Netsurf’s initiative ‘ASMITA’ empowering women across India under CSR

New Delhi: ASMITA, as the name suggests is a women-oriented project of Netsurf Network, one of the leading direct selling companies. Under Netsurf’s CSR arm, the project has brought around 400,000 women, called ‘Asmitas’, on board.

With Netsurf’s colour cosmetics brand, “Rang De”, the company has taken the initiative to donate one pack of sanitary napkins to the women living in tribal areas, for every Rang De product sold.

With this, the number of sanitary napkins given by Netsurf to around 900 tribal women has reached 2000 in number.

The packaging surfaces of all products under Rang De range are utilized to showcase Indian tribal art forms like Madhubani, Tikuli, Bhil, and Warli. These are the actual paintings created by tribal artists from across India.

Netsurf will incorporate maximum possible tribal art forms in Rang De’s packaging in the coming future. With an aim to return back to society, Netsurf has taken a step further, especially for the women from deprived areas.

Transforming the lives of many women, Netsurf has created a wonderful opportunity to bring Asmitas on board as its direct sellers.

Direct sellers are the individuals who want to explore Netsurf’s direct selling business as their career. Direct sellers can avail multiple income opportunities in the form of different Commissions, Incentives, Rewards, and recognition.

These Asmitas have contributed 27.56% in Netsurf’s ’turnover in fiscal 2017-18.

Currently, the project is getting attraction from across the country including Pune, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Delhi, Thane, Solapur, Nagpur, Nashik, Satara. It has been flourishing gradually in different parts of Maharashtra also where women have fewer income opportunities to support their families by earning additional income.

Aiming to achieve the ideal 50:50 ratio of male and female direct sellers in next three years, the company has started a unique reward & recognition system especially for Asmita direct sellers, ‘Club Asmita’, for the exceptional work they have been doing and promoting them further in this business.

Speaking of products, most of the products are women-oriented. At present, Asmita’s are more involved in retailing personal-care, homecare, health care, and colour cosmetics ranges of Netsurf.

Under the leadership of Sujit Jain, Founder, Chairman & Managing Director (MD), Netsurf  Communications Pvt. Ltd. initiated its operations in India with organic farm care products, rightly foreseeing the future of the global environment. Gradually, Netsurf introduced 57 products ranging across health & wellness, personal care, colour cosmetics, home care and agriculture operating in633 districts and 5000 blocks.

“The overall direct selling space in India as well as worldwide is dominated by women. In India 58% of the direct sellers are women. However, till the year 2013, 80% to 85% of Netsurf Network’s direct sellers were Males, therefore introducing Project Asmita was a very thoughtful decision. The biggest challenge was to introduce the right products that Asmita’s could sell and to educate them about the products and to make the business model more welcoming to them. In addition to personal care and home care products, we recently launched a new range of Herbal Colour Cosmetics which is going to be a game-changer for Asmita direct sellers,” said Sujit Jain.

He further added that their efforts are paying off well, as today Asmita’s contribution in overall Netsurf’s turnover is 25-30%. While direct selling is still not considered as a serious career in India, they are proud of the fact that they have a good number of Asmita direct sellers & it’s great to see that these women are helping their families by providing additional income in rural areas as well as metros.

Insights from Asmitas:

• Buddha Rani Limbua from Sikkim, initially a consumer of Netsurf products became a direct seller with Netsurf herself and started retailing the products in her social circle. She says, “Project Asmita justifies its objective of making business seamless and easy to do for women. Metro and cosmopolitan cities have ample career opportunities for women. However, the scenario is not the same with smaller cities. Project Asmita is a perfect option for women who are ambitious and want to create their identity irrespective of the area they live in. It makes them not only financially independent but a lot more confident and content in their life.”
• Usha Bhanushali is an Asmita direct seller with Netsurf from Maharashtra. At present, she is very close to earning Rs 1 Cr in the business. Usha says, “I have a big team of Asmitas and my observation says that it makes them feel good about themselves. They learn, earn, become independent and eventually, it’s a very empowering experience. I know many Asmitas who equally contribute to the finances to run the family. It gives them a feeling that they are capable of making their own decisions and don’t have to depend on anybody.”
• Vandana Khandare, is a make-up artist from Nagpur and runs her own salon. She says, “This project has transformed our lives in many ways. The comprehensive training programs not just taught us the intricacies of this business but we have learned life lessons too. The company imbibes an egalitarian culture, where women are respected and given equal opportunities, which is truly encouraging. Most importantly, we feel great about the fact that we are involved in the process of empowering other women by encouraging them to be independent.”
• Kinjal Patel an Asmita direct seller from Ahmedabad says, “I want to tell them that it’s time to take your career seriously, even after your marriage and motherhood because it’s more than about just earning money. It’s about your self-esteem, getting recognised and feeling empowered. Especially when options like Asmita are available where you can choose your working hours, you can work from wherever you want.

 

 

 

 

Raghurajpur: The land of artists

ABOUT 20 minutes by road from Puri, in Orissa, lies a village called Raghurajpur, surrounded by thick groves of coconut palm trees. All the houses in the village run parallel to the banks of the Bhargabi river.  This village is India’s only village where everybody is an artist.  It is home to more than 300 artisans who practice various traditional art forms coming over generations.  These artists live in each of the 100 or so painted, yet modest, houses that face one another. The lane is entirely occupied by the series of temples dedicated to local deities.

The chitrakars(painters) from Raghurajpur is famous for their brightly colored mythological stories about Lord Jagannath and other deities.  It’s the most significant contribution of India’s cultural heritage is the Pattachitra painting. The famous painting Pattachitra comprises of two words- patta(canvas) and Chitra(picture), is a spectacular art form that Raghurajpur have for us. These paintings are made over a piece of cloth known as patta or dried palm leaf. It was originated in the 12th century. According to an artist, Pattachitras belong to the tradition of temple paintings which were used as decorative artefacts to adorn the sanctum sanctorum of temples. He further added that some artists, who are into mass production for commercial purposes, also employ stencils but that doesn’t affect the quality of work. These paintings are supposed to be painted with natural colours.

Today, in addition to patachitra, Raghurajpur can claim to produce some of the most beautiful works in palm-leaf painting and etching, wood carving, papier-mache sculptures and stone carving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Residents irk as improper drainage causes waterlogging

Dhenkanal, a district which is nearly 80kms away from Bhubaneswar is surrounded by beautiful wild lives and forests but the residents of Dhenkanal is facing numerous problems including open garbage bins, coverless manholes, lack of sanitation, etc. Flies and mosquitoes are providing with some ambient humming every day due to which people are suffering from dengue. Besides, the water clogging near the main vegetable market is also a concern.

People eating fruits and vegetables of this place are falling ill. When people head out, they are bound to be affected by the uncleanliness around them and fall ill, especially the vendors and grocers. “We don’t have a proper drainage system. It was the recent rains that have made us realise our plight after a public works department channel full of sewage overflowed and the water has entered our shops”, the shopkeeper said.” “Proper drainage system comes under the jurisdiction of municipality and PWD. They have already asked the municipality chairperson to solve the issues and construct a new drain. However, it will take some time depending on the allotment of funds and nature of work”, says sub-collector.

Cambridge to slums, man enlightens hundreds!

Rakesh Satpathy, at his ‘free school for poor’ Cuttack, Odisha is imparting education to many children in the slum areas of Cuttack. He has rented a house in college square at Cuttack where he teaches these children every single day, for last 16 years. His pedagogy also involves paintings, drawings and many artistic skills that can help them to earn their livelihood so that they can be engaged and self-reliant. He was barely 20 years old when he started teaching to these slum kids. The sight of poor and illiterate kids, begging and choosing odd jobs for survival, being the victims of child labour and child abuse has made him come up with a thought of imparting free knowledge to those innocents across Cuttack.

His father had a government job but in 1992, due to some changes in the policies of the government, his job changed to the private sector. This job change led to several financial problems in the family. His salary was reduced to half. Rakesh was very keen to study science but due to lack of money, he chose to study arts in his graduation days. He used to go to coaching classes but was asked to leave the classes as he was unable to pay the fees. In order to get some money, he started working as a gardener in one of the nurseries. Since then, he wanted to do something for those kids who get deprived of the education.

After completing his education, he joined the Cambridge School as a part of his project named- “Social Service Project”. As a part of this project, he developed his idea of teaching to slum kids. Once, he saw a girl working at a restaurant who was very much interested in studies but due to several issues she was unable to go to school and study. Rakesh helped the girl to study commerce and become a Chartered Accountant. After this, he made a thought of opening a coaching centre for the slum kids where he will teach them without any disturbance. Now it has been 16 years since the coaching centre “Sambhavna” has started. He managed the funds by giving half of his salary for the schooling of these slum kids. This small initiative has grown up now. The faculty members from Ravenshaw University also visits the coaching centre and imparts free education.

According to him, “His ultimate goal is to impart free education everywhere so that nobody gets deprived of it. Knowledge is earned when you share it with others”. He has also worked as a social worker in orphanages, old age homes, etc.  As hard work never goes in vain, Rakesh is getting a tremendous response from the people of the slums. Many of them are now willing to educate and send their children to study rather than employing them for odd jobs. Many have gained profit from his teaching. His aim is to revolutionize education for as many poor children as he can.

 

17-year old Haryana girl scales Mount Kilimanjaro

A 17-year-old girl Shivangi Pathak from Haryana made India Proud after achieving another milestone in her life. She has added another feather to her cap by scaling Africa’s highest peak, “Mount Kilimanjaro”. Completing her mountain journey from the Marangu route in just three days, she lifted an Indian flag at the top of Africa’s highest point & tallest free-standing mountain in the world that stands at an imposing 5,895m.

Inspired from Arunima Sinha, the first Indian amputee to climb Mt. Everest, Pathak has a very special message for everyone i.e. “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” which she wants to share with every individual of the country  to make them aware that nothing is impossible and women can overcome every obstacle easily to achieve their goals.

With a view to sensitize and inspire women, She further says “Women can achieve anything if they desire. There is nothing that Indian Women can’t do. They are not the liability but they are the future of the country. Don’t stop on what you achieved but fight for more”.

Titled with “The eagle of Mountain”, she is also the youngest Indian to scale the world highest peak “ Mount Everest” from Nepal side. Haryana has been blatant for its skewed sex ratio and patriarchal mindset and so Shivangi wanted to blur this picture and make her hometown, Hisar & Haryana, a famous place all over the world. She has also conquered Stok Khangri, a 6,053-metre peak in Ladakh.

I wish you all the best in your future endeavours.

SEVEN WONDER PLACES

With the rapid growth of urbanisation and industries, the pollution is at peak. Urbanisation and industrialisation, both have created an acute imbalance in the environment.
But if you get to know about some of the places which are pollution free zones and are travel destinations, what would be your first reaction?

Ahan! You would definitely like to visit those places, free from pollution and full of peace. These destinations have somehow managed to keep themselves away from the growing pollution level with their efforts.
So, let’s turn to the other side of the story and throw a beam on some of those destinations. Let’s wrap the unwanted side and have a watch on the cities having a well-controlled pollution level,  is the green, clean and perfect place to breathe in.

Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh

The place is among the most prominent places in India with the purest air to breathe in. Although the place is an underrated tourist destination in Himachal Pradesh, if you are planning to spend your vacations in Shimla or Manali, visit Kinnaur instead, and nature will gift you a fresh stint of pure air.  Being a land of captivating valleys, and offering various adventure sports, Kinnaur totally deserves to be at the top of your basket.

Kollam, Kerala

Kollam serves you with the beautiful beaches and placid backwaters. Nature serves you with a bout of fresh air as it is said to have one of the most outstanding qualities of air all over the world.

Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu

A swash of fresh yellow with the vibes of being an international place blend with Indianness, a pinch of spirituality and artistically beautiful, Pondicherry is much more than calling it just a destination. Having a handful of reasons for choosing Pondicherry to visit, the prime reason is its quality of air and water. The purity of air and water at the destination is the combined efforts of the local government, NGOs and the people residing there. Being the most popular tourist destination, Pondicherry is among the list of least polluted cities in India.

Hassan, Karnataka

Hassan is considered to be having 6times lesser pollution than Delhi and is also considered to be purer than most of the cities in the country.

Gangtok, Sikkim

Sikkim, situated at just a few kilometres away from the Chinese border, having destinations like Nathu La pass and the Tsomgo Lake near it. Various measures have been taken by the government to maintain its cleanliness as well as low levels of air and water pollution. Gangtok serves us with the pure air to breathe in, coming straight away to the Himalayas.

Madurai, Tamil Nadu

Madurai, known as the ‘Athens of the East’, is one of the most ancient cities of the country. It has a huge book of history, mythology, and culture associated with it since its existence. WHO listed the city in  “five least polluted cities in India” list. Constant efforts by the government, as well as local people, resulted the city at this place. Although in recent years, the number of vehicles increased gradually which resulted in rising level of air pollution but the city took several initiatives to cope with the problem. Setting an example for other cities of India, Madurai work constantly for the city’s ample dust.

Nagpur, Maharashtra

Nagpur is being recognised as one of the cleanest cities of India. Gradually rise in air  pollution is a major concern that the city needs to resolve in the coming few years. But it still maintains it’s rank among India’s greenest cities, with well- developed parks, gardens, and sufficient afforestation within the city. Nagpur also has good levels of accessibility to clean drinking water and very little noise pollution.

India is developing nation. Day by day it’s progressing, and emerging as a major game changer in the world. Hence, it’s sad that there are so few places that could make it to this list. However,  criticizing them is not the solution. We need to put efforts for nature and the community we belong to. Be a responsible citizen and give your efforts to make a strong nation,  Pause to think about the changes we can make in our day-to-day lives to decrease pollution levels. It is the only YOU who can bring the change so start it from yourself and be a part of this change, Be eco-friendly which is the need of the hour.

Trio sisters

​Taking an amiable pause from being in the limelight as the state with the shrill sex ratio in the country, Haryana is now being applauded for being the state of auspicious women in recent times. After the inspiring story of Phogat sisters of becoming international wrestlers recently stroke the silver screen with Dangal, three more sisters from Jhajjar district in Haryana have made the state proud by joining the Indian Army.
Preeti and Deepti Deshwal , and their cousin Mamta have joined the Indian Army Medical Corps as lieutenants.
According to a report in Rajasthan Patrika, No one in the family of Pratap Singh Deshwal has ever been a part of the Army till now. But when these three daughters of the house shows their interest towards Indian Army, the family supported them wholeheartedly.
Preeti and Deepti done their schooling  from Jyoti Prakash School, while their cousin, Mamta went to Himalayan School. The trio was selected in the Armed Forces Medical College in 2012 but went to different campuses. Preeti was trained in Kolkata, Deepti in Mumbai, and Mamta went to Pune.

The trio sisters graduated this year and have been perpetrained to different military hospitals across the country. Mamta will be stationed at Military hospital, Ranikhet, and Deepti will be stationed in Agra. Preeti will work for Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Ooty.
The accomplishments of the three young lieutenants prove that if girls are provided with the favourable opportunities and support, they are no less than boys. The credence goes to the girls’ resolution and their family’s support.
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Cords of justice weakens !

13 June,1997, the date is recognised by Indians even today. That Friday when India’s most frightening Agni scandal took place in Green Park at Uphaar cinema. Today after almost 20 years court has stated its decision. Does this decision would bring out an ointment on wounds of those unaided families in whose hope even now also the whole country trembles after remembering that incident? Undoubtedly the answer is NO because after 20 years of eagerly waiting, nobody thought of having such a lame decision. This punishment of killing 59 innocent people, is unacceptable. The punishment given to one of the most discussed real estate businessmen Ansal Bandhu’s shows poor law arrangement and soreness of justice methodology.

During this happening, a show of border movie was going on and nobody made a thought that this happiness will enroute to mourning all of a sudden. 59 people burnt and died in this Agni scandal and about 103 people injured badly.

The generator that was kept in the basement is responsible as short circuit took place  leading to fire in the main hall and took the hall under its lapped.  It was found that at that moment there was more number of people than the calibre of that place. In order to get out from the hall, stampede took place killing a large number of women and children. It was also found that there was not proper arrangements of security. Also, there were no arrangement to escape from fire. Even after such  carelessness, government didn’t knew about them.

Does the pain of this serious tragedy can be slow down with a minimum amount of compensation. Maybe the  justice panel don’t want to understand that one death ruins the life of an entire family. This Uphaar scandal didn’t only took youth or oldies but even the children could not escape from it.  Ujjwal of 13 years, tarini Maan of 9 years and many more innocents were killed by the carelessness and chaos  on that black Friday.

After Supreme Court’s decision, the  owners of Uphaar cinema Ansal Brothers, Gopal Ansal and  Sushil Ansal, out of them Gopal Ansal was given a very little punishment of spending an year behind the bars whereas his elder brother was not given any punishment, keeping in mind that he is very old. Nobody got relief from this senseless decision in the country. Instead several questions are raised in every person’s mind against the justice panel of the country.

Equal justice for all seems to be faded nowadays. It was already clear in C.B.I’s  checking that the the administration and the owners of cinema hall had not made any arrangements in terms of security. If this has been considered, this type of scandal must have been escaped to. With a gradual increase in number of days, files get piled up and dust took place on them which results in the present situation. I hope that inorder to attract the minds of intellectual and our ministers toward our system, we would not have to wait for an another happening like this.

A road less travelled by

I am soaked too deep into my affair with the hills, rivers,etc. I belongs to that category who loves taking the road less travelled by. I love to draw new experiences and cultures. I have an endless conversation with the locals and feels a constant urge to explore the beauty of the world. Everytime I embark a road to a wonderful hill top, a sound river, the fragrant Breeze, those scattered tiny huts and simplicity of people living on these hills or near to rivers, it brings a smile to my face unconsciously. I always let my hair play with the flirtations wind, while setting my eyes on the beauty of the place. Travelling with the curvaceous road, upon the hills with hanging clouds, over my head was like romancing with nature. This time I decided to chase the summer and went to Uttarakhand , at Rishikesh in the middle of hills and river. It gives me an immense pleasure to move around in those places. There was silent all the way. I felt the coldness of the place and was directly able to relate myself with the nature.The place ‘Rishikesh’ is magnificently beautiful. Starting from rafting in Ganga to enjoying the bathing in the running water of the river with the bright scorching heat of the sun. All comes in one package .

The place can be easily identified by the colour of the river, a musky brown in contrast to the sparkling clear water up- stream. Then , there is another place between the seashore and the hills.

The natural beauty of that place can’t be define in just few words. I was speechless at that moment seeing the glorious nature . Felt amazed, the place was so calm that it gives a sense of relief . The world seems so be end up peacefully at that moment.