Established by a group of BITSians under the name of My India, Nirmaan has grown into a tremendous organization, providing educational and employment opportunities to the poor across India. But Pilani is where it all began.
Having more than 70 active volunteers, Nirmaan’s pre-APOGEE work consisted of a hugely successful lecture by the immensely popular Dr. HC Verma, which was a tie-in with NSS. For APOGEE, Nirmaan is organizing Dhiti, a kernel event (in collaboration with NSS again), and India Quiz. For Dhiti, the organization collected problem statements from various NGOs and put them up for display. These problem statements mainly consist of issues plaguing the country, and participants are expected to fabricate efficient solutions to these problems. The event consists of 4 phases, with 3 of those already having been conducted. The first phase consisted of abstracts being submitted by the participants. Teams were narrowed down to around 10 in the next two phases, with the help of telephonic interviews. These top teams will come to campus and present their projects in front of the judges. The top two teams will be declared winners, and Nirmaan will help them along with the NGOs to implement the ideas. The other solutions will also be passed onto the NGOs.
Nirmaan has a minimal budget for APOGEE; the only money involved is in getting the quizmasters for India Quiz and other travel fares. Their main source of funds is their one rupee a day signing, a program which ended just a week ago.
While generally being happy with their preparations this APOGEE, Venkat M was slightly disappointed that Sanskriti, another event that Nirmaan was going to conduct as value addition to the fest, was called off due to lack of funds. Also, the fact that C-Lawns basically resembles a crater these days means that Nirmaan is unlikely to have a stall set up this APOGEE.
When asked the generic question viz. Apogee or Oasis, Venkat M said that for Nirmaan, Oasis is a bigger market as it brings more stall sales. As a general message to the BITSian junta, Venkat M wants everyone to read their newsletter and get to know their organization better, and also to come for their events. The AEP wishes them the best of luck for their endeavours this APOGEE.
