National Service Scheme (NSS)
Three units of National Service Scheme were sanctioned to BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, by the State Liaison Officer in March 2009. Currently there are 300 volunteers consisting of 174 male and 126 female students.
Dr. N Kishore Kumar is the Coordinator for NSS in Hyderabad Campus.
NSS is a noble experiment in academic expansion. It inculcates the spirit of voluntary work among the students and teachers through sustained community interactions. It brings academic institution closer to society. Over the years NSS has emerged as India's largest student youth movement in linking with the community
Since its inception, the NSS BPHC via its three units has been galvanizing student enthusiasm and commitment to society and channelling it into concrete programs targeting rural citizens, economically disadvantaged school children, orphans and medical patients among others.
The units have adopted three villages which are the main focus areas of most their social philanthropy. Volunteers take yearly surveys and petition governmental authorities about common grievances, improve physical condition of the schools, provide basic education in hygiene and personal finance, career guidance for youth and credit information of small farmers and business people.
A regular feature of the NSS-BPHC is its bi-annual blood donation drive in collaboration with the Society of the Red Cross- since inception over 1500 units of blood have been collected.
As part of our environmental awareness drive, over 7000 saplings have been planted with almost an 80% survival rate. Students have each year conducted programmes on campus and in neighbouring villages on World Environment Day, Earth Hour and World Water Day, using information and compassion to effect positive environmental change. Student volunteers also reach out to 35 schools during the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations, teaching school students how to make idols out of clay and using the occasion to generate consciousness surrounding everyday ways in which environmentally positive habits can be inculcated. Regular drives ensuring safe disposal of waste are also conducted.
On Deepavali, in coordination with Nirmaan, every year volunteers train unemployed women from the surrounding villages in candle making and help market the candles in order to instil self- confidence in the women about their entrepreneurial potential. The NSS also works closely with the Entrepreneurship Cell of BPHC in order to effectively sustain small economic initiative is the villages adopted.
Over 137 NSS volunteers are now part of the Be A Mentor program, that has helped create a resource base for young adults to form a support structure for other peers in helping them meeting life’s challenges, academically, socially and spiritually.
NSS volunteers have also initiated a drive to make students and faculty more connected with the day to day running of politics and government. Distinguished speakers have begun the debate and students, in coordination with the Election Commissioner’s office have begun the process of registering all members of the BITS family as voters.
The NSS study oriented projects enable students to engage academically with issues of social philanthropy. The most recent project, on Orphanages in the Twin Cities, completed under the guidance of Dr Jalaiah, has resulted in useful information and workable solutions. The students have submitted a report and are in the process of further publicizing it and circulating it to relevant authorities.
Currently students are working on a survey on political and social awareness and implementation of government programmes in the adopted villlages
As part of Prathiba, in coordination with YUVA, NSS volunteers have over the last three years visited various orphanages in the city spending time playing with the children, educating them on basic issues of personal health and hygiene, the importance of education and environmental awareness. Students also helped the orphanage administration by volunteering man hours. Prior to the program, students had collected donations in order to provide the young orphans with basic stationary and school going supplies.
As part of the pre-winter Sahara initiative, NSS volunteers go door to door in hostels and to faculty housing collecting extra clothing, blankets, books and stationary, resulting in contributions that were able to touch the lives of hundreds of street children and their parents, keeping them warm this winter.
As part of the IGNITE initiative in coordination with Nirman, volunteers provide disadvantaged students with advice, education and small experiences of joy over a three-day period.
The NSS faculty coordinators have been designing an “Effective Leadership Program” for NSS volunteers, in order to inculcate the fundamentals of effective and ethical leadership among students. The program focuses on public speaking skills, leadership trait development, group dynamic effectualization, professional ethics, social responsibility and entrepreneurial attitude development. The program shall be available to batches of 30 NSS volunteers repeatedly throughout the next semester.
LIST OF NSS ACTIVITIES STARTING FROM 2011
• Plastic carry bag free campus NSS Special camp I at Thimmapur, Nalgonda District
• IGNITE: Educating the poor children
• Earth Hour
• Maasoom Duniya: Performance of differently able children
• SAHARA: Donating clothes and stationary to the needful
• NSS Special Camp II: Devar Yemjal & Pothaipally, RR District
• Mass tree plantation drive.
• Continuous literacy activities IGNITE Farah Nagar, Mattepalli & Pothaipally (every Sunday rotating batch of volunteers in 5 schools supplement the general curriculum)
• Sonch – City wide AID/HIV awareness campaign City wide 21 April 2012
• SAHARA – Initiative to collect old clothes & stationery: 12 and 13 May 2012
• Meditation and Yoga Camp 14th and 15th August 2012
• Independence Day celebrations in coordination with Community Welfare Division: 15 August 2012
• Rain water harvesting Promotion Camp in Tumkunta village 15 August 2012
• Mass tree plantation on World Ozone Day: 16 September 2012
• Orientation and review meeting for NSS volunteers: 20 September 2012
• National Service Scheme Day celebrations: 24 September 2011
• Gandhi Jayanthi celebrations in coordination with Community Welfare Division: 2 October 2011
• Blood Donation Drive (Red Cross Society) 13 October 2012
• World Food Day Nutrition awareness drive in campus mess: 16 October 2012
• Mass volunteering for XI UN Conference of Parties 19 October 2012
• Candle making and women’s empowerment drive Pothayipalli village 22 Octboer 2012
• Prathibha- Art and Skill promotion for underprioviledged children 18-19th November 2012
• Talk by Jayprakash Narayan on Elctoral Responsibility 19 November 2012
• Voter ID card drive on campus 20 November 2012
• SAHARA – Initiative to collect old clothes & stationery: 20-21 November 2011
• Talk on national integration for Quami Ekta Week 22 November 2012
• Sahara Donation Drive 22-23 November 2012
• Sahara donation distribution in seven villages 25 November 2012
• Mass tree Plantation on campus 11 Decmber 2012
• Special camps in Ignite schools
• Don Bosco and Courtsey 15 December 2012
• Valmiki Foundation 16 December 2012
• Manichadulu and Aman Vedika 17h Dcember 2012
• Mass camp at Adrasapalli 19 and 20 January 2013
• Republic Day celebration on campus 26 January 2014
• Blood donation drive (with Red Cross) 26 January 2013
• Effective Leadership program for NSS volunteers by HSS Dept 7 February 2013
• Eco awareness drive and carbon footprinting during Pearl 5 March 2013
• Talk on benefits of Volunteering Dr Sree n Sreenath 14th March 2013
• Earth Hour -Tree plantation and awareness drive 23 march 2013
• Campus Cleaning drive 24 march 2013
• Special camps in Ignite schools
• Don Bosco and Courtsey and Valmiki Foundation 24 March 2013
• Manichadulu and Aman Vedika 24 March 2013
NSS ACTIVITIES SINCE MARCH 2013
April 12th,13th, 14th --- village camp in ADRASPALLI
1. 140 plants were planted in government school
2. Conducted candle making and detergent making workshops
3. Arranged a medical camp
4. A session regarding various schemes of government by Dr P. Lalitha, head of Economics and Finance Department.
May 11th,12th --- SAHARA clothes collection drive
Collected 100 books, nearly 200 t-shirts, 200 pants, 150 girls dresses and many other old things. (Books were given to GRANDH, BPHC --- Grandh is a collection of old text books which are available to students at lower prices in BPHC and distributed to schools and villages near by).
August 14th --- NSS inductions
100 new members were inducted into NSS to offset the passing out batch.
August 22nd --- Survey in 6 villages
Socio-economic survey in the following villages:
1. Mallamguda
2. Babaguda
3. Bandhakadipalli
4. Kesharam
5. Uddamarri
6. Keshavapuram
Around 30 students went to each village.
September 8th --- Distributed clothes collected in SAHARA
Dstributed all the old clothes and things to the following 7 orphanages:
1. Manchikalalu Organisation
2. Don Bosco Navajeevan
3. Grace Social & Educational society
4. Amma foundation
5. Good will foundation
6. Spoorthi
7. Kamalamma Old Age Homes
September 14th, 15th --- village camp in MALLAMGUDA
1. Planted around 145 plants in village
2. Conducted Martial arts workshop to 50 kids
3. Arranged a medical camp for nearly 100 villagers
4. Conducted a drawing competition to kids in government school
October 5th, 6th --- Tree platation drive in campus, distributed plants in city and some surrounding villages
1. Planted 150 saplings across CP to SAC road, around KRISHNA, RAM, SHANKAR, VYAS bhavans
2. Distributed 100 plants in city
3. 50 plants were given to villagers in the UPPARAPALLI, POTHAYAPALLI.
October 7
Street play on social evils during 4 k run
October 13th --- REFORMNATION
BPHC-NSS team started conducting events for Reform-nation competition conducted by IIT-BOMBAY.
October 17th, 18th --- Blood donation drive
Totally 120 students and faculty members donated blood in this drive, which was organized in co-ordination with RED CROSS SOCIETY.
October 24th
Guest lecture on Democracy & Right To Information by B. Ramakrishnam Raju, Convenor, National Alliance for people's movement.
October 27th --- Rallies
1. Conducted rallies for anti-drug addiction campaign and cancer awareness campaign on campus and City wide.
2. Organized a speech on organ donation by doctor of BPHC.
November 14th ---- village camp in MALLAMGUDA
Painted the Government school in MALLAMGUDA.
November 16th, 20th --- Organized voter registration drive
In co-ordination with ‘VOLUNTEER FOR A BETTER INDIA’, and outside organization, we registered around 500 students for voter ID.
December 10th, 11th --- SAHARA clothes collection drive
Collected around 10 bags of old clothes and other things.
January 8-26
Self Defence training camp for girls
15th-16th February 2014
Volunteers attended Youth conference in Pliani
20 February 2014
NSS motivational conference
8-9 February 2013
Camp at Keshavapuram health camp, eye camp mock test soil test
Mini camp 13 March 12, 2014
Follow up camp for Keshavapuram
Contact Details:
Coordinator: Mr. Shamuel Tharu
Email: shamuel.tharu@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in, nss.bphc@gmail.com
Phone: 040 66303621
Website: https://www.nss-bits-hyd.org