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| Explaining about LEAD to Mr. Ratan Tata Ji |
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| Addressing leadership stories to Tata |
Hutgar, a village near Sirsi, had a poor drainage system.
Gulshan addressed the problem by contacting the government and demanded a
solution. Initially, the public was not
supportive and even criticized her efforts.
Gulshan, however, did not give up.
Instead, she took initiative and approached every villager and Gram
Panchayat herself. As a result of her
perseverance, the local Panchayat finally agreed to fund the construction of a
drainage facility for Hutgar. Gulshan’s
project, costing Rs. 1,40,000, was completed in just one month. Over 300 villagers now make use of the drainage
facility. Gulshan’s accomplishments have
also extended beyond her project and Hutgar, as her work has inspired two other
students to join the LEAD program and take leadership initiative.
Prasad (Shri
Kasgateshwar Degree College, Talikoti)
Prasad began his project with intention of teaching the
women of Hunasagi, Bijapur , how to read and write. After starting his project, Prasad soon
realized that he could help these women even more beyond literacy. Prasad conducted 20 training sessions and
taught the women about how to access banking facilities and apply for loans. He additionally provided the women with
self-employment training. Prasad’s
project made an immense impact; 34 women were able to get loans from banks to
start their own sustainable businesses in areas such as animal husbandry,
tailoring, and handicraft.
Santosh Kaveri
(Samiti BBA College, Belgaum)
In the village of Shedbalin, Belgaum, farmers used any extra
money they had to pay laborers to help them peel and clean the carrots that
they harvested. After six months of designing,
Santosh invented a machine to help with this process. With the machine, carrot preparation only
requires the help of one or two people and requires a limited use of
electricity and no water. Moreover,
Santosh’s machine allows 100 kg of carrots to be harvested, cleaned, and peeled
in only 15 minutes. Eight farmers now
use this machine and have spared the costs of employing six laborers.
Anuradha Bandari
(Govt First Grade College, Sirsi)
There was a water problem in Anuradha’s village of
Bommanalli, at Sirsi. Anuradha assembled
her villagers and encouraged them to take initiative themselves. She helped the villagers, as well as members
of the Gram Panchayat, approach the government and demand water tanks. Within a month, the government sanctioned Rs.
2 lacs for the construction of four water tanks. The government even agreed to fund the
construction of streetlights for the entire Birumbe village. Through the completion of her project,
Anuradha not only inspired her local community, but she also inspired her
peers; four other students at her college were motivated by Anuradha’s hard
work and started taking initiatives and solving problems in their own
respective communities.
Shreedevi R.
Paschapur (BLDE BBA College,
Jamkhandi)
The village of Sidhapur, in Jamkhandi, possessed no proper
bus facilities. Because of this, school
buses did not stop at the village, and students would be forced to walk 9 to 10
kms per day. Many students were missing
their first two classes, and some students were not attending their classes at
all. Shreedevi brought this issue to the
attention of her college principal and the local authorities. One month later, permission was granted to
allocate a bus stop in Sidhapur. 250
students are now regularly attending their regular classes.
