Change In Short: Free treatment after demonetisation

Following the demonetisation policy, a doctor-couple in Pune treated poor patients for free through November, while keeping a donation box for those who have cash. Dr Prakash and Dr Arati Waykar (in photo) were inspired by the sight of a ragpicker trying to change an old Rs 500 note to buy milk for her grandchild. The Waykars’ Sulochan Clinic and De-addiction Centre treats around 150 patients every day and used to charge Rs 100 as fee. They plan to use the money in the donation box to buy clothes for orphans.

Karnataka

400 tabs for schoolgirls

The state information technology department will provide 400 tablets to schoolgirls as part of an empowerment initiative called Chethana in association with Samsung India. Students who do well in academics and have completed Class 10 at government schools will be mentored for two years under the scheme. In the first phase, 333 girl students have been trained. Residential camps, workshops, domain-specific winter schools will also be held.

Telangana

Haircuts, jobs for the homeless

Youngistaan, a Hyderabad-based NGO, is transforming lives of the homeless by taking care of their personal hygiene, from a haircut and shave to arranging for a bath or a change of clothes every Sunday. While the NGO was started in 2014 to feed street-dwellers, the new idea is aimed at enabling them to find odd jobs. A team of 50 volunteers, called Transformers, also provide counselling to help the homeless earn a livelihood. They have so far helped around 500 people.