Gopali Youth Welfare Society

Gopali Youth Welfare Society commonly abbreviated as GYWS is a government-registered NGO in West Bengal and aims to improve the living standards of people in Gopali village. The organisation was started in 2002 and registered on 20 April 2005 under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961.[1] It is mainly run by the students of IIT Kharagpur with the help of professors of IIT Kharagpur and local citizens of Gopali village. It mainly focuses on Child education along with Women Empowerment, Eradicating Child Labor among many other causes.[2]

The organisation has initiated several programs[3] of free education, social awareness campaigns and vocational training.

History

The organisation was started in 2002 by Mrinal Kanti Bhanja, and registered on 20 April 2005 under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961.[1] It is mainly run by the students of IIT Kharagpur with the help of professors of IIT Kharagpur and local citizens of Gopali village. Jagriti Vidya Mandir was started in the year 2008 in a rented campus, and was shifted to a permanent campus in the year 2012. LIGHT, the pan-India expansion initiative of the society, was started in the year 2017.

Jagriti Vidya Mandir
Jagriti Vidya Mandir (Unit 2)

Marking illiteracy as its prime concern, GYWS embarked on an education program in April 2008: Jagriti Vidya Mandir, an English Medium primary school. Its main motto is "not to make the children literate, but to make them educated.

Foundation Day: It is conducted in the month August every year. Members of GYWS conduct events and various competitions for the children.

Teachers’ Day: We celebrate Teachers’ Day in our school to show our respect to our teachers and to make our students know the importance of teachers in life.

Sports Day: It is the annual sports meet conducted in our school. It is conducted in the month of October.

Republic Day: Speech by the chief guest, flag hoisting followed by the performances of the children takes place.

Aashayein: It is the Annual day celebration of our school in which the students of JVM come and perform in IIT KGP so that they get a broad platform. Generally, it takes place in the month of March.

Prayas

Skill development: Under this initiative, our objective is to impart skills to the youth first so that they can become an earning hand for their family.In this program, we train and develop educated but unemployed youth in line with industry requirements and provide them employment opportunities.

Live Project: Live Project is the channel to put the budding managers on the track of social work. The project involves in selecting the potential candidates from the various institutions giving them the liberty to work on a problem and expanding the scope of the work.

Greenovation: It is an ambitious project aimed at introducing low cost and organic farming techniques to farmers of nearby areas of kharagpur. School children are also involved so that they can develop  interest in agriculture.

Udyat

Under Teacher Training, the PG and RS students try to help the teachers to improve their ability to teach.The students of JVM are taught how to operate computers in this initiative.We plan to extend this initiative for the students of other schools too.A weekly Science based fun activity has been conducted in Jagriti Vidya Mandir. Objective is to bring gleams in the eyes of children while learning in school. The students conduct sessions to project curious science and textbook fundamentals in an Involved manner.Along with the regular school, JVM students are also taught on Sundays.They are motivated to study hard and also are given coaching for JNV entrance test.

LIGHT

Living In Greater Horizons Together. After the success of strategies and plans of the Gopali Youth Welfare Society (GYWS) near the area of IIT Kharagpur, the society planned to reciprocate similar models of social upliftment throughout the nation.LIGHT currently has four centers-Bhopal(MP), Gaya(Bihar), Kancheepuram(Tamil Nadu), Samvedana(Maharashtra).

Other Initiatives

Pedals for Progress

With this initiative we aim to provide bicycle to children who cannot afford to buy their own. It came to our attention that many of the students of IIT simply discard off there bicycle when graduating.

PaperKraft

Aimed 'Generating Employment, Preserving Environment and empowering women', As part of this project, students volunteer to collect old newspapers from the Halls of Residences of IIT Kharagpur. These are given to poor rural women, free of charge, to make into 'thongas'[4] or paper bags. Currently 30 women are associated with the production process who were given a week long training to make thongas.[5]

KGP Blood Connect (K.B.C.)

K.B.C. is also associated with 'Kharagpur Voluntary Blood Donor Organisation (KVBDO)' and have contacted the local hospitals of Kharagpur including Kharagpur Railway Hospital.[6]

Activities and Events

Yogdaan

To increase awareness about the society and its working in the campus of I.I.T Kharagpur and to raise donations from students of IIT Kharagpur in the form of general donation through cash and online payment with a unique agenda each year. It was started in January 2012, with an aim to be able to raise funds to purchase land for the construction of the school Jagriti Vidya Mandir.

Helping hands

To raise awareness about the importance of social responsibility amongst the school children and to gather donations for the purpose of providing quality education to the students of Jagriti Vidya Mandir, a pan India awareness and donation drive is to be conducted annually. The program has been started from December 2018, and has had a good response and impact.

References
  1. "Registration Certificate".
  2. "IITians run school to bridge social divide - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
  3. "Initiatives : Gopali Youth Welfare Society". www.gyws.org. Retrieved 2016-09-24.
  4. "thongas - Thongas of 1kg Manufacturer from Cuttack". www.indiamart.com. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  5. www.indiamart.com http://www.indiamart.com/bird-trust/thongas.html. Retrieved 2016-10-07. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. "KGP BloodConnect". kbc.swgiitkgp.in. Retrieved 2017-01-28.
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