with concrete proposals on how they can help the Pratham cause. My reference is to teachers and student volunteers, young professionals, clubs of all kinds, NGOs involved related spheres, and, notably, the local builders association. Mr Ranjan and his team of resource persons would need to take time to hold meetings with various interest groups to secure their involvement.

I thought of the builders association after hearing Dr T Padmini about her interaction with families of watchmen employed on building sites. Construction workers move from one site to another, with no fixed address or ration card or any other documentary proof that would enable their children to get admission in regular schools. Dr Padmini could discuss with the builders association and explore ways of helping the workers and their children to get primary education. The education department could be persuaded to accept an undertaking by the builders (endorsed by their association) in lieu of proof of residence or other requirements. Dr Padmini would have heard of Mrs Mahadevan’s initiative in opening mobile crèche for nursing mothers among construction workers in New Delhi some decades back. Local builders could be talked into extending facilities for a Pratham type initiative in building sites, if they are not already there.

Findings of Dr Padmini’s survey on the dismal state of primary education among slum children need to be taken to various schools. Those involved in the survey could hold seminars with teachers and senior students at selected schools. The idea is to educate them on the plight of the less advantaged children; and to involve public spirited teachers and students in educating their neighbourhood children.

Pratham could think in terms of networking with orphanages and child welfare institutions. I know of a well-run children’s orphanage – Chamundi Children’s Home – that could benefit from Pratham initiative, to supplement education of the boys and girls of the home who attend regular school. This apart, periodical interaction among children from the home and those who have benefited from Pratham would help in personality development. Pratham could take their children, in manageable groups to visit old people’s homes to spend a day with people there. Such interaction can only be mutually beneficial for the children and the aged alike.

With its website in place Pratham could develop online networking with like-minded individuals and agencies. Speaking of involvement of others, Pratham could look out for online contact with young professionals with volunteer spirit. I know of Mr S L Manjunath and his Infosys team involved in SOFTEN initiative. Others can come up with lots of other contacts worth making.