Social Worker, Rajeev Verma Raises Awareness About Swachhata And Helps Society Fight COVID

By: Surveshwar Sarvesh

Rajeev Verma’s life story is an inspiration for thousands of people who are toiling hard to make their lives notable. Founder and Secretary of Brij Kishore Student Education & Welfare Society- Varanasi, Shri Rajeev, the man behind Swachh Kashi Mission has a very modest personality. He is a multitasking, dynamic and innovative person, and a passionate social worker. His most notable contribution has been raising awareness about the importance of Swachhta (cleanliness), Women Empowerment, Environment, fighting against Corona, and many other social issues.  

His selfless devotion to fighting COVID through Swachh Kashi Mission can be seen from the fact that he personally handled 11748 requests on his mobile from all over India for help during the second wave and helped them with medical kits, food packets, hospital beds, oxygen, etc.

Early interests   

He was a meritorious student from an early age and did his graduation and post-graduation in Business Administration (MBA) from Benaras Hindu University. In an interview with Fashiongaze, he briefed about his endeavours. “After my MBA, I joined Pfizer in the Production Dept. and worked there from 1982 to 2004. He started an NGO, Brij Kishore Student Education & Welfare Society in1985, and soon touched the heart of many people with his devotion.   

Through his NGO, he devotes maximum of his time in Women Empowerment, Girl child education, and for the past few years in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan which was launched in 2014 by PM Mr. Narendra Modi. Rajeev has also served as the President of Lion’s club, through which he has always helped poor people with medicines, providing education, training rural females and girls to come together and work.

Rajeev has been instrumental in creating awareness for Swachh Bharat  Mission in Varanasi, and has arranged to provide hundreds of steel dustbins not only in Varanasi, but also in Mathura, and Shirdi with the help of various Industrial houses. Thanks to his selfless work, you can now see two dustbins on every boat in Varanasi – one for dry and the other for wet garbage.

He also plays an important role in compost manufacturing in Varanasi from wet garbage. He also runs Anna Anadam to feed poor people in Varanasi and other parts of India. Arogyam is another helpline service that has a team of 80 doctors who are just a call away to assist people and advise medicines and treatments.

Shweta Chaudhary is the brand ambassador of “Anna Anandam” Programme of this mission.On completion of 365 days in October they are planning to provide food for 1000 person in Varanasi.

Shweta is also mentoring the Arogyam programme of Swachh Kashi Mission.

Raising health awareness during COVID-19

India, and also the whole of the world was badly hit by the pandemic, COVID–19 last year, and Rajeev turned his attention to ebb the spread of COVID-19 by launching Swachh Kashi Mission and spread the message about necessary precautions to take to protect oneself and one’s community.

Helping migrant laborers return home during COVID-19 lockdown

On seeing the plight of hundreds of labourers stranded on the road towards their home, he was astonished when he learned that they had completed 100s of kilometers foot. Noting their trouble and sorrows, Rajeev immediately arranged food and transportation. “The tears of their eyes spoke volumes for me,” Rajeev said. Later he worked in close association with the noted celebrity, Sonu Sood, and provided them with isolation kits that contained medicines, masks, food grains, and other necessary items to fight against COVID, and safe transportation to home.  He has also worked with Bhumi Pendenkar, and Hema Malini noted Bollywood actresses for the fight against COVID.

On his team are many other noted celebrities with whom he has worked during the COVID times and before that he has also worked with Indira Gandhi and Rajeev Gandhi.

Various Pharmaceutical companies like Cipla, Dr. Reddy’s, Obsurge and Systopic also came forward and provided necessary support to Rajeev’s Swachh Kashi Mission and helped people during the troubled times of COVID. Rajeev also utilised help from Hospitals like Primus, Artimus, and Medanta in Delhi in his fight against COVID and also helped them by arranging Oxygen concentrators, beds, and other facilities.

He has also helped supply thousands of food packets, PPE kits, and masks during the first and second wave lockdowns to people, Police in U.P., PWD, and Health Dept.

He even ran a campaign for swachhata and his NGO put across various posters of Amitabh Bachhan’s famous movies with Swachhta slogans and messages, which were welcomed with love from all across the city, and other parts of the world through social media.

His devotion to the cleanliness movement helped him earn the prestigious “Brand Ambassador of Swachh Varanasi” by the Ministry of Urban Affairs.

Community development project

Ensuring girls’ access to education is one of Rajeev’s greatest achievements. “Instilling the importance of education through rallies on cleanliness and girls’ education, organising counseling sessions for parents who were hesitant towards sending their girls to school, and conducting career counseling sessions” are a few of his other endeavours.

Rajeev has always exhibited a commitment to educating the girl child through his NGO, and have adopted 12 villages in Varanasi district under the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Urban Mission, where they provide training to girls and train them in making fashion outfits, which are later sold to various fashion designers and outlets in metro cities like Mumbai and others.

He also organised a Balika Bachao Rally in association with Ms. Smiti Irani in 2005, and another rally to promote Swachhata, named Swachhata Rally with Ms. Divya Dutta in 2014.  During the swachhta rally he said, “Through this rally, we wish to create awareness about the at-source segregation of waste which helps in its proper disposal and management. The awareness will be created through banners and placards that will be carried by the students. The presence of celebrities will drive home the message of cleanliness more effectively.”

Future ambition

Currently, he is preparing for the Third wave of COVID, and making medical kits containing medicines for five days, Oxy-meters, thermometers and other important items.

After the COVID era, his ambition is to see that every village, town, and city in India to be completely clean, aspiring girl candidate find a job, uplift the poor and provide them a proper working atmosphere, increase production of compost from garbage, work towards improving or environment,  and is working with zeal, enthusiasm, persistence achieve all these.

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