Vadodara9 minutes ago
Nihar Agarwal, deeply associated with the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, has set an example in the field of waste management, which is inspiring for today’s youth. Nihar did her masters from London and when she came to India, she realized that people here are not aware about plastic waste. People throw garbage everywhere. This not only causes damage to the environment, but also puts the lives of animals in danger. Then it came to his mind that some such initiative should be taken, so that people should be aware as well as support the plastic waste free movement.
Beginning of the year 2018
In the year 2018, he started working on the West Hub model. In this, the people of the village themselves collect the waste and in return, Nihar provides them with things like recycled products i.e. furniture, tableware, bags, purses from the waste. Not only this, through this he has also linked 5 thousand people with employment.
28-year-old Nihar is originally from Rajasthan. His father used to serve in Gujarat, so he spent most of his time in Gujarat. In the year 2014, he did his graduation from Dubai. Then worked for a year. After this, she went to London to study Masters and returned to India in the year 2016.
intention to do better for the society
Nihar has a lot of love for education. Apart from giving vocational training, she also teaches young children.
Talking to Bhaskar, Nihar says that from the very beginning I had the intention to do something better for the society. That’s why I didn’t get the job even after getting good offers. I got married a few months after coming to India. Husband used to run an NGO named Anvesha Foundation, in which he used to work for the education sector. Since I did my masters in education, I was more interested in the field of education. I also joined them and started helping in providing education to the children.
She says that school education alone is not enough for the students. They also need training at the vocational level. There are many students who drop out, while there are many children who have to leave studies due to some reason. In such a situation, those students need skill based education, so that they can generate income for themselves after completing their studies. With this thought in mind, we started the program of vocational training. In this, we started giving training to the students in the work related to electrical, mechanical and fabrication.
The idea of West Hub model came while giving training
Nihar says that some initiative is needed for change. Once you start and work diligently, then success is bound to come.
Made poor and dropout children successful
Nihar says that there were many such students in our training center who were very poor. There were many students who were drop out. When these people came out after completing their training, they started doing their own work. Some started working related to fabrication and some started working in electrical and mechanical fields. It was a very positive response for me. This gave courage and thought started coming in my mind that now some such work should be done so that jobs can be created on a large level, people can help in running their livelihood.
She says that at the same time I came to notice the issue of plastic waste. This issue was common in cities and among educated people. Many people are also working to recycle plastic waste, but most of the people in the villages are unaware of it. Not only this, making them aware is also a difficult task. I felt that there is a need to not only make these people aware, but also need to be connected with employment by giving training. Until this campaign is not connected with the people, then people will also not join it.
Connecting people from village level
The people of the village not only collect the waste, as well as the volunteers associated with them on a large level also help them in this.
Talking about her campaign, Nihar says that to get rid of plastic waste, we started a campaign from village to village. Started making people aware. We told people that instead of throwing garbage here and there, collect it at one place. Motivate other people to do the same. Whatever products will be made from this waste will be used for the development of your village. For example, if someone is poor in the village, we will provide him with the things he needs. Tables and chairs will be provided for children in schools. This will benefit the whole village.
She says that the villagers were also happy with this idea and agreed to work with us. Slowly people started collecting garbage from every house and collecting it at one place.
Started in four cities of Gujarat?
Nihar says that at present we are working in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Halol and Anand. Here people collect waste from their respective homes and collect it at one place. After that the work of its segregation takes place. That is, different types of waste are separated. Then we send people who recycle the waste there. After collecting the waste from there, they bring it to their production unit and prepare different types of products from there. After this our team collects those products back and goes to the village and provides them to the people. That is, those who provide us with waste, we give back to them the products made from it.
After collecting plastic waste, recyclers make a variety of products from it. It is then distributed among the people of the village.
She says that in many schools, we have provided things like tables and chairs. Similarly, we have provided furniture to the people of the village who are poor. Slowly we are expanding our range. We have also adopted three villages. Our team provides what those villages need. Along with this, we provide salary to those who do the work of recycling and making products. Due to this they are getting good income. Most of them are people who have been trained by us.
Giving training and employment to thousands
Nihar says that till now we have given training to 7500 students. All these people are working somewhere or doing some work of their own. Apart from this, there are 4 thousand such people with us who are associated with the work of waste recycling. They also get a good income. She says that we neither manufacture any product nor do we have any production unit. We just want to create an ecosystem. So that people can also be aware and they can also get employment.
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