Sruti - A Voluntary Organisation with a Difference
 India
envisages more than the dynamically advanced metropolitan
cities. More than 70% of the population still lives
in the medieval world without any basic civic amenities.Hence
its hightime something is done regarding the upliftment
of these backward communities. And that cannot be
done by the solitary efforts of the government. The
subservient tribes in the other regions of the country
require the help of the citizens of the country for
their progress. And this need was recognised by late
Tara Ali Baig who started a voluntary organization
by the name of Sruti and who is also the founder
of SOS children's villages.
Sruti is a Voluntary Organization with a difference.
Sruti believes in encouraging the people to
work for themselves by forming a group. Sruti plays
an important part in motivating the people of different
tribe to form their own organization and work for
their rights. For fourteen years Sruti has been supporting
such individuals and groups in their endeavour to
improve the backward tribes and people living in various
parts of the country.
Unlike other voluntary organizations, Sruti does
not impose itself from the outside. Its concept is
slightly different. Under the fellowship program,
a person is picked up after screening and he works
for a particular area. He educates the community about
their rights and general welfare. He is called The
Sruti Fellow. These fellows are supported by Sruti.
The fellow educates the entire community and draws
support from them. They unanimously decide the agenda
for the community since they are the best people who
know what they want. Such Groups are called Sangathan.
They are normally able to generate sources for themselves
and they are also able to network the groups. The
idea behind forming such sangathans
is to actively involve the people so that they can
voice their demand. The fellows are involved in diverse
spheres such as education, health, income generation,
forest protection and awareness building.
Some of the fellows who have been attached to Sruti
and have been working for the development of community
are, Akshay Kumar Pany, who provides health
and education services to over 500 families in Orrisa,
Ramnedra and Anita, who run nonformal education, vocational
and savings program for the slum dwellers of west
Delhi, Gopalakrishanan and Vijaylakshami are propagating
natural farming in Kerala's Attapaddy Valley. There
are many fellows and groups like Adivasi Kranti Sangathan,
which are attached to Sruti.
Sruti supports these fellows monetarily till the
time they are able to mobilise profound income generation
from the community or elsewhere. Depending on the
size of the group, their monthly support cost can
vary between Rs 4,000 to 15,000. The amount is designed
to cover the living cost, travel and other contingencies.
A striking perspective of the organization is that
it helps the people but does not make them dependent
on the organisation. Like in the cyclone hit Orrisa,
their primary aim was to rehabilitate the people,
in other words to restore the lifestyle. The reason
behind this loan was to make them independent and
not dependent. Another feature of Sruti which is that
it does not take funds or donations form a third party.
The reason being that, then the donating party would
have a say in the functioning of the organization.
Therefore to avoid that Sruti has its own fund raising
techniques.
Avni Sood
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