Repaying our debt to society

2011-12-12T11:40:00.000+05:30

2011-12-12T11:36:00.000+05:30

2011-08-02T13:13:00.000+05:30

2011-08-02T12:34:00.000+05:30

157's ART EXHIBITION PUBLICITY..!!

2011-03-15T12:17:00.000+05:30

ART EXHIBITION by ROUND TABLE 157, Area5.

2011-03-15T12:11:00.000+05:30

2010-10-23T09:54:00.002+05:30

2010-07-15T12:39:00.001+05:30

2010-07-15T12:16:00.000+05:30

2010-07-15T12:12:00.000+05:30

2010-07-15T12:08:00.000+05:30

DDRT 157 new logo launched

2010-07-15T10:38:00.003+05:30

DDRT logo

2010-02-02T10:16:00.000+05:30

2010-02-02T10:10:00.001+05:30

Literacy India school [made by DDRT157-Area5 RTI] student in 3 Idiots movieI

2010-02-02T09:49:00.003+05:30

by DDRT157

2010-01-28T17:45:00.004+05:30

DDRT 157

2010-01-28T17:30:00.012+05:30

April 15, 2007 School is inaugurated

2007-04-21T14:58:00.000+05:30

This is going to be my last update for this blog.

Four hundred and thirty six days after the bhumi poojan, we finally reached the momentous inauguration day. It has been a dream for all of us at Delhi Dynamic Round Table to build a showcase school for Round Table India, Area V. With the generous support of ten tables in our Area, the Round Table India Foundation and Round Table Netherlands, not to mention the numerous donors, large and small, this dream has finally come true.

The project was inaugurated by Mr. Rakesh Gupta, the Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate of Gurgaon. As you know, small finishing related issues usually take another few weeks after the formal inauguration, before the building is finally complete. After factoring in this 'extra time' we expect to hand over the project to Literacy India on May 6, 2007.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So without further ado, here are the inauguration pictures. Click on any picture to enlarge it.

Facade from the school entrance

The official sign board

Mr. Gupta inaugurates the building!

The official Round Table signage

Nursery class

March 18, 2006 update

2007-03-18T16:52:00.000+05:30

It has been an eventful time since I last reported on the progress to you. The school is coming up surely, if a tad slowly. We have had a Dutch donor from Round Table Netherlands handpick our project for directing their money. And we have had our dear architect Khushroo undergo a triple by-pass surgery. By God's grace, he is now doing well.

Vishal and I have been visiting the site every Sunday for the past many weeks and as the April 15th deadline approaches, it appears we may have to go to the site even more frequently to make sure things wrap up in time.

Have a look at the pictures... (hopefully they have been worth the wait!) Click on any picture to enlarge it.

Facade from the school entrance

A closer look at the facade

What a stunner Khushroo has created!

Kota and mosaic flooring

Small kitchen on the ground floor

Groud floor toilets

Staircase being clad with kota

Two of the finished classrooms

Activity hall on the second floor

Corridors and passages on first floor

November 12, 2006 update

2006-11-25T18:18:00.000+05:30

Khushroo and I had a meeting with our contractor at the site to review progress. We were happy to find that the first floor is up and the second floor should get its roof in a week or so. We have been assured that the building will be ready for possession by mid-February.

Have a look at the pictures...

The facade

A closer look at the facade

The first floor corridor!

The second floor corridor!

For viewing a larger picture, just click on it.

September 10, 2006 update

2006-09-13T11:32:00.000+05:30

Khushroo, Harsh and I went to the school to check on progress. We are hoping to complete the first floor by Diwali. Here are some pictures...

Khushroo discussing some issues with Mr. Moolchand

Khushroo and the gang!

For viewing a larger picture, just click on it.

Ground floor inaugurated!

2006-09-02T11:34:00.000+05:30

September 1, 2006

Occasion: Inauguration of the ground floor

Dignitaries present
President, Round Table India, Tr. Shivkumar Eashwaran
Vice President, RTI, Tr. Prashant Jalan
Immediate Past President, RTI, Tr. Ravi Khanna
North Star awardee, Ram Seshu
Project Convenor, Area V, Tr. Mohit Arya
Tr. Vishwas Makhija, DMRT-43

This is indeed a moment of great pride for all of us at DDRT 157! After almost six months of hard work and with the dedicated efforts of Sq.Leg Khushroo Kalyanwala and Tr. Vishal Gupta, we inaugurated the ground floor today! Here are the official pictures...

The facade

Class room ready to be inaugurated!

Vishal doing last minute inspections

National President inaugurates the classroom

The official snap!

To get a larger picture, click on it.

May 21, 2006 update

2006-05-31T18:51:00.001+05:30

While I was away on holiday with my family, Vishal supervised the roof casting for the ground floor last to last weekend. He was quite satisfied with the progress. The basic structure for the ground floor is now ready. It is quite satisfying to see the fruits of all the fund raising, spending time with the architect, weekend site visits, etc. bear fruit. It is even more satisfying to know that this building will be the foundation on which the lives of several less fortunate children will be built!

As always , here are some pictures... Enjoy!

The front of the building

Rear of the building

The roof being cured

June 25, 2006 update

2006-05-31T18:51:00.000+05:30

It had been about a month since our last visit and I had been getting impatient to go have a look at the new developments at the school site. I had been invited over for a Sunday lunch by a friend who stays at Gurgaon. This is all the motivation I needed to leave home early, drop by at the school, test my new digital camera out and head out for lunch.

As you can see the digital camera (Canon Ixus 55 for the photography minded) does deliver great results - even on an overcast day! Oh the weather was wonderful! The light drizzle made the mood so romantic that the school looked even better. Check it out...

April 27, 2006 update

2006-04-30T12:47:00.000+05:30

Vishal and I had a site visit this past Thursday and were happy to see that the building is coming up nicely. We have now reached about one foot above lintel level on the ground floor and expect to reach the stage of roof casting in another 2-3 weeks. Here are some pictures...
Vishal and I standing in front of the building

Site administrative office with RTI name

Right side elevation of the building (shows stage of construction)

Our generous donors!

2006-04-15T12:42:00.000+05:30

Before we forget to express our heart-felt gratitude to those generous souls who helped converting this dream school into a reality, we at Delhi Dynamic Round Table would like to mention here names of our donors.

Revathi Equipment Ltd.	2,000,000
Kejriwal Charitable Trust	315,000
Aditya Infotech Limited	300,000
Anubis International GMBH	200,000
Northern Benevolent Fund	200,000
Ajanta Offset & Packagings	100,000
Hari Singh Shyamsukha	100,000
GD Foundation	100,000
Dent – Aids	100,000
Ashiana Housing	100,000
Prashant Agarwal	79,000
Brick sales	72,000
Satya Sheel	51,000
P C Enterprises Pvt. Ltd.	51,000
Aroni Charitable Trust	50,000
Ashiana Homes	50,000
Dhruva Charitable Trust	21,000
Ruchi & Divey Ahuja	21,000
Arjun Holdings Pvt. Ltd.	21,000
Comtech Exports	21,000
Yogesh Jain	15,000
Nucleus Investment & Finance Pvt. Ltd.	11,000
Anupama Dalmia	10,000
Manisha Gupta	10,000
Paresh Chaudhry	10,000
Triloki Nath HUF	10,000
Beecon Udyog	5,000
Optimum Marketing Metrics Pvt. Ltd.	2,500

Primary school project

2006-03-31T16:44:00.000+05:30

Project outline
Literacy India has been running a school from a rented premises since 1996. Due to the growing popularity of the school they are beginning to fall short of space in the present location. It has reached a point that they are having to reject applications because they do not have space. Due to this, Literacy India has decided to move out to another, nearby location. With this is mind, they have procured a half acre (2,438 sq. yards) plot of land in Village Bajghera, Gurgaon.

It is on this land, that DDRT 157 plans to construct the following facilities:
• 21 classrooms of 400 square feet each
• Computer lab, library, hobby room, staff room and administrative office: 1 room each
• 6 toilets
• Total covered area is expected to be about 18,000 square feet

The construction cost is likely to be about Rs.500 per square foot for the above work. In addition, Rs.10 lacs is likely to be spent for things like a boundary wall, a bore well and an amphitheater for the children.

Beneficiaries
About 1000 underprivileged children of ages 3-10 years would be prime beneficiaries, who would not only receive education but also participate in theatre workshops.

Adult education would cover at least 15 new adults each month, thus reaching a figure of approximately 180 adults in a year.

The Karigari project would impart vocational training to about 200 village ladies each year.

The building would also serve as a community center for the village elders and children during holidays.

Present status
The bhoomi pujan was performed on February 2, 2006. Here are some pictures from the function.

Soon after the pujan, the digging work started and the construction activity commenced around February 25, 2006. The latest situation is that construction upto the plinth level has been completed. If all goes well, we should be able to have the completed building by end-June 2006.

About us

2006-03-31T15:15:00.000+05:30

The Round Table movement
The Round Table movement was started in the year 1927 in the UK. The organisation is similar to Rotary and Lions with one important difference, namely, our members must retire at the age of 40. Round Table International (the world-wide apex body) has over 5,000 active chapters worldwide.

Round Table India
Round Table India was formed way back in 1962 and today it has over 165 chapters spread across 75 cities, with a total strength of approximately 2,500 members.

In 1998, RTI initiated a national project, “Freedom Through Education” (FTE) that aims to help a million underprivileged children in India to break free from shackles of illiteracy through several multi-pronged programs. Here are some promo films shot by the famous Prahlad Kakkar for FTE.

FTE operates through five main programs, namely building new schools, adding classrooms, undertaking repairs or renovations of old schools and building toilets. We also provide schools with accessories such as benches, blackboards, teaching aids, library, sports equipment, uniforms, notebooks or lighting facilities.

The FTE program also provides practical or vocational training to the underprivileged, enabling them to earn a living.

Some key features that sets RTI apart from other social service organizations and NGOs are given below:

Credibility: RTI consists of businessmen and professionals, who are driven by their passion for giving back to society. We are probably the only non-profit organisation in India that spends every rupee it raises on charitable projects. In fact RTI usually tops up donations made by donors with money brought in by members or raised by chapters. This leads to more than a rupee going to projects for every rupee donated by a donor. We have no administration overhead.

Project development: We look at ourselves as project developers who bring project management skills to the task of building schools for underprivileged children. This includes identifying sites, supervising material procurement and building construction, identifying credible NGOs to hand over the school to once it has been constructed and keeping donors informed about project status through this entire process.

Secular: By virtue of being a non-political and secular organization, we work with a wide spectrum of NGOs including Christian missionaries, Hindu organizations and State Governments. This allows donors the freedom to choose the community they wish to support or to adopt a secular approach.

National databank: We keep a databank of school projects identified on a pan-India basis. So a potential donor could choose to fund projects at a location of his choice. Our national presence also allows us to build schools at a location not yet identified by us, if that meets a donor’s corporate social responsibility agenda.

Some of our work
Amongst the stated objectives of Round Table International is to help society to eradicate illiteracy and provide healthcare to the masses. RT India chose ‘Freedom Through Education’ as its theme in 1998, with an objective of educating a million underprivileged children by 2008. Amongst the projects done by RTI, the following projects are noteworthy:

1998-2004: Construction of 680 schools at a cost of about Rs.52 crores reaching out to approximately 325,000 children, nationwide.

2001: Rs.2.70 crores towards the Gujarat earthquake relief work.

1999: Operation Sadbhavna (Orissa cyclone): 1.90 crores

1999: A sum of Rs.51 lacs was donated by RTI to the Prime Minister towards the Kargil War heroes.

As members of RTI, Delhi Dynamic Round Table has contributed in its own small way to the movement. Here is a glimpse into some of our work.

In February 2006, we started building a school in Village Bajghera, Palam Vihar, Gurgaon. The project is estimated to cost Rs.1 crore and once completed, the school would provide education to about 1,000 underprivileged children. In addition, the same infrastructure would also be used for run adult literacy programs in the vicinity. Our partner, Literacy India, would be running the school. Literacy India has been providing education to underprivileged children since 1996 and is presently running a school with about 500 children. Here is a short film on LI.

In 2005, we worked with the Governor of Uttaranchal to rebuild eight government run schools in the State. The total project cost us about Rs.5 lacs.

In 2004, we worked with Vidya Bharti to build three classrooms for one of their existing schools in Tagore Garden, New Delhi. This project cost us Rs.2.75 lacs.

In addition to actual execution of projects, we have also made donations in cash and kind towards relief to Orissa Cyclone, Gujarat Earthquake and tsunami victims.

We regularly conduct blood donation camps in various parts of Delhi in partnership with the Rotary Blood Bank, Saket. Every such camp raises about 75 units of blood from walk-in volunteers and Round Table members.

Testimonials

State Governments: We have formal MOUs with the Governments of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to build/refurbish schools for them. We are exploring the possibility of executing similar MOUs with the governments of Rajasthan, West Bengal and Gujarat.

NGOs: We have built schools for MV Foundation in Andhra and Pratham in many cities across India.

Corporates: We have partnered with companies such as ITC and Mysore Minerals to build schools for them. We have also partnered with Wipro, Bajaj Allianz and Hewlett Packard to raise money for RTI projects.

International: We have raised about Rs.6 crores from Round Table Netherlands and Rs.51 lacs from NRIs in the USA for our projects. The US partnership is very recent and we see this as a beginning. We have recently entered into a tie-up with Round Table Great Britain and Ireland whereunder they would raise money for projects to be executed by RTI.