30-07-2018 - 11-02-2019

*RDEP Installations in South Kokan* Our club is executing a project to install RDEP systems in 20 schools in the remote villages located in South konkan, particularly Kudal, Sawantwadi and Kankavali talukas. 6 systems have already been installed in 6 schools and 14 more systems will be installed in February. We are getting synergistic participation from the Rotary Club of Pune Laxmi road for this project. RCP Pride team of 5 persons went to Kudal on 8th February to inaugurate the RDEP in one school. We were welcomed by Dr. Prasad Devdhar of Bhagirath Gramvikas Pratishthan, a local NGO in Sindhudurg district, who are our partner NGO in the project. During our discussions with Dr. Devdhar, we came to know that they have installed Biogas plants for 7000+ farmers. They have been felicitated by UNDP and Ministry of Petroleum for this achievement. Dr. Devdhar has been invited by the Govt. of Slovenia to share with them his experience and knowhow which enabled him to make farmers accept biogas on such a large scale! We were truly impressed with these achievements. The inauguration ceremony was conducted on 9th February in New English School at " Haladiche Nerur" , a remote village, 30 km from the main road of Kudal. Dr. Prasad Devdhar, Deepak Phadnis - President, R. C. Pune Pride club, Rtn Niranjan Magikar, Anna Santosh Dhorje, Rtn Anand Paropkari, Jayant Sule, Chairman of the school trust Mr. Sawant - the school headmaster and other staff were present. The inauguration ceremony was very well organised by New English School. The School has about 180 students. Mr Sawant said in his speech that they are very happy that a remotely located School like theirs has been given the opportunity, by Rotary Club of Pune Pride and Bhagirath Gramvikas Pratishthan, to participate in the digital revolution by gifting them the e-Learning system. He said that their village has been denied all basic facilities by the Government since last 35 years, because the village was announced as a site for a dam and it was planned to relocate the village. However, neither the dam has been constructed nor the village has been relocated and they had to struggle to even build this school. They have collected money from households in the 10 nearby villages and constructed the school through shramadan of the villagers. Villagers have parted with money which was earmarked for patients in their houses. Amounts, even as low as 10 Rupees, have been mobilised for this noble cause. Mr. Sawant repeatedly thanked the Rotary Club of Pune Pride for giving them this gift. We could see the joy on their faces of the students and the school staff. We were truly overwhelmed by their hospitality and repeated thanks and acknowledgement of our club's initiative! We saw the functioning of the RDEP system and were satisfied that it is being put to proper use. Our journey to Kudal and back was made very enjoyable and comfortable by Anna Santosh Dhorje, who drove the car singlehandedly. Each member of our team learnt a lot from the trip, from the experiences shared by Prasad Devdhar and several people we met during our short trip. The team returned to Pune on 10th February evening with a happy feeling that we are indeed blessed to be able to help deserving students in South Konkan, where very few social service organizations reach.

Project Details

Start Date 30-07-2018
End Date 11-02-2019
Project Cost 210000
Rotary Volunteer Hours 400
No of direct Beneficiaries 1200
Partner Clubs RCP Laxmi Road
Non Rotary Partners Bhagirath Gramvikas Pratishthan
Project Category Literacy