Meet your Governors
Rotary Bhawan to house dialysis centre
Friendship and the kind of networking being offered drew Keshav to Rotary in 2002. Later on he got involved in service projects and reached out to the local communities. PDGs R Guru and G K Balakrishna are two persons “who shaped my Rotary ideals as I learnt virtues like punctuality and public speaking skills from them.”
With 87 clubs and 3,800-plus Rotarians across four revenue districts of Karnataka, including Mysuru, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada and Chamarajanagar, “I will start six new clubs and induct 380 Rotarians, to achieve the target of 10 per cent net growth.” A two-year-old dialysis centre attached to a private hospital in Chamarajanagar will be shifted to the newly-built Rotary Bhawan in this town shortly. RCs Ivory City Mysuru and Chamarajanagar will run the centre which is treating 200 patients a month at a subsidised cost of ₹500 per sitting. “Around 150 anganwadis will be revamped this year. Each club has taken up 2–3 centres, spending at least ₹30,000 on each of them.”
A skin bank (GG: $51,651) is being set up by RC Mangalore at the Father Muller Medical College Hospital; and a Rotary Blood Bank (GG: $67,999) is coming up at Bantwal. Keshav will be setting up nine RWH facilities (each ₹45,000) at rural schools and hostels where there is acute water scarcity. He aims to collect $300,000 for TRF.
Affordable heart care hospital in Delhi
At 48, Jeetender Gupta is one of the youngest DGs in our zones and he credits his successful Rotary journey to his wife, Deepti, past president, RC Faridabad Tulips. “My wife is hand-in-hand with me in every project and I deeply value her support.” He has inducted 400 new Rotarians and formed 10 new clubs, raising their numbers to 5,100-plus and 138 across the Delhi-NCR. “The net membership growth will be sustained at 10 per cent,” he said. A Rotary Prem Sagar Goel Heart Hospital (GG+CSR: $850,000) will provide affordable care — bypass surgery at ₹1 lakh and angioplasty at ₹50,000.
A check dam in Alwar (GG: $50,000); expanding the diabetes centre in Delhi (GG: $35,000); and four Gurgaon clubs setting up a skill development centre (GG: $75,000) are going to be other highlights of his term.
Over 5,000 girls (9–20 years) will be vaccinated against cervical cancer at special camps. An organ donation awareness bus with Rotarians and artistes will visit neighbouring states to perform street plays and road shows.
He aims to collect $2 million for TRF. Around one crore rail passengers will see the Rotary wheel on paper cups and menu flyers in a public image project worth ₹2.5 crore. He joined Rotary in 2001 at age 26.
Rotaract and PR will drive Rotary
Given the vastness of the eight northeastern states, “my twin focus will be on nurturing Rotaract and building our public image to steer Rotary,” said Nilesh Agarwal. A 30-member team is showcasing Rotary in print, electronic and social media; and “I will start at least 10 Rotaract and 10 Interact clubs to groom future Rotarians.”
There are around 70 Rotaract clubs in the northeast. Agarwal wants to start 8–10 satellite clubs, to take the number of Rotary clubs to 115 by 2024 June-end. He has inducted 250 new members already and “will add 250 more, raising the membership to 4,000-plus.” Around 550 families in 20 tribal hamlets will be trained in organic farming (GG: $88,000) to enable women to set up a kitchen garden and consume healthy food. “They can sell part of the harvest to earn regular income. We are giving them iron supplements and nutritional foods to improve their health.”
Project Heart-to-Heart (GG: $80,000) will do heart surgeries on 50 children in Ranchi. Agarwal is planning 25 Happy Schools (₹1 crore) through CSR grants and club donations. His TRF target is $400,000. A former Rotaractor, he joined his club in 2004 as charter president.
A skin bank in Amritsar
Rather than focusing on numbers, Vipan Bhasin is all for a good vetting system to induct only those “who exhibit personality traits that gel with our core values like Service Above Self,” he says. But he is confident of a 15 per cent net growth on an existing membership of 3,600-plus.
He is not in a hurry to expand clubs; instead “I want to strengthen existing ones. Those with less than 15–20 members were given two options — either to expand their headcount or merge with other clubs.” The district’s GG status was suspended by RI for want of proper reporting. “I will complete all formalities to reactivate our GG status,” he says. On his wishlist is a skin bank in Amritsar through a GG (around $60,000) as there are a lot of burn victims in the city. “If we cannot not get a GG approved in time, we will go for CSR funds.”
The Palampur Eye Foundation will be expanded to take up major services. His TRF-giving target is $100,000. Bhasin joined Rotary in 1989, and is inspired by PRIPs Rajendra Saboo and Cliff Dochterman.
