90 years of RC Bangalore
Fellowship and service mingle seamlessly at RC Bangalore, RID 3192, as its 300-plus members enjoy doing mega projects that infuse bonhomie in the club which is celebrating its 90th year. Chartered in July 1934, the second oldest Rotary club in South India is the country’s fourth largest in membership and has built mammoth structures to deliver medical, educational and community services over the decades.
Since inception, this marquee club in Bengaluru has done several projects worth ₹58 crore, touching over 40 lakh lives in and around the city, and produced 17 district governors. The late PRID Panduranga Setty, an educationist and institute-builder, was from this club. He mentored many service-minded Rotarians from Karnataka since 1959. “When I faced a crisis in my Rotary life to choose the right club to chase my abnormally huge and impactful projects, I was welcomed into the club by Setty. They embraced me with so much camaraderie and love that I felt at home. RCB is not just another Rotary club, it is an institution by itself, a Bahubali of sorts,” says DGN Ravishankar Dakoju, popular in the Rotary world as the ₹100 crore-donor to TRF from India.
Iconic projects
Set up in 1984 through a 3-H and other matching grants of $100,000, the Rotary Bangalore TTK Blood Bank has state-of-the art equipment for collecting, processing and distributing 40,000 units of blood and components to major hospitals each year. “We have tied up with DKMS, Germany, for stem cell registry, immunohaematology, tissue banking and stem cell transplantation. So far, we have incurred an expenditure of ₹15 crore at the blood bank,” says Ranga Rao V S, past president of the club. The running cost of the facility is met through monthly revenue, CSR grants and support from TTK Group.
RCB is not just another Rotary club, it is an institution by itself, a Bahubali of sorts.
– Ravishankar Dakoju, District Governor Nominee
A 35-year-old high school, Rotary Bangalore Vidyalaya, has 550 children from primary level to Class 10 with around 30 teachers. School uniforms, shoes, books, bags and midday meals are given free at this Rotary school which is being upgraded into higher secondary level (Classes 11, 12). “We will construct two new blocks (₹1 crore) to accommodate the new classes at this school, which is our pride and joy,” says Gowri Oza, club president.
Over the last few years, the club has built 40 greenfield schools in partnership with the city corporation, BBMP, and they cater to some 48,000 children. “While the land was given by the civic authority in well-identified zones, we built the schools, each at ₹45 lakh and offering education till Class 7,” she explains.
In the last 5–6 years, the club has done 128 Happy Schools, each project costing ₹3.5 lakh, under the TEACH initiative of Rotary. “Apart from upgrading toilet blocks for girls and boys, we have given benches, desks, play equipment, taken up building repairs, installed RO water plants and handwash stations,” she explains.
To provide a cosy ambience to children from deprived families, the club has refurbished 81 anganwadis with new kitchens, toilets, benches, desks, and carried out minor building repairs at a total cost of ₹2.2 lakh per centre, says Ranga Rao. Happy Anganwadis has so far benefited 15,000 children. “We have also given Nali Kali (fun learning) tables and chairs at anganwadis that will bring joy to young ones,” smiles Gowri.
Healthcare projects
On the medical front, 156 primary health centres (PHCs) were given a wide range of equipment and supplies from appliances like fridge, vacuum cleaner, washing machine to medical utilities such as oxygen cylinders, hospital beds, surgery lights, nebulisers, ECG machines, digital stethoscope, BP apparatus, suction pump and autoclaves; and admin facilities such as laptop, UPS etc. “Each PHC was donated utilities and medical devices worth ₹2 lakh that will benefit over 20 lakh patients a year,” he adds. In a joint initiative with SELCO and Schneider Electric the club will install solar panels for 24×7 power supply to the maternity wards at 100 PHCs in villages, spending ₹3.5 lakh at each centre.
My life has changed dramatically with the fellowship and bonding we have in this Rotary club.
– Gowri Oza, president, RC Bangalore
With growing cases of kidney ailments in the IT capital of India, “we have donated 50 dialysis machines (₹8.5 lakh per unit) to hospitals and PHCs, all of them funded through CSR grants and club donations,” says Gowri. Around a decade back, 27 dialysis machines were installed at the Rajarajeshwari Hospital, Kengeri, where “800 patients get the benefit at affordable cost each month.” Around 1,000 patients are diagnosed each month at the Rotary Muthappa Attavar Memorial Hospital at Channasandhra which is supported by the club and Rajarajeshwari Hospital. Under a global grant, the club plans to do 100 heart surgeries, of which 60 have been completed so far. “We offer a subsidy of ₹56,000 for each surgery to deserving patients,” says Rao
One of the largest burns ward in South India was set up at the Queen Victoria Hospital with 26 beds.
Palar river rejuvenation
A team of green warriors is planting 50,000 saplings over 400 acres in and around Kaiwara, a small town in the Chikkaballapur district, where the Palar river originates at its upper basin. “We have spruced up the rural infrastructure in six villages by upgrading schools, anganwadis, PHCs, libraries and put up high mast lights,” he explains. The Palar restoration project has cost ₹2.2 crore so far.
A skill development centre (SDC) called ‘Home of Hope for the Homeless’ offers training in lathe machines, carpentry, tailoring and plant nursery for 800 inmates, mostly destitute men and women in the last stages of their life. The club has partnered with Collins Aerospace in building the SDC which is run and managed by Auto Raja, a social worker and influencer.
Scholarships
More than 200 scholarships are given every year with the Visala Hayagriv Scholarships for girl students at the school level and the Rotary Menda Educational Scholarships — 175 students benefited each year — being the most popular among them.
Zenith and Azim Premji Foundations sponsor B Ed scholarships for 100 poor students each year. So far, 400 teachers have been trained at a finishing school run by Azim Premji Foundation under this programme at a cost of ₹43 lakh per year. Smart Vision glasses (₹45,000), part funded by CSR partners, were given to 184 visually-impaired persons to help them lead a normal life with the AI software and audio-facial recognition tools embedded in the special glasses.
We have got addicted to Rotary Bangalore where fellowship is at its best. I joined the club two decades ago, and what a turnaround it has brought in my attitude towards service.
– N S Srinivasa Murthy, AKS member
In partnership with the city corporation and other NGOs, the club has taken up an anti-rabies drive and awareness campaign at a cost of ₹28 lakh. Vultures play a key role in sustaining the ecosystem, but this high-flying kite has dwindled to just 10,000 in India due to misuse of diclofenac chemicals on livestock. “We create awareness in the rural areas on the need to avoid this chemical in treating livestock as the carcass kills the vultures when they consume it,” says Rao.
Rotary House of Friendship
Rao recalls that the club bought a plot of land for ₹50,000 from a private enterprise in 1960, and “it took us seven years to construct our own building, which has a House of Friendship on the covered terrace that can accommodate 200 people for fellowship and dinner.”
For die-hard Rotarians like N S Srinivasa Murthy, an AKS member, “we have got addicted to Rotary Bangalore where fellowship is at its best. I joined the club two decades ago, and what a turnaround it has brought in my attitude towards service,” he says, all excitement. Agreeing with him, Dakoju adds, “A member of Rotary Bangalore does not need any other social organisation, as everything is inbuilt here.”
A recipient of student scholarship at the age of 13 from the club, visually-impaired with partial hearing loss, Chandana C is president of RC Abilities, a club for differently-abled sponsored by Rotary Bangalore. “The first scholarship I got from my parent club helped me to pursue higher education and now I am employed in Ernst and Young. Besides, I have won many corporate awards. I learnt about this special club from a Rotarian, and joined in it immediately.”
Gowri Oza joined the club 26 years ago, “after being in the Round Table (Ladies Circle) for 12 years. My life has changed dramatically with the fellowship and bonding we have in this Rotary club,” she smiles. Giving a peek into their work ethic, Rao says, “our programmes and events are planned three months in advance. We also rope in our Rotaractors and Inner Wheel members to our projects that boost our public image.”
With two AKS members and 10 Major Donors, the club with 330 members has given around $12 million to TRF till now. The 100 per cent PHF club has sponsored 34 Rotary, four Rotaract and 11 Interact clubs. Rotaract Club of Bangalore is the one of the oldest in India, formed 56 years ago and has done many impactful projects.
