Working for a non-profit startup ....my journey with the 'CRAZY' people -PART I

It was around April 2013 when Mr Nitin informed me that after leaving C.R.Y. (Child Rights and You) he will consult a few friends and perhaps start something on this own. A short while later the name ‘Citizens Association for Child Rights-CACR’ was formalized and the logo was in the process of being designed….I had been previously working and coordinating with Mr Nitin as a AGNI K-east Municipal Education group leader since 2008 and realised that not only he was an open-minded and affable person but also had a great passion to work to improve the Municipal Education System throughout Mumbai.

      Municipality schools (inner city) or popularly known as BMC (Bombay Municipal Corporation) schools  are something we or at least  I used to associate with poor kids, bad school buildings, plain uniforms, and pathetic teachers. I always  thought that the only way to help these kids was to give them money, distribute free meals, books, among other things. 

       During a Sunday ALM meet when I heard this gentlemen from CRY, Mr.Nitin Wadhwani (back when he was a CRY volunteer) say that the “BMC spends HUGE money to the tune of Rs.600 Crores (100 Million USD)  on BMC primary Education alone”, I was astonished.

 He further added that all these items essential for students’ education (books, pens, bags, water bottles, shoes, rain-coats, etc.) around 27 items were given to these kids free of cost by the corporation and helping these school students by distributing  freebies and money was the WORST way of helping them not the best (contrary to what I believed previously). Sure it was a reality check for many of us in the audience  and to this day I clearly recollect the surprise on many faces and the new found enthusiasm to work for improving our neighbourhood municipal schools…this is how our Education group was formed in K-east.

    With Mr Nitin’s guidance along with citizen volunteers from other wards (mainly H west and M wards) our education group could improve the situation in few neighbourhood municipal schools of Mumbai. Cleanliness and discipline in schools improved as well as we conducted a student enrolment drive in slum areas to enrol around 100 kids in municipal schools. 
At the time I was juggling several things --my job, pursuing a weekend management course, and volunteering with Municipal Education group like stated. But In my heart the thing that made me happiest was the impact that we could create by working in schools as a team and the small positive changes we could make in few student’s lives. 

So when Mr Nitin asked me to join CACR I agreed. I liked the cause we were working for and enjoyed working with the team members (most of them were known to me from our CRY and AGNI association).

        This July as CACR turned ONE I also complete a year with the organization.

Our Anniversary Function Cake cutting

 It has been a great learning curve for me far greater than working for my 2 previous organizations. Also I enjoy working with start-ups for the energy, autonomy, and the innovative ideas that the people bring in.  Sure there is a downside too --you are the planner, executor, critic, and promoter of projects, the resources are few and work is ever-increasing, pay is low, and things progress at a rapid pace. But the trade-off is worth it. I am far richer in knowledge, content creation, collaboration, handling social media, and understanding and communicating with people from different walks to life today than I was a year back. I have the team members at CACR and especially Mr.Nitin to thank for this improvement. Moreover, as a participant in conferences and round-tables I have been overjoyed to see so many other individuals, NGos and organizations working in remote areas of rural Maharashtra with merge resources to improve quality of education. Kudos to all of them!

While on this journey I have been delighted to know and meet few admirable and “CRAZY” people. I call them “crazy” because even in today's pessimistic world they are mad enough to believe that they can change the world…they can do something to make it better and that madness is infectious. Hats off to Mr. Nitin, Mr. Shailesh Gandhi, Vidya Vaidya, Mani Patel, Meena Kaura, Mr. Deepak, among many others for doing their bit to change the status quo.

Have you heard that a citizen’s initiative could get 6.5 Cr Rupees sanctioned for schools building repairs? 

OR 

A handful of citizens could stop the commercial exploitation and harassment of young students going in an illegal school for a decade? 

OR
Few students and senior citizens come together to impart Basic Computer skills to more than 1300 students in just few months?

Well, these are just a few things we at CACR have achieved.  This is a living proof that people can accomplish a lot if they come together. We have to make our democracy work by playing a participatory role in it. Not just by merely criticizing our government in front of our TV sets as we watch the news.

  I believe making transformation happen and being persistent in your efforts for bringing about positive change is the MOST TOUGH job in the world and we at CACR have set out on a long difficult journey to do just that. I hope that many more people will join us and further strengthen our efforts.

    Here I would like to make a special mention of our young volunteers and members-Roshni, Dilmohan, Zinal, Ishan, and Jinal among others who have volunteered with us despite their academic and professional commitments and been part of the change from an early age. The youth can play a vital role to bring about change and sensitize people to work for the cause. If more young people join our efforts to improve the system we can see far greater results. 

Do contact us on connect.cacr@gmail.com to know how you can be part of this citizen’s initiative and put a smile on many faces.

See ya!

Richa,CACR 

This is first article in the series of volunteer journey's with CACR on our first anniversary

The second article can be read HERE

Can we gamble with the security of our children?

"Will my child be safe; Is She OK?" 

These anxious questions occupy the mind of each parent at some point during the day when the children are away from home. Whether the child is of a construction worker or of a politician, whether he is the son of a wealthy business man or of a daily wager..each parent worries about his child's well being.

Parents try their best to create a safe environment at home and select schools that provide security. But what about the time when the kids are travelling to and from school? Are they secure then? 

The recent on going incidents of child abuse in school buses are on the rise and often parents find themselves helpless to do anything beyond a point. They rely completely on the bus driver and school management for the safety of their kids. But merely having trust is enough??? Can't something be done?

As they say "God cannot reach everywhere..therefore he created parents" and I feel -" Parents [obviously] can't be present everywhere ..hence we have to create strict policies and laws to safeguard our children"
Example of one such policy is {as I call it}- 'The School Bus Policy'. 

Our Advisory board member Mrs. Indrani Malkani has created this policy and worked endlessly for its implementation..She shares inputs about the policy and its scope...over to her

Mrs. Indrani Malkani looks at the school kids happily boarding the school bus.

"The Policy for Safe and Co-ordinated Transport of School Children, is based fully on my Model School Bus Service, and was notified vide a GR, dated 22^nd March 2011 through the Transport/Home Department. Its implementation is by two Departments, the RTO and the Education Department. The principal document to be followed by the schools to implement the Policy, is required to be circulated to schools by the Education Department.

The role of the School is that of a facilitator between the Student Body/ Parents and the School Bus Operators.

As per the Policy the school must ensure that all children use the School Bus service on a daily basis, to and from school. Those children who live near the school (walking distance), use public transport, or reside in areas where the school bus service is unavailable, maybe exempted. Even in such cases, no child would be permitted to enter the approach roads of the school by car.

The Traffic Police has to depute personnel to ensure that cars do not park around the schools and the approach roads are kept free for school buses. Appropriate signage should be displayed to allow the school buses to park near the school, so that the departure of the buses can be quick.

Since no school nor a single operator will have adequate number of buses to cater to the full load of children in a school, multiple bus operators are required to be engaged by the school and they would all be bound by a Common Standard Agreement.

 Salient features of the Common Standard Agreement -CSA:

• The CSA is signed between the school representing the Student Body and the Bus Operators, to have a validity of one year and renewable by mutual consent.
• Times and punctuality being of essence.
• Compensation by way of fees.
• Insurance cover to be obtained by the Contractor and kept valid during currency of the Agreement.
• Service conditions along with penalties and deposits.
• Safety and proper upkeep of the buses.
• Compliance with GPS technology as approved.
• Code of conduct for staff operating and manning the buses.
• Emergency and backup services.
• Special conditions arising.
• Confidentiality of Agreement.
• Arbitration and Jurisdiction.
• Force Majeure'
• Annexures covering fee structure etc.
• Amendments to the Agreement as may become necessary from time to time.

Indrani Malkani was featured in Mumbai Heroes series for her work on School Bus Policy

The work has not yet ended; even though the Policy has become operational I am determined to see that the Policy is implemented correctly."

Indrani Malkani#

Trustee

V Citizens Action Network

Hence, I urge you to strengthen  our hands and give us support to help in making this policy FULLY operational and make sure it is implemented in all schools across the state. 

Can we really afford to gamble with the security of our children?

The choice is yours...

-Richa S* 

#Indrani is a member State Government Committee for Safe Transportation of School Children &

Member Mumbai District Committee for Implementation of the School Bus Safety Policy

*The author is the team member of Citizens Association for Child Rights a non-profit working in low-income schools of Mumbai,India.