Five IITians turned social workers you should know about
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are the country's premier engineering institutes and are also are reputed for producing graduates of outstanding caliber who often land jobs at the top global companies. However, there are also some IITians who have chosen social work to contribute to the development of society over lucrative jobs. Here are some IITians turned social workers to know about.
This IIT-grad/professor gave up career for upliftment of tribals
Alok Sagar, an IIT-Delhi alumnus and professor, gave up his job to work for Madhya Pradesh's downtrodden tribals. After pursuing bachelor's and master's from IIT-D and PhD at Houston University, Texas, he returned to India to join as an IIT-D professor. After resigning, he started working with the tribals in MP's Betul and Hoshangabad and even contributed to saving the environment by planting trees.
IITian Yogeshwar Kumar helps villagers build power plants
In India, lack of access to electricity is a huge problem, especially in rural areas. To address this issue, IIT-Delhi alumnus Yogeshwar Kumar helps villagers, even those who are illiterate, to not only build but also operate and maintain their own micro-hydro-power plants. He has helped build over 15 power plants in rural communities to become self-sufficient in power.
This IIT-IIM graduate started free residential school for poor children
Vinayak Lohani, an IIT-Kharagpur graduate and IIM-Calcutta alumnus, chose to work in the social space instead of a corporate career. In 2003, he founded "Parivaar" ashram, a free residential school which houses and provides education to hundreds of poor and vulnerable children, including orphans, street children, child trafficking victims, etc. "Parivaar" was started in West Bengal; today it has expanded to Madhya Pradesh too.
This IIT-KGP graduate gave up job to teach underprivileged kids
Bipin Dhane, a 2013 IIT-Kharagpur graduate in Naval Architecture, quit his high-paying MNC job in Singapore in 2015 to teach underprivileged children in Assam's flood-affected villages. In 2017, he established The Hummingbird School in Majuli, a remote flood-affected island district in Assam, for underprivileged children of the indigenous Mising tribal community. Today, the school has 240 kids, including 70 hostellers, from 11 villages.
Two IIT-Bombay alumni help poor kids study at top colleges
Krishna Ramkumar and Akshay Saxena, both alumni of the IIT Bombay, gave up their successful corporate careers to help underprivileged children study at the best colleges in the country. They founded Avanti Fellows, a non-profit organization, in 2010 to provide high-quality yet affordable education to disadvantaged students. It implements a unique pedagogy called "Peer Instruction" to enable "collaborative learning among students" reducing teacher dependence.
