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Life at Delhi University: Enactus

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Enactus is an international organisation that promotes social entrepreneurship in colleges. More than 20 Delhi University colleges have an Enactus chapter in their college. Each chapter starts with a well researched business plan to advocate assistance and better standard of living provisions for a target community by employing them in a prospective sustainable venture. As easy as it sounds, that is certainly not the case during the implementation of the venture. However,  this challenge is set to provide a kick to the students who are a part of this society. Here are 5 vital things you will experience while you are a part of an Enactus chapter in your college :

 

  • Without drive, your contributions are futile: This is probably the most important experience you’ll have being a part of an Enactus chapter. Without drive, empathy and willingness to assist the community you have targeted, your team’s efficiency will not be maximised. As long as you do not have the hunger to run that extra mile, to create a good rapport with the community, to really care for them you will not be as close to meeting your community’s needs or making your venture as sustainable as you would have liked.

 

  • Team work is essential – While getting into an Enactus society is tough, the contributions after being selected end up being abysmal for a majority of applicants. This is sometimes because of the lack of intent to gel with the vast number of one’s peers. While there might be people from other courses, your intent should be to mix with everyone and learn as much as possible. This is the only way by which you can ensure that your opinions are being heard and debated upon. This also makes it easier for the team to acknowledge a decision taken by everyone.

 

  • Not everybody wants college children giving advice to them: Once you’ve identified your community, you’ll often find them hesitant to subscribe to your business model. Especially when they are ‘content’ with their current livelihood. This is an important lesson that you’ll end up learning. The orthodox belief of communities being ‘grateful’ to you for bringing in innovative ideas is certainly not the case. That respect has to be earned with persistence of rapport building activities.

 

  • Its not just a society;It is your venture: While people may criticize you for being just a college society, and not being a ‘serious’ venture, you’ll learn that it is certainly not the case. Every Enactus chapter has to face as many hindrances as any other business. You start with zero funds, zero external support and an experimental business model. You have different departments like any other organisation. You also have to take as much risks as any other business.

 

  • Networking and Public Relations is extremely essential: Every Enactus chapter needs to reach out to as many people as possible. The more you reach out, the more chances you have of getting aid, assistance and guidance from clients, well wishers and fellow organisations. More networking leads to a lot more opportunities. When these opportunities are utilised, there is an increased chance of success.

 

Being a part of an Enactus team is extremely educative and fun. However, without full commitment you cannot expect success. Hence you have to strive and take your duties as a challenge and not a burden.

 

Ishaan Sengupta

[email protected]

Picture Credits:- enactus.org

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Enactus Motilal Nehru College: Working towards making the stray dogs of Delhi rabies-free

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Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” But do humans and animals in India really coexist in harmony? Not quite.

The plight of stray dogs in the country has been abysmal and is deteriorating by the day. This has resulted in the increase in the number of casualties due to a profound virus communicated by stray dogs called ‘rabies’. Due to lack of people’s active participation in adopting stray dogs and timely treatment with anti – rabies vaccination, rabies is killing 20,000 dogs every year.

Enactus Motilal Nehru College under its makeshift project – Project Parivartan – is working on eradicating rabies completely from Delhi, and eventually India. A team of roughly 60 students, Enactus MNC is working closely with PAWS, which is an NGO that works with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in sterilizing (controlling their population by removing internal reproductive organs) and vaccinating (anti-rabies) stray dogs under the Animal Birth Control programme devised by the WHO. In the last year they managed to get 12 and 24 stray dogs sterilised and vaccinated respectively and now their college is completely rabies free.

However due lack of government funding, organisations like PAWS that run on donations are being forced to shut down and hence cannot carry out their services to their full capabilities, much like Friendicoes had to shut down for a few days. Sterilisation and vaccination is expensive hence, Enactus MNC provides a sum of rupees 500 per stray dog to PAWS so that they can sustain their services.

To sustain these payments made to the NGO they have made different accessories which are sold in the market. However, these products are made by an informal cooperative of people from the underprivileged sections of the society. Handmade Dog accessories under the brand name – Be Desi – are made by orphans and unemployed women while wristbands are made by mentally disabled children of Asha School in the Delhi Cantonment region. They wish to expand their product line too. Currently 3 orphans, 2 unemployed women and 4 children are associated with the Project. Half of the proceeds from selling these products is provided to the NGO.

They’ve also been recognised by the Retd. Maj. Gen. AVSM R.M. Kharb, the Chairman of Animal Welfare Board of India, Ministry of Environment and Forests for their efforts. This year, Enactus Motilal Nehru College aims for getting at least 200 stray dogs vaccinated, which is both ambitious and achievable, according to Abhijit Das, a member of the society. They also intend to employ 50 people.

DU Beat wishes them the very best in their endeavour.

Ishaan Sengupta

[email protected]

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College Elections: How it looks to the candidate

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Politics never seizes to amaze me. Like art, at a different age, you decipher the riddles of various politically active figures and their vote banks in a different way. I always knew that a large part of it requires a lot of money and support, but that was all that I knew before I decided to contest myself. Throughout my second year, I had strived hard and made a ‘name’ for myself. I had started two societies, and being a university journalist added brownie points to my already sparkling repertoire in the college. I had a really nice chance of winning, or so I thought.

A month before the elections I stepped into the limelight, letting my friends know about my intention to contest for the elections. The response however took me by surprise – “You are not election material” and “you have achieved so much, why do you have to do this?” These responses made me more eager to prove my mettle. So I buckled up for the adventurous days that were deemed to come.
Here’s what I learnt while I was campaigning –

1) Your post is never decided until the last week – This is because people who handle your election portfolio need to constantly negotiate with the opposite party for the post of each other’s liking. At the same time, there is always a risk of you not getting nominated because of some discrepancies in the filing process.

2) Endless death-threats – Your opposition is always ready to either make fun of you or discourage you. And if the preceding acts leave no mark on your morale, then the obvious next action is an obscene amount of death threats either on your face or on the phone.

3) You have to organize a good unofficial fresher’s party – Wooing the fresher’s and securing a strong competent vote-bank never seemed more important.

4) Wastage of paper reaches a record high in the election month – From posters on walls, to handed cards and even chits thrown on the floor, this menace never stops. Walls, eventually start losing colors because of these.
I ended up not contesting because of discrepancies in the form, but I have truly learned a lot from the experience of campaigning.

Image Credits- youthkiawaaz.com

Ishaan Sengupta
[email protected]

 

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5 Reasons why your Earphones should be precious to you

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I remember coming across this video on Facebook called ‘look up’. This video had about 7 million views on YouTube and I had expected a lot more from it. “Look up from your phone”, said the narrator while I asked myself, “Should I be barbaric then?” I knew he was honest in his disposition, but shouldn’t we move ahead as technology upgrades itself? Yes, we should!

Every time I enter the metro, I am reminded of how the world is a bigger hypocrite than anything else. I hear the voice saying, ‘Please do not play music in the train’, so I put earphones in my ears, but when I am crossing the street, they shout, “Do not wear your earphones.” What should I do then? I chose the former. I enjoy wearing earphones and letting the music flow through my mind. Here are 5 reasons why these earphones are so precious to me –

Music – A break from the ‘noise’

‘Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder,’ and so I choose to get rid of the ‘noise’ I hear outside by trading it for jolly chimes. The cars, the shouting, the repugnant distraction from trance, all can be escaped from, with a simple insertion of two buds into one’s ears. You can listen to your favorite songs, you can memorize the lyrics and you can get rid of anyone or anything stopping you from that happy solitude.

A break from ‘Judgement’

Imagine yourself, travelling in clothes that are ‘unacceptable’ by ‘laymen’ or imagine yourself banging your head, while listening to a bit of heavy metal. The only noble thing this world will do is judge you. And you can escape those gouging eyes, and those ill wishes, by listening to louder music, but through your earphones.

An incentive to ‘Imagine’

I will not shy away from the fact that I am awkward, but I do imagine my self on the stage holding the guitar and playing sick riffs followed by breakdowns on Bring me the Horizon songs, when I am listening to them. Do not tell me you don’t! You do! You might even imagine yourself instead of Ronan Keating singing, ‘”You say it best, when you say nothing at all” to your girlfriend/boyfriend. The point is, if you are in the groove, you will imagine yourself singing those lyrics and playing that music instead of the original people. And a little imagination never harmed anyone, did it?

An incentive to hear better

Have you ever tried talking to people on your phone at Sadar Bazaar or Rajiv Chowk? I have and its painful. Its painful to shout your lungs out so that the other person can hear you. It is also equally traumatic to hear what the person has to say on the other end of the line. An earphone makes your life easy. It helps you decrease or increase the volume as per your wish.

An incentive to better productivity

As cocky as that might sound earphones do as ordered and it is the truth. Earphones do help you psychologically. They do what you want them to do. They play songs you wish them to play for you. They adjust their volume as per your wish. You are hence in complete charge of them. They fill up your brain with natural nicotine to help you function better; to help you concentrate more. It is all according to your will. Something that functions well, is bound to make you more productive.

Earphones are good for many other things.Sometimes, they reduce the chances of people stealing your phone from your pocket or they can help you escape the blabbering of your better half. Anyway, in this age earphones are desperately needed, at least by me. So what about you?

 

Image credits: josueperez79.deviantart.com

Ishaan Sengupta

[email protected]

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This Teachers’ Day, to all those who’ve taught me…

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teachers day by Naman Sehgal

This week I was asked by my editor if I had any opinions on Teachers’ day and how it impacted my life.  At first I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to write about this, but after thinking about it for a couple of hours, I agreed. The thought of embarking on the nostalgic experiences related to all the teachers of my life, motivated me to explore this subject in detail. Here is what I came up with –

Teacher, the word itself is mostly used to describe people who taught you in school or college.  They are teachers, but we often ignore a huge crop of species who have taught us the teeny weeny intricacies of life, with just their presence around us. Here are a few who never got the title of a teacher but deserve it without a doubt:

 

1) Your parents and relatives –  

Who taught you to walk? Who taught you to be yourself? Your parents! Your grandparents taught you to respect your parents and they often taught you about certain ethics of life which you could never get from others. Even your closest relatives have something to offer to you from their kitty of experiences.


2) The wrong decision –

Every decision is subjected to a result. Every result is either positive or negative. If your result is unfavorable, then what you’ve eventually learnt is that you weren’t quite ready for the opportunity. It means, you should try it again, with a bit more precision in mind and hard work in actions.

 

 

3) The paw –

Loyalty and kindness are important ethics of life that ‘Shiro’ can teach you with the simple wag of her tail, and ‘Puss in Boots’ could teach you with the brushing of his cheeks against your leg. In fact there is so much more you can learn from the unconditionally loving furball sitting next to you.

 

4) Mother Nature –

Have you ever sat at the edge of a cliff, stood on the terrace or lied on the beach during sunrise? If you have, you are bound to learn about warmth, punctuality and other subjective feelings that the universal teacher teaches each and every kid free of cost.

5) Music, literature and art –

Songs and lyrics can teach you different things, like literature. Some of it ends up being cheesy while majority of it is inspirational, a reflection of the society and so much more. Authors, poets, and manuscripts have so much to share, so much to teach.

And then there are teachers who explain the intricacies of the above mentioned relationships to the fresh mind which has to digest the material required to prosper in life as a good human being. There are quite a few others whose lessons are equally informative and interactive. So this teacher’s day make sure you wish your teachers. All of them.

Graphic by Naman Sehgal for DU Beat.

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Features

Fulfilling Dreams Foundation: Tackling hunger in Delhi

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Fulfilling dreams foundation

For a country infested with the epidemic of poverty and hunger, any initiative aimed at eradicating hunger from the streets of the capital city, New Delhi, is a boon. One such organisation is the Fulfilling Dreams Foundation.

Founded by a conglomerate of students and ex-students from Delhi University, Amity and other universities in NCR, Fulfilling Dreams Foundation carries out mass feeding campaigns across highly impoverished areas like Nizamuddin, Kale Khan, Old Delhi and R.K. Puram every fortnight. They provide healthy food to children twice a month. The expenses are borne by the members who are quite a few in number. A sum of Rs. 500 donated by the members suffices for a month.

Fulfilling Dreams Foundation was founded a year ago with the intention to redistribute excess food wasted by the privileged to the ones in desperate need. The primary community is school and slum children. The organisation is also in talks with corporate firms for sustaining their activities in the long run. Currently, the members comprise of volunteers from various Delhi University colleges. The organisation also conducts blood donation drives and distributes essentials other than food too. From distributing food from the boot of cars to collecting over 600 kg raw materials for the Nepal quake victims, FDF takes its work of making the world a better place for all seriously. Fulfilling Dreams Foundation is in search of dedicated, compassionate and students who want to make an impact in the lives of those who are devoid of the privileges enjoyed by the upper class. Their next drive will be on Saturday, the 5th of September to Yamuna Pushta. Apply through their Facebook page!

 

Photo credits: FDF Facebook Page

 

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DUB News

YUVA Foundation- A key to change the face of India

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While many NGO’s have been cropping up recently with the vision to spread awareness among the youth of the country, the minds at YUVA have identified the issues faced by the community; they know how to address them and have already started working on their agenda. In a conversation with Shantanu Gupta, the Founder of YUVA Foundation, said, “The youth in this country has a lot of potential. However, even after securing a seat in top Delhi University colleges, they remain completely unaware of their civic duties, political environment and policies in the economy.’

At Young United Volunteer Action (YUVA) Foundation, the aim is to empower the youth so that they can tackle economic, social and environmental issues through reforms in education, livelihood and governance. Its activities include community workshops, slum connect (academic redevelopment) and YUVA communications 2.0 (commercial consultancy).

Recently, YUVA has launched an internship which comprises of all the elements required by a student/scholar to conduct research or to prepare a thesis or to take important policy decisions. The internship’s primary deliverable is to conduct a research on the history and politics of public policy and how it has impacted the implementation over time.

Students will get to learn about –

  1. Basic information of Public Policy
  2. Desk Research on the history and politics of Public Policy
  3. Field research
  4. Documentation and Publishing Research

Interns will work for research for Centre for Uttar Pradesh Policy Studies (CUPS) and selected quality articles will be published. The first batch has started from 1st July. It’s a rolling registration process and students can enrol at any point during the year. This internship is a huge boost to students interested in public policy, legislative research and civic awareness.

 

Ishaan Sengupta
[email protected]

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Events

What makes the winning teams tick at Enactus Nationals 2015

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Enactus has been a pioneer in changing the lives of students and communities all around the world. But what makes it so special?

Last month, Enactus conducted its national competition which saw a participation from 60+ college teams from across the country. While all of the teams had projects which made a difference for a different community, teams from Hans Raj College, Ramjas College, and IIT-Delhi stole the show.

Here is a list of projects that were run by the winning teams, each including their impact and sustainability figures:

  1. Enactus Hansraj had two major projects- Project Boond and Project Mithaas

Hansraj

Project Boond

Venture – Providing unprivileged masses an access to clean drinking water through production of low cost water purifiers that run without electricity.

Producers – Intellectually challenged individuals from NGO Samvedna.

People directly impacted – 6

People indirectly impacted – 440

Project Mithaas

Venture – The project aims at encouraging the farmers to take up the highly profitable business of beekeeping.

Producers – Farmers

Direct Impact – 6 farmers

Indirect Impact – 95 farmers

 

  1. Enactus Ramjas portrayed 3 major projects and came first runners up –

Ramjas

Project Transcreations

Venture – Aims at financial, educational and societal inclusiveness benefits of members of the Transgender community by teaching arts of jewellery making, soft skills and many more

Producers – Transgenders

People directly impacted – 22
People indirectly impacted – 2580

Project Aradhaga

Venture – Project Aradhaga aims at the social and financial upliftment of the unemployed women of the slums of Jahangirpuri and JJ Basti areas of Delhi by teaching them accessory making.

Producers – Unemployed Women

People directly impacted – 15
People indirectly impacted – 1550

They have another project named Project Amlaan which has just started.

 

  1. Enactus IIT Delhi, the winners of the competition presented 2 projects –

IIT D

Project Exelsior India

Venture – Teaching kabadiwaalas the art of managing money, eliminating middlemen, providing them with microfinance opportunities and finally making recycled notebooks with the material picked up by kabadiwaalas. Under the project, they also created cardboard tables with solar lamps for students.

Producers – Kabadiwaalas
People directly impacted – 31,514
People indirectly impacted – 1,57,570

Project Aanch

Venture – Creating a stove which was eco friendly and trained women to produce them. It provides women highly cost-effective alternatives for cooking and reduces pollution.

Producers – Rural women
People directly impacted – 2312

People indirectly impacted – 1,35,000

Feature Image Credits: htcampus.com

Ishaan Sengupta

[email protected]

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Narendra Modi’s Policies for the Youth: An assessment

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Narendra Modi has been perceived as a strong and focused leader amongst the youth. After a corruption grimed UPA 2 tenure, the hopes and dreams of all the demographic strata were bent on Narendra Modi’s NDA Government. The Youth similarly had various demands too -education, health, employment, family planning and world connectivity. Being the World’s youngest democracy, India is also set to play an important role in the Global service sector. With the Make in India policy, a similar behaviour is expected in the manufacturing sector too. Let’s analyze and assess some of the newly introduced policies of the Modi government and how they have a substantial impact on the Youth and its role in the future.

1) Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana
Image Credits- northeasttoday.com
Image Credits- northeasttoday.com

India has predominantly been a patriarchal society. Although acts of rape, domestic abuse, and female foeticide have been prevalent in our society since the 1950’s, the recent upsurge in pro-active media has brought things into the limelight. The sex ratio (918:1000) in India is extremely poor and is as bad as many African countries whose GDP is 10 times smaller than India’s. To address these issues and to improve on the statistical data provided, the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana were introduced. You might eye these policies as three distinct policies or a consolidated legislation, but however you perceive it, the policy’s on-paper direction aims at-
a) Increasing the sex ratio by incentives that can benefit the whole family through Beti Bachao Abhiyan.

b) Increasing the involvement of young women in economic decisions in the future, through a boost in female participation in schools, colleges and graduate schools through Beti Padhao Abhiyan.

c) Increasing family savings in the name of the girl child in the family through the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana.

Issue: The issue with this policy is the concern of its execution. With the allocations for the Women and Child Development Ministry in the government budget being reduced to one third of that of the UPA government’s budget, there are serious doubts about the large scale successful implementation of the Government.

2) Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan jyoti Bima Yojana

More than 65% of the Indian population has inadequate insurance coverage. As passive as it might seem to take an insurance policy at a young age, in the long run it proves to be extremely essential. Insurance which provides relief to families of youth who have died due to accident or natural death can successfully provide for an ailing family who has lost its only son or daughter. Health insurance also becomes important for the youth who suffer from hereditary diseases. The two policies mentioned above can assist the youth or his/her family monetarily and effectively. The policies aim at –
a) Providing a coverage of 2 lakh on death or full disability on a premium of rupees 12 per annum. It also provides for coverage of 1 lakh for partial disability under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana.

b) Providing coverage of 2 lakh on death due to reason (not controversial), on a premium of rupees 330 per annum under the Pradhan Mantri jeevan jyoti Bima Yojana.

Issue: The acceptance of insurance in the rural strata and the youth is generally less. The governments throughout the ages have been unsuccessful in changing this candid and conservative mindset.

3) National Skills Mission and Skill India Initiative
Image Credits- mapsofindia.com
Image Credits- mapsofindia.com

Indian youth are often plagued by the fact that they are incapable of getting jobs in spite of being a graduate or a post graduate. In a survey conducted by the Para Foundation in Pune, the stark contrast in the curriculum of courses taught in undergraduate colleges in India and the United states state that nearly 70% of the Indian curriculum paves a way for textual rather than a more practical (more preferred) approach to education which in the United states is 70% in favour of practical education. This gap reduces the quality of skilled labour available in the country. In the recent 2015 budget, allocations for a consolidation of skill initiatives across ministries, now directly under the Skill Development ministry shall pave the way for a faster and more unidirectional approach to increasing productivity, employment opportunities and knowledge amongst the youth. The upsurge aims at –
a) Consolidating 20 different skill development bodies working under different ministries (Labour and Entrepreneurship, Education, Women and Child Development, Social Injustice and many more) and synergizing them under one ministry’s direction.

b) Relaxing the scope for foreign investments and expertise in the skill development sector.

c) Bringing India one step closer to a skilled powerhouse of human resource

Issue: Consolidating the functioning of skill based organizations across ministries is a tough and complex task.

India’s strength lies in its huge human resource repository. However it is essential that the opportunities are available to all strata of the society. A healthy skilled labour force can be attained by bridging the gender gap, by practically facilitating long term healthcare and transfer payment mechanism and adequate skill development opportunities. The current governments’ policies are aiming to do exactly that. The result however can be ascertained or judged after the 5 year period of the Government.

Image Credits- expressions.blogspot.com

Ishaan Sengupta
[email protected]

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Public Policy and its prospects

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Ever wondered why Economics students always end up commenting about the economy in majority of the conversations you have with them? Why these conversations often lead to your Eco friend giving solutions to these problems as if she believed her suggestions would actually be taken into consideration by the Government? This deliberation and arguing has proved to be the genesis of a masters course in Public Policy. A masters in Public Policy is said to provide the student with extremely basic yet vital tools to tackle complex socio – economic policy decisions in the economy. Therefore it would not be wrong to say that a masters in Public Policy is an extensively specialised course which delves more into the theory and practice of making effective and efficient policy decisions. It is a course which consists of various essential elements cropped from subjects like economics, political science, finance, public health, sociology, infrastructure science and social work.
 
Now let’s talk about the issues and challenges that this infant course will help you understand and find solutions for –
 
1) The importance of the federal structure in a democratic constitutional economy like USA and India
 
2) The challenges in Public Health issues.
 
3) The importance of Public- Private Partnerships and how they can be utilized for better services to the economy.
 
4) Unorthodox Bill introductions and ways to gain support for the same.
 
5) The role of press in policy decisions.
 
6) The implications of indecisions.
 
7) The oath of service for the greater interest of the economy.
 
8) The role of politics in policy decisions, among others.
 
Now that we have understood the issues and challenges that this course will aid in addressing, let’s talk about the future prospects in the same.
People from a public policy would hardly intend to join a corporate sector. That is naturally understood. Hence, in case you wish to work for international bodies, civil society or need to get your concepts clear before you join an administrative position in the Government then this is the perfect course for you. Let’s look at this feed extensively –
 
1) International Bodies – International Bodies that hire graduate students in Public Policy are WHO, World Bank, IMF, UNESCO, UNDP and many more. This is because these organisations were formed to cater to the needs of economically deprived developing countries. Hence they require specialists in the field of Public Policy who can provide improved economic advice in projects conducted by these organisations. Positions available for fresh graduate students are generally of Project managers, Economic Advisors.
 
2) Civil Societies – NGO’s and NPO’s are often engrossed in siding with or debunking policies made by the Government. When presented to a parliamentarian, there is scope for improved deliberations over a bill. Sometimes new bills are proposed by these organisations to the Government to ensure better services to the people.These organisations often conduct programmes and need to ascertain the economic feasibility of the same. Hence graduate students in Public Policy are hired for providing the organisation with improved analytical expertise.
 
3) Administrative Positions – while centralised exams or elections have to be experienced by the candidate for an administrative position. It is often better for someone like that to know the issues faced by the economy and skills to tackle socio economic decisions while making administrative decisions.
 
Public Policy is growing in popularity and definitely for those who want their say in government decisions. It is a highly recommended course if you wish to be heard in economic decisions.
 

Fill this form if you want a campus tour of  Jindal School of Government and Public Policy: http://goo.gl/forms/N4bu0i7lvT

 
Ishaan Sengupta
[email protected]
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