Hum Aawaz, at its core, reverberates the voices of a nation toward its natural bounty. The workers in the NGO have been humming the tune of humanity through their environmental endeavors, which are ultimately benefiting society and the citizens. Dr. Ved Thapar is the president of Hum Aawaz, an organization that echoes his inner voice about creating a resourceful and environmentally conscious India. He has been instrumental in creating an impact by giving propulsion to many important decisions by the government and influencing policy-making in significant environmental matters. His contributions are immense in terms of disaster management training, encouraging safety procedures, and road safety. Thapar’s training and personality development for children has the potential to shape a better, more valuable future for the youngsters of the nation.
What happened that caused you to create this Hum Awaaz?
The creation of Hum Awaaz was not an overnight thing but rather a long emotional journey, which is close to my heart as I’ve always detested where our youth is leading to and how we as a society are lacking to tackle this situation. There are certain topics that I’ve personally worked on that I’ll dive into. Firstly, as I discussed before, our youths are losing their direction and aren’t able to differentiate between the things that they should prioritize. Secondly, I’ve worked on a really important social issue that is creating awareness regarding girls’ security, disaster management, and 1st aid, where we go and give training at schools and colleges, etc.
What are the major indications used to assess the impact of Hum Awaaz in society?
Where there is no certainty of anything in life, change is the only constant that we can rely on. So as an individual, we should always strive to make good changes in our character. Individuals with strong character can become the backbone of society. Therefore, I’ve come up with programs such as “Guru Shishya Parampara” that are designed to not only make teachers aware of their social responsibilities towards society but also make students aware of the hazards of drugs and sex. That motivates them to join our training programs.
Will you expand Hum Awaaz to other parts of India?
I believe that we should not put limits on the number of lives that we can touch or make a difference for. Therefore, this is just a humble beginning with some dedicated workers promoting Hum Awaaz in UP, Odisha, and Chennai.
What are the creative and innovative things that you have done in the last 5 years?
Besides training, I have taken help from the NDRF, Ministry of Health, Traffic Police, Fire Brigade, etc. I, along with the Hum Aawaz Team have trained Mumbai Police (under trainee) officers here. HA was appointed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau. Another very important method is Music HA has its band, “MATRBHUMI” We perform at places like Juhu Beach, the Chartered Accountants Association, and other places too. We have done mock drills in educational institutions & other institutions too. Our other very strong wing is “UDBHAV” Sports training. We have a plan to train talented boys and girls in the interiors of India.
How have you disrupted or planned to disrupt the way things are being done here?
As I have noticed, the kind of work Hum Awaaz is doing is facing a lot of disruption, so to overcome this, we have to constantly fight and remove the social blockages (official and mental ).
What was the most difficult issue you had to manage and guide Hum Awaaz through?
Health and security are not part of our culture or values, so making people understand is the most difficult issue. I have to give examples from ancient India as well as Israel.
Why did you choose disaster management training for the children?
In my view, based on my research and experience, disasters are not only floods, fires, earthquakes, etc.; we face day-to-day disasters where we have to overcome the five biggest enemies in our system and our society, and they are Laziness, Anger, Lies, Hate & Ego. So, for your knowledge, I will add a very important thing here: a very big number of Indian citizens are still living in the villages, and a very big number of youngsters are studying in government schools or government-aided colleges or institutions. Their teachers and their concern for education and their students are not at all up to the mark. I have to meet 90% of the students of government schools who can’t write an application properly, even in Hindi and English, so what are they going to do when they get a job or start a business in the future? In my view, this is the biggest disaster, and this is how I choose to train youngsters in disaster management.
(India CSR)
