Is Change really worth the Pain? ...find out

“To deal with all government departments especially BMC (Bombay Municipal Corporation) is a pain in the **s. You put in all efforts and nothing gets done”, said one of the non-profit founders I recently spoke to and truth be told it won’t be entirely wrong to say so.
     There is endless red tape and white paper you need to go through before things even start moving. Many a times I find myself irritated and depressed by the slow pace and the amount to effort needed to get even ‘little’ changes done. But then I am reminded of the fact that Transformation is a SLOW and PAINFUL process.

    We humans by nature love inertia. So why bother to change at all? And WHY change when you can keep going without anyone questioning you.…But it is this tough job that CACR has taken on…We are NOT here to CIRCUMVENT the existing system and create parallel structures but we are here to strengthen the existing one and make it more robust by initiating key changes.

              It obviously is a long, persistent, and yes at times painstaking process that involves-- countless follow ups, cajoling and at times coaxing the authority to listen to our point of view to become efficient and accountable (when they don’t have to).
   As Emily Griffin said ‘Change can be good but it’s always tough to let go of the past’ and here we are talking about transforming an age-old department that is famous for being corrupt and slow. In my personal experience over the past 3 years of dealing with the people in this very department I’ve seen that CHANGE IS Possible and perhaps the only constant thing.

       The department does listen to you if you make enough collective noise about an issue or knock on their doors so many times that they are forced to open their gates and ears for you.

 It only requires Patience and Persistence, both of which seem to be in short supply in people these days. That’s why you have over 100 NGO’s working in BMC schools mostly imparting English education by supplying their own teachers or taking over the entire school management by employing their own staff or starting their own ‘centers’ in public places and communities to teach children.

        I have nothing against these people who want to do their bit to improve the lives of underprivileged kids.

• But why do you want to employ your own teachers when the department has very well paid 12,000 teachers with Distinction and First class post-graduate diplomas? 
• Why donate to the CASH RICH system which already has an EXCESSIVE budget of Rs.2660 Crore rupees? 
• Why parade kids on footpaths and parks when you can put them in school?

As an analogy: Imagine one of your friends had a fall or an accident and broke a leg.

 Now would you get his leg plastered and put him on crutches for a while till he can walk himself
OR
Would you chop off his leg and get him a new artificial one?

    Similarly, if this government department is slow and inefficient would you try to hand-hold and help improve it for a while till it can get better OR
 Do you completely ignore it and setup your own parallel system or institution? In reality we simply DONOT choose the Bionic or artificial leg BUT we nurse the broken leg till it is recovered so the person can walk back on HIS OWN legs again without support.

         So come join hands with Citizens association for Child rights to help make the system robust till it can run efficiently on its own. Sure the process can be long and tough at times ..but the change at the end will be as lasting and rewarding, that I can  promise.

You don’t believe me? Read some of our STORIES OF CHANGE and few on Work in progress. You will catch my drift…
Hope to see you soon as a volunteer/donor/supporter. Feel free to connect & comment.

Cheers!

Richa_CACR

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