Deshpande Foundation's LEad (LEaders Accelerating Development) programme, a platform to fuel the creativity and innovation among college students, has taken to higher level by some projects encouraged to file for patents.

Speaking at the LEad Mela's Yuva Summit, Mr Gururaj ‘Desh' Deshpande, a serial entrepreneur known for creating IT companies in United States, said,

“LEad programme for college students is not to help them create big companies, but to provide opportunities in social commitments, raising funds, manage projects and to get leadership experience.

“By these initiatives, we are not looking at dramatically changes the society overnight, but a social transformation capable of bringing changes to the society. Here to achieve this people in the early twenties are right candidates,” he added.

Rahul Bose, actor, director and social activists, shared his experience both as director and running an non-government organisation (NGO).

At the Lead Mela, over 1,000 college students from north-west Karnataka (districts – Dharwad, Belgaum, Gadag, Haveri and Uttar Kannada) showcased over 100 community service projects.

Few prominent projects which got recognition and bagged awards were:

Winning projects

Ms Roopali and Ms Sreya of Belgaum built bust bins to be placed on street corners using waste stone pieces. “These stones were mixed with cement and moulded to shape.

Through half bag of cement 45 to 50 bricks is possible, in which three waste bins can be made,” said Sreya.

Ms Mamtha Joshi of Sirsi raised Rs 30,000 and built hanging bridge to connect her village to the outside world. “This has helped village children to attend school and working people to go out to work.

Mr Rajendra Parekh raised Rs 25,000 in the neighbourhood and educated the people of harmful effect of drinking untreated water. With the money raised, he provided 110 steel water filters to the needy houses.

Ms Deepika taught college peon to read and write English. “Now they write their own leave application in English and in their spare time read English newspapers.”

Mr Akhil S Nayak through crushed waste paper has been able to create recycled examination boards. Ms Roopali Kulkarni was able to provide electricity to benefit 2,000 people in a village in Chikkodi.

Ms Shruti of Belgaum taught orphans to hand-paint and make pager bags to earn money during their spare time. Bijapur is known for one monument ‘Gol Gumbaz', but Mr Jayadev Biradar travelling to the nook and corner of the district was able to spot 12 more monuments. He wrote in the local newspapers and they have become tourist spots in the district.

Seeing that the their village was not getting newspaper, Mr Hegde of Sirsi painstakingly after meeting and persuading many van drivers who pass through her village, after three months was able to identify a Good Samaritan to deliver newspapers. After sponsoring the newspaper for three months, now there are 20 paying subscribers in the village.

comment COMMENT NOW