Mr. Abhay Chawla (ECE 1987) is actively engaged in social works. He is involved in solving the wide ranging issues facing our society, such as education for rural children, preserving our environment and eco-system, caring for the aged, etc. It is remarkable to see such alumni who quit comfortable corporate job to work for the betterment of our society.
For chronicle, Yogesh K Upadhyaya interviews Abhay Chawla about his passion and mission in his life:
Q-1: Welcome Abhay. Please tell us about your background.
After receiving my B. Tech degree I went about doing a regular job (started with Tata Motors) with regular career moves. After I moved into the field of social development about 8 years back I did my PG Diploma in Rural Development. I was also appointed National Consultant by UNDP.
Q-2: Why did you decide to leave the cozy job and plunge into social work?
It was not like Lord Vishnu appeared in my dreams. It was just that by chance I was invited to visit a village in Haryana by a Haryana Government employee. What I saw made me question many things we take for granted. Over time, I decided to devote all my time to rural development. A lot of people ask me the question “how do you survive?” Survival is not an issue for persons like us; survival becomes a big question for the countless illiterate rural masses with no access to resources. Any person born and brought up in a middle class family with a professional degree will never go through a survival crisis. When we talk of ‘survival’, we mean ‘plenty’ as most of us have, and crave for. In my case, I first decided to dump the plenty and settle for the basics. I am able to generate the basics by teaching in Delhi University and a couple of other institutions as well as doing consultations in the field of social development with Haryana/Govt. of India.
Q-3: What are your views about problem of education for rural children in India? What should the govt. do about it?
Education is still not considered as a serious topic by a large majority. We feel education is a Government sponsored scheme and we have no role to play in it. Our job is to only ensure that somehow our children get into a good school and then go into a good professional college so that he/she is able to make a good career. Education is still not considered by the society as their responsibility and hence they should drive the Government to do what is contemporary, forward looking and for the betterment of all.
Rural education is a whole new ball game. A lot of material generated for educating the rural children is done by the urban elite who have no clue about rural and rural-related issues. There is a general notion that ‘rural’ is synonymous with Hindi. I have seen a lot of educational and social material being generated by the government and international agencies in Hindi (and therefore appropriate for the rural masses) but having absolutely no link with the rural sensibilities.
We are short of resources, in terms of both men and material, and our key focus and allocations need to be re-looked at. We lose hope quickly and are generally critical of new initiatives.
We are still floundering on universal primary enrollment. After 60 years of Independence, if as a nation, we have no clear-cut strategy on enrolling rural children in primary school, how can we hope to keep them from dropping out after a few years? How can we actually spread education among the masses, and then ensure that more rural students have access to centers of higher and technical education? It is a thought worth spending a few minutes on.
Maybe this is the reason NGOs have taken an active role in education and literacy. I believe however, that a lot of NGOs are committing the same mistake as the government i.e. linking education with inducements. Education should not be ‘induced’ in this fashion; indeed, no inducements are necessary. On the other hand, such a strategy sends out the message that bags, food and other goodies are more important than education itself – it is confusing.
The government is doing a lot already, what is required is, more individuals and organizations to augment that effort with money, material and ideas. Government is not some magician who has a magic wand. We, as empowered members of the society, have a duty towards this society and that duty is not just to make ourselves comfortable, criticize the system and get on with our lives. Even if each one takes one, a lot of change can be brought about.
Q-4: You are also active in environmental issues. Please elaborate.
Environment is everything around us. If we can’t educate the young about environment then our very existence is at stake. Education and environment go hand in hand. While my organization goes about working on education in the rural areas I still live in an urban setup. Most urban setups face a series of environment issues; the 2 biggest issues threatening us are solid waste and water. We are producing far most waste than we can manage, and are consuming and wasting far more fresh water than is available.
These two main issues and a host of other issues need a lot of work. To compound the problem we are urbanizing very quickly to become a consumer society. So villages are decaying at a faster rate today, and they neither have the capacity nor the resources to handle the urban issues which are encroaching upon them.
Here again individuals and organizations need to step in to augment the government effort.
Q-5: What are the challenges faced by your organization?
The biggest challenge faced is the constant flow of funds for the work. Four years back we took a decision that we would not take any grant from the government. The reason is that government grants are ‘head based’, are completely inflexible and come with a lot of overhead. For example, if Rs 100 is earmarked as a teacher’s salary, I cannot pay Rs 150 even if I get a better qualified or senior teacher. On top of it, permissions and any amount of cumbersome paperwork are required if you decide to do a mid-course correction or anything out of the usual course. Social development is a not a stationary pond. When you work with people, issues are dynamic, requirements are dynamic and the responses have to be tailored to the situation at hand; one has to be flexible. The govt. approach is strait-jacketed as it works on procedures.
So we decided we would work on our own. The problem here was getting donations – it is a major issue. People give donations easily if you SELL them the concept of poverty, illiteracy, hunger etc. But the very same people don’t want to part with money if you TELL them about the work being done in education – education does not seem like an ‘attractive’ target for donation somehow.
Asking for donations is also a very difficult task. One part of you who knows that you are well-qualified, you are capable of earning money on your own. Yet the cause for which you work, needs full-time involvement and energy and the money. But when you seek out people, their behaviour often causes you to hold back. For example, if I were to take the BHU alumni, a couple of people got back after they read the Chronicle issue describing my work and only one felt he could trust me with his donation. But there are good people also; there has been one - only one -classmate of mine who has backed me, pushed me, cheered me and supported me. I owe it to both these guys for trusting me and letting me spend their well-earned money on children who don’t have the kind of options our children have.
However we have not lost hope and neither has the work stopped. Somehow we are able to collect and utilize as much (often, more) as we collect. We still are hand to mouth but our work does not stop, and that’s the best part, the most encouraging bit.
We don’t look at volunteers as education is an intense subject and the target area is far from urban areas with special needs and features. We use full time teachers, most from areas close to the target area – that way we have their full commitment and we are able to give employment opportunity to the more educated among them.
Q-6: How does your family support your activities?
My wife is also a computer engineer. She quit her job when our son was born because the software industry is extremely demanding and we had decided that we would be ‘hands-on’ parents. She decided not to return to the IT industry. She is a published author of children stories by publishing houses like CBT and NBT. Her stories are aired on All India Radio also. She used to edit and publish a magazine for ageing called NAVTIKA till last year. Last year we wrapped up the magazine as running a magazine is a different ball game. We ran it as a labour of love for 4 ½ years.
Q-7: Please share your memories about IT-BHU days with us.
I have amazing memories of IT-BHU. This was the time when I grew from a boy to a man. I grew from an introvert to an extrovert. I enjoyed every second I spent at the institute. I remember the first day I reached the institute with a racing bicycle wearing a kurta. I was told I was on the top of the list of my seniors. I remember the closure of the institute both the year when I joined and the year I passed out. I remember Kashi Yatra as though it happened yesterday. Each day was like a year for me. Sitting on the banks of Ganga was like being teleported to heaven.
Q-8: Abhay, it was nice to hear about your social activities and we hope that others will follow your example.
Thanks.
Contact info:
Mr. Abhay Chawla
Secretary, Gurgaonharyana.com Society
365/9, Shivpuri Gurgaon-122001
Haryana
Ph: 9811930015
Email: gurgaonharyana [AT] vsnl [DOT] net
Additional links:
1) Gurgaon Haryana com. pdf [PDF File]
2) http://literacymewat.tripod.com/index.htm
