Your 'raddi' can save a poor man’s life

Don’t discard waste paper or sell your old newspapers to the
raddiwalla, it could save someone’s life.

Since July, Mumbaikars have been donating old newspapers and used
paper to Goregaon-based Venus Cultural Association, which sells them to
generate funds to treat the poor. “In the last 15 days, we have collected 2,000
kg of waste paper. We sold it to the scrap dealer at Rs10 per kg and got
Rs20,000,” said Jaiprakash Thakur, a trustee.

The association, which runs a medical and diagnosis centre at
Himmat Nagar in Goregaon (East), provides subsidised treatment to the poor.
And, if a patient cannot afford the fees, the organisation even treats them for
free.

“We have been providing subsidised medical treatment for the last
28 years. Almost 90% of the patients are so poor that they cannot afford even
the nominal fees,” said Thakur.

The organisation, which has nine dialysis machines, does dialysis
of 27 patients every day for just Rs100 per patient. The actual cost of each
dialysis is Rs650.

“Every year we conduct 70,000 to 80,000 dialyses. Though we get
donations, we were facing a financial crunch as the number of patients has been
increasing over the years,” said Thakur.

The organisation then hit upon the idea to request people and
corporate houses to donate used paper. “When I heard about the initiative, I
approached them and donated old newspapers,” said Ashok Goyal, a Malad
resident.

Thakur confessed that the idea was inspired by the Swaminarayan
Mandir trust in the US, which had collected empty beer cans and sold them to
raise money to construct a temple there.

“We started the project in July from BJP leader Ram Naik’s office,
who gave us 175kg of paper waste. Now, we collect waste from Churchgate to
Virar. We have also received enquiries from Bhiwandi and Rajasthan,” he said.

“Thakur has been running the trust and serving the poor for many
years. When he told me about the idea I immediately offered him paper waste
from my office,” said Naik.

Those interested in donating old newspapers and waste paper to
Venus Cultural Association can call them on 9619803783. Volunteers of the
organisation will arrive at your doorstep to collect the donation.

Source | Daily News Analysis | 18 August 2011