Gopal Krishna Swamy is the founder-director of Purkal Youth Development Society (PYDS), a chari-table trust (estb.2003), operating in the village of Purkal (pop. 5,000) near Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The society manages several education and empow-erment programmes for the inhabitants of Purkal and neighbouring villages. Among them: Yuva Shakti, which offers full scholarships to over 300 first generation learners from socio-econo-mically disadvantaged households to study in private, English-medium schools in Dehradun or in its own learning centres, guidance, mentoring, meals and medical aid included.
Fully funded by Martek Morgan Finch, a full-service real estate company based in Newfoundland, Canada, PYDS also runs early learning centres under its Shishu Shakti programme providing learning, medical and comprehensive care to infants aged between two-four, and a community development pro-gramme which offers health and sanitation, environmental awareness and employment advice to the local population.
Newspeg. On December 18 last year, the first batch of 20 PYDS students successfully completed an adventure course at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi. Earlier, on November 25, five PYDS students were declared winners of the Design for Change School Challenge 2010, which attracted participation from 33 countries and over 300,000 schools. The quintet designed an environment-friendly burner using a motorcycle silencer that uses twigs and dry leaves instead of wood for cooking.
History. An economics postgraduate of Loyola College, Chennai, Swamy worked as an independent foreign exchange consultant in Mumbai until his retirement in 1996, when he moved to the sylvan surroundings of Purkal with his wife Chinni, who runs Purkal Stree Shakti Samiti — a women’s empowerment and employment programme.
In 1998 Swamy began tutoring four local students in math and English at his home, and funded their education in a local English-medium school. Soon the number of tuition seekers swelled and operations were shifted to a vacant cattle shed. With progressive grades impro-vement boosting the confidence of his students, and financial backing from friends and well-wishers, in December 2006 PYDS moved into its own learning centre comprising 13 classrooms, a well-stocked library, computer room, a laboratory, an office, as well as basketball, volleyball, and badminton courts. This institutionalisation was primarily funded by UB40, a UK-based rock band and Elan Computing, an IT recruitment company.
Direct speech. “Our focus is on bright students, particularly girl children with potential for holistic development. While this may sound elitist, nurturing outstanding talent within economically disadvantaged communities is crucial for the future of the nation,” says Swamy.
Future plans. As a next step towards consolidation of its operations, PYDS is all set to affiliate its sole learning centre with CBSE or CISCE so that Yuva Shakti students don’t have to write their board exams through other schools. “The numbers we mentor are small in relation to the student population in the community, but we believe if we shape a few young minds well, they will in turn become change agents in times to come. We invest narrow and deep, not broad and shallow,” says Swamy.
Wind in your sails!
Payal Mahajan (Gurgaon)