India has over a million homeless people, and without any documents and money to be able to access the necessities of life, they have become the most vulnerable and underprivileged communities. Other than the challenges of poverty, unemployment, old age and illiteracy, they also face neglect, abandonment, domestic abuse, and are also prone to mental illnesses and disabilities. There is an immense and immediate need to address these challenges and find sustainable ways to rehabilitate them. This is where the CSR industry can step in and reverse conditions by adopting effective mechanisms for their reformation, engagement, skill training, and housing.
In this interview, Dr. Geetanjali Chopra, Founder and President, Wishes & Blessings, opines that there should be specific allocation of CSR money, or mechanism for a stable database to instruct companies to include senior citizens, specially-abled and homeless communities, in their CSR outreach. She also emphasises on the need for awareness building and sensitising social sector stakeholders to consider these three communities as important as all other underprivileged communities.
Dr Chopra also talks about her NGO’s initiatives especially for the homeless, senior citizens and specially-abled communities, and how proper planning and awareness can turn the tide in favour of these three most neglected communities.
Scroll down to read the full interview.
Q: What are the special efforts that you have rolled out for senior citizens, specially-abled and homeless communities?
Senior Citizens: One of the main causes that we work on is Elder Care. Under this, we have various projects designed to aid abandoned and neglected elders. One of the core projects is a charitable home called Mann Ka Tilak, which was set up in April 2018. It was envisioned to be a home for the elderly abandoned where facilities including housing, boarding, food, entertainment, recreation and medical facilities are provided free of cost. The aim was to give the old and abandoned a new lease of life. Care is taken to ensure that they live a happy life with the love and dignity that everybody is entitled to, especially those who are at an advanced age.
This home was started as a haven for neglected and abused elderly women in 2018. As we executed field work and conducted outreach, we also came across several elder men in need of care and thus in 2019, we expanded to include the men’s wing. It has always been our philosophy to focus on the quality of life provided rather than on the number of people. Therefore, we focus on providing continuous and effective care to a smaller group of elders, rather than diluting our efforts with a larger beneficiary base. Over the last few years, we have reached out to over 60 people. While some are rehabilitated with their families, others choose to stay as permanent residents at the home.
Recently, there has been a sharp increase in the number of beneficiaries. As a result of this, we are now expanding, and constructing a new wing which will enable us to provide for an additional 15 people We are also setting up a new old age home in Vrindavan, and the first set of beneficiaries here will be 15 underprivileged, abandoned widows. In addition to having these homes, we also support other old age homes through the Daily Meals Programme. In Tamil Nadu, we support the nutritional welfare of 120 abandoned men and women residing at an old age home, while in Jharkhand and West Bengal, we are supporting 200 elderly abandoned couples.
Specially-abled: We work with specially-abled and differently-abled people across all age groups. We support children with special needs including hearing and visually impaired children and children living with HIV/AIDS through our various education programmes like the ‘Sponsor A Childhood Programme’. We ensure that the education they receive is all-inclusive by organising various recreational activities. Additionally, to ensure the emotional and mental well-being of the beneficiaries, the team organises ‘Birthday Manao’ under our ‘Happiness’ project where visually impaired children are given a chance to celebrate their birthdays. This instils a sense of happiness and belonging.
We have also provided equipment like crutches, walkers and wheelchairs to differently-abled people. Nutritional support is extended to elders with special needs via the Daily Meals Programme.
Homeless: We do work with the homeless population in Delhi. Prior to COVID-19, we were providing daily meals to people living in shelters for the homeless across Delhi. After the Delhi government started serving meals there, we withdrew from supplying food but we continue to provide them with clothes and medical supplies including sanitisers, masks, thermometers and medicines till this day. In addition to this beneficiary base, we also work with the transgender community.
Q: Are there any case studies where the organisation has made a sustainable impact on the life of a beneficiary, and turned it around for the better?
A: Individual case studies have not been undertaken as such but we have certainly impacted and transformed the lives of many of our beneficiaries. Our goal has always been to focus on making a tangible change in the lives of the underprivileged.
A special mention may be made of our 93-year-old beneficiary whom we endearingly call Champiya Amma. 3 years ago, we took her into our old age home ‘Mann Ka Tilak’. She was mentally and physically abused by her very own son whom she dearly loves to this day. She recounts of an instance when she was beaten so hard that her eardrum split making her lose her hearing forever. Her entire world came tumbling down when she was thrown out of her own home. At Mann Ka Tilak she is given a new lease of life as she is nurtured and taken care of. She has found an anchor and a refuge in her new family. Today Champiya Amma lives with dignity, respect, and the love that she so well deserves.
Another worthy mention is that of a young 15 years old girl by the name of Rani, who is a beneficiary of the Street To School Programme. A child of a daily wager, Rani’s family could not afford the basic necessities required by a growing child. She was enrolled into the Wishes and Blessings Day Care Centre, no sooner than her transformation began. Under this programme, she was given access to an all-inclusive, holistic learning environment, which gave her the opportunity to pursue her academic and non-scholastic pursuits. Rani has always had a passion for football and through the guidance and opportunities made available to her, she had the chance to enhance her skills and work towards achieving her goal of becoming an athlete. In 2018, Rani played National Level Football and has been an inspiration for her peers and so many others. We feel that it is in moments and impacts made like these that we find the meaning to continue doing what we’re doing. We are extremely proud of her.
Q: Many organisations are working towards providing employment to the specially-abled community. Has your organization tied up with any corporate partner/s to ensure the same? Or are you providing any kind of skill support that enables them to earn money?
A: Wishes and Blessings has not tied up with any corporate in particular but we do provide specially-abled people and children with vocational training and education opportunities to hone their skills and capabilities. Our goal is to make them self-reliant so that they can live a dignified and productive life. Our organization believes that employing people with disabilities and providing scope for social participation is pertinent for making a change in society.
Q: Are there any cases of rehabilitation of the homeless or senior citizens?
A: Our old age home is a living example of rehabilitating abandoned and scarred people who have been devoid of basic dignity and respect. Now they are showered with genuine care, love and warmth. They are provided with training and counselling sessions on a regular basis. As a result, we have been able to bring back smiles to faces and have given them the hope to live a meaningful life. We also support sexually abused children, victims of incest and orphans by putting them into the mainstream of life through our education programmes.
Q: When we talk about senior citizens, what has been your learning and understanding of the family dynamics and the root cause of this issue? Which strata of society do these citizens mostly belong to?
A: In the 4 years of running an old age home, we have come to the realisation that no two cases are the same. Each resident we have interacted with at the old age home has been a victim of abuse or neglect. Each has a different story to tell so we cannot speculate a particular root cause as every situation differs.
To generalize, as in most cases, one would say that elders are considered a liability since they’re no longer earning or contributing to household work. Most of these elderly people unfortunately fall into the hands of abuse and end up getting abandoned. We have seen that the generation gap between parents and children is also responsible for conflict of relations since in the present generation, people value privacy and assets over their moral responsibilities and obligations. Given the fact that Indian culture and tradition places a lot of emphasis on family pride, most of these people do not report crimes against their children for the fear of being publicly shamed. Taking advantage of this, the younger generation is bolder in mistreating them.
These elderly people belong to all strata ranging from those hailing from poor households, middle-class, upper-middle-class and even the rich class, so there are no particular strata to which our beneficiaries belong to.
Q: Based on your experience, how do you think the government can make a difference with their schemes for the senior citizens? What changes would you like to suggest in terms of policymaking and execution?
A: India has well thought of laws and schemes for senior citizens. Unfortunately, awareness about the same is completely lacking. According to the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, under section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code, elderly parents can claim maintenance of a monthly allowance from their children or legal heirs. Jurisdictional police stations of different states are also providing assistance in different ways to the elderly population. But most of the senior citizens are unaware of it. So, in order to do away with elderly abuse and neglect, there is a need for awareness building and educating the elderly about their existing rights.
Q: What are the current challenges when it comes to rehabilitating the three- elderly, specially-abled, and the homeless- communities?
A: The biggest challenge is the mindset of these people. They are so deeply scarred and traumatised by the abuse, torture and neglect they have undergone that it is not an easy task to nurture them back into a stable state of mind.
In addition to this, the other challenge is that of the procurement of funds as most donors prefer to invest and contribute for the cause of the younger generation be it their well-being, education or skill development. One does not see much of a bent of mind when it comes to charity for the elderly because people like investing for the future.
Q: What are your main sources of funding and contributions? How do you sensitize the people in general to make contributions towards these communities?
A: Main sources of funding and contributions are individual donors, high network individuals (HNIs) and corporates. Accountability and transparency are the key attributes of Wishes and Blessings and while following them, we make sure to document all that we do and it is on the basis of this documentation and pictorial representation that people are sensitized. They are made aware of the authenticity of the organisation and they come forward and contribute.
Q: What kind of hurdles did you face especially during the lockdown and initial phases of the pandemic? How did you tackle those? Has the pandemic led to any change in traditional methods of CSR to more technologically driven initiatives, and how?
A: The initial phases of the pandemic and the lockdown took us by as much surprise as it did to the rest of the world and the biggest challenge was implementing programmes for the underprivileged while operating from home. The inability to visit the fields and properly assess the situation was a huge disadvantage but we were able to overcome it by having dedicated frontline warriors who took it upon themselves to come to the aid of the lesser fortunate. The other hurdle was the unforeseen and unpredictable nature of the pandemic, so it became much more gruelling to plan, budget and execute our undertakings at that point of time.
Yes, the pandemic did have a very drastic effect on CSR initiatives as most corporates started diverting their budgets to healthcare neglecting the other areas where there had been initial commitments such as education, skill development, etc. Efforts were concentrated on health initiatives in an attempt to mitigate the effects caused by the pandemic. Employee engagement was next to nil as nobody wanted to go to the fields.
Q: What has been your geographical reach for the initiatives, and do you plan to expand that?
A: Prior to the pandemic, that is, before March 2020, New Delhi, being the headquarter of our organisation was the nucleus of all our projects and ventures. But we had undertaken projects in Assam, Bihar, Chennai, Kashmir, and in Nepal. Post COVID-19, we initiated more relief projects as the situation demanded and we expanded our operations to Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Karnataka.
Q: How do you think social sector stakeholders can make a sustainable change in the lives of these three communities? What steps do you suggest they should incorporate in their CSR projects?
A: First change would be educating and building awareness for themselves and their peers. The social sector stakeholders should understand that these three communities are as important as all other underprivileged communities. Once the awareness is induced, everything else will gradually fall into place.
There should be a specific allocation of CSR money or a mechanism for a stable database to instruct companies to include these communities in the CSR outreach.
Q: What are your organization's future plans? Where do you see yourself in the next one decade?
A: The organisation is slowly but steadily increasing its scope, operations, and impact. In our 8 years of operation, we have been able to spread smiles, promote education, nurture good health, offer support, create opportunities, and provide relief. We plan to continue on the same growth trajectory and expand our operations to all states in the country with the aim of reaching out and helping as many people who need help.
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