Nagrik Vikas Kendra, a ray of hope for the needy

By : Kashif Abdullah

(Programme Head,NVK)

Nagrik Vikas Kendra (NVK), is one of the departmentand project under the Human Welfare Foundation (HWF), a wing of VISION 2026, which is an NGO based in India, with branches spreading all over the nation. NVK has been an undying hope for the underprivileged since its establishment in 2017, sowing seeds of empowerment for the lives that are often unnoticed in the country. They have set up several centres across the country, and has been striving hard to cater to the citizens through the path drawn by the government. Our government has set up several schemes for the upliftment of its citizens, in both the rural and the urban, and hence the country as a whole. For the development of the nation, it is important that every one of us are self-sufficient and that we all are able to live a life of dignity. This is primarily the aim of NVK, to help the various central and state government schemes be accessible to those people of the country that are unfortunately socially invisible.

 

It’s no news that the majority of the nation is from rural India, and that most of them are unaware of the various welfare schemes the government has plowed for them. NVK has done a tremendous job so far on ground level, to help these welfare schemes reach even the neediest of the needy. They have set up awareness campaigns about government schemes in different villages, and even have provided assistance to them in acquiring and filling those documents. There is also constant follow up with the beneficiaries until their applications are accepted and the amount has been successfully credited to their respective accounts.

 

With their recent success and opening up of multiple branches across the country, NVK is now moving towards including more to their already blooming work by correlating and adding the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) set by the United Nations (UN) in 2015. By doing this, NVK aims to contribute its whole to eradicate poverty in all its forms, all over the country, and to ensure healthy lives and well being for every citizen of the country. Their contribution in assisting students in various parts of the country in order to achieve quality and fair education in the form of scholarships are commendable. They have also done a great deal of work in helping to reduce economic inequality within the country by spreading awareness and assisting people in applying to various government schemes such as housing, etc. In a country like ours, where education and health care are always prioritized for men, NVK has done their fair share of work at promoting gender equality by availing various schemes such as Kanyashree and others for women, so that they could be well educated and financially independent just as their male counterparts. In short, NVK, has been a significant contributor in helping the projects established by the Government reach the beneficiaries, being a helping hand to the Government, and ensuring that Govt. projects are positively employed in achieving the objectives set by the Govt.

 

The work of NVK is primarily divided into three categories, government schemes, government documents, and welfare cards/other activities. The testimonials of beneficiaries are the fuel to the future of NVK. Fayaz Ahmed of Sawai Madhopur district of Rajasthan is a Mathematics Teacher who feels grateful for the services of NVK. Ahmed had 12 of his students from lower castes who were denied scholarship for various reasons including their identity for the last few years despite their continuous effort to avail them. Caste as an identity has been an issue of great concern, prevalent in the country, leading to denial of basic rights to a largely underprivileged population. The matter was identified by NVK, and its workers helped in ensuring that those students were able to continue their education by taking the necessary legal and other steps. Apart from this experience, Ahmed also mentioned about NVK’s continuous efforts in making sure both, students of schools and students of colleges, receive quality education, and about their services in helping the citizens avail schemes like pension, PM Awas Yojana, etc which helps the citizens live a life of dignity. IT Student Vishal, also expressed his heartfelt gratitude towards NVK for their awareness campaigns which helped his little sister give wings to her dreams of education through the scholarships NVK helped avail. Education is a dream for girls from marginalized sections of the society, but it is a tool that has the capabilities to transform a generation.

 

NVK’s contribution in strengthening the nation and its democratic process cannot be overlooked. Govt. entities due to their own structural and other limitations has not been able to reach the diverse populations of our country, it is in this space that NVK employs its workers to identify and analyze the requirements of the largely overlooked parts of the country. It is this process of analysis in their establishment of centers that ensures their effectiveness and previous successful achievements. Frequent engagements with the under privileged and financially weaker sections of the society in the various parts of the country has helped them identify the problem that are faced by socially invisible groups of people that are often right under our noses. Such engagements have urged to dive deep into more vulnerable sections of the country which has not seen development in years due to various reasons.

So far, the organisation has been moving forward largely with the help of well wishers who generously support the cause of imparting a dignified life to every human being regardless of their caste, creed, religion, culture, or any other basis of discrimination. It is this very objective of NVK, that the under privileged sections of the society should be able to live life self sufficiently, that makes them unique. To be the hands that hold the one who’s starving, to take them to their rights that’s waiting, they need you. Like how a single drop of water does not make an ocean, alone, they can do only so little. But like when drops of water come together, it makes an ocean, together with you, the readers, they can do so much.