A Rotaract club takes baby steps in Bolpur

Sponsored by RC Bolpur Rangamati, RID 3240, the less than six-month-old RAC King Surath Land depends on its parent club for guidance, planning and execution of service projects. “Till now, we have not done any projects on our own. We are a team of 12 Rotaractors, all college students, and associate ourselves with Rotary projects throughout the month,” says Amrita Ghosh, charter president of the club.

Formed in December 2021, the club was installed with 20 members, “but some of them dropped out as we could not work as a team. However, we are learning the ropes and looking forward to do projects on our own with support from our parent Rotary.” The Rotaractors have regular virtual and physical meetings to discuss about their community outreach programmes; and each of them pay club dues of `80 per month. They recently supported a one-day eye camp at the Indranarayan Vidyapeeth in Rajatpur which screened over 360 patients.

Woollen blankets and winter clothes were distributed to homeless people under a Rotary project. A blood donation camp was held at the Rajatpur school with the help of their alumni group, headmistress and Rotarians. “Over 50 people donated blood and a sapling was given to each donor,” says Amrita.

Doing her MPhil in Rabindra Nritya at the ­Visva-Bharati University, Shantiniketan, she says, “we are dependent on our Rotary club and private sponsors for doing projects. And we are yet to take up Rotaract projects on our own.” She is using her college contacts and networking ability to add at least 10 more new members by June 30.

For the club secretary Sucharita Das, “mailing all our joint projects and activities to our parent Rotary and DRR on a weekly basis is part of my daily routine.” She is effusive in her praise for Rtn Saptarshi Das who is “mentoring us like a parent and motivating us to excel in our projects.” In the coming months, “we are thinking of conducting a health camp for poor children and also giving them free tuition, books and study material.”

Happy with the new exposure to the Rotary world, the 20-year-old is studying ­Italian as an UG student at the ­Visva-Bharati. “I love all the Rotarians for the splendid work they do for the community and will like to involve myself in all their projects. But since I am studying, like all other members, I can involve myself only in few activities with the Rotarians,” she explains. On the new Rotaract club dues to RI coming into effect from July 1, Sucharita says, “while we are aware of this new rule, most of our members will not be able to pay as they are students from underprivileged families. We have to discuss this issue with our parent Rotary.”