BEST PRACTICES I
Campus to Community Programme
Goal of the programme:
The College is founded in the name of Kuriakose Mar Gregorios, our patron saint, who served the community with compassion. The founding fathers of the college established the college with the objective of changing the life of people by quality education. Hence the campus to community programme of the college aims to enhance the standard of living of our own students and also of local community.
Context:
Pampady is a rural area where majority of the population depends on agriculture and casual labour for their bread. An educational institution operating in such place without touching the lives of the poor is meaningless. Hence, the campus to community programmes of the college is dedicated to needy students and neighbours of the college.
About the Programme:
The campus to community programme aims the uplift the quality of life of the people in and around the College. Keeping in mind this objective, the following activities are undertaken by NCC,NSS ,associations and clubs
Activities of NCC
Beach cleaning and construction of organic seawall
The NCC cadets and NSS volunteers together cleaned the beach surroundings and planted mangroves to construct organic seawall along the Poomenpozhi near Alappuzha beach.
Assistance to Police in Assembly elections
NCC cadets were deployed in assisting the police in conducting the Assembly elections 2021
Cleanliness drive in Pampady
NCC AND NSS units conducted a cleanliness drive in pampady and cleaned the pampady bus stand and police station.
Plogging
The NCC unit conducted conducted plogging in ward 8 where the college is situated and collected the plastic waste in the premises.
Activities of NSS
Pedal Sanitizer Distribution
NSS unit made a foot operating sanitizer and donated it to our college and one to Pampady SBI branch and to Pampady Dayara.
Village Tourism Project
The NSS unit Provided helping hand to Meenadom Panchayat for the new Village Tourism Project ‘Vazhiyorakattu ‘. The volunteers collected the saplings of different plants specially corton plant from different places and handed over to the panchayat officials.
Visit to Ashakiran
A palliative care unit, situated very close to the college, where old orphans are accommodated. The college is regularly supplying water for the use of inmates. Then NSS volunteers and also all students and teachers make regular visits to Asha Kiran and provide financial assistance and also spend much time with the inmates. The students also extend financial assistance to Abhaya Bhavan (nearby charitable institution) through charity boxes.
Food Distribution
Making a smile on someone’s face is a great feeling. As part of world food day ,October 16 NSS unit took an initiative to provide food to poor people in Kottayam street who are unable to find money for food even once in a day. Due to pandemic Situation we only call some of our volunteers for this activity.
Gandhi Jayanthi celebration at rehabilitation center
As part of Gandhi Jayanthi NSS took the initiative to visit Sanjeevanam, a mental Rehabilitation Center.
Blood Donors’ Forum
The blood donor’s forum of NSS unit called “Life Donors” cater to many of the needs in and around Kottayam. During the year, more than 59 volunteers donated blood for the needed in various hospitals of the district.As a source for easy availability of blood in much needed times, a blood directory was published by the NSS Unit of K.G College. The directory consists of the entire student’s blood group and their contact numbers. In case of emergencies for any blood group, the directory will be very useful.
Hair Donation to Cancer Patients
In connection with Christmas our unit decided to donate hair to the cancer patients and one of the NSS volunteer ParvathyKrishnan donated her hair . It was an inspiration to others and also shared the message that we can make other people happy with our small deeds.
Activities of Electoral Literacy Club
Voter Enrolment
A voter enrolment programme was carried out from 1 to 30 November 2021 catered to the enrolment of 177 voters as part of the Special summary revision 2022.
National Level Electoral Literacy Quiz
An e-quiz was conducted through google forms. The Quiz was inaugurated by the Returning Officer, Puthuppally LAC Sri. Rajeev Kumar Chaudhary IAS (Sub Collector, Kottayam). Over the course of 25 days from 12 March 2021 to 06 April 2021, the quiz gathered over 6,400 responses from across the country.
Transgender Voting Campaign
As a result of its vigorous voter awareness campaign, the club was able to ensure the electoral participation of two of three recorded transgender voters in Puthuppally Assembly Constituency. The third person was identified as a woman and arrangements were made to rectify the error in documents.
SVEEP Rally
Five members of the club participated in a bike rally organized by SVEEP Kottayam on 27 March 2021. The rally that flagged off from the district collectorate ended at Nehru Stadium, Nagampadom.
Puthuppally at a Glance
A presentation displaying information regarding the 256 polling booths in Puthuppally Assembly Constituency was crafted for the Returning Officer of the constituency, Sri. Rajeev Kumar Chaudhary IAS. The presentation contained details of election officials, returning officer’s proceedings, officials of each booth and its satellite location.
Model and Pink Booths
A total of 12 volunteers were arranged for five Model and one Pink booth in Puthuppally Assembly Constituency. Volunteers carried out sanitization, assistance to elderly and differently abled voters etc.
Quiz at Booths
Election Quizzes were conducted at model and pink booths where volunteers were placed. The Quiz was inaugurated by the Central Election Observer Ms. R. Alice Vaz IAS (Secretary-cum-Commissioner, Labour Dept, Govt of India, New Delhi). In the quiz, random voters were asked election related questions. Winners were given N95 masks with SVEEP logo printed on them.
Booth Centric Activities
The Polling Booths 91 and 102 of Pampady Panchayat lacked voter participation having below 70% voter turnout in 2019 Elections. So, as per the direction of District Election Officer and District Collector, Smt. M Anjana IAS, booths 91 and 102 of Pampady Village were assigned to KG College Pampady in a bid haul more voters to the booths hence increasing the polling percentage.
Flash Mob
Members of the club performed flash mobs at Pampady Bus Stand, 7th mile, and Alampally Junction on 22 March 2021. The crowds that gathered were entertained and at the same time enlightened on the importance of voting.
Cycle Rally
Cycle rallies were organized on 23 and 24 March 2021 primarily around the premises of booth 91 and 102. The rally was flagged off from Pampady Bus Stand by Kottayam Sub Collector Sri. Rajeev Kumar Chaudhary IAS. Over 10 members of the club went on wheels on a 21 km stretch in the initiative to get more people voting.
Vote Vandi
Vote Vandi, an initiative by SVEEP Kottayam to encourage voters to exercise their electoral rights visited KG College, Pampady Bus Stand and 7th mile on 20 March 2021. Members of the club accompanied it to the above-mentioned places and campaigned about the need for voting.
Increase in Polling Percentage
When polling ended on 06 April, in the booth 102, assigned to KG College, Pampady showed more than 7% increase in polling compared to the 2019 Parliamentary Elections.In this booth, 744 out of the total 1006 voters got their fingers inked. This includes the postal vote of elderly voters as well. Now, even without taking the postal vote of election officials into regard, the polling percentage of booth 102 rose considerably from 66.56% to 73.95%.
Evidence of Success
Success of any programme is measured on the basis of the outcome of the programme. The college community, while introducing community initiatives, aimed to support the poor in the immediate vicinity of the college and there by learn some good lessons out of it. Through the outreach programmes the College intended to fulfill its motto of community service along with education.The healthy living conditions should be nurtured and developed. The response of the local people really motivated our community and gave immense courage to think differently and to bring positive outcomes to the sections of society where help is imminent. The leaders at the local self governments always approach us to undertake some new initiatives. More smiling faces of the beneficiaries of our programmes motivate us to do more. This gives us to develop ourselves as good citizens by cultivating the qualities of fellowship, compassion and dedication to the common causes. It also gives opportunity to develop organizing skill and the capacity to work in groups.
Problems encountered and Resources required
There are mainly two problems in connection with these programmes. One is the difficulty to find time for undertaking all the programmes without affecting the normal working of the College. Even though we have managed the problem by organising many programmes on holidays, it is practically difficult to add more programmes of this kind due to the paucity of time. Another obstacle is the financial resources needed to organise the programme. The College is not able to contribute money for these programmes. But we have managed financial problems by arranging funds from like-minded people and NGOs/Trusts and we will definitely come with more such programmes in future.This year we could not do much extension programmes due to the covid pandemic.
BEST PRACTICES II
Student Support through Stakeholder Support
Goal of the Programme
A good number of students pursuing education in KG College are from poor background. A College which has been supporting the poor outside cannot remain intact when some of the colleagues are facing troubles. Hence, the objective is to extend our hands to support the poor students for the completion of their education.
The Context
More than 40 percent of the students in the KG College are from poor back ground. There are students who have no parents, ailing parents and drunkards or from broken families with poor financial support. It is the moral responsibility of the citizens to support such students to complete their education. Moreover, supporting the poor in the campus creates a culture of mutual support, bonding relationships and creates a sense of attachment to the College.
About the programme
Stake holders are supporting the financially backward students of the College in many ways. The teachers and management of the College are acting as the facilitators of this programme.
1.Scholarships by Alumni and Retired Staff: Former students who are now in good position and are willing to support the young generations in their alma mater are requested to contribute a lump sum for giving scholarships to brilliant and economically backward students. Retired staff also have instituted many scholarships on merit cum means basis which are really helpful to brilliant but financially backward students to continue their education.
2.Fast A Day Feast A Friend: The College MGOCSM unit, a secular students’ wing actively participates in Community extension programs and their flagship program ‘Fast a Day, Feast a Friend’ is one to be mentioned with special regard. Every year a particular day is earmarked for collecting voluntary financial contributions from the college community and the fund raised through this, is handed over to the Principal to distribute to the needy hands among the students.
Evidence of Success: Successful continuation of these inspiring programmes is in itself a strong indicator of excellent student-teacher and institutional relationship. This is a never ending story of culture inculcated by the College through strong bonding between the minds of students and teachers.
Problems Encountered and Resources Required: The main reason for the success of this is the presence of the senior faculty members. They are the connecting link between the institution and the alumni. Once they are retired, the thread is badly severed. Those who replace their positions couldn’t effectively strike a cordial connection to the alumni of the previous generations.
