Individual Social Responsibility (ISR)
When a child grows up as part of a big family, he would inculcate some habits which would turn beneficial to most of its members. For instance, bringing groceries once a week as part of his turn etc. Doing things for the benefit of ALL becomes a natural part of his life as he grows up. His area of responsibilities and degree of work takes expansion as he enters adulthood. This is a crucial point where we need to sensitize youth that apart from family or personal work, to just think beyond a little towards his neighbourhood/locality/city/country etc. and spend his energy, intellect and if possible contribute financially within his limits. The kind of joy and sense of satisfaction it brings is what gives the person which no other means of entertainment, job or activity would give. It has to be practiced individually to realize these fruits of ISR.
Though the above picture looks rosy and promising to practice without any guidance, still we find many youth approaching us on regular basis on how to get involved in community work. Not all youth would have had a similar childhood experience to even know what it takes to be a part of bigger family.
Still in India, there is no dearth of opportunities for serving your community. It could start at a very nearby place like your residential area or the road in which your house is located. There are so many things you can think of improving if you look around and make our daily lives better and environment friendly. Just think of keeping surrounding garbage-free for a week continuously. Do you know how much coordination work it takes to make it happen? How much determination, follow up and patience it takes to achieve this without getting bogged down by initial hiccups and discouragement from onlookers.
Sometimes it is only the determination that is required to take up public work and execute it as if you are there alone in journey till you reach the target. As time progresses, if you are still stuck to your resolve and in the process of realizing your target, you may wonder how like-minded people join you along the path if your intention was TRUE and efforts were HONEST. So it turns out to be a truly community project with involvement of like-minded people though you started the journey individually!!! That’s how an Individual’s Social Responsibility can really turn multi-folds to finally become a community project.
How and where do we start?
We can get into specific details of smaller work units that can be discussed and taken up on need basis. It is very crucial to approach the local problem and analyze the source of problem. After the initial analysis is done, then come out with options to address the problem. Make sure to involve the actual people whose daily lives are affected. You will get maximum support only if relevant people are involved. Solution to the problem comes from local people and you need to coordinate and stick to the work unit identified till it gets completed.
