Turning the Pages will lead to ......

?Address by the Dean 2?Address by the faculty Coordinator 3?Message from Team Saamanjasya 4?Shraddha: Spreading Colours in Life 5?More than a billion Indians: A GIGANTIC PROBLEM 7?Tale of Two Cities 8?Child Labour and Malnutrition 9?E-Governance and its role in curbing corruption 11?Eco Tourism 12?Story of a Martyr 13?Alleviation and Academic Research 15?World of Hypocrisies 16?West Bengal (India) Health Policies - A Tryst With Reality 17?Saamanjasya- Getting the Ball rolling 19?Kalakaar Vikaas- An art Experience 20?Green Tyres workshop by Michelin 22?Wired- Social Networking for a cause 23?Parishram: Live NGO Case Study 24?Shikshan: Water Conservation Workshop 25?Vichaar: The Leadership Summit 26?Heartfelt Testimonies 28?The people who made Saamanjasya possible 30

Vinod Gupta School of Management inherits the essence of IIT Kharagpur, which is“Dedicated to the Service of the nation”. We have committed ourselves towards buildingmanagers who will set paradigms in the new world where business in not just confined tomaking profit. The culture prevailing here inculcates socially responsible entrepreneurialvalues in the budding managers. Our students have taken an initiative in this regard and formed an umbrella group called SHRADDHA, driven by the mantra, Dedication is notwhat others expect of you, it is what you give to the others”. Under the aegis of Shraddha,the students have collaborated with a local NGO called Disha Seema which operates aschool located within the IIT campus where they work for the cause of development ofunderprivileged children. They have undertaken a number of initiatives like Joyfest, tospread the cheer and experience the joy of giving.

It gives me a great pleasure in announcing the advent of SAAMANJASYA’10. It is a novelinitiative to bring the Corporate and NGOs under one roof and aims at making theCorporate-NGO partnership sustainable, replicable and stronger. I am glad that this uniqueinitiative has its genesis in VGSOM, IIT Kharagpur and we look forward to having thepresence of Corporate and NGOs in large numbers to make this event a success. I am sureit will help create a fruitful Corporate-NGO liaison for the betterment of the society.

Dr. Arabinda TripathyDean, VGSOM, IIT KGP

Message from the Dean

Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT

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At VGSOM, we believe that responsibility towards the society is one ofthe traits of a respected leader. As the gap between the haves and thehave-nots increase, sustainability and inclusive growth are becoming aconcern in the corridors of power, corporate boardrooms, academiccircles and newsrooms. This led to the genesis of Saamanjasya at VinodGupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur. It is a one-of-its-kind event

which is being organized with the aim of bringing together corporate and NGOs on a common platform to ensure inclusive growth and inculcate a culture of giving back to the society in ouraspiring and educated youth. It seeks to highlight the importance of a symbiotic corporate-NGOrelationship.Talking about the various events that were a part of this spirit of Saamanjasya:Parishram was an event that helped the NGO's who have the will and the dedication to help theunderprivileged. But what they need is the management expertise to come up with feasiblesolutions that turn their thoughts into reality.Shikshan facilitated the interaction of industry experts with the students on the technologieswhich are increasingly becoming the necessity for a sustainable future.Vichaar made it possible to bring industry experts to come together on a single platform anddiscuss the importance of social initiatives,corporate-NGO partnership frameworks and the roleof students.Kalakaar Vikas gave the platform to the artisans who have still kept alive the art forms that are thesoul of India, but do not get the exposure that they truly deserve.This is not all; Saamanjasya came up with a pioneering initiative of using Social media as aneffective tool to create awareness about various NGO's through WIRED!!.This gamut of events is just an evidence of the thinking, planning and the hardwork that has beenput in by this team. But this event would not have been a success without the support of variouspeople involved.I would like to take this opportunity to thank The Director of IIT Kharagpur, Prof. DamodarAcharya for extending his whole hearted support for this event .Special thanks to our Dean, ProfArabinda Tripathy has provided his invaluable feedback and guidance to the team from time totime. Prof K K Guin, Prof Gautam Sinha, Prof Tapan Bagchi and all faculty of VGSOM have beenforthcoming in their contributions towards making this event a reality. I am also grateful to all theHeads of the Departments of IIT Kharagpur,Registrar, Dean of Student Affairs, Dean ofContinuing Education, Head of HMC, Hall Wardens, Security Head, Establishment Section andall others without whose support this event would not have been possible. A special thank youalso goes to our sponsors – Michelin Tyres, Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Ltd, ONGC, printmedia partner Hindustan Times, apprarel partner Levis Strauss, hospitality partner Holiday InHills, our NGO partners – Khushi, Save The Children, Oxfam India, India Sponsors Foundation,Saarthi and CRY India. I thank the participants and the audience for their enthusiasm andsupport. Last but not the least, my very own team of Saamanjasya who have workedenthusiastically and selflessly to make this event a success.I assure the that the leanings from this noble event will be very useful and that Saamanjasya willbe back next year on a much larger scale.

Message from the Faculty Coordinator

Prof. Sushmita Mukhopadhyay

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Message from Team Saamanjasya

“Saamanjasya” is a unique endeavour Vinod Gupta School of management and we, thestudents of VGSoM, pioneered. It aspires to bring the different pillars of development,Corporates-NGOs-Students on a common platform. We can no longer expect sustainabledevelopment and social well being without sensitizing towards and understanding theneeds of our society at large. It is very easy talking about what is right and what needs to bedone, but the fact remains that someone needs to get up and do it. “Saamanjasya” was stepin the direction of taking a concrete step towards making better the lives of a few people wewere able to touch. The forages of revolutionary change are ignited with a just a small sparkand we hope “Saamanjasya” lit that spark.

The most difficult job in the world is to get things started. We had several challenges aheadof us, no history to restore faith, no resources to fall back upon and a hazy road ahead if andwhen we get stuck. I believe that once you have convinced yourself that something needs tobe done, circumstances conspire towards what you aspire. Something similar happenedwith “Saamanjasya” . For the first time, a group of Management students had set forth on apath which was untried at any level and hence, there were unseen obstacles and unplannedcontingencies. We were unsure of how people would take to the concept of “Saamanjasya”and we shouldered a greater responsibility, that of propagating our message across withoutdistorting the essence and meaning of the cause. During these times plaguing withuncertainty, it was as if the US presidential elections were “rewinded”. It was the belief whichkept us going - “Yes we can!!”

All the events in Saamanjasya were appreciated with vigour that surpassed all ourexpectations. Corporates, NGOs and students were Gung-ho about the concept and itsexecution. We saw participation from the best educational institutions like IIMs, NITIE, XLRI,SPJain, support from the best of corporates like Michelin, Coca-Cola, Levi's, ONGC and hadonboard the best of NGOs like Save the Children, Oxfam, CRY etc. The events aredescribed in a much greater detail inside and I am sure we will all love hearing about theevents Straight from the Horse's mouth, and these horses did labour day in and day out tomake it all the success that it was.

Lastly, no amounts of words are enough to thank the awesome team that I was so proud tobe a part of. Kalakaar Vikaas Team, Vichaar Team, Parishram Team, Shikshan Team andWired Team, you actually have done us proud. Also, the team that worked behind thescenes, Logistics, Hospitality Team and Back stage team, you really were the unsungheroes of the event. Big Thanks to the PR team, for letting the message across to theamount of people you did, and Last but definitely not the least, the corporate-NGO interfaceteam, the spinal cord of the event. Without you, this wouldn't have become a reality. To theIIT administration, we are thankful for you bestowing faith in us. And Finally, all the faculty ofVGSoM for their constant support. A word of Thanks is just a very small way of us showingour gratitude. We promise to come back with better and bigger Saamanjasya next year, butFor now, lets just savour the success. Cheers!!

Mohammad MudasserTeam Saamanajsya

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Shraddha: Spreading Colours in Life

At the Vinod Gupta School of Management, learning has never been confined to classroomteaching. We have always endeavored to be cognizant of our society. We believe that anideal learning is one which helps the society as a whole. With this in mind, our seniors fromthe batch of 2009 had come up with an initiative named Shraddha. With the vision ofspreading colours in life, team Shraddha has been consistently working to spread joy andhappiness in lives of people in the vicinity.

Since the inception of Shraddha, we have witnessed an ever increasing enthusiasm instudents towards social cause. The students organize many small and big events round theyear through which they can devote their time for some noble cause. Team Shraddha hasorganized blood donation camp, it has planned a day out for the kids of Disha Seema, itoften gives a visit to schools in vicinity of IIT campus and students from VGSOM share theirtime with small kids from poor families,

The primary focus of Shraddha is social inclusion of underprivileged kids belonging tothe poor families located in and around Kharagpur. To forward our cause we have beenworking in collaboration with the Disha Seema Centre, a non profit organization which runsa residential school inside IIT Campus. The school supports the education, nutrition andlodging of about 200 children from the nearby villages. Apart from studies, kids in DishaSeema are also get chance to indulge in activities like sports, dance, music, painting, etc.

For the past few years students of VGSOM have actively undertaken fund raisinginitiatives for helping Disha Seema. One such major activity is getting T-Shirts hand-painted by the kids of Disha Seema and then selling them during the SpringFest, thecultural extravaganza of IIT Kharagpur. The proceeds arising from the sale of these T-Shirtsis donated to Disha Seema. Kids too have a gala time and get to paint their hearts on thetshirts and enjoy the activity the same way as we do.

With belief that, “the greatest gift one can give others, is to give one's time”, weoccasionally spend time with these kids and it has become our tradition to celebrate Diwaliwith the kids at Disha Seema. Interacting with the kids, playing games with them,distributing gifts, sharing sweets with them and seeing their faces brighten up truly give us asense of happiness. Till date this experience has been one of the most cherished memoriesfor every student of VGSOM. Team Shraddha also collaborated with the Jagriti VidyaMandir in the Salua village to spend a day with the students of the school. The school is runby Gopali Youth Welfare Society which is working for the upliftment of the nearby region. Such interactions have helped us experience the real Joy of Giving

We believe, that as responsible citizens of the nation, our responsibility does not end here.We are working on initiatives to enhance the primary education in the region. We, thestudents of Vinod Gupta school of management believe that our responsibility does notend with our life at VGSoM and that wherever we go we will continue our efforts towards thesame cause at some level or the other.

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Divya,VGSoM Class of 2011

Shraddha: The year in photographs

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I am an Indian. But at the same time, I can be a male Hindu of Pakistan origin, a citizenof USA, working as a photographer,interested in poetry, a supporter of gayrights, follower of extra terrestrial objectswanting to have a conversation with them ina language predominantly French. All theseidentities can have their own relevance. Forexample, at the time of dinner, country of myorigin is not relevant. What matters iswhether I am vegetarian or a non-vegetarian. But what will happen if myidentities start overlapping? What willhappen if my choice of food is seen throughthe prism of religion? What will happen if mysupport for Gay rights is rejected for mybeing a Pakistani origin? And what willhappen if these multiple identities aremultiplied over a billion people?

The answer to all these questions is agigantic problem which India is facingtoday. Heterodoxy has always been themost striking feature of our country. Anyattempt to homogenize our society hasbeen thwarted. Plurality and tolerance hasallowed diverse cultures, religions andtraditions to co-exist peacefully in the past. But now the equations are changing.Parochialism and sectarian mindset ismaking its way in the civil society.And this isnot despite the billion people but because ofit. Every group is trying to become adominant force not because of itsideologies but because of its size.Everybody living in the illusion of identityfeels neglected and wants to fight for hisrights.

The root cause of every evil present in the

society lies somewhere in a size of a billionplus people. India has one of the highestfood stocks in its warehouses in the worldbut is also home to 20% malnourishedchildren of the world (worse than the Sub-Saharan Africa). Why? Because it is almostimpossible to take food to everyone in acountry of a billion people. More than 50%adults in this country are illiterate because itis almost impossible to give education toeveryone in a country of billion people. Indiais home to one of the highest ethnical andsectarian violence in the world not becauseof its heterogeneity but because of its sheersize. China has done better than India inalmost every parameter of GDP or HumanDevelopment or Happiness Index in past 2decades because it has tried to solve theroot cause of every problem, that is,population growth.

This gigantic problem has a very simplesolution - education. Education not onlymeans a technical training of Science andMathematics, but understanding theperspective of life. Education makes peopleempowered and helps them take informeddecisions which are beneficial to thesustenance of a society. In 1990s whenChina launched its one couple- one childprogram it had the national fertility rate of 3.0comparable to Kerela at that time.And todayboth have their fertility rates under 2. Onefollowed a draconian path of autocracy andother followed the path of education andempowerment. Population of any country isan asset which has to be nurtured but whenit grows out of proportion, the problems canbecome gigantic and costs too high.

More than a b i l l i on Ind i ans :A GIGANTIC PROBLEM

Jatin Grover,VGSoM Class of 2011

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The Tale of two cities..

Mohammad Mudasser,VGSoM Class of 2011GOD made this universe out of love,

But the present state of affairs must be making him sad.The CHOICE IS OURS which world to live in,From the two contrasting visions I had…

I saw a war raged habitat in shatters,Motionless bodies lying around in tatters,A child searching for her mother, a brother for his sister,The aura seemed horrific, the atmosphere so sinister…A riot had broken out as I moved on,Blood-thirsty maniacs had been set free, all the accord had gone,I saw people hands joined, begging for life,They don't relent, brutality combined with strife,Adolescents became orphans, girls became widows,Petrified with fear, they see evil silhouettes rising from their shadows,People had become homeless, their shelter razed in front of the eyes,Their belongings up in flames, the weed had consumed the ryes,The leaders came, with promises pretentious and fake,So did the law makers, watching the law break…Revenge and hatred emanate from the oppressed,Up in arms, citing themselves strangled and suppressed…Crying over the graves of the deceased, my spirits began to wane,GOD made us all humans, but are we humane??Amidst the rubble of humanity, debris of credence, I feel pity.In the mist of forlorn, smoke of morose, I leave the city…

Moving on, another town was next in my voyage,The haze of sadness had ceded, I felt out of the cage.

The aura seemed soothing, tranquil and serene,A welcome change, from the place I had been…

People were happy, a fluorescent smile lit up their face,They were friendly and conforming, irrespective of your religion and race,

No wicked thoughts, no clandestine conspiracies,No beastly intentions, no egregious rivalries…I saw people going to work, children to school.Busy with purpose, yet their tempers so cool…

The economy was booming, the technological advancements came,And the citizens well aware of their duties, not blind and lame…

The families looked happy, together and euphoric,The place was happening, the events seemed idyllic…

The leaders were visionary, the promises were executed,The law makers enforced the law, not standing there muted,

People possessed exuberance, people possessed health,People possessed love, people possessed wealth…

This is the city I want to live in, I vowed,Because of the attachment, the ardour, the familiarity I had endowed.

The pleasure of living in peace, harmony and contentment Or brazenly drowning in the whirlpool of caste, creed and colour,

THE CHOICE IS OURS, where we want to see ourselves!! Live and let live, and you have a magnificent world to savour...

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India leads the world in the population ofbelow 14 child labour. Although poverty ismainly looked upon as major cause otherfactors such as discrimination, socialexclusion as well as the lack of qualityeducation or parents perceptions of childlabour and the perceived importance ofeducation also has a role to play. Stonebreaking, that is exactly what the kids ofSiliguri, near Darjeeling, are doing on adaily basis under the beating hot sun simplyto attempt to make a living, never mind the ability to actually make a living. Kids andsome of their families, if they have family,are breaking rocks everyday for a nominalamount of money which is not even enoughto maintain a normal life. These kids fight forfood and for their lives. Many diseases andhealth related problems have been noticedin these areas. It is very problematic,especially when the numbers consist ofover 500 children in these conditions. Thisproject/center will be similar to others inplace in this area, but will focus specificallyon the welfare of these stone breaking kids.Social work and health related work campsalready exist in this area; it is our wish tobuild up these programs as well as amedical vocational training center for theseyouth. There already exists an abundanceof community support for this project."It's the contrast between India's fantasticeconomic growth and its persistentmalnutrition which is so shocking,"Lawrence Haddad, director of the IDS, toldThe Times.

It said that an average of 6,000 children die

every day in India; 2,000 to 3,000 of them

from malnutrition.The report said that one of the main problemwas that millions of Indians were unable tohold government officials to account ford e l i v e r i n g g o v e r n m e n t f e e d i n gprogrammes, with bureaucrats frequentlyexcluding large groups of individuals --including those from the lower castes andwomen -- from government initiatives.How do we fight Malnutrition:In conclusion, child malnourishment in Indiacan be improved dramatically with the activeparticipation and prioritization of this issueby the government and internationalorganizations. By targeting those who areliving below the poverty line and suffer themost from malnutrition in urban and ruralareas, success will be the greatest.Education about nutrition, household foodsecurity, health services and properchildcare is essential for the generalpopulation to improve the state of children'snutrition today. The government needs tospend more money on quality nutritionalprograms in order to improve the state ofmalnutrition and therefore health services,education for females and poverty. I believet h a t s p r e a d i n g t h e w o r d a b o u toverpopulation and its effects on the planetis important to help decrease malnutritionand environmental distress, which willbecome disastrous with the continuation ofthe populat ion growth for futuregenerations. The environment needs to besaved and pollution needs to be minimizedbecause illness and disease are brought onby lead in the air and poor sanitation of thewater. The earth should be a priority alongwith a focus on food production andavailability to the population along withhealth care. Malnutrition is affected byfemale inequality because women, being

Ch i l d Labou r and Mal nu t r i t i onTarun Kothari,B Tech Class of 2011IIT Kharagpur

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the primary care givers, are uneducatedand at a lower social status so equal rights and education should be promoted so thatthe literacy rate increases and parents aremore knowledgeable about child rearingand nutrition. Those living in rural areasneed help receiving adequate food, incomeand health services due to lack oftransportation and availability to suchdiversi ty and opportuni ty. Properimmunizations against disease and illnessshould be offered to all children and anincrease in health care will help decreasechild malnourishment. Poverty is a majorproblem causing families to haveinsufficient funds for buying enough foodbut there are many who suffer from thesilent hunger of malnutrition because theyhave enough cereals to fill up on but lack theproper nutrients and minerals to lead ana c t i v e a n d h e a l t h y l i f e . C h i l dmalnourishment is one of the greatestproblems in the world, especially in India,and it is important to improve the situationbecause the first years of life are crucial in

the development mentally and physicallyand children continue to suffer from lifelonghealth issues such as blindness, poor bonestructure, and a lower capacity to learnalong with many more consequences.Trends show that the situation of childhood malnutrition has improved over recentyears, but a serious and dedicated effortneeds to be put forth today to more rapidlyimprove the health of children in India in asustainable way.

How can we fight Child Labour:Families in third world countries tend to thinkof additional children as additional sourcesof income. As long the culture holds thisbelief, there's no amount of foreign aid,laws, or sanctions that can end this practice.It can also be effectively stopped if theeducation nurtures productive domainbesides cognitive, psychomotor andaffective domains. This is possible if thedecision makers and the othersconcerned become more objective andglobal in their perspective.

One of the initiatives to counter Malnutrition. Many more such initiatives are needed in the long run.

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A corrupt but efficient economy is better than acorruption-free-inefficient economy. But whencorruption becomes institutionalized and deeprooted, its affects are irreparable. It can lead toa deleterious impact on economy like thehyper-inflation witnessed in Zimbabwe ordiabolical health hazards caused by Milkscandal witnessed in China or a terror pronesociety like Pakistan - on the verge ofbankruptcy. Our own country has beendesecrated by deep rooted corruption inalmost every sphere. It is recently awarded ashameful 80th rank in Global corruption indexin 2008.Arecent report by McKinsey estimatesa total loss of 3-4% GDP of India attributed tocorruption.

Corruption primarily finds its way into a societybecause of poor legislation like in China orweak law enforcement like in India or both likein many African countries. These factors leadto the lack of transparency and accountabilityin the system. In a privately owned companythere is accountability within the hierarchybecause people are answerable at every leveland the person at the top is accountable toinvestors. But in a public system people at thetop are not answerable to their investors, thatis, people. As a result law aversion andcorruption easily move down and becomeinstitutionalized.

In such a scenario E-Governance can play avital role in bringing transparency in the systemwithout changing the legislation or lawenforcement. It can transform an institution-centered society into a citizen-centeredsociety. In the 21st century, internet andbroadband are spreading faster than neverbefore and technology reshaping the world canprovide answers to this chronic problem whichhas become an intrinsic part of our society. It

can help in bypassing red tape and bureaucracywithout affecting the system in place. It can avoidmuch of paper work which has now become anexcuse for procrastination and pocketing someextra bucks under the table. For example, E-Governance can be used to pay bills for whichpeople generally have to stand in long anddaunting queues. It can be used for landallotments where papers can be digitallyscanned and submitted to the agencies directlywithout inviting the hassles of middle men. It canbe used for issuance of Passports and DrivingLicense with the help of electronic verification. Itcan also be used to launch police complaintswhere each complaint is logged in the databasevisible to everyone and making the actions ofpolice more transparent. But all this is easier saidthan done. People loosing complete faith in thepublic system will need to see its six sigmaexecution before breaking the myths ofskepticism and start believing the costs of beingin the system to be less than being out.

People might argue its effectiveness because oflow internet penetration or lack of education oreven reluctance by the bureaucrats to transformthe change. But similar projects of privatecompanies have been successful in the past likee-choupal of ITC. Government can launchinternet kiosks with the help of Public privatepartnerships. Technology can look beyond theinternet and exploreoptions with Telephonewhich is now available in almost every part of thecountry and penetration is increasing at thefastest rate in the world. Government can take aleaf out of the book of the Indian railways andlaunch similar help desks and databases forvarious civic agencies and law enforcementagencies. Ultimately to achieve its true potentialrequires willingness and sincerity at the topbecause of a known fact – “Water trickles downonly from the top”.

ROLE OF E-GOVERNANCE INCURB ING CORRUPTION Pratish Yadava and

Ritesh SinhaVGSoM Class of 2011

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“Do unto others what you shall have themdo unto you”. This is the essence of givingback to nature. We can only give back whenwe understand nature, our environmentand its various manifestations. We atHoliday in Hills endeavour to inculcate thisfeeling among people by exposing them tothe various nuances of nature and ensurethat we add to its value by planting trees,pruning branches forflowering, helping localsand villagers in vegetationand making sure that weleave no trails of inorganicm a t t e r. R e s p o n s i b l etourism is another name foreco conservation. It alsomeans responsible travelto natural areas thatconserves the environmentand improves the wellbeing of local people. Webelieve that sustainability is not just anethical imperative but a sound businessdecision that allows private enterprise to

meet market demands by servicing underpenetrated markets with customized andcost-effective products and services,leveraging the potential of untapped naturaland human resources, while enhancingsocial and environmental benefits. Weselect sites where wildlife, forests andhumans can coexist without disturbing theecology and venturing into the boundaries

of each other.We believe that eco-tourismcan only flourish if we actresponsibly and at the sametime enjoy what nature has foroffering. We aspire to influencethe tourism industry, publicinstitutions and donors tointegrate the principles of eco-tourism into their operationsand policies. This, in essence,is the experience we wish togive to our customers. We have

meticulously selected such destinationswhere the essence of eco-tourism can befelt. Here, one often feels closer to God.

Eco - Tou r i smMajor Tushar ChaudharyVGSoM Class of 2011Founder Holiday in Hills

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Major Shaitan Singh Bati : AnEternal Hero who was awarded Param VirChakra Posthumously

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It was amorning o fNovember !8th, 1 9 6 2 .The icyw i n d sw e r eb i t i n ga n dbenumb i n g .E v e r ys i n g l evestigeof greenw a squivering in theunremit

ting storm. Light snow was falling sincedays with an unflinching determination tokill every sign of green. With a sadism,quintessentially Hitler's, it was slowly wipingout every single blade of grass , andmosses.. Ironically , this time the sadist hadothers to compete with.. Yes , Rezang Lawas all decked up for a war. The two forces (Indian and Chinese ) were about to paint themountain red .

The 'C' Coy of the battalion, led by MajorShaitan Singh, held this crucial position atRezang La, at a height of 5000 metres . Asthe icy winds howled and whiffled through

the Indian battalion crounching over thereMajor Shaitan Singh looked visiblyperturbed. He couldn't stop himself thinkingabout the drawback their battalion had.More than the thin air and cold, the locationof Rezang La had a more serious drawback.It was crested to Indian artillery because of an intervening feature, which meant thatthey had to make without the protectivecomfort of the big guns. Despite of all theodds he finally comforted himself and othersthat it is their motherland and won't let it go so easily.

Finally in the dim light of the morning, theChinese were seen advancing throughnullahs to attack No.7 and No.8 platoonpositions.. Time came to an abrupthalt.Many hearts skipped a few beats .Whole area plunged into a vortex of eeriesilence.. The Indian Army troops fell on theirprepared positions to face the Chineseoffensive.

Eventually at 5.00 am, came theunpropitious moment when the first bulletleft the barrel. The stun silence transcendedto an utter pandemonium in no time. Soundsof firing up of bullet , mortar shells , heavyartillery blankirst frontal attack, were notdiscouraged. They subjected the Indianpositions to intense artillery and mortar fireat about 0540 hours. Soon about 350Chinese troops commenced advancethrough the nullahs. This time, No.9Platoon, which held fire till the enemy waswithin 90 metres opened up with allweapons in their possession. Withinminutes, the nullahs were again full of deadbod ies , ma in l y o f t he Ch inese .Unsuccessful in frontal attack, the enemy,

Sto r y o f a Mar t y r ! !

Yash Vardhan AggarwalVGSoM Class of 2011

approximately 400 strong, then attackedfrom the rear of the company position. Theysimultaneously opened intense mediummachine gun fire on No.8 Platoon. Thisattack was contained at the barbed wirefencing of the post. The Chinese thenresorted to heavy artillery and mortarshelling. An assault group of 120 Chinesealso charged No.7 Platoon position from therear. However, Indian Army 3-inch mortarkilled many of them. When 20 survivorscharged the post, about a dozen Kumaonisrushed out of their trenches to engage themin a hand-to-hand combat. Meanwhile, theChinese brought up fresh reinforcements.The encirclement of No.7 Platoon was nowcomplete. The platoon, however, foughtvaliantly till there was no survivor. No.8Platoon also fought bravely to the lastround.

Major Shaitan Singh, the Company

Commander, displayed exemplaryleadership and courage amidst the bedlam.By all accounts, he led his troops mostadmirably.

Unmindful of his personal safety he movedfrom one platoon post to another andencouraged his men to fight. While movingamong the posts he was seriouslywounded, by a sniping Chinese MMG. Buthe continued to fight along with his men.While he was being evacuated by two of hiscomrades, the Chinese brought heavymachine gun fire on them. Major ShaitanSingh sensed danger to their lives andordered them to leave him. They placed himbehind a boulder on the slopes of a hill,where he breathed his last.

He mumbled “ JAI HIND “ as his last wordsand slowly the brave soul left for a heavenlyabode.

May his soul rest in peace.

Homage Ceremony by Tri Services Chiefs at Amar Jawan Jyoti, India Gate

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(What is the roleof academia in poverty alleviation?Is academic research about poverty too elitist?“No” , is the unanimous answer provided bystudents and research scholars at IIT Kharagpur.This article describes how marketing techniquesand contemporary research helps microfinanceindustry to be more efficient and being good bydoing good. )

Microfinance is a universally accepted tool forpoverty alleviation. Microfinance is defined asthe provision of financial services to the poorso that they can undertake projects whichgenerate income and can come out of poverty.The sector has attracted a large number ofplayers due to the untapped potential and highgrowth rate which has resulted in acompetitive situation. Even in the year ofeconomic melt down, the Indian microfinancesector has grown substantially in terms ofoutreach, loan outstanding and poorestdistrict served. During the period 2008-09, thesector has served around 70 million poor,against 59 million last year, an increase of 20per cent. Total outstanding microfinance loan increased 36 per cent this year from Rs.229.54 to 359.39 billion. Microfinanceconstituted 1.29 per cent of gross bank creditof scheduled commercial banks with anincrease of 0.27 per cent over the last year.Microfinance Institutions (MFI) have reached234 of the 331 poorest districts identified bythe government which was 209 last year, anincrease of 12 per cent.

Even though the sector is continuouslygrowing at a steady pace, its growth ishindered by high delinquency, dropouts andnon participation, which has affected thesustainability and performance of many MFI's.It is estimated that Rs. 4.23 billion was thetotal defaults of SHG's (Self Help Groups)which is 2.9 per cent of the total loanoutstanding. This reflects the problem ofdelinquency in microfinance. It is reported thatof the total 230 MFI's, around 34 per cent areloss making which is an indication of low

performance. Even though, India is having theworld's largest banking network, still 51 percent of the population is financially excludedwhich reflects nonparticipation of the clients.Competition along with these problems isaffecting the sustainability and performance ofmany MFI's.

Many studies revealed that lack of customerfocus of the MFI's is the main cause of theabove problems. Hence this situation hasurged a transformation in the sector. Hence itis the need of the hour for the MFI's toconcentrate on their customer, know theirneeds and wants and transform themselvesfrom product concept to marketing concept.Thus marketing has become an integral part ofthe sector. Marketing is defined as a “societalprocess by which individuals and groupsobtain what they need and want throughcreating, offering, and freely exchangingproducts and services of value withothers.”Kotler (2009).

In times to come MFI's should be more marketoriented in order to minimize the problems likedelinquency, dropouts and nonparticipationwhich will result in better performance of theinstitution. Moreover it will be a competitiveadvantage for the MFI. Market orientation isdefined as the “organization wide generationof market intelligence pertaining to current andfuture customer needs, dissemination ofintelligence across departments andorganization wide responsiveness to it”.

So the pioneering research conducted byeducation institutes can throw light on manyaspects which are not addressed until nowand lead to application of many emergingmanagement techniques which might makesustainable and profitable solutions for solvingsocial issues. Social issues are not chronicproblems which can never be solved but theyare business opportunities for the corporateand the entrepreneur. But a connect has to bemade by devoted and committed research.

A l l ev i at i on and Academ i c Resear chRenjith Peediackal,VGSoM Class of 2011and V.D. George, Research Scholar, Rural Development Center

16

Imagine you open a door thinking it agateway to heavens and find yourself in anever ending dark tunnel. You see a light atthe end of it and start moving towards it witha hint of optimism only to realize it being atrain coming towards you at the speed ofknots. This is the state of a common manwho is constantly derided by the speciousworld. This is I call the world of hypocrisies.

When was the last time you complainedabout the system being corrupt and yet didnot hesitate to pay bribe to a trafficpoliceman with alacrity? When was the lasttime you rebuked the flamboyance of richand powerful and at the same time could nottolerate a poor at your doorsteps asking forfood? When was the last time you voiced fora change in the functioning of thegovernment and yet felt ashamed to castyour vote which could have actually broughtthe change? When was the last time youdeified Sachin Tendulkar as God of cricketand yet were not hesitant to censure himwhen he failed to score runs in a crucialmatch? If you are honest enough then theanswers to all these questions shouldreflect the level of hypocrisies and doublestandards in your daily lives.

World has witnessed umpteen number ofphilosophers and spiritual leaders who inthe name of enlightenment have tried todeceit the world with their preaching. They ask the world to stay away from materialismand ridicule those who are aftermaterialistic gains in this so called “virtual”world and yet are not hesitant to incorporatethe technological advancements in theirmanoeuvres which are the contributions ofmaterialistic people to the society.

This is the world where CEOs of big MultiNationals travel on their personal jets whenin the need of bail-outs. They are happy toannounce large scale retrenchment as anefficient cost cutting but can not accept evena penny cut in their bonuses. The streetsmart CEOs, who take pride in not beingMBAand continue to boast the world how anMBA is rubbish, are always reluctant to hiremanagers in their companies who are notMBAs.

The 24x7 news channels who claim to bethe face of society and the lone survivors ofmorality often cross all limits of decencywhen comes the question of TRP. Thefaçade of ethics rips apart when our TRPsavvy news channels prefer to show thefaces of rich and presentable on theircameras instead of poor and illiterate whenboth are the victims of horrendous act ofterrorism.

It is very convenient to take pleasure inblame games and criticize people in thepower if something goes wrong. It is alsovery convenient to claim unity throughcandle lights and placards on the streetsafter a dastard terror strike on the heart ofour country. But ask yourself a simplequestion. If you are a so called “liberal” and“secular” Hindu and a person named Zakir-ul-Haq wants to live in your empty house onrent. Would you rent him your house?(Similar question asked to people of allreligions). If your answer is yes then you areless than honest and still living in the state ofdenial and if your answer is no, which shouldbe the case, then it sums up my world whichis the world of hypocrisies.

Wor l d o f Hypoc r i s i esShweta Jain and Piyush AnandaniVGSoM Class of 2011

17

The Constitution of India charges everystate with "raising of the level of nutritionand the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as amongits primary duties”

But in West Bengal, at least nine districts inthe state suffer from arsenic contaminationof groundwater, and an estimated 8.7million people drink water containingarsenic above the Wor ld Heal thOrganisation recommended limit of 10µg/L.

According to WHO statistics there are over250 medical colleges in the modern systemof medicine and over 400 in the Indiansystem of medicine and homeopathy(ISM&H). India produces over 250,000doctors annually in the modern system ofmedicine and a similar number of ISM&Hp r a c t i t i o n e r s , n u r s e s a n d p a r aprofessionals.

But still India suffers from high levels ofd i s e a s e i n c l u d i n g M a l a r i a , a n dTuberculosis where one third of the world’stuberculosis cases are in India . In addition,India along with Nigeria, Pakistan andAfghanistan is one of the four countriesworldwide where polio has not as yet been eradicated. Half of children in India areunderweight, one of the highest rates in theworld and nearly same as Sub-SaharanAfrica. India contributes to about 5.6 millionchild deaths every year, more than half the world's total. According to the World HealthOrganization 900,000 Indians die each yearfrom drinking contaminated water andbreathing in polluted air. Most Indianwomen are malnourished. The averagefemale life expectancy today in India is lowcompared to many countries and in manyfamilies, especially the rural ones, the girls

and women face nutritional discriminationwithin the family, and are anaemic andmalnourished. The maternal mortality inIndia is the second highest in the world. Only42% of births in the country are supervised by health professionals. Most womendeliver with help from women in the familywho often lack the skills and resources tosave the mother's life if it is in danger.According to UNDP Human DevelopmentReport (1997), 88% of pregnant women(age 15-49) were found to be suffering fromanemia. Water supply and sanitation inIndia continues to be abysmal. Only one ofthree Indians has access to improvedsanitation facilities. As of 2003, it wasestimated that only 30% of India'swastewater was being treated, with theremainder f lowing in to r ivers orgroundwater. The lack of toilet facilities inmany areas also presents a major healthrisk; open defecation is widespread even inurban areas of India, and it was estimated in2002 by the World Health Organisation thataround 700,000 Indians die each year fromdiarrhoea. No city in India has full-day watersupply. Most cities supply water only a fewhours a day. In towns and rural areas thesituation is even worse.

What is the organizational structure of thegoverning body? The Health and FamilyWelfare (H&FW) Department is organizedinto a number of directorates whose work ismonitored and coordinated by the H&FWDepartment by the Health Secretary. Thedepartment functions under the overallguidance of the Minister-in-charge, Dr.Surya Kanta Misra. The State HealthAdministration has two arms, theSecretariat and the Directorate of Health.The Secretariat is headed by the PrincipalSecretary who is a senior officer of the

Wes t Bengal Heal t h Po l i c i es - ATr ys t Wi t h Real i t y

Aditya ZutshiVGSoM Class of 2011

and Sehej ButtarRGSoIPL

18

Indian Administrative Service assisted bySpecial, Joint, Deputy and AssistantSecretaries. The Director of HealthServices and ex-officio Secretary heads theDirectorate and is the chief technicalAdvisor to the State government on allmatters related to medical and publichealth. He is assisted by a number ofAdditional, Joint, Deputy and AssistantDirectors. The heath care system hasprimary health care network, a secondarycare system comprising district and sub-division hospitals and tertiary hospitalsproviding specialty and super specialtycare. Each of the seventeen districts isheaded by a Chief Medical Officer of Health(C.M.O.H.), assisted by Deputy andAssistant C.M.O.H.s, whose responsibilityis to manage the primary health care sectorand ensure the effective implementation of the various medical, health and familywelfare programs. The secondary levelhospitals are headed by medically trainedsuperintendents who report to the C.M.O.H.and are accountable to a hospitalmanagement committee. At the block level,the Block medical officer is responsible forproviding services and for monitoring andsupervising the primary health centres and health programme implementation. Themedical manpower in the State HealthSystem is provided by the State HealthService and in the teaching institutions bythe Medical Education Service. The trainingactivities are mainly organised at theInstitute of Health & Family Welfare, SaltLake, Kolkata, and also at various trainingschools.

Even though the situation is abysmal, thereis hope. The West Bengal ClinicalEstablishment Rules, 1951 mentions thatno license for clinical establishment shall begranted unless the licensing authority issatisfied that the applicant and the ClinicalEstablishment fulfils the conditionsmentioned in the Act. All operations should be performed in a fixed centre having OTfacilities. The licensee for a temporary

camp shall be valid for one month from thedate of issue of the license.The license forsuch temporary camp shall be renewed inany circumstance. West Bengal NursingPersonnel Rules, 2008 assures that nonursing personal will be allowed to undergostudies as training reserve in any mannerother than sponsored as per the rules. TheRegulation and Prevention of MisuseAmendment Act 2002 prohibits sexselection, before or after conception toprevent their misuse for sex determination,leading to female foeticide and for mattersconnected therewith or incidental thereto.The West Bengal Prohibition of Smoking ,Spiting and Protection of Health of NonSmokers and Minor act 2001, State DrugPolicy of West Bengal in 2004, Tobacco Lawin 2003, West Bengal Registration of Birthsand Deaths (State Rule 2000) are some ofthe laws introduced to address some of thehealth issues.

There are so many problems to tackle andso many issues to resolve. But then thejourney of a thousand miles begins with asingle step... In this case, we the dynamicand aware youth are the travellers. Fewstanzas from Bruce Springsteen's We ShallOvercome song can act as the fuel to thisfire.

Yes... We do believe... we shall overcomesomeday... !!!

The dogmas of the quiet past areinadequate in the stormy present. Theoccasion is piled high with difficulty, and wemust rise with the occasion. As our case isnew, so we must think anew and act anew.These words of the great Abraham Lincolnmarked the first steps of Saamanjasya in itslong walk into history. “Saamanjasya in itsliteral sense means Harmony, andharmonious collaboration for sustainabilityis what we aim to achieve out of our efforts.Through Saamanjasya, the brainchild ofVGSOM, we wish to inculcate the culture ofgiving back to the society amongst theyouth of our country. The realisation that wecan no longer seclude ourselves from therest of the society needs to be broughthome.” Were the words of Swati andAditya,both students of VGSoM, who anchored theceremony.The inauguration ceremony of the firstedition of Saamanjasya was truly aconfluence of the ebullient, the eclectic andthe excellent.Ebullient was the spirit of the evening. Theidea of bringing together the NGO's who arededicated to the cause, the youth who havethe vigour to take up the cause and thecorporate who can give the requiredmomentum ; had finally seen the light ofday. In accordance to the theme, the entireSaamanjasya team sported traditionalattire as a mark of respect of the cultureimbibed in them.Eclectic were the wise words that poured infrom was Prof Madhukar Shukla, aprofessor of eminence of socia lentrepreneurship at XLRI. He lauded theinitiatives of the students of VGSoM andwished the event reaches greater heights in

times to come. Prof Tapan Bagchi, theGuest of honor and a senior faculty ofVGSoM, praised the vision of the studentsand thanked them for organizing a one-of-its-kind event. These pearls of wisdom fromthe honoraries who inaugurated the eventnot only added gravity but were a motivationto the audience to go forth and bring about achange.Excellent was the talent portrayed by thefusion band Fingerprints who after havingwooed audiences in Berlin, London and DenHaag weaved their magic for the IIT crowd.A haunting mix of classical and modernmusic, fingerprints rendered the listenershungry for more.Also, as an integral part of this evening wasan event organised by Shraddha, the CSRarm of VGSoM. Vaibhav and Divya, studentrepresentatives for Shraddha moved theaudience with an appealing speech and avery touching video compiled especially forthe evening. This was followed by a danceperformance by the kids of Disha Seema-the NGO that operates in IIT campus top r o v i d e q u a l i t y e d u c a t i o n f o runderprivileged kids. Shraddha on thisoccasion also donated an amount of50,000/- generated from proceeds ofstudent activities for the betterment of theNGO. While speaking to the audience,Hansa Ma'am said that “Saamanjasya”could only have been conceptualized by thestudents of VGSoM.

The evening in all respects was aninauguration the event deserved. With aheart full of pride and Minds set on the daysahead, the inauguration ceremony endedon a note of high energy as the entire teamcheered!

Saaman j asya- Get t i ng t he bal lr o l l i ng Aditya Kulkarni

VGSoM Class of 2011

19

Saamanjasya'10 – By the end of January allI knew was a management event to beorganized by few of my classmates. It wasgoing to be first of its kind, a B-school eventcompletely focused on corporate socialresponsibility. During the last week ofJanuary, I was busy selling T-shirt sale atthe Shraddha stall set up in SpringFest, thecultural extravaganza of IIT Kharagpur.With the vision of spreading colors in life,team Shraddha, a students' CSRcommunity of VGSOM has beenconsistently working to spread joy andhappiness in the lives of underprivilegedsection of the society.I being one of the proud members ofShraddha, was approached by TeamSaamanjasya that team Shraddhaorganizes an event, Kalakaar Vikaas – aninitiative to preserve local art of Bengal byproviding a wider platform to the grass rootlevel artists – as a part of Saamanjasya'10.In a meeting, resulting into few Yes's, fewNo's and many neutral votes, teamShraddha decided to go ahead withorganizing Kalakaar Vikaas - KV. This wethought would give us a chance to helpsome needy artists.I went back to get more details of the eventand subsequently realized that when Irealized that even the scale and scope ofevent could be revered in times to come.Well, this was yet another opportunity toadd to the cause of Shraddha. Since wewere doing this for the first time, we had nolegacy to fall back upon. We just knew onething – This should be and needs to be doneTo start with we formed the KV team,specifically choosing Bengali-speakingguys from our batch. We divided ourselves

in teams of two with at least one Bengali-speaking which would help us travel tosome remote locations and converse withlocal Bengali population. During weekends,teams travelled to places like Midnapur,Bishnupur and Birbhum in search oftraditional art and the artists. Teams had toconvince some poor artists who were highlyreluctant to participate in any such event.We promised them food, travel andaccommodation to attract them.At the sametime we also met few artists who wereexcited about getting a visibility in IIT. Restof the days we were busy designing posters,banners and pamphlets to promote KVwithin and around IIT campus. For the eventto be a success, we put in the best of ourpromotional, marketing and communicationskills. In synch with KV team, logistics teamalso toiled hard to get permissions from theHMC, the security and complete otherformalities needed to set up stalls for theexhibition. We also bargained hard to getbest deal from the decorators sincesponsorships and funds were hard to find tillthe last moment.20th March - The entire KV team waspresent at the Vikramshila complex wherethe stalls were set up. By then, we hadovercome many mundane issues likecancellation of permissions, price hike bythe decorator and the change of venue atthe eleventh hour. The decorator was stillstruggling with the electricity connections.Artists arrived one by one carrying theirinventory of art. As they started displayingtheir artifacts we started feeling excited; twomonths of dedicated efforts had paid off.The stalls were up by 12 noon and everyoneeagerly waited for the audience. KV was

Kal akaar Vi kaas – An A r tExper i ence

Vaibhav ShrimaniVGSoM Class of 2011

20

well represented by variety of art formsranging from terracotta, bamboo-art,wooden-craft, jewellery and decorativepieces made from horns, docra metal work,hand-worked saris and dress materials,paintings and much more under a singleroof.In the afternoon, we escorted the guestsfrom corporate and NGOs, who were at thecampus for the leadership summit and casestudy events . A l l o f them wereoverwhelmed by the theme of KalakaarVikaas. Many of them exchanged contactswith the artists for future correspondenceand purchasing deals. The purpose of KVwas met. Later in the evening in an informalinteraction with the artists, we realized that they had been to campus not just for sale ofgoods but with intent of interacting withstudents and faculty of IIT to gain newbusiness insights. We assured them that aworkshop with eminent faculty wasscheduled for tomorrow and they would be able to discuss their entrepreneurialproblems with them.21st March – We had requested some ofour professors to have an interaction withthe artists to which they had readily agreed.Prof. K. Pathak from the mining dept and

Prof. Prabina Rajib of VGSOM told theartists how important it is to innovate with artto attract customers. Prof. A. Sarkar sharedsome ideas to cut production costs whileProf. A. K. Misra gave insights on variousfunding opportunities made available by thegovernment to expand the trade of art withinand outside India. The workshop which wasplanned for an hour extended for more thantwo hours till every artist found a solution tohis problems. By evening the stalls hadhigher sales owing to an ad placed in localcable channel to target local population.At the end of two days when it was closingtime, all artists expressed how useful the KVtheme, especially the workshop had beenfor them. They are looking forward toparticipate next year as well and haverequested us to conduct this event on abigger scale. Two days of running around inthe hot sun, serving food, managingtransport and accommodation for artists,escorting the guest, managing the crowdtaught us a lot about real life projectexecution, crisis management, changemanagement and handling logistics. Aboveall, we became friends with many artists andwe are eager to invite them again next year.

One of the stalls at KV

21

“ I hope we have been able to convey toyou that a tyre is not avery simple, roundblack thing.” Mr. Rahul Chodha, CountryCommunications Manager, MichelinIndia.

Vinod Gupta School of Management, IITKharagpur organized “Shikshan” , aseries of workshops, intended to providethe audience with real-life examples of howdifferent aspects of corporate socialresponsibility have actually contributed tothe bottom-line of practicing companies.

The workshop was conducted by Michelin,French tyre giants who are known for theirinnovations such as Pneumatic tyres andRadial tyres. It was the first company tocome out with the concept of Green tyreswhich has already achieved significantreductions in rolling resistance byrevolutionizing the tyre designingtechnology. Low rolling resistance tyresreduce the vehicle running costs and other harmful exhaust emissions.

Through the workshop the audience got asneak peek into the complete process ofdesigning a tyre and the various intricaciesinvolved in it. Although the lecture washighly technical, the enthusiasm of theparticipants to gain knowledge waspalpable. The Michelin team kept theaudience entertained with interesting facts

about the world of tyres and there were alsodemonstrations using models which justadded to the whole experience.

This workshop examined how rollingresistance is measured and how thesemeasurements translate into reductions infuel consumption. Technical prospects forfurther reductions in rolling resistance werealso discussed, with careful considerationgiven to safety, durability and other factors.The impact of Rolling Resistance on FuelConsumption, Efficiency, Tyre Energy wasalso discussed.

It was great to see the participation in theworkshop from different departments of IITand a few participants had come all the wayfrom Kolkata which just speaks volumesabout the event.

The Michelin team which had flown in all theway from Delhi was thoroughly impressedby the feedback they received from theaudience. The questions asked ranged fromtubeless tyres to fuel consumption impacton environment.

With the effects of global warming, climatechange and high cost of fuel becoming evermore important, benefits of green tyres havenever been more relevant. The workshopalso ignited the fire within the researchstudents of the IIT's to further contribute tothe development in this field.

Green Ty res Workshop byMi chel i n

Shailender Singh Negi and S.SrikanthVGSoM Class of 2011

22

Facebook has an active user base of 400Million. 200 Million Users log on toFacebook on any given day. More than 35million users update their status each day.More than 60 million status updates postedeach day. That is almost equal to the totalpopulation of United Kingdom!

Vinod Gupta School of Management, IITKharagpur organized WIRED, the OnlineSocial Networking Competit ion ofSaamanjasya '10 on Facebook to unleashthe power of Social Networking to spreadawareness for a Social Cause.

The participants had to CHOOSE from a listof NGO's and had to CREATE a socialnetworking page with their take on thesubject at hand. Participants were toCHANNEL all the data they could find aboutthe cause on facebook page/group andCOERCE people into joining their cause.The participants had to CONSOLIDATEtheir position by making their facebookpage/group the most creative and originalwith the largest fan/member base.

The participation in the event wasunimaginable. More than 100 Teams fromall over the globe participated and launcheda viral marketing campaign to mobilizefacebook subscribers into joining hands forthe cause. We received entries fromPremier Business Schools like IIMs, IITDoMs, IIFT, FMS, SPJIMR, XLRI etcbesides many others. Participation fromCorporate House like AMDOCS andStartups like Silverline Group of Companiesand others strengthened our belief thatCorporate are all set to support the basicessence of Saamanjasya-Collaborationand getting Corporate and NGOs to a

common platform to ensure giving back tothe society and inclusive growth.Participation from universities like JNU gaveus a reason to believe that the message ofSaamanjasya has seeped in not just inmanagement students but also in peoplefrom diversified background.

It was heartwarming to find innumerousteams crossing the 1000 fans/membersmark. It wasn't easy to arrive to the finalresults of WIRED. The participating teamswere evaluated on the facebooksubscribers they would mobilize by gettingfans/members, the creativity in content, theinteraction within the page/group and thebuzz created by their page/group.

The 1st Prize was bagged by TeamMatchBox with Team Members AbhinitAgarwal and Anupama Sirsalewal fromMICA and Joshbro Communications for theNGO-Save the Children. The 2nd Prize wasbagged by Team Zero Gravity with TeamMembers Ankur Verma and Meghana Bajajfrom Welingkar Institute of ManagementDevelopment and Research, Bangalore for CRY.

In the closing ceremony of Saamanjasya'10, Prof. Damodar Acharya, Director IITKharagpur congratulated the winners forthe i r sp lend id per fo rmance. Theperformance of the teams in mobilizingfacebook members in such a short time is agood indicator of how much people are opento the social cause and that if each one of uskeeps alive the spark generated bySaamanjasya '10 in the months that follow,we would be able to strike Saamanjasyaand ensure an inclusive growth in oursociety.

WIRED-Soc i al Netw o r k i ng f o r aSoc i al Cause Aditya Zutshi, Mohamed

Abdullah and Ravinder Pal Singh Dhillon, VGSoM Class of 2011

23

Parishram – A real life NGO case studycontest is a unique event organized underthe banner of Saamanjasya'10. This is thefirst event of its kind which invitedparticipation not only from both the Undergraduate and Post Graduate students fromall over the country but it also gave a chanceto any other individual who is not even astudent also. Considering the uniquenessand being the fact that it has been organizedfor the first time in the whole country, theevent was a huge success. The event sawparticipation from every nook and corner ofthe country. People from as diversebackground as medical and engineeringcame forward and shown their commitmentto serve the society. In total of more than 80teams registered for the case study but only 15 teams could make to the next round of theevent. The participants were required topresent their solution and respective NGO foreach case study judged their proposal on thebasis of social, political and technologicalfeasibility. Out of the 15 teams, 6 teamsqualified for the final round which tests theircreativity and leadership skills.

The NGOs were represented by

Monce C. Abraham ,Programme Manager ,The India Sponsor Foundation

Pragya Vats, Campaign Manager , Save theChildren, India

Aparajita Suman , Web Coordinator,OXFAM India

AparnaSingh, Head Counsellor, Khushi

The best colleges from India wererepresented in Parishram and the list wastopped by institutes like IIM Lucknow, IIMKhozikode, NITIE Mumbai, XLRI, IIFTKolkata, MDI Gurgaon, MICA, XIMB, BIM

Trichy, M.S. Ramaiah Medical college andVGSOM, IIT Kharagpur. While the winnerwas Team Analytica from NITE comprising ofAnish Sengupta, Mantu Baishya and JitendraS Chaudhari; Team “Tamanna” bagged thesecond prize with Aarti Shah, Dipesh Muthaand Ravinder Bansal being its flag bearers.

The whole event has been designed to bringout the best team who can actually go to thegrass root level and mobilize the public for thecause. The event ensures this by first testingtheir analytical and problem solving approachand then letting them compete on thegrounds of creativity and leadership skills.Saamanjasya believe that such are thepeople who can be the instruments of thechange and being among the best B-Schoolof the country, VGSoM find its responsibilityof initiating that change. The event saw anequal enthusiasm from various NGO's ofinternational league and it can be judge bythe fact that most of them want to have a longterm association with Saamanjasya.VGSoM,IIT Kharagpur believes thatParishram is just a beginning to a nation widecampaign which will surely mobilize theyouth by providing them an opportunity tocome forward and bring the much neededchange.

Event like Parishram was neither thought ofnor executed anywhere in India hitherto. AsKhushi representatives put it “Theparticipants of Parishram were very confident& the presentation was outstanding. Thestudents had really studied the case studyvery minutely & some of their solutions werevery apt & practical and can be replicated inthe field. Overall coordination of thevolunteers of Saamanjasya'10 was worthappreciating.” It is quite evident that ourefforts did strike positive chords with allinvolved.

Par i sh ram :A real l i f e NGO cases tudy Ritesh Sinha and

Anuj Yadav,VGSoM Class of 2011

24

"Water is personal, water is local, water isregional, water is global. Everybody has adifferent idea, a different approach, adifferent issue, a different concern. Water isthe most personal issue we have." That wasthe reason why Saamanjasya came up withidea of a workshop on Water Conservationin the Shikshan series. The whole event,with its support from the industry, NGOs andacademia proved how water is not just thelifeblood of our bodies but also of ourindustries, economy and well-being.

Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Limitedassociated with Saamanjasya in thisventure reaffirming their role in making ameaningful difference to the communitiesthey rely upon. Focussing beyond theconfines of their bottling plants, Coca Colahas been involved in more than 250community water partnerships in 70countries to support locally relevantinitiatives, such as watershed protection;expanding community drinking water andsanitation access; agricultural water useefficiency; and education and awarenessprograms. The Workshop gave a glimpseinto their initiatives and what could be doneat each level to contribute to sustainablewater conservation practices.

The workshop was not all about the industryperspective of water conservation. In thetrue spirit of Saamanjasya, the event was acollaboration of the ideas from theacademia and the industry. Prof. SudhindraPanda, Head of the Department of WaterResources gave real life examples from his

research and water conservation initiatives.

70% of all agricultural land in India is purelyrain-fed; that is, not supported be anymethods of irrigation. This limits thecultivation to one season every year leavingthe land barren for the rest of the time. Prof.S. N. Panda gave methods on howrainwater can be conserved and reusedlocal ly for increasing agricul turalproductivity of such rain-fed ecosystems.The interest of the participants was evidentfrom the concerns they raised on relevantissues like the costs involved and the impactof agricultural watersheds on the naturalbalance.

Dr. V.R. Desai from the Civil EngineeringDepartment of IIT Kharagpur providedinsights into many recent technologies fromthe area of Information Technology in thecontext of Water Resources Engineering. Asneak peek into many of the qualitativemethods used for measurement andforecasting in water resource management,the talk invited appreciation from audiencewhich included research scholars, studentsand faculty from various departments of IITKharagpur, NGOs and enthusiasticparticipants from various other institutionswho expressed their faith and responsibilityin the cause.

As the last event of Saamanjasya 2010, theWater Conservation workshop left a perfectmessage to the participants - Let's sustainwhat sustains us. Truly, that was theessence of what Saamanjasya was allabout.

Sh i kshan - Water Conser vat i onWorkshop

Ann Thomas and AmbrishMani TiwariVGSoM Class of 2011

25

"The future belongs to those who understand

that doing more with less is compassionate,

prosperous, and enduring, and thus more

intelligent, even competitive." -- Paul Hawken

India is one of the fastest growing economies in

the world. Yet it accounts for 40% of the world's

poor and 35% of the world's illiterate population.

While we reach for new frontiers in space

exploration, we lag behind most nations in child

mortality rate. Our software engineers produce

world-class IT applications but our national sex

ratio shows a steady decline. It is the classic tale

of the two Indias – one inspires and the other

saddens. How can we bridge this gap?

Business organizations have the resources.

NGOs have the intent. Government has the

authority. It is time that these three pillars of our

society come together to provide sustainable

solutions to the challenges facing our country.

Vichaar, the leadersh ip summi t o f

Saamanjasya 2010 brought together leaders

from business, society and government to

discuss the importance of social initiatives, the

innovations which are fuelling the next

generation of social initiatives, corporate-NGO

partnership frameworks, the role of students

and much more.

The panellists consisted of

1. Mr. YPS Kanwar - Mr. Y P S Kanwar is

Dy. General Manager (HR), with the Oil

and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd

(ONGC), the most valued corporate of

India. He is one of the leading pioneer

HR initiative leaders and has led several

path breaking initiatives in ONGC

including the Assessment Development

Centers, Coaching and Mentoring, HRD

Audit, Business Games and applied

them innovatively to create lasting

impact. Associated with several consulting

assignments in the organization, he is also

the convener of the major initiative by the

Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to

Attract Talent in the Petroleum Industry.

Awarded the Prime Ministers Gold Medal in

the National Management program and

author of several published articles, he has

widely traveled and synergies theAcademia

and the Industry with exemplary conviction

2. Mrs Jayanti Dutt – Mrs Jayanti Dutt is the

AGM, Community Services at Tata Motors.

She is also the Gram Vikas Kendra at

Jamshedpur. She has worked extensively in

rural development.

3. Ms Shireen Vakil Miller – Ms Miller is the

Director of Campaign, Advocacy and

Communication at Save The Children. She

works in the field of child development. She

is an expert in this field and appears

regularly on electronic media to discuss

such issues.

4. Soumitra Poddar – Mr. Poddar is a Principal

Consultant at IBM. He has more than 17

years of experience in SAP. He completed

his MBA from VGSOM in 1995. He

appeared in his personal capacity.

5. Prof Chhanda Chakraborty – Prof.

Chakraborti, Associate Professor in

Philosophy at Dept of Humanities and

Social Sciences, joined IIT Kharagpur in

1999. Prior to that, she had served as Group

Leader, Humanistic Studies at BITS Pilani

during 1996-1999. Dr. Chhanda

Chakraborti obtained her Ph D from

University of Utah, USA in 1995. She is a

double M.A in Philosophy from University of

Washington, USA, and Jadavpur University,

Kolkata, India. Her research and

Vi chaar : The Leader sh i p Summi t

Debesh MajumdarVGSoM Class of 2011

26

publication areas are: philosophy of

logic, philosophy of mind and applied

ethics. She is interested in human

cognition, particularly in thinking and

reasoning. In philosophy of mind, her

research interest is in the metaphysics

of the mental, particularly in non-

dualistic options. In applied ethics, her

research areas are health and public

policy, development and public policy,

and corporate governance. In addition

to research articles, she has also

published two books.

6. Sunil Kumar C S – Mr. Kumar is a Senior

Environment Specialist at ITC. He has a

Masters in Environmental Engineering.

He has more than 20 years experience

in the areas of Environment, Industrial

Safety and Sustainable Development.

The moderator for the event was Prof. Gautam

Sinha. Prof Sinha is a Professor of Operations

Management at the Vinod Gupta School of

Management, IIT Kharagpur. He has been

associated with the institute since 2002. He has

an industry experience of over 24 years. Before

joining academics, Prof Sinha was the Senior

Deputy Director at Management Training

Institute of Steel Authority of India Limited. His

research interests include Supply Chain

Management and Manufacturing Strategy. He

has authored a book on Research Methodology

and is currently working on a book on

Manufacturing Strategy. In his leisure time, Prof

Sinha writes poetries. A collection of his poems

have been published as a book named

“Refractions”. He is also very passionate about

biking. Recently, he concluded a 3000 km

expedition to Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh.

The event started with a presentation by Mr.

Kanwar on the CSR activities of ONGC. He

emphasised the fact that ONGC spends around

3-4% of its total organizational expenditure on

employee welfare and corporate social

activities. ONGC supports the local community

in which it has a setup. ONGC activities include

girl child education programme, special medical

camps and helping in disaster management and

recovery.

It was followed by a panel discussion, centred

around sustainability and triple bottomline. Ms

Dutt highlighted the importance of sustainability

and cited instances of how Tata has been

instrumental in driving CSR activities in India.

Prof Chakraborty drew attention of the panel to

importance of ethics in business transactions

and how it contributes to sustainability.

Representing the world of NGOs, Ms Miller

talked about how corporate-NGO partnerships

can be mutually beneficial. Mr Poddar,

representing the society, said that individuals

have a huge role to play in the sustainability

movement. Mr. Kumar cited the example of

Classmate program where a portion of the sales

contribute to CSR activities. The session ended

with the moderator noting that in the current

state of affairs, only profits do not drive business

but people have to take into account the triple

bottomline in business decisions.

27

Heartfelt Testimonies

The event in general was very well organised and the fact that there were so many questions is what impressed me, especially on the topic like tyres. I was also very happy to note the warmth the faculty showed us on our visit. We do hope to work together more closely with IIT Kharagpur. Also as the festival gets more traction, you will also get more students to participate.

Rahul Chodha, Corporate Communications Manager

Michelin India Tyres Private Limited

I would like to thank you for the wonderful hospitality extended to me and my family. Good forum and should be held as a yearly event; theme well appreciated.

Soumitra Poddar, Principal Consultant

IBM GBS Global Delivery

I extend my heartiest thanks for inviting me to participate in the panel discussion on sustainable development. There have been many takeaways for the faculty,students as well as the panelists in terms of understanding corporate social responsibility & sustainability, need for upgradation of regulatory standards in Indian situation and more specially the role of youth towards balancing ecosystems and economic development. I look forward to a sustained relationship with team Saamanjasya.

Jayanti Datt, AGM (Community Services)

TATA Motors

VGSoM, IIT kharagour has set a unique example of giving back to the society and inculcating a culture of social and environmental sustainability

Mou Chakraborty, Principal correspondent

Hindustan Times

We look forward for the next opportunity to perform at IIT Kharagpur.

Rishab Dhar,Musician,

Fingerprints

28

Heartfelt Testimonies

Saamanjasya was a great experience for ISF, and we appreciate the efforts that went into the event.ISF too is looking forward to a long term relationship with IIT-Kharagpur.

Monce C. Abraham, Programme Manager

The India Sponsor Foundation

I thank you very much for the invitation to be a panellist in the leadership summit. It was indeed an inspiring session.

Sunil Kumar, Senior Environment Specialist

ITC

Thank you VGSoM and Team Saamanjasyafor giving us the chance to interact with the youth and seek their enthusiastic suggestions. I am very sure that we would want to take this association to the next level of involvement- both online and on-site.

Aprajita SumanOxfam India

Thanks for creating an opportunity for the closer interaction across sector – business, NGOs and youth – which has initiated a thinking towards meaningful collaboration. It was indeed inspiring to see the energy at the campus and keenness amongst you all to support the campaign. We had a great time interacting with students at the presentation session which reflected great efforts at engaging with the issue of child survival.

Save the Children will continue to engage with you on the issue through our campaign and campaign action to feel fun and engaging and have it create a cool buzz rather than be seen as yet another NGO activity.

Pragya Vats , Campaign Manager SAVE THE CHILDREN, INDIA

29

“It is amazing how much you can accomplish

when it doesn't matter who gets the credit.”

Saamanjasya started with such a philosophy

and concluded with the same essence. The

individualistic approach doesn't lead to a path

worth treading and with this space, I want to

thank people who worked tirelessly and made

dream “Saamanjasya” turn into a magnificent

reality.

To start off, Ashish Doneria and Anuj Chugh did

most of the pre-event planning. They were

instrumental in the kick-off of the event and

never let the event go off the track till last. Amit

Sarangal was the unsung hero. He headed the

logistics and did all the running around. To give

him company were Ravi Shankar and Abhijeet

Mohan Shrivastav. These back end works are

perhaps the most difficult and time consuming.

Vipin Dutt as Hospitality in-charge was one of

the main reasons of our guest going back happy

and satisfied.

Jatin Grover, Aditya Kulkarni and Swati Arora

were the corporate and NGO Liasons for

Saamanjasya. They were the people who

convinced people to get associated with

Saamanjasya and roped in biggies like Michelin

and HCCB. Ideas without resources remain just

an idea. These people actually gave a

foundation for that idea to turn into an actuality.

PR and Media was another important area we

had to focus, to make our voices reach

maximum number of people. Mohammad

Mudasser, Ravinder Pal Singh Dhillon and

Ashish Rahul managed to rope in big names

like Hindustan Times, Doordarshan and All

India radio to cover Saamanjasya. Mantu

Kumar Murmu ,Sujeeth Ungratwar Shashikant

handled the local publicity part very ably.

Rohit Khandelwal and Vaibhav Shrimani were

the backbone of “Kalakaar Vikaas”. These

people, along with Abhirup Das and Devdut

Saha travelled to the interiors of Bengal to look

for people with genuine creativity. All their

efforts bore fruit as Kalakaar Vikaas was one of

the most appreciated events of Saamanjasya.

Debesh Majumdar, Shubham Chattopadhyay,

Vaibhav Gupta and Renjith Peediackal headed

“Vichaar”. It was an event where eminent

dignitaries graced us with their presence. It was

of paramount importance that the arrangements

were spot on. Through the team's hard work, the

event turned out to be a great success. The

responsibility of Parishram was shouldered by

Abhishek Gupta, Anuj Yadav and Ritesh Sinha.

Perhaps they dealt with the most number of

people. From participants' hospitality to looking

after NGO representatives, they performed their

job with excellence. Team “Wired” was

represented by Ravinder Dhillon, Mohamed

Abdullah and Aditya Zutshi. Their prowess with

social networking space came in handy and the

event turned out to be a major hit with around

200 teams registering for it. Team “Shikshan”

was represented by Amrish Mani Tiwari, Ann

Thomas, Sushant Kumar, Sriramagiri Srikanth

and Shailender Singh Negi. They organized

“Green Tyres” and “Water Conservation”

workshops and very smoothly at that.

Aakashdeep, Kunal Choudhary and Swapnil

Hedaoo also proved their worth as they

managed the overall auditorium and backstage

work. Kumar Bipallav Mani and Aditya Kulkarni

were the web site coordinators for Saamanjasya

website.

Lastly, two people deserve special mention.

AmbujAgarwal and MohamedAbdullah. Without

any professional designer at our helm, these two

guys took the responsibility of designing all the

posters, banners and advertisements working

tirelessly under strict deadlines. Hats off!!

Success is journey, not a destination. And

hoping such a team shoulders the responsibility

of coming Saamanjasya, we hope the journey of

joy would continue. Striving for more, the bigger,

the better!!

The Peop l e w ho made Saaman j asyaposs i b l e Mohammad Mudasser

VGSoM Class of 2011

30

Photo Gallery: Down the memory lane

Fingerprints performing at the Saamanjasya inauguration ceremony

Lighting of the lamp

People flocking KV stalls to see the artisans work.

Be friendly to the environment. Michelin representatives telling about Green tyres.

31

Photo Gallery: Down the memory lane

Vichaar: The panel discussion on Social and EnvironmentSustainability.

Participants in deep thought while attending the Water Conservation Workshop by HCCBPL

Winners of Parishram with the Director of IIT Kharagpur

Kalakaar Vikaas exhibitors in conversation with faculty of IITKharagpur to explore differentsources of funds and revenue.

32

The People who supported Us

Vinod Gupta School of Management,Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur,

India - 721302.

Phone : +91 3222 282295 / 282297 / 278027Fax : +91 3222 283874 / 278027

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