SPANDAN’s Appeal to COEP Alumni

It is now three years SPANDAN is doing various activities in and around COEP but still date we haven’t approached COEP alumni. Though when we started SPANDAN one of our objectives was to made a stage available to the COEP alumnus so that their combined effort can be channeled.

Until now we haven’t ask any help from alumni because before doing so we want to established ourselves completely. When I took SPANDAN rejuvenation task first thing that came in my mind was this is right time to aware the alumni about the functioning and plans of SPANDAN and how they can help us.
I was looking for such opportunity and it came to my way through the COEP alumni’s annual meet scheduled in Pune on 26th of this month. So when I headed towards the Pune on Saturday it was not an occasional visit to the town but I had mission in my mind.

I convinced the organizers that I should get 10 mins slot in the program. When I arrived for the program I came to know that due to lack of time they could only give me 5 mins. I agree on that and decided to deliver a compact speech.

Few highlights of the my speech of that evening

1.The various activities SPANDAN members have been doing last 3 years.
2.Which all problems we are facing.
3.What COEP alumni can do for us.

One of the major point I raised was ‘Hike of the fees after COEP getting autonomous’
I made them aware that annual fees of 30,000 is not a small amount esp for the students who came from the lower class families. I told them we are not opposing the hike in fees but at the same time care should be taken so that no one should deny from the opportunity to join COEP. I suggested them there should be tie up between COEP and Bank so that education loans should get available easily. Also I suggested them to start some need-based scholarships for such needy students. When I calculated the amount to start such scholarships the budget came around 6-7 Lakh and looking at the lack of funds available with alumni association I assured SPANDAN will take steps to raise some amount of this funds.

After my speech some of the two three alumni members approached me and shown willingness to work for SPANDAN I think that is something I achieved on that evening.
I request all the other alumnus of the COEP who I can’t reach on that day that if they feel they can do anything for the SPANDAN they should come ahead and join hands with the SPANDAN’s mission.
I am looking forward for your feedback and help.

Rejuvenating SPANDAN

Hello friends

SPANDAN recently completed three years of it's functioning. Though 3 years looks a long time but for an organization its growth is decided not on the basis of number of years of its functioning but the work it had executed and change it made. On this scale I feel SPANDAN is still in its childhood.

As last 9 months I was not able to contribute much towards the development of SPANDAN so I thought I will give my best to it in coming 2 months. In this two months I am planning to metamorphose SPANDAN and to rejuvenate it completely.

Present Situation and Problems

Number of members =35-40
Though the number looks good many of them are not self driven and they need to guide to participate in SPANDAN’s activities.

Major Problems

1. There is no proper organization structure in place which will make sure the work will go on smoothly.
2. The activities lack planning. The work is getting executed in ad hock manner.
3. There is no work that can be visible and tangible so for the entry level member it is difficult to decide what he can do.
4. As most of the members are students and always busy with their studies their bandwidth available is less.
5. At present the members are only from COEP hence activities depends on their schedule.
6. The group is not yet registered which creates limitation in fund generation and in execution of some activities also.
7. There is no corpus collected for the activities at presents funds are generated from the some working members.
8. There no tie up with the other NGOs or social groups apart from Akansha.
9. No centralized communication tool which make the group activities visible both internally and externally.
10. Many ideas and initiatives not get completed due to lack of the tracking and reporting.


Action Plan

After studying the above listed problems here I am ready with the action plan

1. Work on to decide the organization structure and registration procedure.
2. To identify the work so that the work is visible and tangible to the members.
3. To increase the member base and involve members apart from COEP students.
4. Tie up with the various organizations working in the areas of interest of SPANDAN and request them to contact SPANDAN for any assistance in their activities.
5. Fund generation fix target 1,000 00 Rs.
6. To identify the means in which fix corpus can be build and also to generate the regular funding.
7. To build a centralized communication tool (interactive website), which will help in internal, external communication and also bring transparency in SPANDAN’s functioning.

I will be working on this action plan over next 2 months and expect cooperation from all of you.
I will update you will the progress periodically.

About SPANDAN

A Bond With Society....Straight From Heart !!

SPANDAN is a group of dedicated youths, established in 2003 by the students of Government College of Engineering Pune to perform various social activities.

SPANDAN as its name suggest is the concern that originates straight from heart of every SPANDAN member towards the unprivileged section of the society to help them to come up.

SPANDAN strongly believes that if we help each other the world will be definitely a better place to live. As a member of the society we all should work for it’s betterment and this is a combined effort towards this!!


SPANDAN’s Philosophy

As a member of the society we are all indebted to it. We all have social responsibilities on our shoulder but due to our self-indulgence we tend to forget them and always blame other things for the various problems in and around us. Some people desperately want to do something for this society but they don’t know WHAT TO DO? And thus, though they have desire they can’t contribute.
SPANDAN’s aim is to generate awareness among the people about their social responsibility and make them available the STAGE through which they can serve to the society.In other words this is A BOND TOWARDS SOCIETY STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART of the people who want to contribute towards the society.

SPANDAN’S WORKING

SPANDAN is neither a group nor an organization with the hierarchy for the sake of control. We call it as STAGE as anyone who wants to contribute towards society come forward and use it as the platform. We have periodical meeting in which we discuss the status of work, plan our projects and discuss about the new ideas to improve our way of working.


Work Done by the SPANDAN

• The waste food distribution of the mess to the roadside people.
• Visits to remand home and various activities there.
• Visits to the Sasoon hospital for the counseling with the patients.
• Distribution of the fruits and sweets to the hospital patients.
• Blood donation camp in COEP.
• Tsunami relief fund collection.

Working with other NGO’s on their projects.