Aspire to See Little Bundles of Joy March to School with Enthusiasm – Manav Utthan Society

Sangeeta Sambhi, Keekli Intern

How often, do we encounter faces with gleamy eyes asking for a ten rupee note to buy food? How often, do we encounter with wrinkled faces brimming with hope, love and positivity, searching for a shelter? How often, do we hear about a woman being left at the mercy of society, to seek validation for the choices she takes up in life? Or how often, do we come across children selling books with the minimum possibility of knowing what the words printed in them mean?

These are few questions that the gut of humanity gets asked, every day, at innumerable cross-roads of life. It would be unfair to state that the government does not do its bit. It should rater be conceived as the extra milage for the citizens of the country to initiate a residence of mutual acceptability and development for the less privileged ones. It is high time, that the society in general, harks to the needs of deprived and does not retrograde their contemporary situation. Raconteur, have narrated tales of glory of those in cronyism. But few unsung characters include the members of the NGOs who have worked tirelessly to make the life of those in deprivation better in every possible way; walking an extra mile, spending an extra rupee, sleeping an hour less, and not wanting to be in the limelight.

One such NGO, is Manav Utthan Society (MUS). Initiated, by an erudite Professor Dr Raj Kumar Singh, MUS, is a non-partisan, non-political and non-profit organization, founded by a group of young and energetic, management, medical and engineering graduates. Dr Singh, a social activist, took the initiative to lay the foundation of the society. He thus, got it registered, on 20th August 2015 (Registration No. 634/2015-16), under Societies Registration Act 1860.

MUS has been recognized, identified and empanelled with an organization that exhibits its ideology and commitment towards the causes of societal and social importance; basic education, medical facilities, society based on sharing, cooperation and respect for social- religious pluralities. Not only this, it also has deep concerns for underprivileged people, especially women and girl child, along with working on environmental reforms by closely dealing with the concerned authorities and societies, as well as the government, in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Effective implementation of innovative initiatives by the team has been their major area of focus.

The main working areas are the promotion of increment in the literacy rates, clean and green environment, public awareness, share and care programmes for orphaned children, providing shelter to old and helpless people, afforestation through plantation drives, promoting the concept of home herbal garden, save and educate girl child (Beti Bachao Beti Padhao), women empowerment, promoting the idea of self-help group, to alleviate poverty, promote employment for financial wellbeing and so forth.

While understanding the basic working mechanism of the NGO’s team structure, they have highly skilled volunteers working towards skill development, both, in rural as well as urban areas not only in Uttar Pradesh, but also various other states of the country.

The NGO works on four major projects, which are dynamic and unique in nature. The major ones include – Aao School Chalen: As it is a widely accepted fact, that poverty as a social evil has always slammed the gateway of opportunities, especially of the poverty-stricken lives. This is an initiative to help the slum-stricken children to attain education and lead a better life as compared to their contemporaries. MUS Public Library, established in 2016, is one of the leading public libraries in district Amroha.

Go Green (Ped Lagao, Jeevan Bachao), is yet another remarkable programme, undertaken, by the team to deal with a domain of topics, that requires attention on deforestation. A plantation drive is carried out so that the general public can reap the benefits, clean and fresh air is distributed equally, and there is reduction in the depletion of the green cover. In addition, planting trees in the farm reduces soil erosion, increases its soil fertility, water retention capacity and total available nutrients, which then increase the yield of the main crop being planted.

Share and Care – Ghar Parivar Programme, aims to educate the society on obvious fronts of reality. More than half of India’s population is deprived of education, and until, children at educational institutions are taught of inclusivity, it is not possible to expect mutual respect and development of diverse sectors of the society. Since we know that the society has always been divided into two segments, of the wealthy ones and not so wealthy ones, this programme aspires to make the citizens aware of their privileges in life, thus, sharing and creating a society, which is waived in the fabric, of equality, diversity and a gateway to avail the best of opportunities.

Jan Chetna (Public Awareness Programme), its campaigns are more successful if they are tailored to the context, values, language and resources available to local audiences. Awareness campaign, can be an important part of slum and developing community support, for changing the informal justice sector; it has been shown to change knowledge, and attitudes, about violence against girl child and women. The campaign will convey to the wider public, messages of tolerance, acceptance, openness, empathy and respect.

The NGO, has seen various ups and downs, over the years. As confessed by the team, it has been an overwhelming experience to work for the people. It is with sheer optimism that they work to see the society bloom into a better place every day. Henceforth, with a gargantuan hope they aspire to see little bundles of joy march to school with enthusiasm, wrinkled faces, happy and satisfied, for the work, those tired hands have done, without asking for something in return and women taking up a stand for themselves. And together, to experience the society being nurtured with all that it gives to its stakeholders.