EARLY 2022 found me shell-shocked after the recent loss of Neelima. I was floundering to find my feet and get a grip on the reins of Navkshitij. Her dream of our Asawali project was weighing me down; a project worth almost 18 crore rupees. We then met God’s own man Mr. Ajit Bhate, the managing director of Precast India Ltd. He asked us about our Asawali project. We had planned on constructing 31,000 square feet. After a very short meeting, he got up and said, “Okay, I will do it!” We couldn’t believe our ears. He erected the skeleton of all the buildings within three months. By January 2023, the columns, beams, slabs and staircases of all five buildings were in place. The building had taken shape and was standing right there in front of our eyes. He had done a job worth Rs. 4.5 Cr in just Rs. 1.7 Cr. Bajaj Finserv gave us a fillip at that stage. Our trustee Suneel Kulkarni, a civil engineer who had taken up the responsibility of seeing the project through, just couldn’t believe it.
Group funding
One of my gurus, talking about project reports had said, “However well you draw a cow on paper no one will come with straw to feed her. But you bring a cow, however small, people will help you to feed her.” With the skeleton ready, our cow was there for everyone to see. The tahsildar of Khandala, Mr. Dashrath Kale, got together 75 owners of brick kilns. After a short tour of Asawali, followed by some motivational talk, they got together and donated 50,000 bricks for the construction—group funding. Our enthusiasm knew no bounds. We rolled up our sleeves and launched into serious fundraising. We thought it would be easy, but what with the CSR law? We were to find out that things were not so easy after all.
Sharp learning
The CSR laws are clearly defined and have put strict restrictions on both the donor and the recipient. We were to learn new terms like Capex and Opex. Under the CSR law, companies could not give for Capital Expenditure Capex; they could give only for Operational Expenditure Opex. We had to sign a strict MoU with them. The funds given were for a particular programme for a stipulated period. At the end of that period, we had to submit what is known as a Fund Utilisation Certificate signed by an external auditor. We had to finish all the money, in the given period and that too only on that particular project.
We had suddenly woken up in a new dimension. Our accountant (there is no accounts department, we are an NGO) had no clue how to go about doing all this. The whole organisation, especially Smita Shetty, would start climbing walls as the date of the fund utilisation approached. We were playing the catch-up game. Our accounting was transparent; we knew that not a single rupee went unaccounted for or was misused. Yet our accounts were in shambles. Companies that had generously helped us were tearing their hair to make us understand what they needed. We survived; it was a very sharp and taxing learning curve. Six months ago, we outsourced accounts to Sevatarang, an NGO. Mr. Harshu Ghate has started Sevatarang with the express purpose of helping NGOs like Navkshitij in accounting, HR and digital marketing; mark my words, they are good at what they do. Now we are confident that we will be able to fulfil all the requirements of a donor.
As I was to learn, there is another twist in the CSR law; it is known as zero balance. At the end of the project, the NGO should have spent all the money on the project and be left with zero balance. The day after we submitted the fund utilisation certificate, we were asked, “Do you have an exit policy? How will you sustain this activity when we stop funding you?” We had survived for seven years before the CSR law was passed and for close to ten years after it. We collected fees from about 70% of the inmates and have a strong private donor base. We never doubted our ability to survive. We do not need funds to survive, we need funds to expand and make such a facility available to other parents and IDs. We now want to help others with their task. We were introduced to two new terms: sustainability and scalability. Our sustainability was proven; we had to now think about scalability.
The Good Samaritans
Our Asawali project had made us painfully aware that buying land, building on it and creating a facility was a long process. It was almost impossible if companies were not allowed to give for Capex. We found a way around this problem. We decided to take the building on rent (rent is Opex). We had to spend most of the money needed to make the place ID-friendly but we were ready to do that. Our admissions were increasing. We took a place in Somatane, off the Mumbai-Pune highway and accommodated 15 IDs there; nine from the shed in Asawali and six new admissions. Quick on its heels, we got a place in Talegaon and established another house in August 2023. It was inaugurated by Ms. Shefali Bajaj. We convinced MNGL to adopt our Somatane house. With three centres, we soon had 84 IDs living with us for life.
The construction work at Asawali was going at a clipping pace. Mukul Madhav Foundation generously donated all the pipes, wires and cables necessary for the construction. Other corporates were pitching in. Sevatarang was doing a good job with digital marketing. Our visibility in social media took a leap forward. Today, a search on Google for residential rehabilitation shows Navkshitij as number one. That Navkshitij was an ideal Community-Based Rehabilitation model was thus firmly established. There was, of course, more learning to come. Miles to go before we slept.
Read Previous Blogs:
Deep diving into the world of IDs (continued)
Deep dive into the world of the Intellectually Disabled
Rehabilitation and Inclusivity: An Introduction
Be A Part Of Our Spread Happiness Movement Bringing Happiness: Lighting Up The Lives Of Special Friends Donate– Your contribution directly supports our programs and services, ensuring that persons with intellectual disabilities (PwIDs) receive the care and support they deserve. Register- Join our community as a volunteer or supporter to stay updated on our initiatives and opportunities for involvement. Spread The Word- Share our mission with others to raise awareness and advocate for the rights of PwIDs, amplifying the impact of our work. #BringingHappiness #LifeatNavkshitij #LightingThePath