Rebuilding a Child's World
MS Swaminathan Research Foundation and Bharat Soka Gakkai sign MOU on joint programme to assist Tsunami affected children
Responding to the urgent need of children affected by the devastating Tsunami of December 2004, the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation
(MSSRF) and the Bharat Soka Gakkai (BSG) signed an MOU recently towards collaborating on a three-year programme to provide educational and nutritional support to these orphaned children.
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Concentrated in Tamil Nadu , the programme addresses the needs of the school-going children from the fishing community who have lost one or both parents. Apart from payment of annual school fees, provision of uniforms, notebooks, stationery, etc, the programme also provides for supplemental nutrition (in addition to the school's midday meals).
MSSRF, who is the implementing agency, will identify orphan children in consultation with government and other agencies. It will also locate the local school or NGO that will receive funds on behalf of these children.
The cost of the progamme, Rs 33,80,450 lakh, is being entirely funded by BSG.
Both MSSRF and BSG will periodically monitor the disbursement of funds and consult each other in case changing ground realities require alteration in the utilisation of funds.
A Steering Committee with members nominated by MSSRF and BSG, which will meet every six months (or oftener), will oversee the implementation and the disbursement of funds. It will also be empowered to make modifications on the implementation if the need arises. The committee would also appoint an external agency to carry out an evaluation study.
M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation was registered in 1988 as a non-profit trust. Its basic mandate is to impart a pro-nature, pro-poor and pro-women orientation to a job-led economic growth strategy in rural areas through harnessing science and technology for environmentally sustainable and socially equitable development. MSSRF is doing research in the following five areas: Coastal Systems Research, Biodiversity and Biotechnology, Eco-technology and Sustainable Agriculture, Reaching the Unreached, and Education, Communication, Training and Capacity Building.
The Bharat Soka Gakkai (BSG) is the Indian affiliate of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), an NGO whose over 12 million members based in 190 countries and territories work for worldwide peace through the principles of Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhist life philosophy. Central to this is the principle that fundamental change in a single individual can bring about a societal transformation.
Established as a registered society in January 1986, BSG has sought to create an ambience of peace, through cultural, educational and community-related activities. What sets these initiatives apart is the humanistic spirit of reaching out, through 'heart-to-heart' dialogue.
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