Sumit Singh - An IT professional, is running a self funded NGO for Social Change

Sumit Singh, an alumnus of SVM Senior Secondary School, Sultanpur, can be undoubtedly called a change agent. While working in an IT firm, he along with a group of likeminded people runs SRIJAN-Ek Shuruaat, an NGO that works towards better education of children in need, medical aid for the underprivileged, promotion of Indian festivals in slum area schools, cleaning the environment, and creating band of volunteers to carry forward various social tasks.

After completing his high school education from SVM Senior Secondary School, Sultanpur, Sumit went to Kota for engineering coaching. “My school always taught me that ethical work is as important as studies. If we are capable of helping someone we should always support those in need around us. This thought led me to start my NGO at a very young age”, mentioned Sumit.

Sumit always thought if we are studying then we will become something in future, but what is its motive? How can education be leveraged for the cause of social change? Sumit formed a group of like-minded people in Kota and started his NGO from there. He and his friends designed and printed a form and went to people for support.

“Initially it was difficult for us. On our first attempt we started meeting people and explaining them about the cause and requested them for their support – either financially or as volunteers. We had 20 forms with us and only 1 person chose to support”, recalled Sumit.

This did not stop Sumit from self-motivating himself. He got selected for engineering and continued to do his B.Tech in Computer Science along with the work for his NGO. After completing his engineering, he could now devote more time to the NGO by organizing various social events and creating group of volunteers.

One of the most popular programs of Srijan is Back to School through which Sumit and his team collects text books. “We try to contact every single student and collect their past year text books, and distribute it to the poor children. In 2015 we collected over 465 books of different subjects and classes and more than 100 students benefited through this task”, explains Sumit.

Sumit also ran an anti-plastic campaign in Sultanpur under the name of - Say No to Plastic Bags. “Our team visited every doorstep to talk about the bad effects of polythene. This campaign was also supported by the District magistrate and the Nagar Palika, and as a result the High Court and UP Government banned polythene totally from the state”, mentioned Sumit.

Sumit does not only stop at serving people, but also keeps on creating volunteers so that the work can go on and various aids and support can reach out to more people.