BENGALURU: After receiving a positive response from the public, Wall of Kindness, an initiative by Rotary Bangalore to provide necessary things to needy people, has got two more places in the city. On September 21, two Walls of Kindness were opened at Vidyaranyapura and Rajajinagar.
Started two months ago, the initiative received more than a million likes and views on Facebook. Considering the feedback from people, especially about the selection of place, organisers have tried to overcome the issues. “The concept was well received by the general public, but people had many suggestions about the selection of places. We started first at Bhashyam Circle on a congested footpath. Now, we have taken permission from BBMP and got a convenient place next to ISKCON temple,” said Rangaswamy NS, president, Rotary Bangalore Rajajinagar.
Wall of Kindness at Rajajinagar near ISKCON temple was inaugurated by Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun while the one at Vidyaranyapura was inaugurated by Kusuma Manjunath, corporator, ward number 9. While organisers are appreciating the level of response from local residents and the public, they requested them to follow some simple guidelines.
“At Vidyaranyapura, we have a mix of middle-class people as well as labourers. We are considering two major sections of people in and around the locality as beneficiaries – Pourakarmikas and construction workers who have settled in the city from outside. This is a platform for people to exchange goods and materials and eventually promoting re-use concept among residents. We are giving more preference to goods other than clothes because 75 per cent of the clothes will be used. Electronic goods will be more useful for others. We request people to avoid donating perishable items, food, beverage and drugs,” said ACN Murthy, founder-president of Rotary Bangalore Vidyaranyapura.
One Wall of Kindness costs around Rs 1 lakh and staffers will monitor the setup during nights. “When we started this initiative at other places, there have been times when miscreants took away all the items from the shelf. To avoid this, we have installed CCTV cameras and appointed one night-time security guard,” Rangaswamy added.
Meanwhile, 44-year-old Kumar PM, a resident of Rajajinagar, said since Wall of Kindness is for public, it is their responsibility to monitor it. “Local residents, shopkeepers or residence associations can ensure better maintenance of this project. They can check the items when someone comes to donate and if it is not good, they can discard it. There are people who pick things from the shelf and sells them outside. Residents can keep an eye on such people.”
Soon, Rotary Club is also planning to start this initiative at Gandhinagar, which has tourists, street vendors and travellers from other parts of the country.