Changing lives, one at a time

Amritsar: In abandonment, he saw possibilities, an opportunity to turn the twilight years of many senior citizens of the city to their most productive. Inderpreet Singh, 21, fellowship winner from Ashoka Foundation from Punjab and a social entrepreneur from the city, has been working towards proving that young people can be change-makers.

Inderpreet with inmates of an old-age home. Tribune photo

Tribune News service

Amritsar, September 30

In abandonment, he saw possibilities, an opportunity to turn the twilight years of many senior citizens of the city to their most productive. Inderpreet Singh, 21, fellowship winner from Ashoka Foundation from Punjab and a social entrepreneur from the city, has been working towards proving that young people can be change-makers.

Inderpreet is working on a pilot project that aims to engage the elderly at old-age homes in the city in community-based activities. “My programme has been designed to engage and entertain the elderly and make them self-reliant with programmes like mushroom farming, organic farming and other activities that help them keep busy and become productive. I have approached several non-profit organisations like Rotary Club with my proposal and we have already conducted a study of nine old-age homes in Amritsar, out of which, we will initially be collaborating with two,” he says.

Inderpreet has been working on the project for the past six months. “Our society and the administration too do not have a welfare system in place for senior citizens. Most of them have been either abandoned or live with a lost cause. I want to change that, create avenues for them as I believe that they can contribute a lot to society.”

Running his social enterprise that he says runs on the strength of its volunteers, Inderpreet had earlier successfully designed a community-based programme, I Responsible Amritsar, while he was an undergraduate. Through I Responsible Amritsar, he ensured active participation of youth in traffic management, creating awareness and mobilising youth to engage in civic and public policy issues. “We had successfully created a team of volunteers, who worked at the grassroots levels and conducted seminars at colleges and institutes,” he says. For this, he was also awarded the fellowship from the prestigious non-profit Ashoka foundation.

“I left my studies to follow my dream. Initially, it seemed immature and an idealistic idea of changing society without adequate social and economic support, but after starting it with four of my friends and two juniors at school, we have today become a student community with 40-plus members working at the grassroots level.”