Indian professor strives for socio-economic upliftment

AFTAB H. KOLA
http://www.timesofoman.com/searchdetail.asp?cat=&detail=39276&rand=CKl4hnblcWG4l4O1JSH2MJvQv4
MUSCAT18 September 2010 08:40:25 Oman Time: Meet Prof. K. A. Siddique Hassan from India who has made Vision 2016 his mission. On a personal visit to Oman recently, Prof. Siddique sought to bring about an awareness among Indian expats that transforming the social development landscape of their country is the need of the hour. Talking exclusively to Times of Oman, Siddique said, “Taking up education, health, micro finance, employment generation and legal help as the focus areas, the Vision 2016 envisages the establishment of multiple institutions across India, with a strong backup of committed volunteers and leaders. The projects are run by several NGOs under the supervision of umbrella body, the Human Welfare Trust, New Delhi.” What made him take up this ambitious programme? Siddique avers, “Vision 2016 is a result of my own heart-breaking experience at the time of Bhagalpur communal clashes. I visited the area and saw the pathetic conditions of the affected people, both Hindus and Muslims, there. “Subsequently, I got an opportunity to see the pitiable conditions of poverty-stricken people, mainly Muslims and Dalits living without even basic amenities in northern India. Then I decided that I should do something concrete for the downtrodden people and Vision 2016 was born with the backing of Jamate Islami Hind, an organisation which has received praise from all sections of people for their social work. He says, “Our mission is to serve the poor and deprived sections of the society by providing them basic amenities like education, healthcare, food and shelter that equip individuals to become an equal partner in the progress of the nation and by helping the victims of natural calamities to move towards a world free from hunger, ignorance, deprivation and exploitation.” Education Siddique adds, “Our main focus is education, educational awareness with thrust on primary education. We are concentrating in north India, especially UP, Bihar, Assam and West Bengal where the majority of most backward people live. “The project will target 10 million beneficiaries in a span of 10 years and the project will move forward after 2016 to its next phase.” “The Human Welfare Trust has created a vision for itself, set a goal and fixed targets for 2016. It will pool funds, provide the human resources, translate the programme from paper to the ground, monitor the progress and evaluate the projects with course correction at every level. Human Welfare Trust is an umbrella body with several distinguished and experienced community leaders on its board of trustees. It has 50 NGOs as its affiliates spread over 20 states, implementing more than 125 projects. The number of beneficiaries so far are well above a million,” Siddique added. Another area of focus of the Human Welfare Trust is microfinance. Siddique informs, “Islamic microfinance represents the meeting point of two rapidly growing industries: Microfinance and Islamic finance. “It has the potential to not only respond to meet demand but also to combine the Islamic social principle of caring for the less fortunate with microfinance’s power to provide financial access to the poor. Unlocking this potential could be the key to providing financial access to millions of poor. We are making a good headway in this direction.”