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business

Tsaaro Welcomes JPC Recommendations With Regards to Data Protection Bill, 2021

Dec 22, 2021 by Gouri 0 Comments #2021, #Akarsh Singh, #Data Protection Bill, #JPC Recommendations, #Tsaaro

Mr Akarsh Singh, CEO & CoFounder, Tsaaro

Tsaaro, India’s leading Data Privacy and Consulting company, welcomes the Joint Parliamentary Committee’s (JPC) recommendations on renaming the Draft Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 to ‘Data Protection Bill 2021’, entailing provisions on non-personal data as well. This Bill is an attempt to bring India into compliance with global data rules and to control the uncharted waters of personal data privacy.

Recently, Tsaaro asked about 200+ Data Privacy Professionals about their expectations from India’s Personal Data Protection Bill and here’s what we found out through Tsaaro’s Survey on People’s Expectations from the Draft Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019.

“The need for the Survey arose because we at Tsaaro saw the gap between the Data Protection Bill draft and the expectations people had in their minds from the Bill. While we understand that every organization will have to ensure compliance once the Bill is passed, it is necessary to keep in mind that the rights of the individual are protected.”, said Akarsh Singh, CEO & Co-founder of Tsaaro.

When participants were asked whether the Bill fares well when compared to other global privacy laws such as the GDPR, CCPA & the PIPL, 51% stated that they do believe that the Bill is on par with the other laws. We are glad to see that the JPC has made recommendations and changes to make the bill stand toe to toe with leading legislation. Various GDPR provisions are used as a reference and which makes sure that Indian law will fare well against other statutes.

When participants were asked whether they agree that now Social Media giants such as Instagram or Facebook etc. will have to ensure compliance as per the Indian Regulations, a majority of 93% agreed that such platforms will have to adhere as per Indian Privacy Laws now. Recommendation 5 of the JPC, speaks in favour of the same and now Social media companies will be considered as data fiduciaries and will be liable for the content posted on their platform. When it comes to data localization, as per Recommendation 10 of JPC, it was observed that national security is of paramount importance and India can’t compromise it on the grounds of promotion of businesses.

The JPC’s recommendation, however, takes that one step further. The JPC is of the opinion that Indians’ sensitive and critical personal data that is “already” in possession of foreign firms and is stored on servers overseas even by such social media giants should be mirrored in India. As the Bill aims to protect the rights of individuals, it is important for us to understand the expectations of people; the ones who will be the data subjects under the law and we are glad to see most of the recommendations of participants of the survey being considered by the JPC.

“The Committee also desires that proper utilization of revenue generated out of data localisation may be used for welfare measures in the country especially to help small businesses and startups to comply with data localization norms,” the JPC draft report on the data protection bill reads.

business

MIT xPRO to upskill Indian professionals with in-demand Data Engineering Skills

Dec 22, 2021 by Gouri 0 Comments #Abel Sanchez, #Data Engineering Skills, #Indian professionals, #Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), #MIT xPRO

MIT xPRO, a professional education program from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)— ranked as the number #1 University in the world according to QS World Rankings, 2021 and affiliated with 98 Nobel Prize winners— has launched a ten-month Post Graduate Certificate in Data Engineering program. This is the third program from MIT xPRO in collaboration with Emeritus in India and is most suited for mid-career professionals looking to acquire data engineering skills to effectively govern their organization’s data strategy, accelerate their career in data engineering and become a key decision-maker within the organization.

Companies today are being forced to respond faster and with more precision than ever. Data engineers are responsible for innovating and building pipelines that can turn raw data into a business advantage. Companies like Airbnb, Uber, and Robinhood are masters of leveraging real-time data, and many others are trying to understand how to do this. Data engineers are the problem solvers of the cyber-info world. The MIT xPRO Post Graduate Certificate in Data Engineering has been designed for participants to learn data engineering essentials: from building effective data architectures and warehouses to designing data models, streamlining data processing, automating data pipelines, data wrangling, and big data engineering. MIT xPRO’s immersive learning experience includes a mix of live weekly sessions and recorded lectures by global faculty and industry leaders. The program, spread over ten months, will also offer learners personalized feedback and the opportunity to develop a GitHub portfolio to excel in their career as data engineers.

Commenting on the launch, Dr Abel Sanchez, Research Scientist and Executive Director of MIT’s Geospatial Data Center said, “There is a rising demand for data engineers and their specialized expertise across industries. In fact, data engineering was the fastest-growing tech occupation last year (DICE Tech Job Report, 2020). We are pleased to extend MIT xPRO’s global collaboration with Emeritus in India to help empower professionals to thrive in the data age with the MIT xPRO edge.”

Advancements in data capture technologies estimate that by 2025, 463 exabytes of data will be created each day globally (TechJury, 2021). Data has evolved into a true strategic asset, and data engineering, being a core component of today’s data infrastructure, has emerged as a high-demand career. This program is best suited for mid-career professionals looking to advance their careers and move to key data engineering roles with a certificate from a globally recognized school. The program is delivered through Emeritus, a global leader in making high-quality education accessible and affordable, offering a seamless high-impact learning and engagement experience. This cutting-edge online program begins on December 30, 2021, and has a program fee of USD 3,500, with flexible payment options and discounts for multiple enrollments. Interested applicants should visit the program page for more details and apply by December 29, 2021.

health

My Lyf Care hosting mobile health camps all over Noida

Dec 22, 2021 by Gouri 0 Comments #mobile health camps, #My Lyf Care, #Omnicron, #Satish Singh, #Shipra Suncity Indrapuram

Delhi NCR- MY LYF CARE a health tech startup as part of their healthcare service are hosting mobile health camps all over Noida societies with free covid testings and will soon be hosting medical camps for underprivileged slums areas.

In times of Omnicron, preventive covid tests and at-home professional care, rather than burdening the hospitals can play a huge role in dealing with this next advent of a pandemic.

“Health Aarogya” is a 360 healthcare service for residential societies in Delhi NCR. It is a preventative healthcare system that includes B2C services from nearby professionals like essential routine checkups every 30 days (blood sugar checkup, BP checkup, weight, haemoglobin, oxygen level checkup, heartbeat and pulse rate checkup etc.) and cholesterol, ECG, LFT, KFT, eye, bone dental checkup etc every quarter. In addition, the subscription to “Healthy Aarogya” includes two monthly “teleconsultations” with a routine doctor, available free of cost, giving the common public the luxury of the family doctor.

The first society where it was launched was Shipra Suncity Indrapuram, where they conducted health checkup camps for a society of over 3000 families. The camp also includes quarterly medical camps. E.g. For a society of 1000 people, the price for a medical checkup would be INR49 per family with a maximum of five members. The services can be opted by urban communities, working and hostel Individuals at almost an average of INR10 per person in a month, which can be minimally paid through society maintenance charges, employee benefits etc.

The services will give you a real-time personal diagnosis of lifestyle changes, benefiting to evade the probability of more extensive medical distress in the future. Health Aarogya is creating a revolution in healthcare, preparing the nation for a lifestyle that is pandemic ready. MY LYF CARE app also has the fastest 30 min deliveries in Delhi NCR, like Zomato or grofers for medicines.

MY LYF CARE was designed and developed after Mr. Satish Singh realized the lack of robust medical infrastructure in India, especially regarding services in rural parts. So, with the mission to help make healthcare more accessible to all Indians, he established MY LYF CARE.

business

Fearing erosion of trust in digital payments, industry bodies urge the Reserve Bank of India to extend the card-on-file tokenization deadline

Dec 22, 2021 by Gouri 0 Comments #Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF), #card-on-file tokenization deadline, #digital payments, #Reserve Bank of India, #Sijo Kuruvilla George, #The Merchant Payments Alliance of India (MPAI), #Vishal Mehta

The Merchant Payments Alliance of India (MPAI) and the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) have together voiced their concerns over industry readiness on the recent Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directive on card-on-file tokenization (CoF) and have written to the Central bank requesting an extension of the December 31 deadline for implementation of card data storage norms.

While the RBI’s objective of ensuring security and reducing fraud from the payment ecosystem through this policy change is a step in the right direction, MPAI and ADIF have in their letter highlighted several operational challenges that will hinder the transition to the token-based payments ecosystem.

This policy change affects three major players: banks, intermediary payment systems, and merchants. “Merchants cannot start the testing and certification of their payment processing systems until banks, card networks, and PA/PGs are certified and live with stable APIs for consumer-ready solutions,” the joint letter noted.

The two bodies have sought a phased implementation of the new mandate, a minimum time frame of six months for merchants to comply post readiness of banks, card networks, and payment aggregators/payment gateways, as well as the generation of consumer awareness about the impact of the policy change. They highlight that RBI regulated entities are not prepared, in the absence of a hard mandate to comply.

The RBI had in September 2021 prohibited merchants from storing customer card details on their servers with effect from January 01, 2022, and mandated the adoption of CoF tokenization as an alternative to card storage. MPAI and ADIF believe that if implemented in the present state of readiness, the new RBI mandate could cause major disruptions and loss of revenue, especially for merchants. According to the letter, “Disruptions of this nature erode trust in digital payments and reverses consumer habits back towards cash-based payments.”

MPAI and ADIF are of the view that ‘ecosystem readiness’ is a sequential process of going live with stable API documentation for tokenized transactions. Moreover, in the joint letter, they have highlighted that the digital payments ecosystem is a long way from consumer-ready solutions and that the implementation of tiered timelines for compliance will help minimize disruption to consumer services. Unless regulated entities are compliant, merchants will not be able to successfully process tokenised transactions.

According to Sijo Kuruvilla George, Executive Director, Alliance of Digital India Foundation, “In the scenario that banks are lax on preparedness, the brunt of that will be borne by merchants in the form of loss of revenue – we are looking at revenues losses of anywhere between 20-40% at the minimum should that be the case. It’s also important to note that it’s only after the readiness of bank, card networks and API’s are made available that merchants are even able to take effective measures on their part to comply.”

According to Vishal Mehta, Chair of the Governing Council of the MPAI, “This unpreparedness will impact recent digital payments adopters even deeply. The frequency and intensity of phishing attempts will go as entire card details are to be entered for each transaction, causing a significant increase in irreversible fraudulent transactions.”

business

TiE Mumbai conducts over 200+ engagements with Startups & Entrepreneurs, enabling and mentoring them

Dec 22, 2021 by Gouri 0 Comments #Amit Mookim, #Entrepreneurs, #government incubators, #Special interest groups (SIG), #Startups, #TiE Mumbai, #TiE Women Global Pitch Competition

At TiE Mumbai, this year was yet another year where the association continued with its virtual engagements although a few forums were created where people could meet physically whenever possible. TiE Mumbai has successfully completed about 200+ engagements on varied themes along with entrepreneurs and VCs and had connected nearly 10,000 people in some way during these events. Interestingly the mix of these engagements and outreaches have been different and varied when compared to the last years.

One of the key themes that TiE Mumbai emphasized a lot, is creating Masterclasses, which are building models for expert-based learning. The focus of these masterclasses was to create new angel investors. TiE Mumbai had several masterclasses run by prolific angel investors and which saw great participation as well as feedback.

“This year, TiE Mumbai added 150+ angel investors into the network. Our charter member base grew by over 30% and we increased our active member base by over 40%. TiE Mumbai has engaged with more than 10,000 people through its engagements. “said Amit Mookim, President, TiE Mumbai.

TiE Mumbai is also partnering with the government incubators like the STPI, where they are working on an incubation program. As a part of the program, jury members from the TiE network evaluate startups who are signing up for these incubation programs.

“I am hoping that in 2022 the connect and the engagement with the government incubators as well as their initiatives will gain more momentum,” added Amit Mookim.

As a part of its focus on Special interest groups (SIG), TiE Mumbai has SIGs on Healthtech, Fintech, Food and Retail already in place. Given its relevance in the community, TiE Mumbai intends to focus on two other specific SIGs, that is Blockchain and sustainability in the coming year. During this year, the association ran a marquee event for Healthcare, which was extremely well attended. It had participation from not only Indian entrepreneurs, corporates and VC, but also from the global network. TiE had speakers and investors both from the Valley and Europe. It had a high level of participation and engagement with close to 2000 people attending the Summit.

During the year, TiE Mumbai also ran several networking and mentoring programs. Close to 60 mentoring sessions were conducted where about 30 mentors from the TiE network mentored 60-65 founders.

TiE Mumbai has started working with Corporates more closely. TiE Mumbai designs, develops and executes corporate and startup engagement programs that help both scale their tech, digital and product offering faster to customers. This has proved to be immensely successful and TiE Mumbai looks forward to continuing this momentum in the next year as well.

On the Global front, TiE Mumbai has actively supported the TiE Women Global Pitch Competition. A woman entrepreneur representing TiE Mumbai was the finalist in this competition to support entrepreneurship.

Activities planned for 2022

TiE Mumbai is working on an Impact report, which is planned to be launched early next year. It will be a summarization and a depiction of how Mumbai plays an important role in the Startup ecosystem and will provide for further acceleration for bringing in and growing some of these Startups in Mumbai itself. The focus of this report is on the areas of Media and entertainment, Fintech, Healthcare and Wellnesstech and Sportstech.
TiE Mumbai’s flagship event, TiE Con 2022 is being planned for April 2022. This may not be a purely virtual event and efforts are being made to plan it as a global event.
With a network of 50,000 entrepreneurs on its database, a high profile of charter members and board members and years and hours of content, TiE Mumbai is planning to build on its physical assets. It intends to launch an initiative next year to create a community and plans to drive a lot more content digitally through these communities. This platform will enable these communities to interact and benefit from each other.

business

ICICI Bank to grow its retail loan disbursement in Rajasthan by 35% to over Rs. 15,500 crore in FY’22

Dec 22, 2021 by Gouri 0 Comments #Bagch, #ICICI Bank, #Rajasthan, #retail loan disbursement, #Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs)

ICICI Bank today announced that it continues to strengthen its retail franchise in Rajasthan through a host of digital initiatives and customer-centric approach. These initiatives are likely to grow the Bank’s retail loan disbursement in the state by 35% to over Rs. 15,500 crore in the financial year 2022, compared to last year.

In a virtual interaction with the media, Mr. Anup Bagchi, Executive Director, ICICI Bank, said: “We continue to strengthen our franchise, delivery and servicing capabilities, with a range of digital initiatives. Our endeavour is to create holistic value propositions for our customers through a 360-degree customer-centric approach and focus on opportunities across client and segment ecosystems, and micro-markets. We have created cross-functional teams to bring the benefit of the entire bank to all customers.”

Major segments of retail loans such as mortgage loans, consumer loans, business loans and overdrafts are set to grow at a rapid pace in the state this financial year. The Bank’s expects to leverage its technological prowess to achieve growth by expanding its mortgage loans disbursement by 50% to Rs. 4,200 crore and consumer loans by 30% to Rs. 4,100 crore. The Bank will also grow business loans, overdrafts and commodity-based financing disbursement by 50% to Rs. 4,600 crore.

Talking about mortgage loans, Mr. Bagchi added, “The pillars of the growth strategy are digital and instant sanctions of loans, expansion in the affordable housing segment, strengthening the team and emphasising on the self-employed segment. Our facility to offer instant home loan approval digitally—the countries first—helps lakhs of our pre-approved customers as they get the sanction letter immediately. Within the mortgage portfolio, the Bank has expanded its teams in branches of prominent and upcoming locations like Bikaner, Sri Ganganagar, Kishangarh, Rajsamand, Nimbahera, Hanumangarh, Dausa, Ratangarh and Pali among others. All these initiatives are expected to help the mortgage loan disbursement grow in Rajasthan by 50% to Rs. 4,200 crore in FY’22, compared to F’Y21.”

Talking about business loans and overdrafts, Mr. Bagchi said, “We believe, businesses and self-employed individuals are the backbones of our society. We are the first bank to digitise an array of services for businesses at every stage of their lives. The Bank provides working capital and term loan financing to businesses across the state. Further, we offer a slew of state-of-the-art digital facilities; some of them are first-of-their-kind. The list includes instant current accounts, instant overdraft facility, business loans based on GST returns, digital platforms like ‘InstaBIZ’ app for businesses, internet banking for businesses and corporates, and Trade Online, a platform to carry out export-import transactions, among others. We believe all our digital facilities enable businesses to transact seamlessly and help them grow to their maximum potential.”

The Bank’s expansion focus is also on micro-markets like handicrafts and furniture in Jodhpur, stone/marble in Kishangarh, Jewellery in Jaipur, textile in Pali and agricultural commodities mandis in Baran, Tonk, Bikaner, Nokha and Sri Ganganagar. To drive this growth, the Bank has expanded the number of credit processing centres in Jaipur, Bhilwara and Jodhpur from three to 10 in the last one year or so.

On consumer loans, Mr. Bagchi said, “We offer customers digital and instant consumer loans. Our instant personal loan solution enables lakhs of pre-approved customers to get the money in their account instantaneously after applying through the internet / mobile banking platform. Currently, 50% of our personal loan disbursement in the state is through digital channels. Further, we have seen a good uptick in tier II and III towns like Ajmer, Alwar, Barmer, Baran and Bundi along with top cities like Jodhpur and Udaipur for personal loans from both salaried as well as self-employed individuals. Additionally, we have digitally integrated with key OEMs (car manufacturers) to offer instant and online car financing options to customers. Our focus for auto loans will be on emerging markets of tier II and III cities like Bharatpur, Pali, Barmer, Nagaur, Kotputli, Rajsamand and Banswara along with the top cities like Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota and Udaipur.”

ICICI Bank also collaborates with various government departments to facilitate digital services for the citizens of the state. These include digital solutions for the collection of tender fees, property tax, utility (like electricity, water) bills, and web-based solutions to make online payments to vendors and DBT (Direct Beneficiaries Fund Transfer) among others.

About initiatives on empowering rural areas in the state

ICICI Bank has also undertaken several initiatives within the financial inclusion space. The Bank is supporting the entrepreneurial spirit of rural women of Rajasthan by its Self Help Group (SHG) programme. The Bank is the largest lender to SHGs in Rajasthan with a market share of 45% (FY’21). The Bank has cumulatively disbursed loans to over 76,000 SHGs comprising nearly 10 lakh women in the state. The Bank has also opened nearly 22 lakh zero balance accounts for the underprivileged in the state.

In the rural segment, the Bank offers various lending solutions like Kisan Credit Card (KCC), loans for farm equipment and SHGs. The lending in rural areas is done 100% digitally with the TAB based ‘Express Agri’ application. It ensures faster turnaround time as it reduces re-work and movement of physical documents. The Bank also offers pre-qualified KCC to the existing customers. Additionally, the Bank conducts financial literacy programme for rural customers in the state for enhancing financial inclusion.

ICICI Group has also been actively involved in imparting free-of-cost vocational training to the underprivileged youth through ICICI Academy for Skills. The Academy had set up its first centre in Jaipur in 2013 and ever since, has imparted vocational training to over 19,500 underprivileged youth in Rajasthan.

Further, ICICI Foundation operates two Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) at Udaipur and Jodhpur along with 20 satellite centres to provide vocational training and placement support to people from marginalised communities. Since its inception, over 120,000 individuals have been trained through these RSETIs.

The Bank has an extensive footprint across the state with nearly 490 branches and nearly 680 ATMs, creating a retail network of nearly 1,170 touchpoints, the largest among private sector banks in the state. The Bank also services remote villages in the state that were hitherto unbanked, through its network of Customer Service Points (CSP) by Business Correspondents.

business

Quixy Ranked #1 No-Code Business Process Management Platform (BPM) for a Straight 3rd Time in G2’s Winter 2022 Momentum Report

Dec 22, 2021 by Gouri 0 Comments ##1 No-Code Business Process Management Platform (BPM), #Quixy, #Vivek Goel

Quixy, a cloud-based no-code Enterprise Application Development platform, has been ranked Quixy ranked #1 No-Code Business Process Management (BPM) Platform for a straight 3rd time in a row with the latest G2’s Winter 2022 Momentum Report.

Quixy

In addition to the BPM category, Quixy has also been rated #1 No-Code Application Development, Workplace Innovation, and Drag and Drop App Builder Platform.

The Momentum Grid recognitions from G2 emphasize the growth trajectory that products had in their respective areas of operation in the previous year. “The Momentum Grid highlights products that are on a high-growth trajectory based on customer satisfaction evaluations, staff growth, and digital presence,” according to G2.

The Momentum Grid data provides users with a better knowledge of the goods that offer new technology and solutions that expand with the demands of the client.

To add to this achievement, Quixy has also earned community review badges for “Highest User Adoption”, “Easiest Admin”, “Best Meets Requirements”, “Best Usability”, “Best Results” and “Most Implementable”.

Quixy has received similar recognition from G2 in its Summer and Fall momentum reports. The platform was ranked No #1 in three categories, namely, No-code Development, Business Process Management, and Workplace Innovation, and have reviewed several community reviews badges.

Quixy distinguishes itself from the competition by offering an ‘Advanced No-Code Platform’, which enables business customers to create complex and comprehensive enterprise-grade apps without writing any code. Quixy, which was founded in 2019, now serves clients globally in over fifteen business verticals, each with its own set of needs and use-cases.

“The receiving of these awards and recognition three times in a row demonstrates Quixy’s growing market presence and customer delight and also provides a sense of accomplishment for all our dedicated efforts. These awards are a step up towards our ultimate goal of transforming enterprises around the world by eliminating manual and repetitive processes through the democratization of software development with Quixy’s advanced no-code platform,” said Mr. Vivek Goel, Vice President of Marketing at Quixy.

Earlier this year, Quixy has also been named in Gartner’s Voice of Customer Report for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms (LCAP) and Forrester’s Now Tech Report for General-Purpose Low-Code Development Platforms. Quixy has also been included in Gartner’s Market Guide for BPA tools published earlier this month.

business

CITTA Baby Products Marry the Gift Of Ancient Wisdom With Modernity

Dec 22, 2021 by Gouri 0 Comments ##Dadi Nani Ke Nuskhe, #Ancient Wisdom, #CITTA, #CITTA Baby Products

Inspired by the traditions and knowledge of childcare passed down by grandmothers to mothers, the #Dadi Nani Ke Nuskhe is what CITTA’s range of baby care products pride in. Powered by the prestigious Lexicon Group of Institutions (Pune), this homegrown brand brings to millennial parents specially curated baby products for the age groups of 0-5 years. Working on the principle of ‘Tradition backed by Science’ all CITTA products are a culmination of painstaking research into rituals, customers and best practices in baby-rearing and caring. Therefore, each one has been designed with thought and age-old wisdom married with state-of-the-art technology and natural Indian ingredients.

Keeping in mind the tender and fragile skin of babies and toddlers, CITTA’s formulations are Safe and Tested that work well for the fast-paced demanding self-sustained life of millennial couples today. That is why, they are developed using natural ingredients and are guaranteed free of parabens, sulphates, silicones, mineral Oil and allergens. Keeping the motto of transparency as a way to serve each parent, CITTA mentions each ingredient clearly on its packaging.

Whether it is the various natural oils, or the oat silk, or the multiple extracts, each one of them has been combined with precision in a controlled environment and have received all the safety approvals.

Ranging from hair and body cleansers to massage and oiling products for babies CITTA has introduced 11 SKUs that are dermatologist approved, plumed with skin-friendly pH, using good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) that are cruelty-free. This is one reason that the CITTA range of baby-friendly products are already being appreciated by parents from all strata of society.

The bestsellers Baby Balm aka (body butter) for example is loaded with the goodness of Shea butter, which fights dryness and provides deep nourishment to a baby’s skin. It is a soft and supple anti-microbial formula that guarantees longer-lasting moisturization due to its unique blend of 7 nourishing oils that provides nourishment, protection and replenishment and the love of natural antioxidants. The Talc-Free Baby powder is an incredible combination of oat milk and corn starch that prevents rashes and itchiness with a supreme absorption capacity and allows its skin-friendly pH properties to help your baby’s skin stay fresh throughout the day.

Similarly, the specially formulized Baby oil is an amazing amalgamation of 12 nourishing oils. Because of this, natural nourishment to the skin is guaranteed with long-lasting effects, protecting a baby’s tender skin. Non-allergic, non-sticky, a fragrance-free formula, the Nourishing Baby Oil is anti-microbial Anti-inflammatory. Other products include CittaTender Foaming Baby Wash, Moisturizing Baby Balm, Soothing Talc Free Baby Powder, Nourishing Baby Massage Oil, Gentle Foaming Baby Shampoo No Tears, to name a few.

Apart from e-retail platforms, the products are now available in 130 and more top medical stores across Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad.

news

Sankalp provided 2000 blankets to homeless, street dwellers catalyzing warmth and good sleep

Sankalp provided 2000 blankets to homeless, street dwellers catalyzing warmth and good sleep.-pic 2

Sankalp, citizens lead humanitarian initiative of staff of Sathguru Management Consultants donated blankets to 2000(two thousand) beggars who spend their nights on roadsides, at bus stands, railway platforms, footpaths and other public places disclosed Ms. Hemalatha Vijayaraghavan, founder of Sankalp in a press note issued in the city today.

With temperatures falling at the fag end of the year, severe cold wave grips Hyderabad for the past couple of days. And it is likely to continue for some more time. With minimum temperatures settling in the single-digit for the last many days, the streetside dwellers have a tough time catching up on good sleep.

The Sankalp team has been distributing the blankets for the past three weeks or so.

The Sankalp Team expressed “We had an amazing experience and thoroughly enjoyed the Joy of Giving and the happiness on the receiver’s face. Our heartfelt appreciation to the donors in supporting this initiative”.

According to The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) city has more than 30000 beggars who spend their nights on roadsides. The only protective warm clothes they have to keep themselves warm during the winter night are old plastic or jute bags, plastic covers and flex banner sheets.

To ensure warm sleep to homeless and street dwellers, Sankalp, Hyderabad organized an annual blanket donation drive. They have been doing it every winter for years.

Again this year, Sankalp has mobilized contributions from several generous donors and have provided the needy with soft blankets and enabled them to protect themselves from cold during winter nights.

Sankalp team members have been going around the streets of Hyderabad at midnight and have identified the street dwellers sleeping without any protection and covered them with warm blankets. Sankalp has visited bus stands, railway stations, metro stations, footpaths, hospitals, temples and other public areas where beggars and homeless labourers normally spend their night on the streets and have covered the underprivileged with quality blankets.

Sankalp has reached out to more than 2000 street dwellers this year.

Sankalp provided 2000 blankets to homeless, street dwellers catalyzing warmth and good sleep.

The various locations covered are Bus Stands, Railway Stations& Traffic Signals – MGBS & city busstandAfzaljung, Kachiguda, Secunderabad, Begumpet, KPHB, Clocktower, Miyapur, Lingampally, Malakpet, Chotuppal, Trimulgherry, Bolarum, Hospitals – Osmania, Gandhi, Mahaveer, Nilofer, MNJ, LVPEI, Cancer, Sarojini Devi & below metro platforms, Temples & slums in the city where people had no proper houses to live in. This year we also reached out to the needy in Hanuman Junction & Vijayawada.

The Sankalp Team involved in this initiative are Hemalatha, Rajeswari, Murali Mohan, Srinivas Indrakanti, Ramakrishna, Priyanka Patkar, Srinivas P, Lakshman Rao, Zohaib, Prasad Babu& Ashwini. Volunteers include Vijayaraghavan – CEO, Veerababu, Rahul Y, Abhishek Sharma, Sadwika, Vishwas, Sai Sowrab, Aditya Manu, Tarini, Surya, Sunil & Prasanna

As Hyderabad is reeling under severe cold, more should help the needy beat the cold. Give them warm blankets to fight the bitter chill this winter.