Home
qq
A SWOT Analysis of the Society as of March 2009
 
Strengths::
1.
The Society now has about 200 committed friends both in India and abroad. They are all quite willing to help to the extent possible both financially and with their special skills.
2.
It has collected a group of teachers who are young, committed and keen to see their wards grow, fully aware that they need to improve constantly if this is to happen. The Office is manned by young people who have a similar commitment.
3.
We are noticing increasingly that volunteers from both India and abroad are offering to help the Society in its day to day activities. There are others who are wishing to participate in the training of the children.
4.
The Community that the Society serves is fully convinced that the Society has altruistic motives and is not set to exploit. This is an advantage since the day to day operations of the Society are facilitated and not hindered by the population that we serve.
5.
Thanks to the development works that have been implemented over the past ten years the infrastructure available to the villages in terms of roads; electricity, sanitation and water supply have all improved. This has made possible faster implementation of the transformational goals of the Society.
6.
The benefits of ‘Good Education’ have been well understood by the Community thanks to the presence of the Society and aspiration levels have therefore grown. Desperation has therefore given way to concerted action arising out of Hope. The fact that the women of the Community are earning has also helped in this direction.
7.
The continuous emphasis on good health and nutrition has made changes in the food habits of the different households. Sanitation and health care have become issues of concern. The future work of the Society will therefore address a different plane of the problem.
8.
The Society itself has much better infrastructure to work with. Apart from the buildings that it now has to house the Yuva Shakti and Stree Shakti activities, it has transport facilities, a good Library and an excellent laboratory. Besides, there are excellent computer systems and a well established protocol to help children learn this subject. The audio visual equipment that we have has also helped us significantly.
9.
We have now been able to access electricity on a steady basis, have water supply because of the Water Harvesting tanks, a Broadband facility for communication and solar lamps for lighting.
10.
The Society has also been able to acquire dedicated transport facilities in terms of several buses and a vehicle to help our teachers commute from the town on a regular basis.
11.
One other important asset is the sports facilities in a village where the children had little opportunity to play outside their school time.
12.
The students of the Society have developed soft skills that help in the maintenance of the equipments. We may mention that our Computers are not covered by Annual Maintenance Contracts and that they are always available for use.
13.
Perhaps we should also count changes that have come about in the Social structure of the Community in terms of the size of the family, relationship among the different castes, attitude towards girls and women etc. Any assertions in this regard will however have to await studies by social scientists.
14.
The change in the attitude of the students to learning and their keenness to learn and educate themselves is perceptible and openly expressed by them. Mention also needs to be made of the attitudinal changes that have come about among the several parents. The approach to the education of the girl child in the family and the idea that they also need the same attention as the boys is perhaps the most significant transformation.
15.
More important perhaps is the change in the attitude of the management of the Society. Their vision and dreams have widened and grown to the holistic development of the Community that the Society serves.
16.
The efforts made over the years has resulted in awareness of ones responsibility to the safeguarding of the environment, desirable behavioural patterns, ethics and value concepts that have been subtly interwoven into the instructional mentorship of the programme. The impact of these efforts is already being felt.
 
Weaknesses::
1.
The most important is the fragility of the Society’s finances. Its exclusive dependence on the willingness of donors to donate from year to year injects uncertainty and keeps the Directors from attempting big.
2.
The organisational structure of the Society also needs strengthening. It is now dependant entirely on voluntary work at the Management levels. While the finances of the Society do not permit any thing different at the present time, this cannot make for a permanent arrangement.
3.
We believe that while the teachers are all committed and more and more enthused with the objectives of the Society we concede that they are themselves in need of help and training. While initial steps have been taken for the training of the teachers more needs to be done if the excellence that we aim at is to be achieved. We are intending to develop an in house mechanism for the training and monitoring of the work of the mentors but all this await the strengthening of our finances.
4.
The model that we now use is to send children to a school that does not necessarily practice all the ideas of good education that we believe in. We at the Training centre spend time post class hours implementing our ideas. This is taxing and strenuous for the children. This model therefore needs to be altered. The children need to enjoy more leisure and time to experience their childhood and work with their families.
5.
While Stree Shakti has not experienced any serious problems in the marketing of its products, firm and regular arrangements do not exist for regular and sustained selling. The one outlet that it now has in the heart of the city is yet to get established.
6.
The Stree Shakti Division is yet to place the Designing and supervision aspects of its work on a firm footing. It will also be sometime before the SHG’s begin to learn to manage their affairs on their own.
 
Opportunities::
1.
The first few batches that grew up with the assistance of the Society are now passing out of their 12th Class and seeking professional programmes that can launch them into careers. While it is true that these groups did not have the advantage of the type of thinking that governs the Society at the present time, the difference that is perceptible among this group as compared to the other young adults in the Community, is making it possible for the Society to target goals like the running of employment oriented graduate programmes aimed at professional courses for the young adults of the Community..
2.
With the grant of recognition by the Uttarakhand Government for a primary School, we could now target the handling of younger children. We could thus supply their emotional and other intellectual needs, inputs which are not available from their uneducated and economically unsound families. They could thus be shaped into better human beings capable of becoming independent, self supporting good citizens..
3.
With the status that the Society now enjoys among its friends, it is able to access voluntary professional help for the various growth programmes on the anvil. This potential should be further exploited.With the status that the Society now enjoys among its friends, it is able to access voluntary professional help for the various growth programmes on the anvil. This potential should be further exploited.
4.
With its record of progress it is quite possible that Corporates and Foundations would be willing to support the plans of the Society in the future. There is therefore a good chance that the business of the Society can soon be placed on a firm footing, in the course of the next few years..
5.
With the network of friends that the Society has it is possible to provide all our wards with work experience at the end of their school careers. This could make a big difference to their employability and their ability to enter professional programmes. While doing this, sensitivity to the differing aptitudes to the children will be a key consideration In guiding them.
 
Threats::
1.
The fragility of the Society’s finances is the biggest threat. This needs urgent attention. The strengths can all disappear if the finances become strained even if for a short time.
2.
It is true that the management which was entirely dependant on the Honorary Secretary has now acquired depth with the active participation of Col. Arun Mamgain who attends the Society whole-time for atleast three days every week. Mr. Ajit Singh and Mr. Ashutosh Bharadwaj, a civil Engineer provides voluntary help whenever called upon to do so. We do believe these developments will gather momentum with time.
3.
The probable urbanisation of this community could bring in influences that can threaten the existing social structure that binds the community. While the conveniences of urbanisation are desirable we will need to ready ourselves for countering the inevitable negative connotations of such a change. Our aim is to prepare a Society of young and old people capable of responsibility and discretion in handling this change.
All right reserved © copyright Purkal Youth Development Society