Abhyuday, the social body of IIT Bombay has been carrying out many activities in interest of social welfare since its debut. Started in 2013 with a vision to channelise the youth towards India’s social challenges, Abhyuday provides a platform for social activities, initiatives to build the nation bottom up and upcoming ideas for social development.
This year on the occasion of Independence Day, Abhyuday launched a campaign for the donation of raincoats and umbrellas in Mumbai, mostly focused on the homeless people in and around Andheri-west.
A two day collection drive within the institute led to a lump sum amount of ₹28,200; ₹5000 of which was donated by professors and ₹23,200 contributed by students. The amount was spent wisely on 48 umbrellas costing ₹95 per piece, 120 raincoats costing ₹180 each and ₹2160 was spent on travel.
On August 15, 13 volunteers of Abhyuday gathered at the main gate of IIT, set to distribute the goods in hand to the needy regions of Mumbai. We started at 9:15 from the institute and reached Andheri West. Here, we donated about 20 raincoats and 10 umbrellas to the people living under a bridge and took their blessings. Then, we did the same at the next traffic signal. After that, we left for Bandra. We distributed raincoats and umbrellas there and then left for Dadar where we interacted with some homeless children and distributed umbrellas and raincoats. Then we interacted with some truck drivers and got to know about the problems they faced. After distributing the entire stock we had in hand, we then returned to the institute with a day filled with memories and happy faces.
The volunteers, sharing their experiences of the campaign said that it felt really heartwarming to receive the blessings of those in need and in knowing the problems and interacting with homeless children. Stating their interest in social activities, they also appreciated Abhyuday for its work and were willing to participate in any upcoming events of Abhyuday.
