THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Rickshaw pullers carrying passengers are a common sight in North India. However, what one never saw was the suffering behind the burden they carry. Social activist Irfan Alam, however, did not choose to walk away from their sufferings. Even as a teenager, he wanted to help the marginalised in society. Irfan, who was in the city, speaks to City Express about founding the ‘Sammaan Foundation’ in Bihar and how he is fighting for the rights of Rickshaw pullers in the country.
Nicknamed ‘rickshaw man’, Irfan says it was a journey in a rickshaw in Class XII that pulled him to his cause. “During the journey, I felt thirsty and asked the rickshaw puller for water. This set me thinking about the living condition of the rickshaw pullers and the scorching heat they had to endure on a daily basis. The very next day, I identified some rickshaw pullers and gave them water bottles. But, since I was young, I could not pursue the dream then,” said Irfan, whose Sammaan is now 11 years old.
Soon, Irfan started fighting for the rights of the rickshaw pullers. He saw that the rickshaw fleet owners were getting all the privileges. If the fleet owners can own rickshaws, why can’t the rickshaw pullers, he asked. With this in mind, he started working with a bunch of banks. However, the banks were apprehensive if the rickshaw drivers could repay the amount. “ I wanted to empower these rickshaw pullers, so I personally took up the responsibility of paying back the amount. In order to repay the amount, we started selling products, and advertisements in these rickshaws while 50 per cent of the profit was given to the rickshaw drivers,” said Irfan. For his contributions, Irfan was recognised by the state government and was also invited by former President Barack Obama for an entrepreneurship summit.
He has also been a Ted Fellow and has been mentoring many youngsters towards entrepreneurship and nation building. There are about 5 lakh registered rickshaw pullers who are being supported by the Sammaan foundation. Presently he supports the National Ambulance Service which is a clinic on wheels and has been catering to the needs of thousands of the rickshaw drivers. “We have realised there are very few emergency health technicians who are trained people in this sector. So we set up skill centres in Bihar which will be inaugurated this month.”
In Jharkhand, he has also started a programme where they are engaging tribal women to make sanitary napkins. Irfan interacted with the students at an event organised by Additional Skill Acquisition Programme at Mascot Hotel.