[Year in Review 2019] Meet 5 changemakers who made a difference this year

We live in an ever-changing world that demands everyone to be able to contribute to and adapt to change. However, bringing this change in the society is no easy feat. It starts with an individual’s will and desire to make a change to their present living situation.

From Prabha Devi improving the green cover in her village by planting an entire forest to IAS officer Devasena transforming dengue-infested area of Pedapalli district in Telangana to one of India’s cleanest districts, these changemakers are turning their ideas into impact.

SocialStory brings you five unsung changemakers who are bringing about an impact in their own way only because they want to see an improvement in the society they live in.

Prabha Devi

A 76-year-old native from Uttarakhand, Prabha Devi has planted an entire forest in her village. The green cover includes more than 500 trees of different species, including oak, rhododendron, cinnamon, soap nut (reetha), and more, reports Himalayan Ghat.

Prabha was married off at the early age of 16 and received no formal education. However, she now bursts with knowledge of how to take care of trees. Having learnt all the methods of plantation by herself, she is an expert on the terrain conditions and other details critical for tree growth.

Hailing from Palashat, a village in the Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, Prabha took up this initiative in her early years and still continues.

Speaking to The Logical Indian, she said,

“There was a steep increase in deforestation activities in and around our village. People wanted to construct new buildings or resorts after chopping trees and the entire ecosystem of forests was getting disturbed. I felt sad to see the forests being mercilessly cut down for fulfilling the materialistic needs of humans. My family had a small piece of land that was left uncultivated. I started planting trees on that land and even around my home. Now, it has turned into a dense forest, and I aim to plant more trees on barren land.”

Apart from the decreasing green cover, the depletion of underground water table was another major concern in her village. Prabha suggested planting trees of local species like Baanj in nearby regions to enhance the water holding capacity. The trees also served to provide fodder for cattle and were used in agro-based activities in the village that many locals relied upon.

These efforts have earned Prabha Devi the moniker of ‘Friend of Tree’ in her village.

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Abhishek Yadav

Twenty-seven-year-old Abhishek Yadav, a multi-discipline martial artist, started the 'Meri Raksha Mere Haathon Mein' campaign in 2007 to help people; especially women and girls across India, learn the art of self-defence.

Abhishek initially started training camps in schools. He then started training almost everyone - from police personnel and army personnel to young girls.

With his expertise in most forms of martial arts, he developed his own technique called Special Commando Technique, which he uses to train all his students. Through this technique, a girl can just hold a single finger of the molester and control his entire body.

Explaining the reason for his increased interest in women’s safety, he says: “The unfortunate Nirbhaya gang rape in 2012 shook the entire country. I was also shocked, but I also realised that my programme was a necessity for all girls and women out there. I wanted to make every individual strong enough to defend themselves in times of need.”

In 2015, Abhishek was awarded Yash Bharti Award, the youngest recipient to win the highest civilian award of the UP government. Abhishek also made it to the Limca Book of World Records for training 5,700 girls in self-defence techniques along with Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat in 2017.

The impact, he says, is quite visible. “There are many instances where girls have been able to defend themselves. Many local goons used to harass college girls, but after attending our training sessions, I hear the same students are now beating up those goons and standing up against them. Also, there was an incident of chain snatching, where the girl not only resisted but also fought back and saved herself.”

Raena Ambani

After realising India’s waste problem was getting out of control due to rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, Raena Ambani decided to find a solution to curb the industrial waste menace, especially textile waste.

The 18-year-old is now working towards women empowerment and waste management through her startup BigPA.

BigPA uses textile waste to make felt spectacle cases, floor-protecting devices, and coasters, which are not only attractive but also eco-friendly.

Speaking to SocialStory, Raena, who is currently pursuing Sports Engineering in the UK, says, “I used to visit factories a lot, and during those visits, I witnessed tonnes of poly textile waste, which is made from plastic, being generated every day. This waste couldn’t be recycled later, and my initial motive was to build products from this waste.”

Raena also realised there were no women employees in these industries. She also noticed that the women who did work didn’t earn enough.

She wanted to fix this problem, and decided to make the change she wished to see. “It wasn’t an easy job to convince them to work with me because they still had that old mindset that women should stay at home, cook, clean, and do domestic chores,” she says.

Few women were also reluctant to work, as they wanted to be home to be with their children. But Raena managed to convince some of the women with the help of her father, who owns a textile-manufacturing unit.

She set up a small space in his factory in Tarapur. To help them manage both work and family, Reana also offered these women the option to work from home.

After seeing success, Raena is now planning to induct more women, not only from Tarapur but also from other nearby villages.

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Navneeth Maheshwari

In 2015, Navneeth Maheshwari finished his engineering and was contemplating what to do next.

During a stint with Supporting Parliamentarians on Analysis and Research in Constituency Programme (SPARC), he came to realise that working with the rural sector and helping citizens was his calling.

It was here that he met Dushyanth Chautala, who was a Member of the Parliament for the Lok Sabha from the Hisar constituency.

“Prior to joining this fellowship, I always had a dream of building a model village, where the residents will have all basic facilities similar to ones in cities. Upon conferring with the MP, I found that he too possessed a similar vision in his mind. Shortly, he adopted three villages under Saansad Aadarsh Gram Yojna (SAGY) and gave me full authority to carry out pertaining development initiatives,” Navneeth told BetterIndia.

With the support of Dushyanth, Navneeth created a village development plan, which included sectors of livelihood, education, environment, and health.

Through reaching out to over 25 departments, Navneeth managed to fund initiatives with Rs 3 crore initially.

He organised a job fair whereby 20 companies came to Hisar and employed nearly 3,540 youth. Apart from the job fair, Navneet has also helped government schools students.

Today, he continues to transform the youth in Hisar through his social initiatives and inclusion programmes.

Devasena

Every monsoon, people in Pedapalli district in Telangana would suffer from dengue due to an unchecked drainage system. The drains were often clogged, causing a number of mosquitoes to breed.

When IAS officer A Devasena was appointed as the district collector of Pedapalli in 2018, she decided that the district should be made ‘Open defecation free’ (ODF.) She also wanted to do something to address the issue of dengue.

“Attaining ODF status is not everything. We have to ensure that the toilets are used and maintained properly. People need to understand the importance of sanitary hygiene,” she told BetterIndia.

When Devsena realised the woes of the citizens, she came to realise that some were defecating out in the open due to the fact that they were too far away from home toilets. She immediately ordered the construction of community toilets at each of the 263 villages in the district.

She also implemented the ‘Swachhagrahi’ programme, where 1,000 women leaders were appointed from self-help groups across villages to monitor the toilets and cleanliness.

In just a year, through efforts and initiatives, Devasena has successfully managed to alter the conditions of Pedapalli. It has come to become one of the cleanest districts in India as per the National Swachh Sarvekshan survey of 2019.

(Edited by Megha Reddy)

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