Meet your Governors

A Rotary Blood Stem Cell Registry

A past Rotaractor, Nilesh Shah was the charter secretary of his club, formed in 2004 with 20 members, mostly former Rotaract leaders. He treasures his memories with PRIP Kalyan Banerjee of RC Vapi, whom he calls his role model. “Kalyan da has always inspired me, and his guidance continues to shape Rotarians in Vapi and beyond,” says Shah.

Today, the district has 104 clubs and over 5,000 Rotarians. He wants to charter seven new clubs and achieve 10 per cent growth in net membership. His district has partnered with DATRI, an NGO, to create the Rotary Blood Stem Cell Registry. Through Project Jeevan Setu, awareness campaigns and donation drives will be held across Gujarat and Maharashtra. This registry will bring new hope to patients battling thalassaemia and blood cancer.

Project Gram Kalyan, in partnership with the Indian Medical Association (IMA), will improve the healthcare and livelihoods of 60,000 villagers to ensure rural progress. Through district managed GGs (over ₹3 crore) 45 dialysis machines will be installed in government and charitable hospitals. “We used to do at least 13–15 GG projects every year across Rotary’s focus areas,” he says. Some of the upcoming GG projects include upgrading 4–5 government primary and higher secondary schools (over ₹50 lakh) with sanitation facilities, new classroom furniture and computer labs; and equipping 10–12 government hospitals with modern medical facilities (₹2.5–3 crore).

His target for TRF-giving is $2 million. “We are guiding the clubs on the application process for global grants for a smooth rollover of service projects in the coming months,” he smiles.

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Creating knowledgeable Rotarians

With RID 3030 having 122 clubs with over 6,000 Rotarians, Dr Rajesh Patil is confident of forming 15–20 new clubs during his tenure, “including 10 hobby-based and satellite Rotary groups to attract like-minded professionals” .

He will be holding six CROP (continuous Rotary orientation programmes) sessions across the six regions of his district each month with the “aim to increase the number of Rotarians enriched with Rotary knowledge in each club” so that they can share their expertise in multifarious projects. On the medical front, 30 dialysis centres (CSR+GG: ₹1.5 crore) will come up either as standalone or attached to government and charity hospitals; and a paediatric cardiac surgery unit will be set up (GG+CSR with private donors: ₹2 crore) at a charity hospital in Jalgaon.

At least 30 zilla parishad schools will be converted into Rotary schools with funding from CSR India grant (₹2 crore), after upgrading them with sanitation facilities, RO units, play equipment, open gyms, smart classes and furniture, says Dr Patil. “We are in the process of identifying the schools now, after which the work will be taken up in a phased manner.” Robotic labs will be installed at 26 government schools in rural areas with CSR India grant (₹3 crore) for teaching students AI and machine learning.

His target for TRF-giving is $1 million. Dr Patil joined Rotary in 2000.

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RYLAs to empower youth

He adores all things related to Rotary and Rotarians as “the organisation honed my leadership skills, conduct, boosted my self-confidence and expanded my friends’ network.” Opening the account with 115 clubs and 6,000 members, he wants to form 6–7 new clubs with a target of 10 per cent growth in net membership.

Following directions from RI director Muruganandam, he is focused on lifting 28 clubs with less than 30 members — from Red to Amber — to strengthen their ‘roots and foundation’. One of his thrust areas is environmental protection under which 3–4 waste management plants (CSR grant: ₹6 crore) will be set up at the panchayat and municipal offices. “We will hold awareness camps on solid waste management and waste water recycling in schools and colleges,” says Boopathi.

Gender-segregated toilet blocks with handwash stations and sanitary pad vending machines will be built (GG: $300,000) at 30 government schools.

Around 300 RYLAs will be conducted at schools with the tagline ‘Empower the youth, enrich the nation’ reaching out to over 5,000 students who will be exposed to the Rotary-Rotaract world, apart from experts mentoring them on leadership traits. Each club will be doing at least three RYLAs, while RID 3203 will be hosting a multidistrict RYLA attracting youth in large numbers. Boopathi is confident of surpassing the TRF-target of $1 million given to his district.

Having joined Rotary in 1989, he is inspired by Krishnaraj Vanavarayar, an educationist and a large-hearted donor from Pollachi.

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Solar power for govt schools

On her bucket list, this Engineering and MBA graduate envisions a “happy society with community members helping each other to eliminate social evils and inequality.” With around 120 clubs and 2,200 members as on July 1, she is confident of forming at least five new clubs and inducting 500 new Rotarians.

Around 5,000 school, college girls (12–25 years) will benefit from the cervical cancer awareness and vaccination drive (CSR+GG: ₹30 lakh) in the first six months. “Based on the feedback, we will resume our work for the next six months, after doubling our vaccination target,” says Payal. In healthcare, three diagnostic centres will come up in Meerut, Muzaffarnagar and Moradabad, and five dialysis centres, either standalone or attached to government hospitals. Both the projects are funded by a mix of GG and CSR grant of ₹3 crore.

One of her pet projects is ‘green schools’ with rooftop solar panels for in-house power generation. “In the first phase, 10 government schools, both primary and higher secondary, in western UP will have solar panels (GG+CSR: ₹25 lakh) as part of this eco-friendly initiative. After studying the results, we will expand our greening mission,” explains Payal. She aims to collect $500,000 for TRF.

Having joined Rotary in 2014, this technocrat, says, “as the youngest woman governor ever, I look forward to more women Rotarians taking up leadership roles in our zones in the coming years.”