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VOL. 12 NO. 11-12 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2015 www.civilsocietyonline.com /civilsocietyonline `50 haLL of fame 2015 WWWOOORRRKKKIIINNNGGG Dr Sudha Sinha in the ward for children suffering from cancer at FFFOOORRR IIINNNDDDIIIAAA the MNJ Hospital in Hyderabad ‘cORRuptION chIlD FRIeNDly stAtION Pages 10-11 Is AN AttAcK GOONj’s pIece OF clOth ON humAN th Pages 12-13 DIGNIty’ 12 cRutch WIth shOcKeRs... Anniversary Pages 16-17 Sanjiv Chaturvedi, winner of the speciAl issue jAcKFRuIt by the pAcKet Magsaysay, on Lead SponSor Page 18 cleaning up govt. Pages 8-9 pRODucts Pages 47-50 12 th Annual Issue Cvil Society is an Civil Society has I have been a sub - unusual magazine emerged as the best scriber to Civil Society touching upon and produced and most magazine and I have examining unusual readable magazine enjoyed reading it very issues. When the reporting on India's much. This is a unique world of journalism energetic and cre - publication giving seems to have been ative world of non- voice to ordinary citi - overtaken by commercial considera - governmental initiatives. Marked by zens who are not only dreaming of a tions, Civil Society stands out. All the high editorial quality Civil Society is better India but also working towards articles are well researched and the packed with fascinating reports and it. The magazine gives much hope analyses incisive. What is most columns on sustainable develop - and confidence that when civil society remarkable is the selection of topics ment strategies and solutions. No members participate in the functioning for presentation. These mostly relate one else offers such a wide window of society, a lot can be achieved. to aspects that are normally not in to India's effervescent civil society. touched upon by the media. One Nila Vora, Physician, Chicago Sanjaya Baru, Director for Geo-economics looks forward to each issue eagerly and Strategy, International Institute for as the content provides a lot of food Strategic Studies for thought. Anil Swarup, Secretary, Govt. of India ck ba y think d t the ee us wha F tell readers In these times when the media, both print and visual, are pro - I am an avid reader jecting all that is neg - NASVI shifted its base and a great admirer ative in our society, to Delhi in 2009 with of Civil Society for Civil Society brings in the mandate to get a over a decade now. positive energy, brim - Central law on street Civil Society is unique ming with hope. I consider this vendors. Civil Society in so many ways. The freshness as the single biggest magazine was the first incredible empathy asset of the magazine. The maga - to give space to the and the deep sensitivity of Umesh zine has brought to the fore vital cause. Through a continued process and Rita shows up on every page. issues considered by many as of capturing our activities to interviews Over the years, Civil Society has not beyond resolution. People definitely scoping our vision to listing compo - only engaged me but inspired me like to read such articles. I wish you nents of a possible Central law and with its stories of incredible human would compile all these articles and even to tracing the history of our endeavours, gamechanging social bring them out in a book format. I struggle, Civil Society magazine kept innovations and bold thought leader - take this opportunity to thank you for the fire burning for us. Had there not ship on issues related to planet to publishing the article on how we been Civil Society magazine, our people to policies. To me Civil could fight corneal blindness in the cause would not have got the much Society is not a magazine, it is a country. That was a real eye-open - needed initial push. Continuous cover - great movement, an inspiring mes - er. Also, a word of praise for Skymet age till the enactment of the law in sage and a profound mantra for considering how unreliable our 2014 February was of great help. We building a unique Indian civil society Meteorological Department is when hope to get the same support till the of our dreams. it comes to predictions on weather. law is implemented across India. R.A. Mashelkar, National Research Professor Dr Prashant Garg, Director of Education, Arbind Singh, National Coordinator, National & Chairman, National Innovation Foundation LV Prasad Eye Institute Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) 4 CIVIL SOCIETY, SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2015 voices Civil Society is more than just another I learnt of Civil Society at a conference on social entre - magazine. It is an honest and dedi - preneurship. The magazine has the ability to identify cated effort to bring good news out an issue or a person or an intervention while still nas - and share something which is hap - cent and not in the public eye and the courage to pening unnoticed. It is also an inspi - back it, which is a rare quality. ration for many in the space of devel - Another rare attribute is the intrepidness and the opment journalism simply as a case uprightness of the publication. Its publisher and I study of how you can carry on without succumbing became friends following our first chance meeting. Later the maga - to commercial considerations! zine was covering one of the social interventions being promoted by Anshu Gupta, Founder, Goonj my organisation, but refused to share with me the draft version, say - ing it would not be “journalistically honourable”. Civil Society went Civil Society has a distinctive and ahead with its uncompromised version, which I may add was out - unique position as a truly independ - standingly objective. That showed me that the various articles that we ent voice of societal engagement on read every month are not coloured. a wide spectrum of issues. At this Anurag Kashyap, IL&FS Social Inclusion Group juncture of its development cycle, India clearly needs such a voice. Vinayak Chatterjee, Chairman, Feedback Infra ck ba y think d t the ee us wha F tell readers In the early years after its founding I used to wonder how Civil Society survived. Public interest in civil society organisations and their work at that In times when the time was minimal. And here was a journal that was devoting all its atten - media are tion to studying the work of such organisations carefully and reporting on increasingly what and how they were doing! becoming more In the years since its founding it has acquired an enviable reputation for concerned with consistency, high production values, the research that goes into every maximising article, the meticulousness of its reporting and its standards of writing. It has become a advertising rev - reference work for NGO s that want to improve, new entrants with an idea, and increas - enue than providing unbiased ingly the information source for prospective funding agencies. reporting and unfettered views, Civil Society stands out as an It is not a public relations handout. It is objective in its reporting and does not give exemplary exception. As a regu - credit where it is not due. lar reader, I salute it for its Surendra L. Rao courage and tenacity in address - ing crucial issues which other - wise would be woefully neglect - Congratulations on completing 12 years in the publication of Civil ed. Carry on the good work. Society . We have been subscribers for the last five years and have Jug Suraiya, Senior Journalist observed the growing development in its narrative of the achieve - ments of ordinary people with extraordinary aspirations. Civil Society covers important What we like most about Civil Society is its positive outlook, national issues on health, water, grounded in the realities of this great country. Perhaps, what is dif - sanitation, livelihoods and relat - ferent in your approach is that while most journals highlight the ed areas in a format which is problems in our society you have chosen to focus on the solutions. Your stories of struggle, engaging and uplifting. innovation, idealism and social responsibility are a potent narrative in these critical times. Would you like to consider how you can reach a younger, school-going audience? Vishvesh Prabhakar, Management Consultant John & Anjoo Mason CIVIL SOCIETY, SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2015 5 12 th Annual Issue voices I just can’t believe that it’s been 12 long years IN THE LIGHT SAMITA RATHOR since the launch of this wonderful magazine. It still appears fresh and as relevant as it was at the time of its launch. I remember the early days of Civil Society . We were very happy to know of this initiative, as in those days Internet was not as easily available, and Civil Society provided much needed reliable, unbiased infor - mation on what is happening in a very professional manner. We have been subscribers to Civil Society since then and thoroughly enjoy reading every issue. Each issue presents new stories and highlights many wonderful people and initiatives. This has been a source of motivation. It makes us introspect and innovate. It also helps us in connecting with similar minded people. Even in this age of mobile apps and search Civil Society is an informative magazine covering various topics of engines, Civil Society is still very rele - our society. The magazine highlights the genuine efforts of many to vant due to its editorial efforts. I compli - improve our communities. I'm humbled and yet inspired by reading ment its editors and entire staff for this such stories! We subscribe to and share Civil Society magazine excellent publication. with children in our schools (www.seedschools.in) so they can learn about such efforts and are motivated to improve their com - Shantanu Dixit, Coordinator, Prayas munities.