Kaushik Das: story of a Social Entrepreneur

"Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry."
- William Drayton, American Social Entrepreneur, Founder of Ashoka (Ashoka Fellows)

It takes a special person to leave behind a 22 year long successful career as an industry expert and branch into the role of a Good Samaritan attempting to develop a germ of an idea into a noble venture. It happened in May 1996 when Kaushik Das of Guwahati got with a small group of like-minded friends and well-wishers, and started Atma Nirbhar – Ek Challenge.

Atma Nirbhar is an economic rehabilitation and empowerment project for the disabled giving them an opportunity to work with dignity and to become self-reliant. The project generates income, wherein tea and spices are packaged and marketed under the brand name ‘Nav Jeevan’ (New Life). This urge to help did not happen overnight. Mr. Das  an active Rotarian since 1985, expressed his thoughts  in “Outlook India”  the following way , “During my days in the tea industry, I had everything going for me but the mental satisfaction was missing. Although I did work with the Rotary Club, I always wanted to do something practical which would directly benefit the less fortunate ones Fortunately by 1996, I was financially secure enough to take the  plunge." The guiding principles for Atma Nirbhar are simplicity, respect and dignity of labor. The goal being to give the disabled an opportunity to be economically self-reliant, and be

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integrated with normal society. As “Outlook India” commented,  Kaushik Das's unique venture for the less fortunate blends with Gandhian simplicity, a tea taster's specialized  and professional management skills.

The National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People awarded  Mr Das with the “Shell Helen Keller Award” in  the year 2000 for his  tireless and inspiring work for the disabled. Mr Das is also instrumental in starting “ the umbrella advocacy group” called Pragati - Confederation for the Disabled in Assam, which brings together  N.G.O.s and individuals as its members.

Since Atma Nirbhar was designed to provide intensive support to its beneficiaries,  Mr Das was not satisfied   merely with a small number of beneficiaries.  Being the social entrepreneur that he is,he started the Punya project in 1998 to further help residents of social welfare institutions in a more compassionate and humane level. In his own words, “Most people living in residential social welfare institutions feel very lonely and depressed because they feel cut-off / isolated from active society environment, confined within the four walls of their institutions . It is a sad reality that after a while even their own relatives stop visiting them.  Herein, Kaushik Das and volunteers from his organization  would visit these institutions  spending quality time with its residents,  carrying delicious snacks and sharing with the them. These visits would always be anticipated with much enthusiasm, as it was done at a very personal level, honoring the privacy and sentiments of these thriving individuals. By consciously  avoiding any  fanfare and  sheltering them from  intrusive flimsy media glare, the volunteers  give their full focus and attention on the needs and necessities of  these residents.   The wants were mostly educational writing materials, school bags, school uniforms, clothes, footwear, recreational materials etc and the volunteers  tried to mobilize and channelize such items from the ‘giving’ public.

“Punya” first changed its name to “Reaching Out”, and in 2008, became “Spreading Sunshine”. The primary objective of ‘Spreading Sunshine’ is to build ‘bridges’ between the civil society, and pockets of societal neglect and marginalized people. It is to improve the quality of life of the disadvantaged and marginalized people living in residential social welfare institutions, by providing them with ‘outside assistance’, mobilized from the giving public. Through this program many residential social welfare institutions have received school bags, notebooks, clothes, footwear, furniture, fans etc. In the states of Assam, Meghalaya and Nagaland, over 13 residential institutions and more than 850 residents have benefitted from this project. This project has also received support from Assam Foundation of North America (AFNA) among others.