Ram, Chief, SAMANVAYA, Decemmber 2003
I believe India is managed because of the
voluntary service activity done by Indians. If there is such a large pressure
of economic, social and material inequality in the society in any other
culture, there will be bloodshed and revolution. Though we cannot ignore
the suicide of farmers and hunger deaths, they are not proportional to
the economic inequality.
A single parent, middle class,
worrying about the demands of her teenage daughter, about the survival
of her job in a private sector company (because of globalisation), provides
for education of 2 poor children each year; a corporation health officer,
out of his interest organises support for the welfare of about 30 leprosy-affected
families; a small-time entrepreneur struggling to make it big, fighting
big industries, takes time off each month to spend with his wife time
in an old age home, supports and sponsors various initiatives; a retired
policeman initiates tuition centres for some less privileged villages
and in the process creates an educational upsurge in a place. All these
and much more happen around us all the time. India survives and pulls
along because perhaps a million such people - simple, humble, unassuming,
who think it is their duty to contribute to the rest of the society through
such acts.
These are the same people
who are moved by and praise the gesture of a cricketer or movie star because
he decided to visit an orphanage!! Many of these people will not openly
admit that they do any 'service' activity. Volunteerism in the neighbourhood
temple twice a week for a cultural activity or at an office club to take
care of education for children of their deceased colleagues is not 'service'
activity. Most such activities are not even known beyond the families
of the giver and the receiver.
Development workers often
emerge from such society. So do activists, philanthropists and supporters
for longer works of charity.
What drives these people, what makes them share the very little they possess,
what drives their spirit of giving, that cuts across caste, language,
colour and faith barriers and unites this country to one national identity.
This question often comes to our mind when we look at the voluntary sector.
These and other similar questions is what we will be looking at in a series
of articles under these titles. I would like to draw attention to
- the role of religion,
- the professional NGO and volunteerism,
- the social and political challenges for voluntarism and
- the changing face of the voluntarism and service movement in India
through this series.