Summary:
BHUBANESWAR: In the run up to elections, Bakul Foundation , a NGO promoting volunteerism in Odisha, conducted an interface between the urban youth and slum dwellers and engaged them in various activities on electoral process in city slums on Sunday. With this we also aim to make the youth understand that political engagement comes from participation in the process of creating change in society and with exposure to problems faced by people,” said Sujit Mahapatra, founder of Bakul.Apart from talking to electors in different slums, the youth will also conduct various activities like storytelling and craft workshops for children in the slums. The foundation has mobilized hundreds of youth from colleges, schools and IT firms to celebrate Day of Service by going to 12 slums of Bhubaneswar and having fun and learning activities with residents and children on Sunday.“To ensure that youth of Odisha, who have been socially and politically initiated, remain engaged through an act of service even if they have moved to other cities. Our aim is to sensitize the youth to issues faced by people in the slums through conduct activities,” said Pooja Mishra , coordinator of the event.In addition to Bhubaneswar, the event is happening in ten cities across India such as Cuttack , Angul, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Delhi.“We also want to change the general perception of urban youth that the electoral outcomes are mostly decided in the slums and the votes of middle class youth do not really count. “Such activities happening in the slums will help promote social cohesion and lessen the divide and foster better interaction and understanding between different social groups in addition to making the youth more politically engaged through volunteerism,” said Pooja.Bakul has been celebrating this event for the last several years on the fourth Sunday of March every year and conducted various acts of service for the needy and underprivileged..