Canadia

(Last Update: Saturday, November 20, 2010) Canadia was registered as a charitable organization under the legal name, Canadia Trust on 2007 January 27. Canadia received tax exempt status from The Director of Income-Tax (Exemptions), under both Sections 12A and 80G on 2008 August 29.

The following are the set of activities conducted under the umbrella of Canadia, both in Canada and India. The Trustees of Canadia, as a matter of integrity, have not used the funds deposited in the Current Account as corpus because we are of the view that first we need to demonstrate good faith by utilizing our own finances to undertake the activities prior to using funds raised in North America and India. To demonstrate how serious we are about our commitment, we did not even open our Current Account with ICICI Bank until 2010 October 30.

ACTIVITIES OF CANADIA - November 2010 (1.3 MB PDF)

 

Activities: Past and Present 

The following is an outline of several activities being undertaken by different individuals and institutions. All activities are part of the transformation of the village/settlement of Kandavara into a micro city, or as the President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam, put it, PURA, Provision of Urban amenities in Rural Areas.

Different groups of people are undertaking activities of interest to them. The activities carried out by different groups are listed under their respective banners and the groups involved deserve all the credit. The Collaborative aspect of the “Triple C” concept of development (the other two being Comprehensive and Concentrated) is underlined by the participation of the various groups.

Where no one particular group is identified for an activity, such an activity is being carried out by the tripartite partnership, namely, (1) the Kandavara Development Committee (KDC) of elders and the Kandavara Task Force (KTF) of youth at the local level; (2) The XVIII Horse Foundation (TEHF) in Bangalore; and (3) Project Kandwar (PK) in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. “We”, in this document, means this tripartite partnership.

Present and Ongoing Activities

The activities are presented in two parts: ongoing and completed. They are in chronological order. For summary description, click on the item of interest.

  1. Hospital Building Rehabilitation
  2. Assignment of a General Practitioner to the Hospital
  3. Rehabilitation of the 1895 Primary School Building
  4. Sewer Gutters and Piped Water Distribution
  5. BIRD-K Training of Youth for Self Governance
  6. Sai Maa Ashram Skills Training for the Poorest of the Poor
  7. Dialysis Units and Other Equipment for Hospitals in Chikballapur and Kandavara
  8. Securing State Aid for a High School in the Kandavara Catchment Area
  9. Securing the Endorsement by Swamiji
  10. The Business Plan
  11. Eye Glasses from Lions Club of Northern Ontario, District A-5
  12. Narayana Netralaya “Eye Camp”

 

  1. Hospital Building Rehabilitation

    Both Mr. M. R. Srinivasa Murthy, the Principal Secretary, Rural Development and Mr. Ritvik Pandey, the Chief Executive Officer, District of Kolar, both employees of the State of Karnataka, took steps to initiate the machinery of State Government to undertake the rehab work effective immediately. Both exercised their discretionary authority to use allocated money in the current budget, i.e., fiscal 2006-7. An engineer was sent by Mr. Pandey on 2006:DE:!3, Wednesday, to visit the hospital and estimate the cost of rehabilitating the building.

    It remains to be seen when the actual work on rehab will commence.

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  2. Assignment of a General Practitioner to the Hospital

    Mr. Ritvik Pandey made it clear that if there was a doctor available to work at the hospital he or she can be hired immediately because there is no competition. The problem is that no one wants to work in Kandavara.

    Mr. Anjum Parwez, the Deputy Commissioner, District of Kolar, is the hiring authority. Mr. Pandey saw no difficulty in hiring a qualified physician because everyone is interested to see the hospital, a designated Primary Health Centre (PHC), to function as one, for the first time.

    Dr. Manjunath Byatigere, a qualified doctor who is doing his M.S. in surgery at the Hubli Medical School and a member of The XVIII Horse-Project Kandwar Partnership, is actively looking for a family physician. He is a young idealist and is of the view that there may be one doctor who may be ready to accept the job at Kandavara. Hope he is correct.

    A properly rehabilitated building with modest facilities to begin with and a qualified doctor has the potential of turning a derelict building into a fully functioning PHC.

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  3. Rehabilitation of the 1895 Primary School Building

    Both Mr. M. R. Srinivasa Murthy, the Principal Secretary, Rural Development and Mr. Ritvik Pandey, the Chief Executive Officer, District of Kolar, both employees of the State of Karnataka, took steps to initiate the machinery of State Government to undertake the rehab work effective immediately. Both exercised their discretionary authority to use allocated money in the current budget, i.e., fiscal 2006-7. An engineer was sent by Mr. Pandey on 2006:DE:!3, Wednesday, to visit the school and estimate the cost of rehabilitating the building.

    Mr. Pandey was of the view that the Hospital building would receive the first priority.

    It remains to be seen when the actual work on rehab will commence.

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  4. Sewer Gutters and Piped Water Distribution

    Mr. Anjum Parwez, the Deputy Commissioner of Kolar, took steps to initiate work on improving drainage of sewer gutters and on improving piped water distribution of “sweet” potable water to households. He called Mr. Bhadrachalam, the Chief Officer (the chief civil servant), City Municipal Council, Chikballapur, to start work during the current fiscal year 2006-7, and use up to Rs. 600,000.

    It remains to be seen when the actual work will commence. NMK is urging Mr. Bhadrachalam to give it some priority.

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  5. BIRD-K Training of Youth for Self Governance

    Dr. G. N. Srinivasa Reddy, Vice-President, BIRD-K, Tumkur, Karnataka, is organizing the two-week long intensive training session for four youth from Kandavara. The youth have been selected. Two will be sent to Tiptur for training as soon as the two are ready to allocate two weeks of their time for the training course.

    The expectation is that the four youth, upon their return, will take an active role in leading the community development efforts in Kandavara.

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  6. Sai Maa Ashram Skills Training for the Poorest of the Poor

    Mr. Ravi Menon and his wife Ms Lakshmi who are operating the Sai Maa Ashram at the foot of Nandi Hill near Kanivepura, about 11 km south of Kandavara, have given an undertaking that they would provide skills training in tailoring for those who are ready to undergo rigorous training at their Ashram under the guidance of an experienced tailoring instructor. The people who are eager for the training have been identified. The date for the commencement of training is not yet finalized.

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  7. Dialysis Units and Other Equipment for Hospitals in Chikballapur and Kandavara
    Mr. Frank Reynolds, the Treasurer of Project Kandwar, has successfully persuaded the Regional Hospital in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada to donate four Dialysis Units and a host of other equipment and supplies to the three hospitals in Chikballapur and Kandavara. The Dialysis Units will be located at the CSI Hospital in Chikballapur because of the assured professional back up. The other equipment and medicines will be sent to all three of the hospitals depending upon needs.

    At present there is not a single Dialysis Unit in either the Greater Chikballapur Area or the District of Kolar. Approximately forty (40) patients travel to Bangalore twice weekly to secure treatment. Poor people who cannot afford the transportation, lodging, and boarding in Bangalore simply do not secure the treatment. Mr. H. R. Seetharam, the senior advocate in Chikballapur, stated that he personally knew of two people who had died in the Chikballapur area in the past four years because of lack of dialysis units.

    On 2007:JA:27, Saturday, The XVIII Horse team and NMK met Dr. Leelavathi, the Chief Medical Officer of CSI Hospital, Dr. Chandy, the Chief Medical Officer from the Vellore Hospital, and Bishop Vasantha Kumar of Church of South India (CSI). The meeting was very candid and productive with all of us agreeing to do our best to enable transfer of technology to the CSI Hospital in Chikballapur. Memoranda of Understanding have been exchanged.

    A comprehensive list of equipment and supplies needed by the three hospitals was developed by a team of doctors headed by Dr. Manjunath Byadigere of the Hubli Medical School (about 400 km North West of Bangalore). We are working on the logistics of transferring technology and equipment. It is not easy to arrange for transportation. If the reader is able to help it would be much appreciated by the people of the Greater Chikballapur Area.

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  8. Securing State Aid for a High School in the Kandavara Catchment Area

    On 2007:JA:24, Wednesday, NMK met with Mr. Vijaya Bhaskar, IAS, the Principal Secretary Education (Primary and Secondary) to secure guidance on a potential High School. In a forthright professional manner Mr. Bhaskar stated that a case has to be made for one using the following three criteria: (1) There should no High School within 5 km from the proposed location that is either a Government school or Government aided school; (2) There should be a minimum of 50 graduating students from nearby primary schools who would enrol in the proposed High School; and (3) There should be a minimum of two (2) acres of land available for the proposed High School at the proposed location.

    We are examining whether or not the aforesaid criteria can be met for a proposed High School in Kandavara. The proposal is complicated by the fact that there are two High Schools within 5 km from Kandavara but the need is compelling because of over crowding. We need to persuade the State Government to examine the proposal within the context of quality of education and exercise discretion in interpreting the three criteria – not an easy undertaking where the demand overwhelms the supply by the State.

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  9. Securing the Endorsement by Swamiji

    On 2006:NO:26, Sunday, at the request of Swami Nirmalanandanatha for an outline on the status of Project Kandwar, Mr. Srikanth of The XVIII Horse, made a very good presentation. During the discussion following the presentation, the Swamiji gave nine substantive commitments. NMK sent a detailed thank you letter listing his commitments.

    The importance and relevance of Swamiji stems from his being the spiritual head of the sect that has created the large SJC Institute of Technology, about 4 km south east of Kandavara. It is no secret that the Swamiji is very influential with the Government of Karnataka. The Swamiji holds a Master of Science degree in Structural Engineering from the famed Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai (formerly Madras).

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  10. The Business Plan

    On 2006:DE:15, Friday, after many hurdles and much delay, the order of magnitude cost estimates for various action programs came together. The table indicating the major elements of costs is being refined and the cost estimates for the disaggregated elements are under preparation now. The first full draft of the Business Plan is expected to be ready by the end of April 2007. To borrow from President Jimmy Carter, we are guardedly optimistic.

    The XVIII Horse team and the KTF team have worked diligently to overcome many unexpected hurdles and are still doing so. They deserve commendation by all interested in treating development of Kandavara in a Comprehensive, Concentrated, and Collaborative manner.

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  11. Eye Glasses from Lions Club of Northern Ontario, District A-5

    The Lions Club of Northern Ontario donated 250 pairs of eye glasses for the needy in the Kandavara Catchment Area. The box of shipment is on its way to Bangalore.

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  12. Narayana Netralaya “Eye Camp”

    Narayana Netralaya is a well-known major eye hospital in Bangalore. The Hospital has agreed to conduct periodic “Eye Camps” in the dilapidated hospital building in Kandavara. “Eye Camp” is an event sponsored by the Hospital with adequate professional staff (8 in number) for a day or two. People from around the settlement come for free medical assistance. For those requiring surgery, the patients have to provide for themselves only to and from transportation to the Hospital in Bangalore. The Hospital provides free lodging, boarding, and medical services.

    Dr. Kannan Narayana and Mr. Rajendran, the Manager of Eye Camps, both from Narayana Netralaya, have had extensive discussions on the organizational aspects of the Camp with The XVIII Horse team headed by Ms Manjula V. Rao. Dr. Kannan has also agreed to provide the services of a qualified and experienced optometrist to match up eye glasses donated by the Lion’s Club of Sudbury with the needs of patients who come for the Eye Camp.

    Both KDC and KTF team members are involved in the logistics of setting up the “Eye Camp” in the Hospital in Kandavara, including but not limited to: broadcasting the message of the planned “Eye Camp” using all means of communication (posters, pamphlets, door-to-door messengers, newspapers, and village criers), organizing the efficient flow of patients, food for the medical staff and the most needy patients, proper furniture, and the like.

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