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Author: Ketan Tanna
Publication: The Times of India
Date: June 3, 2007
Introduction: 60 women from affluent families work out of a 400-square-foot office to help at least 100 families every week
A poor, ailing woman residing in a Nalasopara slum, on the outskirts of Mumbai, visited a doctor doing charity work in August 2005. She asked for medicines for herself and her mother-in-law. The doctor gave medicines for the woman but said he would not give any for the mother-in-law as he would like to see her personally.
The woman replied, with tears in her eyes, that her mother-in-law was old and would not be able to make the trip on her own. So the doctor told her that she could escort her mother-in-law. But she said even that would not be possible; they were so poor that they had only one sari, which could be worn outside, between them. So only one of them could go out at a time.
The doctor related this incident to Progressive Ladies' Welfare Society (PLWS) president Meena Ranka. Soon, on 10 August 2005, eight PLWS members landed in Nalasopara and distributed clothes, medicines, foodgrains and stationery for schoolchildren; the patient and her mother-in-law were among the beneficiaries.
The PLWS, an unofficial army of well-to-do housewives, is remarkably organised. PLWS fulltime administrator Sachin Danane is the only male in the group, whose main duty is to survey slums across the city and in the outskirts and find out what people need. Once the needs are identified, the ladies swing into action.
If they wanted to, the 60 female PLWS members could have sat at home; most belong to affluent Marwari families. But they decided to be of use. "We wanted to move beyond meeting each other in the lifts and exchanging hello,'' says Ranka. The group started with just six members on 15 August 2002.
The PLWS's office is located in a small, 400-square-foot rented room in Adarsh Nagar, Prabhadevi. There, in the small space, cupboards overflow with shirts, saris, school uniforms, flasks and other paraphernalia. Every Friday, members meet to decide the agenda for the following week. The target area is always selected after a reconnaissance and identification of the exact needs.
Though every member of the society pays Rs 100 as monthly fee (some pay much more) and the ladies buy some ware for the poor, most of the items come as donations. Manisha Borar recently donated 35 thermos flasks which would be distributed among the needy cancer patients of Tata Memorial Hospital. Another member donated 200 school uniforms in August 2002 to Babupada Zilla Parishad School in Nalasopara. Sapna Chajher, whose family is in the pharmaceutical business, donated medicines. And, during festival seasons, efforts are made to distribute sugar, flour and ghee, which help the poor enjoy the whole process of making sweets. Doctors and free medicines are also a part of PLWS work. More often than not, it is on marriage anniversaries and birthdays that the members try to do more than the usual; they hold functions in different areas of Mumbai and help the community. On an average, the group helps at least 100 needy families every week. Between April 2006 and January 2007, the PLWS donated goods worth Rs 481,379. Lawless crowds have created problems sometimes and, so, a security guard now accompanies members when they go out for such programmes. It was Ranka who founded this group.
Others members are overtly grateful. Many, like 50-year-old Sona Surana, had always harboured a wish to be of service to society but were caught in their humdrum routine until the PLWS was formed.
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