BITS Alumni Inititaive Pilani AtmaNirbhar Resource Centre PARC gives Rs 2 Lacs for COVID-19 Lockdown Affected Relief

The coronavirus has indeed struck a thunderbolt on the lives of hundreds of daily wage workers in and around Pilani Rajasthan and the sudden turn of events threw bleak days ahead for them. Someone had to step in to help them face the crisis so that they live with dignity as well as respect. That someone turned out to be none other than an alumni initiative of institute of eminence Birla Institute of Technology and Science namely PARC Pilani AtmaNirbhar Resource Centre.

PARC is dream come true of BITSAA Alumni Trust which was set up in 2005 by a group of alumni of BITS Pilani, for the purpose of furthering their common desire of "Giving Back to BITS", more specifically to promote Local Area Community Development in and around Pilani, Rajasthan. While it started out with the BITS Pilani batch of 1975-80, it now has active support of BITSians from across batches in India and overseas. It is a matter of great pride that BITS Pilani has identified PARC as a Practice School - I station for BITS students to undergo summer training.

PARC fosters Community Development in and around Pilani by providing an ecosystem for Skill Training, Job Creation, health, education, entrepreneurship, women's rights and more. The PARC Guiding Principles include Community (Work with local communities through nonprofits and replicable models), Comprehensive (Launch projects that address deep and systemic community needs), Expertise (Invite domain experts to tackle community issues with the Trust's focus on motivation and facilitation). PARC has four focus areas namely Health, Education, Livelihood and Community.

PARC Health includes a state of the art Physiotherapy Centre established in collaboration with HelpAge, Arogya Clinic and organizes medical camps, eye camps etc on regular basis. PARC Education supports Gyan Bodh of NIRMAAN, a Digital Lab for computer literacy and Science Education in partnership with AGASTYA. PARC Livelihood offers in collaboration with PRATHAM vocation training for rural youth to get placement in hospitality sector and also has a group insurance scheme for mess workers of Alma mater BITS Pilani. PARC Community includes legal help for women, social research projects, senior citizen excursions and Akash Ganga for rain water harvesting in collaboration with Sustainable Innovations USA.

When the lockdown happened and sufferings started, BITSAA Alumni Trust key members Proud to be BITSians Sunil Nanda, Rakesh Kapoor, Vijay Poddar, Sanjeev Lodha, Gautam Mazumdar, Chandan Sengupta, Shiva, Pragya Seth etal had an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis. On 31 Mar 2020 PARC transferred INR 2 Lakhs to Alma mater BITS Pilani who is a partner for social engineering activities to ensure that the daily wagers in and around Pilani are provided with food and provisions during the crisis period.

In an exclusive interview with Pilani Chronicle, Proud to be BITSian and a Distinguished Alumnus Sunil Nanda who has been steering PARC from its conception says "During these difficult times, a lockdown is a luxury available only to the privileged. PARC was exploring meaningful ways to help the daily wage workers and found out that BITS, Pilani had taken up the arduous task of distributing food and rations to the daily wage workers in and around Pilani. PARC immediately contributed funds towards this effort to ensure that such essential work does not suffer for the lack of money. Thank you, BITS Pilani, you make us proud!"

For more details see http://www.atmanirbhara.org/

Dr VK Dubey
Director PARC - Pilani Atma Nirbhara Centre
Kyamsar Road, Gyan Vihar -II
Harinagar, Pilani (Rajasthan) 333031
Phone: +91 94147 43091

Pilani Chronicle covers news about happenings in Pilani including achievements of Proud to be BITSians who are alumni from institution of eminence BITS Pilani spread across all latitudes, longitudes and altitudes

This release was published on openPR.