Saturday 8 April 2017

A New Step for Good Governance - Voice of Pune

Voice of Pune - is the latest venture by Action for Pune Development.

Citizenship plays a pivotal role in democracy and a pro-active citizen is instrumental in bringing about a remarkable change in the society. Every citizen is bestowed with certain rights and these rights should be exercised in the best possible manner. "Right of speech" is a fundamental right which citizens can make use of, in an appropriate manner, for the betterment of the society and broaden the path of progress.

This is a platform which gives every citizen an equal opportunity to speak; hence, leading to an inception of transformation.

Keeping in mind the recently conducted 2017 PMC elections, we aim to reach out to the citizens of Pune, thereby giving them a platform to voice their opinions and in turn make their voices heard by the elected authorities.

Identities of individuals will remain confidential under all circumstances, but their suggestions and opinions will certainly be compiled and communicated to the elected representatives. The valuable inputs received from the citizens will be classified on the basis of area/locality and the compiled document will be presented to respective Corporators.

This process will therefore help in reconstruction and development of Pune city through active involvement of citizens.

"Every citizen's input is valuable; so voice your opinion and initiate a radical change"

APD Blood Directory

Become a part of the live-saving squad:
Action for Pune Development is an NGO, which has taken up the project of building a database of blood donors, and the sole aspiration is to reach thousands of people who are in urgent need of blood.
Thereby, we have a target to establish a strong database with thousands of donors from Pune city initially, and gradually start functioning at a national level.
The pace of life has increased but so has the rate of accidents and diseases. Accident victims and patients in urgent need of blood often lose their lives due to lack of blood. We need to overcome the gap between people in need of blood and blood donors.
We aim to create an umbrella of thousands of people so that we're able to cater to the needs of those who need help and in turn save lives.
The framework of the organization is such that the contact information of every donor remains confidential. The details of the donor are only accessed by the webmaster and will not be disclosed to anyone under any circumstances.

Our working procedure:
-When a person registers with our blood  directory, she/he is asked to provide their basic details: contact number, address and blood group.
-During crises, when there is a requirement for  blood, people can contact us.
-Thereafter, we will immediately send a text message to all the donors of the required blood group.
This helps in saving time and the speed at which the blood is available and thus, helps to save the patient's life.
You may not be a superhero with incredible powers, but donating blood saves lives & that makes you a "superhuman".



Disclaimer : APD Blood Directory is not a Blood Bank. We are just an online link between the patient and the donor. APD does not take any responsibility in any matter whatsoever.

Road Safety Rally

In February 2016, we organised a huge student rally at tilak road where hundreds of school students participated. The purpose of this rally was to spread awareness about road safety. Students prepared road safety posters and slogans and made use of them during the rally. Therefore, the message of road safety was wide spread by young students through various posters and flyers made by them. 

Tulsi Sapling Distribution

In the months of August and September 2016, we decided to promote the importance of tulsi as it has multiple health and environmental benefits. We organised various such camps and distributed hundreds of saplings, not just to individuals, but also to various offices and restaurants, by explaining the importance of tulsi to them. Therefore, we were successful in reaching out to hundreds of people and explicating the importance of tulsi. 


Winter - Blankets Donation Drive:

Winter temperature in Pune City was forecasted to be as low as 8 degrees this year. Unfortunately, there are hard working people, who strive hard, but do not have shelter. 
Thus, this was an initiative undertaken in order to collect blankets, thereby making them available to maximum people in need of it. 
We started our collection drive in October continued fortnightly, till  November. We received a huge response from the masses. Also, our team bought 50 new blankets and distributed them across different areas in Pune city, where people are in need. 

"This winter, we made an effort to provide enough for those who have too little"

Old Age Home Activity - Diwali

The team of Action For Pune Development celebrated the festival of Diwali in a special way in the year 2015. 
We organised a festive evening for the residents of Mathoshri Old Age Home. 
Diwali is a time to share with everyone and spread happiness. Therefore, we all played various games with them, had a short entertainment programme and shared Diwali delicacies with everyone.  
Our happiness increased a hundred fold by making everyone happy. 

Paper Bag Making Workshop

A paper bag making workshop was organised in Maharashtra Mandal School. The sole reason of undertaking this initiative was to make students understand the harm caused due to plastic bags and to encourage them to replace plastic with paper bags. 
Students prepared over 1000 paper bags and distributed them in grocery stores in their vicinity thereby spreading the message of "Say NO to plastic." 

Tree Plantation Drive 2016

Tree plantation drives is a custom that APD has been practising since the very beginning. We conducted a tree plantation drive at ARAI, wherein our team planted 100 saplings. 
The saplings planted were chosen in such a way that they do not require meticulous care and could grow faster than other varieties. 

Through our effort every year, we ensure that there is a positive impact on the environment and through our initiative we encourage hundreds of others to plant trees as well. 








Ganpati Visarjan - Nirmalya Activity

During Ganesha Festival, devotees often tend to immerse the offerings along with the idol of lord Ganesha during the Visarjan. This leads to severe pollution of water bodies. 
In order to prevent any harm to the water bodies, we collaborated with Lions Club International and conducted a Nirmalya collection drive. We made sure that we collect the offerings from the devotees and dispose it without causing any pollution. Also, the sentiments of the devotees were taken care of. 
Our small effort indeed saved the water bodies from getting polluted. 

Summer Activity

In Summer 2016, Pune witnessed a severe rise in temperature as it crossed usual levels of 40 degrees. Due to the increased heat, the underprivileged would suffer as their sugar level would drop. 
Therefore, our team undertook the initiative of conducting a glucose distribution drive. By means of this drive, we reached out to over 50 street vendors across the city who genuinely face troubles due to working in the sun. 
We explained the importance and usage of glucose to them, and provided them with packets of glucose powder sufficient for 2 months. 
The feedback that we received was amazing and thus the purpose of conducting the activity was fulfilled.







Notebook Donation Drive

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world" 

Action for Pune Development has always given utmost importance to education. In this view, our team organised a Note Book collection drive in May 2016. Through this collection drive we collected over 200 dozen notebooks and donated them to needy students for the upcoming academic year. 

We were successful in securing an overwhelming response, through which we could help 480 students and fulfilled their stationery requirements for a year. 

"Educate the Youth as they are future change makers of the world"

Winter Clothes Donation Drive

We started with a clothes collection drive in the month of November, and encouraged young people to donate clothes for the less fortunate. We were lucky to get an overwhelming response, as people willingly bought new clothes and donated them. 
After the huge response received, we conducted distribution drives across Pune city and extended our help to maximum number of people.  



E-Banking Activity

In view of recent decisions of the Government, India is on the edge of a major financial revolution. As we're shifting from a cash-dependent to a cashless economy, certain fragments of the society are still unaware about the "digitally enabled transaction facilities for the transfer of funds". 
Thus, we conducted a drive on 28th January, across Pune city, through which we educated masses of vendors in various market places about:  E-wallets, Aadhar Enabled Payment System, USSD based Mobile Banking and Bank Cards. 
Our team interacted with the vendors in the local language, explaining every method in a simplified manner, as well as giving them a handout with the basic information about these options of digital transactions. The foremost aim was to make them understand that digital transactions are not complex and do not necessarily require a smart phone or internet connectivity. 

"We believe that the youth will act as engines of this transformational shift from a cash-dependant to a cashless economy. "





Parivartan 2016

"Parivartan" was a road safety model making competition, organised under the Safer Roads, Safer India programme by UL(Underwriter's Laboratory) and YSA (Youth Services America) in association with SPTM and Pune Traffic Police. Students from various schools and colleges across Pune city participated in this competition. The sole purpose of this competition was youth involvement in road safety. This competition provided a novel way for students to give their suggestions for improvement of layout of a specific road or "chowk" in Pune city, by means of a 3D model or 2D sketch. Thus, it was a platform for the youth to be heard by road safety authorities, in order to make necessary changes. The competition was judged by experts in the field of road safety and the winning ideas were taken into consideration for future infrastructural development