Acharya Atre Katta, Thane is an open platform operating for the last 23 years to highlight the pioneering work of unsung heroes in widespread fields from literature, Theatre, Cinema, Sports, Fine Arts, Social work, LGBTQs, Healthcare etc. As of now over 1300 personalities have graced the Katta to spread awareness about their field of work.
Since last year, this platform has taken a step further in selecting and felicitating personalities and organizations who have been the torch bearers of making a change in the social fabric of our nation.
On 4th May,2024, Atre Katta honoured Vidyadaan Sahayyak Mandal, which is working in supporting needy & deserving students from rural areas of Maharashtra for last 15 years through its unique model of “Transformation through Mentoring”.
Ms. Geeta Tai Shah humbly accepted the award and assured VSM’s continued commitment in the field of education.
To continue the legacy of Social Work (SW) team of VSM, the World Social Work Day 2024 was celebrated on Tuesday 19th March 2024 as an online event. This year’s theme was “BUEN VIVIR: shared future for transformative Change”. All Social Work students documented text stories that depicted transformative change and out of them 22 were converted into audio visual format of 3-7 minutes.
Vinayak Kakad, a BSW student anchored the entire session very effectively. Dhanashri Abhyankar, KP and core team member SW team, explained the objectives and process of making success stories whereas, Meena Gokhale, Lead, SW team presented overall review of all 22 videos. Ashwajit Jamgade and Sharada Dungalwar shared their experiences and learning during making of the videos. This was followed by speech by the Chief Guest, Mr. Virendra Chitrav, Festival Director, Critic and orator who explained the evolution of media over last thirty years and its nature and importance in today’s life. He emphasised that India has an advantage of having young population and the youngsters who are sensitive and creative can use this media very effectively to express and share. He declared the three winning videos which were screened in the session. The session ended with vote of thanks by Ram Deshpande, core team member of SW team. The three winning students are
- Sanskruti Dalvi, BSW III year- Nirmala Niketan, Mumbai video – Cycle Library
- Payal Kawate, M. A. I year, TISS, Tuljapur, Video- Tichi gosht
- Ram Shende- M. A. I year, Nirmala Niketan, Mumbai- Nandadeep
VSM congratulates winning students and thank Chief guest, Mr. Virendra Chitrav for engaging conversation with the SW students.
VSM Science team recently conducted the event titled “Rainbow of Revolutions”. The event participated by 85 participants, aimed to throw light on key revolutions in India, including the Green, White, Yellow, Blue, Golden, Silver, and Black, through engaging presentations and a quiz for participants. The participants truly enjoyed the event and found this concept very novel.
We are glad to share that, Ms. Geeta Tai Shah, the Founder and Trustee of Vidyadaan Sahayyak Mandal (VSM Thane) was recently felicitated by Dainik Nav Kesari during their 16th Vardhapandin Sohala for the noteworthy contribution in the field of Education.
Dainik Nav Kesari, a leading daily news website channel, also supporting the social cause, felicitates noteworthy contributions of individuals across 20 categories including Education every year.
This year’s award ceremony was honoured by the presence of MLA Shree Sanjayji Kelkar as the Chief Guest who praised VSM’s work in supporting needy, deserving and underprivileged students in pursuing their dreams of higher education.
Ms. Geeta Tai Shah humbly accepted the award and assured VSM’s continued commitment in the field of education.
Trained Nurses Association of India, Maharashtra State Branch conducted the Biannual State Students Nurses Association of India (SNAI) Conference at Nashik on 12th and 13th October 2023. 11 VSM Nursing students attended the conference and participated in the various competitions held during those two days and won several prizes.
Dhruvi Desai won 3rd prize in psychiatric Nursing poster competition and in rangoli competition.
Ketaki Nanaware and Neha Bhoir participated in a group dance competition and won 3rd prize.
Laxman Dhaygude participated in the MR SNAI competition.
Sayali Jadhav participated in a dance competition and panel discussion topic: “Empowering Nursing Students: Prospects and Challenges “
Komal Shelar participated in Group dance competition and Rangoli competition.
The two days conference was very fruitful for the VSM students. They were able to interact with other students could observe the other participants’ presentations.
The participation of Vidyadaan Sahayyak Mandal in Dan Utsav 2.0 organised by Manuski Foundation (Aurangabad) where 21 NGOs were invited to showcase their noble work has had a deep impact on our students. They offered us a platform to exhibit our work and take a big step to spread our wings in Marathwada region which was necessary. Our branch at Aurangabad was inaugurated in the year 2020 however, due to pandemic, we could not reach people physically on a large scale.
Dan Utsav was a great opportunity as over 500 people visited VSM stall and approximately 200 people showed keen interest in our work. Our alumni students and our currently aspiring students gave wonderful presentations about our ‘mentee/mentor’ model which captivated a lot of people’s attention. We wish to stay indebted to team Manuski Foundation for giving this opportunity. We express our sincere gratitude towards everyone who had worked tirelessly day and night into making this event possible to be a successful one. We hope to keep growing with all the support and motivation and promise to keep on working with dedication, enthusiasm and conviction.
On 16th April 2023, VSM Commerce Career team in collaboration with Success Academy, a renowned coaching class of Wasind, conducted a Career Guidance Camp for the 11th and 12th standard commerce students with the purpose to introduce various career options to select the proper path towards their career.
Approximately 200 students have attended and took advantage of the session.
In the Career Guidance Session along with traditional Commerce courses, the information about other Professional Courses, Self-financing courses especially emerging BBA course with various specialization, Bachelor of vocational courses in BFSI segment, Diploma and Certified Courses in Tally, ERP, Excel, Travel & Tourism and Hotel Management was provided. Information about the competitive exams for the Public and Private Banks and other Govt. organisation was also given.
Few VSM students shared their experience having successful career with the support of VSM.
On this auspicious day of Gudi Padwa, Kopineshwar Trust, Thane organized procession known as “Nav-Varsha Swagat Yatra” in Thane.
Vidyadaan Sahayyak Mandal (VSM) participated in this event for the first time this year. 70+ Alumni students, current students and Karyakarta Palaks (KPs) participated in this procession and spread the good word of “Saksham Vidyarthi, Saksham Rashtra” through uniquely decorated “Gudi”, which gathered attention among people.
The renowned Manashakti Research Center, Lonavala, felicitated Geeta Shah, Founder and Managing Committee member of VSM Thane in January 2023 as a part of Manashakti Mind Gym, Sanman Satkutyacha (Honouring Charity) – an unique program of gratitude to society.
Manashakti Research Center, established by Swami Vijnananand, helps people achieve tension-free success and peace of mind through scientific means and social welfare activities.
VSM Pune branch monthly meeting on October 16th turned out to be a special event due to presence of Indian Bank Officials: Mr P.V. Prasad (Zonal Manager, Indian Bank) and Mr Santosh Ahuja (Marketing Manager, Indian Bank Pune) and handing over of 6 laptops by them to VSM students as a part of Indian Bank CSR initiative.
3 students from VSM Pune – Ankush Matre, Tushar Suroshe (Engineering) and Chhagan More (B.Sc. Comp Science) – were given the laptops with required configuration. Remaining 3 laptops will be given to VSM Thane students who are in need of such configuration.
Mr Prasad was very appreciative of the efforts VSM is taking in helping the needy & deserving students and also commended VSM for incurring just 5% admin cost.
The students will be immensely benefited by this valuable donation by Indian Bank. This noble gesture will go a long way in addressing the need of VSM students and timely support to them.
We are grateful to Indian bank and hope that this collaboration will continue in years to come.
After a pause of two years due to the global pandemic, VSM celebrated its first offline event on 22nd May 2022 at Thane on the occasion of VSM Library Day.
VSM Library Day is an event conceived by our beloved Library Team to develop a conducive environment for the young readers of VSM. Hosted excellently by students Namrata Dinkar and Krishna Kashid, the event was attended by 65 students and volunteers this year. To everyone’s delight, the event started with a candid talk by Mr Ram Deshpande, a veteran social development practitioner, about the world of books. It was followed by an elocution and poetry recital competition. Students shared their thoughts about their favourite books, and also recited poems penned by themselves! The first prize for elocution was bagged by Varsha Khade, and the first prize for the poem recital was shared by Ashish Telangur and Aditi Tantak. The competitions were judged by Mr Anil Londhe and Mrs Anjali Joshi.
Ending the day on a high, the Library team then announced a surprise competition ‘Vaachan Dhyaas’. Sulakshana Upwad was felicitated as the winner, having read the most number of books during the previous year. Meeting each other in person after a long time, the excitement of everyone made the event even brighter.
Keeping up with the global theme of ‘Only One Earth’, VSM Science Team celebrated World Environment Day on 5th June 2022 which was attended by 89 students. With the slogan of ‘Think Clean, Give Green’, the event focused on sensitizing students about various facets of living sustainably in harmony with nature.
Ms. Vinita Dhupkar started the session with an informative yet engaging presentation on ‘Know Your Carbon Footprint’. She not only briefed students about the meaning of individual carbon footprint and its importance but also informed them about different mobile apps available to track individual carbon footprint. The session was continued by Mr. Uday Awasare, who discussed the importance of nuclear energy as clean energy and the pros and cons of its applications in near future. Later, VSM’s very own student Vrushabh Gajbiye, pursuing Masters’s in Environmental Sciences, talked about the ‘Zero Waste Concept’. Making the session more interesting, he demonstrated a case study of Vijaynagar Society, where this concept is carried out successfully.
Ms. Vinita Dhupkar summed up the event with a humble request to everyone to keep one resolution for the upcoming year regarding the protection of the environment. The event was very well received by the students. Few representative reactions by students:
“Immediately after the session, I downloaded a carbon footprint app and measured my carbon footprint.” Trupti Shedarkar, B.Tech. Food Technology
“I liked the theme of attempting to turn the theme ‘only one earth’ into reality and considering the whole world. I want to include carbon footprint reduction and zero waste into my own behaviour.” Omkar Dalvi, B.Tech. Food Technology
“I found the event wonderful and helpful. Our existence depends on Environment and we should respect it.” Shubham Isame, B.Sc. Biotech
For decades, the Maharogi Seva Samiti, founded by the late Baba Amte, has worked to improve the lives of the underprivileged, tribal, and leprosy patients. Through sheer dedication and hard work, this organisation has transformed their lives and made them self-sufficient. Every year in the second week of May, Maharogi Seva Samiti organises a Shramasanskar Chhavani (Camp) at Somnath near Chandrapur district, Maharashtra where participants learn the value of labour culture and how to use it to create something new for the needy.
VSM has been nominating students to Somnath and other social camps for several years. It’s our sincere effort to ensure that every student during his / her tenure with VSM gets an opportunity to attend at least one such shibir (camp) to truly get a flavor of,
A ) importance of work and teamwork and
- B) ground realities of the down-trodden / under-privileged especially in the remotest parts of the country
Adjusting to community living , experiential education, learning to appreciate the human values, skill development, enhancing leadership qualities and resilience are additional benefits from such camps.
This year’s Somnath camp was particularly exciting for the students as it was happening after a gap of ~2years due to Covid restrictions. Almost 50 VSM students across the career streams and one Karyakarta Palak were able to participate in this year’s Somnath camp and have returned with a conviction to contribute to the society. Following their return from the camp, VSM organised an online meeting [Shibiratoon Malaa Kaay Gavasale] for the participants to share their camp experiences, and takeaways. It was an incredible experience to hear the learnings of the students and going through their Somnath camp reports.
We, at VSM, make sure that our students are socially responsible citizens and believe, there is no better way for our students to learn these aspects than by participating in such camps.
The World Social Work Day recognizes the hard work and diligence of social workers throughout the world. We celebrated it by organizing a STEP (Social work Theory to Effective Practice) Conference on 27th March 2022 bringing together ~150+ audiences comprising of social work students and social work professionals from all over Maharashtra.
Our goal was to bring together bright minds to share ideas focused to foster learning, and to provoke conversations that matter. Moreover, the Conference aspired to get an insight from various eminent speakers and panelists on the divide between social work knowledge and practice, the ways to narrow this divide and how to enhance the capabilities of Social Work students. The full day (10am-4pm) virtual event was curetted by the Social Work team of VSM.
Highlights of the event
- Inaugural speech by Dr. Prashant Narnavare, IAS, Commissioner of Social Welfare & Justice, Pune
- 3 Keynote speeches, 6 eminent panelists
- Social Work students’ presentations
- Gallery walk of students’ e-posters
- Several interactive opportunities and Q&A sessions
“Artistry” from Pune had organised a novel, but different kind of an event called “Dene Samajache ” at Thane on 26th and 27th February 2022. For the past 17 years “Artistry” has been successfully organising Dene Samajache event in Pune where various organisations/ working groups/ NGOs have been presenting the selfless work they have been doing for the Society thereby drawing the attention of common man and the Society at large towards the plight of the needy, poor and deserving section of people. This year, for the first time the event was held in Thane at the CKP hall. ~25 NGOs / working groups mostly from rural parts of Maharshtra participated in the event.
The event was inaugurated by noted Marathi writer, Professor Pravin Davane. In his Inaugural speech, Prof. Davane Sir lauded the efforts of Organisers and Participants in bringing awareness to the society that every member of the society as an individual owes something to Society.
VSM participated in this event with two major objectives:
- To expand the outreach to the Society / Potential donors by disseminating the work we are doing and
- To look for potential Volunteers / KPs
VSM stall was decorated with exhibits outlining the objectives and Vision of VSM. Proactive actions by VSM as an organisation to mitigate the challenges posed by COVID-19 were an important part of the Posters prepared for the event.
Such events give an opportunity to individuals to appreciate the good work and contribute in whatever way possible, be it by offering time or money or skills to them. VSM had more than 225 visitors to the stall of which many have shown interest to join the organization as volunteers/ mentors.
The event was different from usual exhibitions because nothing was there for “SALE ” but everything was there to feel the pain and misery a section of our society which was going through it. VSM had participated earlier in the event held at Pune (2019)
Dene Samajache, Thane event, 2022
Dene Samajache, Pune event, 2019