From building toilets to saving trees, Bengaluru does it through crowdfunding

BENGALURU: On a recent visit to the Government Higher Kannada Primary School in Byrasandra, Jayanagar III Block, two senior citizens were shocked by the bad condition of the single toilet. They noticed the school had just one toilet, and girls and boys had to take turns to use it. One of the girls would stand guard at the entrance while others used it. Instead of flowing water, there was a tank to store water.
“We thought we shouldn’t just keep quiet. So we have started crowdfunding to build more and better toilets. We have prepared an appeal and sent it to some of our contacts,” said Padmanabha Arkalgud, 82, a retired senior vice-president at ITC. Arkalgud and his friend SVenkatasubba Rao, a retired general manager at RBI, intend to make five blocks in the existing toilet and provide flowing water. They want to raise Rs 2.5 lakh and finish the work as soon as possible as the school reopens next month.

Like this duo, many Bengalureans are taking the crowdfunding route to raise money for social causes. To raise larger amounts, platforms are available that serve as payment gateways and lend more credibility to the causes.

In an instance of crowdfunding being used for citizen activism, members of the citizen group Voice of Sarjapura raised Rs 1 lakh to translocate a large Banyan tree that was to be chopped. Deepanjali Naik, a member of the group, said this was the second time crowdfunding had been done successfully to translocate trees.

Naik, however, said crowdfunding should not be used too often for such causes. “With crowdfunding, we see that middle-class individuals are ready to pay for something that does not benefit them personally. But they can only contribute limited amounts,” she said. Naik said that crowdfunding campaigns can influence firms to direct their CSR initiatives towards the cause, or bring about a change in government policy.

Crowdfunding allows any citizen to make significant contribution to any cause of their choice. In one such example, a group of 16 school students distributed menstrual hygiene products and spread awareness about it among less privileged women. The students raised Rs 4.5 lakh through a crowdfunding platform and each student helped spread the word regarding the campaign.

The group, called Rutuchakra, was formed by Sanjana Dixit, a Class XII student of National Public School, HSR Layout. She said, “We opted for crowdfunding as that way we could reach out to a larger number of people, who in turn become aware of the issue. We have distributed products to 550 women until now in areas where we felt there was a need for menstrual products and education.” The group has also conducted workshops on the issue.

Varun Sheth, CEO of crowdfunding platform Ketto, said crowdfunding was on the rise in India due to multiple factors. “Firstly, people are getting comfortable with online transactions. Secondly, they’re spending more time on social media, where they come across pitches. Thirdly, people’s trust in crowdfunding platforms is increasing,” he said.