HYDERABAD: Many assume that a simple postcard is not as effective, but in reality, it is still the most cost-effective way. Pradeep Lokhande made use of it as a powerful tool to connect rural India, which no one has tried before. He did that to carry out activities of his NGO, Rural Relations.
It is incredible indeed. You can meet this everyday hero of Rural Relations, Pradeep Lokhande and listen to him speaking live in our city. He is a Pune based social entrepreneur who has contacted 58 lakh people in rural India and will be one among several other speakers to speak at the most awaited TEDxHyderabad to be held in the city in September.
TEDxHyderabad is all set to go live on September 24. The theme of the third edition of the event is “Do”. TEDxHyderabad, this year will showcase 13 speakers and 2500 attendees. Five of these twelve speakers will be local Hyderabadi’s.
Some of the speakers include transgender champion Gauri Sawant, social entrepreneurs Anshu Gupta and Pradeep Lokhande, activist and co-founder of anti-trafficking organization `Prajwala’ Sunitha Krishnan, photojournalist GMB Akash, hope creator ElcaGrobler; former Indian Army officer Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah; Mukesh Aghi, Global Strategizer; Kalpana Saroj, Disruptive Millionaire; Anu Acharya, Genome Guru;Pradeep Lokhande, made use of the cheapest communication mode, “Post Card” available in India. Over the many years, he proved it as a powerful tool to connect the rural India.
This Pune based social entrepreneur communicates with 58 lakh people. He proudly claims that he received 9 lakh post cards from school children.
He has a database of 49,000 villages in 10 states across India. Known as the postcard man of India, Pradeep has one line address--Pradeep Lokhande, Pune-411013. Mail to his address is so heavy that the postman does not need specific details anymore. Pradeep, CEO of Rural Relations, an organization, he founded with the aim of developing rural India. He is a rural resource partner for corporates like Telco, P&G, Tata Tea and more; Rural Relations helps generate job opportunities in the villages.
Like NRI (Non-Resident Indian), Pradeep christened a new name NRV--Non-Resident Villager. Every Indian living in the city or abroad is a Non-Resident Villager (NRV), he says.
He started the Gyan Key Library Scheme, to establish libraries in the villages to inculcate reading habits among children. Everybody is an NRV because we all have come from communities. Therefore, an NRV can support, contribute in whatever the way meaningfully to the development of his/her village. Till date, they were successful in installing 3,055 Gyan-Key libraries in 3,055 rural secondary schools in 1,075 working days benefiting 8,50,000 students,”.
TEDx is a one-day conference where socially conscious and curious individuals go to hear from real life stories and world changing ideas to be inspired. It is a platform being curated and created to uplift the intellectual capital for the city of Hyderabad. TEDxHyderabad is not about organizing yet another TEDx event. We have been trying to build a community of Thinkers, Enablers, and Doers within Hyderabad informed Dr. Anthony Vipin Das, Organizer and Viiveck Verma, Co-organizer of the event.
According to Viiveck, TEDxHyderabad always looks for stories and ideas worth spreading.
“We are trying to build the intellectual stimulation that the city requires and with this momentum. The response from the audience here has been phenomenal. From just 500 attendees in 2015, the number jumped to 1,500 in 2016 and is expected to grow at the same pace this year as well. We also see a lot of corporate interest and participation, this year. Pharmaceutical, IT and manufacturing companies are not just keen about sponsoring the event but are also sending their employees to participants. We expect 50% of our attendees to be corporate employees, “informs Viiveck Verma, co-organizer, TEDxHyderabad.