RGCT: Providing support to Rural Population in UP and Haryana

"The future of India lies in its villages" – Mahatma Gandhi

The rural population of India makes for over 66% of the country’s total strength, and these are the people who are living in the most deplorable conditions. Living “below poverty line”, they do not have access to good quality living, education, healthcare, and sanitation. This condition leads to social imbalances and financial upheavals in the villages, making the conditions worse.

Our 7^th Prime Minister Mr. Rajiv Gandhi was a forward thinking man with a clear vision for the alleviation of problems of the rural people, which could not have come from any other place but the villages themselves. The answer lies in giving them enough exposure to learn the skills that can bring them vocation and including them in the main-stream economy, which could earn them good money.

After his unexpected demise, his widow, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi established a trust to help the rural population the way he imagined and realize his dream of building an all-inclusive India where everyone was entitled to be the part of the economy of the country and avail the best quality healthcare.

Healthcare is a big sector, so, to begin with, the most common problem of the rural people was identified, which is eye ailments. Eye problems effect most of the population at some time or other, and almost everyone develops a cataract at an older age. To cope with this mass health issue, the trust started its eye care programme, Indira Gandhi Eye Hospital and Research Centre (IGEHRC), which provides high quality eye treatment and caters to everyone that needs it, for a nominal cost or no cost. Subsequently, its branches were opened at other places too. IGEHRC Sohna, Gurugram, is very popular among the rural population for good quality affordable eye care services in Haryana.

IGEHRC offers all types of eye care treatments undertaken by the best ophthalmologists in the country, and the surgery is provided either for free or for a very low cost. The rural people can get assistance in their normal eye vision and check-up too. These hospitals need a very large trained manpower, and these workers also need to understand the language of the villagers as well as have compassion for them. For this purpose, the local village youth is being educated and trained to develop appropriate skills for working in these hospitals, by this way, people do not only get a high quality treatment, but also a comforting sense of kinship.

For other women who are in the villages, totally excluded from the progressing nation, RGCT helps them to get appropriate financial inclusion in the mainstream economy by building their capacity to do more and earn more. To make sure that their earnings enhance the working capital, RGCT made SHG groups in UP, which are made on three levels, village level, block level and district level, and the combined income from these groups is always more than enough for them to be included in the Indian Economy, thus giving them more freedom, multiplied earnings and confidence to live with pride.

RGCT, with its meticulous planning and systematic approach, has proved that unity is the greatest strength.