Students who leave their homes in the arid Marathwada and Vidarbha region and travel hundreds of miles to cities like Mumbai and Pune, are are often left out of government subsidies for drought victims. To remedy this, student leaders in Pune have come together to form ‘Student Helping Hands (SHH)’, a volunteer outfit.
The organisation, formed in 2015 by a group of seven student leaders, seeks to reduce financial distress by providing free meals for bright but needy students, bearing their travel expenses and helping pay their hostel and exam fees.
“I could not afford my first-year fees while pursuing my M.Sc. in Analytical Chemistry from the Abasaheb Garware College. The college and university authorities refused any waiver, urging me to seek help from government agencies. I gradually realised that despite numerous provisions for economic aid, few could be accessed by financially distressed students,” said Kuldeep Ambekar, a founding member of the SHH and leader of the student wing of the Loktantrik Janata Dal United.
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While parties and agencies may talk of providing employment to needy students, few took note of their daily needs in the form of fees or canteen expenses.
“Given the prohibitive cost of higher education in Pune, we decided to form an organisation with the exclusive aim of providing financial aid to deserving but economically-backward students from the drought-hit regions in the State,” said Mr. Ambekar, who hails from a farming family in drought-hit Bhoom Taluk in Osmanabad.
The SHH reaches out to philanthropically-minded individuals and corporations. “We thoroughly scrutinise deserving students to ensure that no one takes undue advantage of financial aid. Their details are then forwarded to interested parties and sponsors,” Mr. Ambekar said.
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In its fourth year, the outfit has drawn up a 12-point manifesto to be endorsed by the youth wings of all major political parties in the wake of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
“Student issues are often sidelined in the heat of political campaigning. This manifesto with its strong focus on overhauling traditional structures of imparting higher education seeks to make political parties accountable in resolving problems faced by needy students,” he said.
The SHH manifesto was endorsed on March 14 at a conclave of youth presidents from all political parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena and the Swabhimani Paksha among others.
“Through our manifesto, we urge universities to focus on imparting training to needy students studying from the rural hinterland that will help them secure employment. One of our points is a push towards vocational courses to enable such students, pursuing courses in big cities, to secure jobs after their studies,” Mr. Ambekar said.
Sandhya Sonawane, another founding member of the SHH and a member of the Nationalist Congress Party’s student wing, says till date, the SHH has secured financial help for nearly 250 students. Among these are 25 women students, whose parents are either labourers or indigent farmers.
“We are also expanding our focus to helping women students to complete their higher education by providing job counselling besides helping waive fees and improve living facilities in hostels,” Ms. Sonawane said.
The outfit has struck a chord with several individuals. In December last year, Sridhar Joshi, a city-based industrialist, celebrated his daughter’s wedding by setting up 10 scholarships for promising students from drought-hit talukas in Maharashtra.