More than two decades ago, a trip to a friend’s farm in Palghar district’s Talasari area changed Mahendra Vanigota’s life. “When I saw people of the tribal communities around this neighbourhood, I was deeply shocked—the kids didn’t have clothes to wear, they barely managed to get one meal a day, students were attending school barefoot and they had just one teacher for an entire school,” he says.
CA Mihir Sheth, past president, Bombay Chartered Accountants' Society |
This situation inspired him to do something about the living conditions in the region and in 2003, he started the Rushabh Foundation with the aim to bring change in the lives of the tribal communities in Talasari and Dahanu, while creating solutions that were sustainable. “For the first six months, we donated a lot of things that they needed, but after a few months, again, they needed similar items. So we decided to figure out the core issues and fill the gap by enabling them with solutions and making them independent,” says Vanigota, chairperson of the NGO.
Education and healthcare became the core areas of the Rushabh Foundation’s work |
Identifying that lack of quality education, teachers and support staff; and lack of healthcare facilities were the main issues, these two became the core areas of the foundation’s work. “Our survey found that the dropout rate of students from classes seven and eight was 72 per cent and only one teacher was managing each class. Even class eight students were not able to read or write,” he shares.
The foundation designed an Offline Digital Classroom system with the state board syllabus that works without depending on the internet. The syllabus is converted into animated episodes in Marathi that lend academics a fun and engaging aspect. “This received an amazing response from the students and we soon also started a toy library, which ensured almost full attendance every day,” he says.
For students who weren’t academically inclined and were more outdoorsy, sport activities were initiated, offering a sense of achievement to those children too.
To improve the community’s overall quality of life, the foundation started conducting health camps. “Our focus was to not just conduct camps to point out health concerns, but also treat them, and if needed, send them to Mumbai’s best doctors,” says Vanigota. This was soon followed by the Nourish The Tribe programme to focus on nutrition for children.
Children often came to school hungry as their parents started out early for work, and they would wait for the mid-day meal provided by the government. The foundation then began to offer healthy laddoos and fruits at the start of the day to make sure children are not in class on an empty stomach.
“We have always believed that every person should receive an equal opportunity in life irrespective of caste, community, creed, race or gender. Everyone deserves to live a dignified life. This is our vision,” says Vanigota.
CA Mihir Sheth, former president of the Bombay Chartered Accountants' Society, who has seen Vanigota’s work on the ground, says that he is like a one man army making a difference. “His work has created a huge impact on the overall lives of the people there, especially the children. The schools’ drop-out rates have substantially decreased and inclusion of sports has opened avenues for a lot of them,” says Sheth.
