• Malaria check-up drive: Organized in association with BMC, ‘on-the-spot’ Malaria Testing was conducted for the students of the College on September 18, 2010. In addition to Malaria, tests were also conducted for viral infection, seasonal fever, and other ailments. More than 100 students were tested in this drive.



• Thalassaemia check up drive: The drive was held in association with Rotary Club, Prabha Devi, Mumbai branch, on August 18, 2011. A class-to-class campaign was arranged to spread awareness for this genetic disorder. Thalassaemia Major has no cure, whereas those having Thalassaemia Minor need to be careful while choosing their life partners. The target group for this program were TY students of all streams. Of 129 students who were tested for Thalassaemia, four were found to be positive . Counseling session was held for them in January 2011.



• Blood donation drive: This was held on January 23, 2011, in association with Meenatai Thackerey Blood Bank of Prabodhan. One hundred and twenty nine units of blood were collected in this drive. A class-to-class awareness campaign was conducted by Dr Panchhwani of the blood bank on the previous day. In addition to this, posters collected and prepared by volunteers were displayed at prominent places in the College to spread the message for this noble cause. The response was tremendous. More than 230 students volunteered, of which only 129 were certified to be fit for donation. Rest were found to be anemic, some were on medication or had suffered from some ailment in the past three months.



• HIV/AIDS Awareness program: Initiated and supported by Maharashtra District AIDS Control Society and implemented through the services of cadre officers of the State's National Service Scheme (NSS), these programs are conducted by the Red Ribbon Club. RRC is a voluntary on-campus program of students under NSS, which, this year worked tirelessly to generate awareness regarding -

√  How can HIV/AIDS be transmitted?

√  Who is most vulnerable?

√  How can you prevent yourself from contracting HIV?

√   How do you think people would react if you had HIV/AIDS?

√  What are the stigmas attached to HIV/AIDS?

√  What could organizations and governments do to help AIDS orphans?

• Patkar College Red Ribbon Club
  The Club has a total membership of 575 volunteers, of which 6 are the peer leaders, who coordinated, organized and successfully implemented various programs and activities of the Club. All the programs and activities of the Club were aimed at spreading awareness regarding HIV/AIDS among students and general public. Some highlights of the Club are as follows-
  
  i. Formation of Club – July 15, 2010: Initially 35 students were registered with 6 peer leaders, to start the RRC activities.
  
  ii. RRC training camp at Wadala – July 21-22, 2010: Four peer leaders-
  (1) Chaitra Shetty (2) Sandhya Shetty
  (3) Premanand Ghag (4) Suresh Kharat
  
  -attended two-days training and orientation workshop conducted by MDACS. They collected resource material and were responsible for orientation of the other volunteers.
  
  iii. Celebrating Friendship-Day by distributing MDACS bands – August 3, 2010: MDACS Friendship Bands were distributed among students and staff. These Bands, with powerful message on HIV/AIDS, helped to spread awareness.
  
  iv. HIV/AIDS Slogan writing competition – August 4, 2010: One hundred and fifty students (Non-NSS) participated in the slogan-writing competition organized by RRC and 200 membership forms were filled up.
  
  v. Street Play on HIV/AIDS by Patkar RRC - August 15, 2010:: Patkar RRC performed a street play on AIDS in Marathi during cultural program of Independence Day. The play was directed by Ms Vishakha of S.Y.B.Sc. It was well appreciated by the audience.
  
  vi. Street Play on HIV/AIDS by MDACS – September 18, 2010: An audience of 200 students and staff was present to see the play performed by team of Sathye College organized by MDACS. RRC membership forms were filled up.
  
  vii. Participation of RRC members in International Youth Day Events - Organized by MDACS from August 10 - 13, 2010, 6 members of RRC participated as volunteers in the organization of the event. RRC members also participated in poster-making competition and elocution competitions of the event
  
  viii. Popular talk and slide show on HIV/AIDS – September 22, 2010: An audience of 180 students and staff was present to hear the lecture delivered by Mr. Premanand Ghag on HIV/AIDS.
  
  

• Malaria awareness campaign: Under community based project, the NSS unit adopted Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, in Goregaon (West). Volunteers, in association with BMC officials, worked meticulously to spread Malaria awareness among the dwellers of this community as to how to control the spread of Malaria, its symptoms, and the precautions to be taken.
  To achieve this goal, the following activities were performed –

• Tree Plantation program: More than 100 saplings of Neem, Jangali Badam , Vad, Gulmohar, Karanj and other shrubs and herbs were planted in the tribal village of Velkary, Kaaman, Vasai (East) by the volunteers.
  
  
• Extending Financial help: Like all previous years, NSS volunteers raised money by selling Rakhis prepared by mentally and physically challenged special children of Punarvas. Rs 1500 was raised and given to the school for the welfare of students. Similarly, an amount of Rs 2500 was raised by sale of flags made by special members of Hi-tech Enrichment Family Foundation.
  
  
• Helping the visually-challenged community: Two NSS volunteers - Mr.Ganesh of F.Y.B.Sc. and Ms Kavita of F.Y.B.A. - provide their services to the blind persons in reading and recording documents related to their professional work.
  
  
• Our Adopted Areas: i. Punarvas- School for mentally-challenged special kids located at S.V. Road, Goregaon (W), Mumbai – 62

• Third Prize in State-level street play competition, under the direction of Ms Vishakha Ghorpade


• Selection of Mr. Suresh Kharat for District-level Elocution competition in Marathi


• Increase in volunteer strength from 100 to 150

• Preparing the volunteers for Disaster Management


• First aid training course


• Sensitizing volunteers towards nature


• Workshop for improving communication skills of volunteers


• Yoga and meditation sessions on regular basis

Enrolment of N.S.S. volunteers for the academic year 2009 2010 started on July 5, 2009. A week before this NSS volunteers went from class to class to spread awareness among students regarding NSS. Posters were put up to spread the message throughout the College.

Nearly 150 students enrolled themselves with NSS.

Well-known Yoga teacher and HOD, Department of Chemistry, Patkar-Varde College, Dr. A. G. Gadre conducted a Yoga session for 34 NSS volunteers. The theme of the session was ‘Stress and Strain Relief Through Yoga’.

The session started with an introduction and prayers, followed by warm-up exercises, surya-namaskar, and simple exercises of pranayam. Participants were also taught about netra- snan and jal-neti kriya. The highlight of the session was a talk on the meditation and practice of “Omkar”. At the end of the session certificates were distributed to the participants. Their feedback clearly reflected how beneficial they had found the session.

Punarvas is a school in Goregaon for mentally-challenged children. The children are taught to carry out their daily activities independently. They are also given training about making items such as rakhis or flags so that they can earn a moderate income. Interaction with such children sensitizes youth to their problems. With this aim in view, it was decided to adopt Punarvas as the Area-based Project of the NSS Unit.

During their first visit to the school, NSS volunteers carried out a cleanliness drive and tree-plantation program in the school premises. The backyard, which had become a dumping ground, was cleaned and 15 saplings and cuttings were planted. After 8 hours of hard work by the volunteers, the backyard was almost unrecognizable!