Paucity of funds is no deterrent for Jeevan Jyot who is working tirelessly for the upliftment of the downtrodden and the deprived,
writes Ishpreet
Providing succour to the downtrodden and the deprived has been a passion with Jeevan Jyot who has been working with single minded devotion to contribute her bit to the society.
Jeevan Jyot, who is the chairperson of Sri Hemkunt Education Society, has been working tirelessly for betterment of the society. SHE Society is a philanthropic organisation, which is providing quality education to economically weaker sections of the society irrespective of caste, creed, and religion.
She feels blessed to have inherited truthfulness and selflessness from her forefathers that motivate her to serve the society with such vigour. “I am lucky to have carried forward my parents’ legacy, to work for the upliftment of the weaker sections of our society through SHE Society,” she says.
Other than SHE Society, she is also the president of another NGO, People’s Forum for Justice (PFFJ), that aims at providing justice to anyone who seeks their help.
She also holds the chapter chair of ALL (WEF) [All Ladies League] for the holy city of Amritsar besides being the managing director of a publication house by the name of Kids Bulletin Private Limited.
Passion to serve
She is driven by a passion to serve society and aims to become a pillar of strength for the needy. Her motive is not to work for fame and recognition, but to work for the welfare of the underprivileged and poverty-stricken masses. Her parents have been a guiding force for her throughout. An autograph that was once given to her by her parents has been a motivating factor in her life. The words written in the autograph were “Kisi Ke Kaam Jo Aaye Usey Inasaan Kehte Hain………….Paraya Dard Apnaye Usey Insaan Kehte Hain”. Her work truly reflects this.
We all might have heard or seen cases of drug abuse among youth. To eradicate this, Jeevan Jyot, with the help of her Society, is educating youth to make them aware of how dangerous it is for them and the society. “Children and youth are the future of a country, and it is necessary to educate them and make them socially responsible beings,” says Jeevan Jyot, who is doing a commendable job on this front.
Role model
Her role model is Bhagat Puran Singh, founder of Pingalwara (a home for the destitute) and by profession a writer and educationist. He has been an inspiration for her as he dedicated his entire life to the service of the poor and the destitute. Following in his footsteps, Jeevan Jyot is imparting education and justice to the weaker sections of the society who otherwise would be left to suffer. Jeevan Jyot, through her NGO, aims to work for sustainable and holistic development by empowering the underprivileged by providing quality education which includes distributing free books, uniforms, stationery, scholarships, etc. to students who can’t afford them, family welfare, health, vocational training, conservation of environment and inculcation of values and culture thereby achieving the overall objectives, contributing to the all-round development of the deprived section of the society. She wants to create a drug free society by inculcating moral values among the youth.
Funds for this organisation are raised by membership fee that is charged monthly or annually and also from various fund raising events.
Mission Aabaad and
Badlav
SHE Society under the leadership of Jeevan Jyot has started a mission called Aabaad aimed at rehabilitating people living in abject poverty in slums. Under this mission, her NGO SHE Society has adopted a slum in Jalandhar in the first phase and she subsequently plans to take other slums under its wings.
A pilot project `Badlaav -Ek Nai Soch’ for Amritsar, has already been launched. It aims to train youth, especially women, to be socially productive through various skills.
undeterred by
challenges
Many challenges came her way, but she is undeterred and is relentlessly pursuing her objective of welfare of the society. “It becomes very difficult to educate masses about our mission since there are several bogus and money minting societies which spoil the fair name of genuine societies like ours,” she laments. She feels it’s very difficult to change the mindset of the people. Also, drug addicts are reluctant to seek help for fear of social stigma. Paucity of funds is another major constraint. ”Unfortunately, we don’t have enough resources and we plan to seek assistance from some government agency. We also intend to appeal to the general public who could volunteer to support our cause,” says Jeevan Jyot.
Her mantra of life is Truth Is Higher, Higher Still Is Truthful Living.
She is a staunch follower of Guru Nanak Dev. Her mantra of life is based on the teachings of the Guru. The Guru preached the essence of honesty and truthful living in one’s life and she has incorporated all his teachings into her life.
Her message to the society is TO BE MORE HUMANE THAN HUMAN. “I believe that simply being human is not enough until it is characterised by kindness, compassion and sympathy. The idea of being humane is linked to a higher level of a person’s character i.e. being compassionate and considerate. I feel this is the need of the hour,” she signs off.