Service to society is a virtue not many possess. But among a small number of people who believe that they must give back to society is a group of individuals who call themselves ‘Senior Citizens Bangalore’. The association was formed in the year 2001 with 10 founder members.
Said Santosh S Talwar, “Our drive is to pay back to society what we’ve earned. We all come from families with good incomes and children are all settled. And hence some of us have time on hand.”
The association has 36 members today. “Our founder chairman was Romesh C Khanna, who was also founder chairman of Special Olympics India. After his demise in 2004, we elected U V Rao, retired CEO and MD of L&T as our chairman. The members pay an annual subscription of Rs 3,000 each, but the association takes up projects worth Rs 8 - 10 lakh,” Santosh explained.
The association has selected five schools catering to needy children— Sri Chennakeshava Swamy Higher Primary School, Indiranagar; RBANM’s Govindammal Girls’ Senior Primary School, Ulsoor; RBANM’s Thirukulathur Primary School, Cantoment; RBANM’s Thirukulathur Primary School, Ulsoor and Vivekananda School, Frazer Town. About 1,700 students benefit from these schools.
The areas of interaction with these schools include health and hygiene, books and stationery including school bags, uniforms and footwear, food and clean drinking water, scholarships, computer literacy and excursions. As part of the mid-day meal programme, the association organised supply of ragi porridge for breakfast. “We found that the nutritious mix has helped improve the children’s health, attendance has gone up from 60 per cent to 95 per cent,” said Santosh.
The association has obtained CDs from Azim Premji Foundation in Kannada, Tamil and English and is training teachers to use them effectively.
“The association would now like to take up a study of old age homes in the City which can be benefited by our contribution,” added Santosh. The association welcomes memberships from senior citizens across Bangalore. For more information on this association, log on to: seniorcitizensblr.com or call 25483916.
