Smiles all over as NSS Model Village award the achievers

“All work and no play makes jack a dull boy” so true is this saying. When the model village cell of IIT Roorkee accepted the responsibility of educating young minds, they did not miss out the extra-curricular activities in their schedule. Thus along with teaching academic subjects to the students of Bangheri village, additional activities were planned from time to time so that the students may get a chance to explore what lies inside them.

Keeping in mind, the overall development of the personality of the students, various events were conducted by NSS Model Village Cell like Quiz Competitions, Sport Events and Essay writing competition. Even the students who are not able to attend the school on a regular basis were asked to be present at class on Sundays in order to keep pace with their studies. On 31^st October such students who put in extra efforts for the sake of their studies were rewarded and encouraged in the prize distribution ceremony.

“A healthy mind dwells in a healthy body”. Along with weekly school activities NSS Model Village also motivates students to participate in sport activities and the students who excelled were awarded in the ceremony. NSS Model village encourages its students to perform well in academics as well as other activities and the morale of the students was boasted after this prize distribution ceremony which was more than evident from their smiling faces. This reassured that NSS is on the right path of achieving the dream of a better and happy society. 

Jandhan se Jan Suraksha Yojana

 Our country’s farmer is in great distress today. He toils in the fields all day yet experiences financial insecurity. His wife sacrifices the joys of her life and works hard all day to save every penny she can for her child’s education. Yet every evening she is anxious to hide these pennies for she fears that her husband, who knows not how to spend his earnings wisely, may waste it all on alcohol and similar frivolities.

In order to alleviate these pains, our new Prime Minister has launched a program on the scale of a national campaign, the Jandhan se Jan Suraksha Yojana. It is a policy which encourages each and every Indian to avail the three insurance policies provided by the Government, namely the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and the Atal Pension Yojana.

A village named Paniyala which is about 5 kilometres away from the main campus, was surveyed by  the Pragati Cell of NSS, IIT ROORKEE in order to  promote this campaign . A group of about 30 students began their journey for the village early morning, covering the entire trip on their bicycles.

Paniyala was full of life and culture. Across the green fields and on the village roads walked the residents who welcomed us with care and hospitality. The children were very enthusiastic to meet us, some of whom dreamed of becoming IITians one day. Even the Pradhan of Paniyala was very supportive of us and the campaign.

140 people were surveyed of which 68 were yet not aware of the Jandhan Yojna. Hence, the volunteers sat down with these people and tried their best to explain the benefits they would reap by being a part of these schemes. At first, some of the villagers were a bit sceptical. However, the volunteers were successful in clarifying most of their doubts.

The Pragati Cell had also managed to acquire permission to set up a camp in Paniyala in the first week of September wherein the people would be assisted in registering for the various insurance policy schemes provided by the Government.

Target 2030: Sustainable Development

Vimarsh meaning consultation or deliberation was a paper presentation event on sustainable development. The ideas contending for the spotlight comprised of promotion of alternate energy sources, artificial photosynthesis, village development models, desalination methods, indication to a synergistic framework by connecting the stakeholders.

The judges were Dr. Ram Manohar Singh, Dr. Falguni Patnaik and Dr. Rahul Krishna Gairola. The special guest was Dr. Smita Jha. Seven teams participated in the competition.

Participants giving presentation 

First position was bagged by Rahul sharma& Anurag Singh for giving voice to artificial photosynthesis under the heading of Odyssey to the photosynthetic city. The statement was that although solar cells are cutting-edge renewable energy source devices, their manufacturing causes a serious environmental damage. So, by using a catalyst driven mechanism, closely imitating the natural process, the water is to be split into hydrogen and oxygen using sunlight, thus producing fuel for the hydrogen economy.

Second position was taken by Bijon Guha & Shweta Sisodiya. Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. They emphasized upon the concept of needs and limitations to formulate a model for sustainable development. A few facets of the model such as educational innovation called ‘Shiksha Gaadi’ for spreading literacy in remote areas, women empowerment, reducing road accidents by monitoring potholes in roads using proximity sensor in auto road checker vehicle, water ATM, GDP growth in transition & conflicted countries.

Third position was given to Abhishek Kapoor & co. They extrapolated statistics giving the population jump and corresponding sky-rocketing of energy, food and water demand. They gave the present technological developments in solar energy, highly efficient (85%) tidal energy, biofuels, desalination and tackling food requirement.

Conclusion of the event was highlighting the 17 global goals for the sustainable development which are no poverty, no hunger, good health, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, clean energy, good jobs and economic growth, innovation and infrastructure, reduced inequalities, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption, protect the planet, life below water, life on land, peace and justice, partnership for the goals.

Dengue Awareness Camp

 “Dengue is now one of the most important tropical diseases. While it doesn't kill that many people, it has tremendous economic and social impact.” The Dengue awareness campaign was organized and executed by the Pragati cell.

On 18/10/2015, they put posters in the village of Paniyala so as to make the villagers aware about the signs and symptoms of dengue as well as the precautions against it. The event started by assembling at the local school and planning a strategy and subsequent division into groups. The aim was to make the villagers know what is dengue, how it spreads, its treatment and facilities  to that purpose. Dengue fever is a painful, debilitating, mosquito ­borne disease . Dengue goes by other names, including "breakbone fever" or "dandy fever." Victims of dengue often have contortions due to the intense joint, muscle, and bone pain, hence the name breakbone fever. Symptoms include severe joint and muscle pain, swollen nodes, headache, fever, exhaustion, and rash. The presence of fever, rash, and headache (the "dengue triad") is characteristic of dengue fever.

Dengue fever is a disease caused by a family of viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes. Other signs of dengue fever include bleeding gums, severe pain behind the eyes, and red palms and soles. Aedes aegypti species of mosquitoes is particularly involved, as it prefers to lay its eggs in artificial water containers, to live in close proximity to humans, and to feed on people rather than other vertebrates. As there is no commercially available vaccine, prevention is sought by reducing the habitat and the number of mosquitoes and limiting exposure to bites. Dengue does not spread from person to person i.e. not contagious. Maintaining proper fluid balance is important. Paracetamol is used for fever and discomfort while NSAIDs such as ibuprofen and aspirin are avoided as they might aggravate the risk of bleeding.

RT Education organizes event on Gandhi Jayanti

“Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.” It is this very quote which motivates the members of the RT Education Cell of NSS, IIT Roorkee to go to the Khanjarpur village on a near daily basis and teach those children who can’t afford education. But that is not their only purpose as many fun events are also organized by them for the entertainment and knowledge enhancement of the kids. And one such event was held on the auspicious day of 2^nd October, 2015, that is Gandhi Jayanti.

The event was a fun activity held mainly to make the children aware about Mahatma Gandhi’s role in fighting injustice in both South Africa and India.

The event began sharp at 6PM, right after the classes of the children held there prior to six. The first half of the program involved showing a movie on Gandhi to the children present there. The movie traced Gandhi’s life from birth up until his return to India and his subsequent non-cooperation movement. The movie taught the kids that being honest to oneself and to our loved ones is a very important thing in life.

 In the second half of the program the children were asked general questions based on the movie. And those who were able to correctly answer were given lovely gifts. A few of the children even answered multiple times. And with this, the event came to a conclusion around 7PM.

After the short movie and quiz, a few of the children were even commended for the great academic progress that they had shown over the previous few weeks.

Seeing the enthusiasm of the kids it can be firmly stated that these children are interested and even excited to learn and grow.

Essay Writing And Quiz Competition Organised By NSS Model Village

 On 2^nd October, an essay competition was organized for the students with the topic ‘Mahatma Gandhi - A great leader’ and ‘Lal Bahadur Shastri’ to create awareness among the young minds about these great gems of our country. The students of Bhangeri village who are taught by the volunteers of NSS Model Village cell were really excited for the event.

The students of Std. 2^nd to 7^th participated in the competition. As it was a holiday to the normal teaching activities, the students were advised to come to the school for the events. There were nearly 40 students who participated in the events.

A Quiz competition was also held on the topic of our National heritage, the same day. Both the events received stupendous response from the students. It was declared that an award ceremony will be organized for the students who came up with flying colours in these events later. These event not only helped the students get enlightened and enriched by the preaching’s and noble works of these great leaders but also gave them a chance to develop writing skills and competitive spirit as well.