Papa Ji J.N. Kaul - service icon 

 

Post-independent India has witnessed some names P becoming synonymous with the work they did which brought revolution all over the country-scientist MS Swaminathan, for the green revolution in the agricultural sector and Varghese Kurien engineer by profession-for operation milk flood by organising co- operatives of farmers in the Kaira district of Gujarat, This group of trail blazers includes the name of Shin. JN Kaul Pa Pa Jl for his pioneering work in the field of social sector and hence being described as the Icon of the social sector Pa Pa Ji was born in Ali Kadal, Srinagar where he had his early education. He graduated from Punjab University and got his Masters in Economics from Rajasthan University He joined the Social Services Department of the Delhi Administration where he rose to the position of Assistant Director He went to USA for studies in the field of Child Care By1963, when he was 40-year old, he had a comfortable Government job in a good position. Any person in his place would have been a happy person dreaming of a higher position in the department by the time he would retire.

The then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, while touring Europe, liked the concept of Dr Hermann Gmeiner of providing a home to the abandoned child who has lost his/her parents and nobody was to look after him/her. He invited Dr Gmeiner to India for establishing SOS Children's Villages in India in 1963. Shri Kaul was asked to accompany Dr Gmeiner and show him the various Social Welfare programmes conducted by the Delhi Administration. It turned out that both of them had identical ideas and in a way "meeting of the heart and mind" Fired with zeal of doing something good Sh. Kaul gave up the Government job and accepted the challenge of establishing SOS Children's villages in India. Normally a person at his age, with a large family and growing children would not have taken this risk. With firm determination and with equally firm conviction he brushed aside the suggestions and advices of his friends and well-wishers to implement the concept in letter and spirit.

Orphanages existed in our country which were either run by government agencies or

organisations The concept was the same huge halls non government lined with the beds like a hospital ward and each child given one cot for sleeping, studying and some personal belongings, such as clothes In the name of clothes each child would be given the same type of clothes. For food, the children would come to the dinning hall carrying their own thali and tumbler and carrying these back to the cot after eating. The scene was slightly better than the beggars being offered food outside a temple or a worship place by some philanthropists

The concept of SOS for giving home to a child was different Here 8 to10 children would be put under the care of a lady called "mother", in a hut consisting of several tastefully decorated bed rooms, a drawing room and kitchen. The mother would manage the household like any normal lady looking after the children. She would see that the children went to school property dressed pay attention to their studies and this would continue till they got rehabilitated. Then, arrange their marnage to start a family of their own.

All this looks nice on paper but to implement and filter these down needs total commitment and conviction. It is here where Pa Pa Ji stood head and shoulders above the rest That made him the icon of social services in this country. He had his heart and soul in this concept. He lived in the Greenfields Village, Faridabad, for 18 years and watched the concept being implemented in letter and spirit. He saw the children growing from the closest and like a father was aware of their strengths and weaknesses.

He guided and helped them to overcome their weaknesses and strengthen their strengths. Though he had a large number of staff members to assist him, but he did not totally rely on their reports and observations. His personal involvement in the welfare of the children kept the staff on its best. No wonder the children, who branched off in different professions, have done and are doing well in their respective professions. Sh. Kaul earned the name of Pa Pa Ji by treating these children as his own. Time and again he would urge the staff to treat them as their own.

Having established SOS village in Green Fields, any person in place of Pa Pa Ji would have given a pat on his back, become satisfied about his achievements and cooled off his heels sitting in an AC office. But not PaPa JI, a person of a different stuff. He had a burning passion to bring in more and more children and give them a "home" The SOS concept, being different from the routine, everybody was keen how it worked. People from all walks, including chief ministers, ministers, top bureaucrats and social activists from different states came to see the concept of other countries being implemented. They expressed a desire that their stable should have the same type of villages. The states offered free lands or on a very nominal rent for long periods This resulted in almost all states having one SOS village.

Now, about who financed the establishment and day. to-day management of these villages Apart from offering free land by the states there was no financial assistance from the state agencies Sh Kaul, while being in the government service had a bitter experience about the working of state agencies. He had taken a decision that SOS will not apply for any financial assistance or if they wanted to give, it should be without any strings. The finances for establishing SOS villages come from philanthropists, corporate bodies, individuals living in the country and abroad. It involves an expenditure of Rs. 8 to 10 crores to establish an SOS village. PaPa Ji would involve himself from the beginning to the completion stage worked with him by going personally to the site of construction. A person of high tastes, he wanted the best and never compromised. Parsons, who later visited these villages have been of the opinion that nothing is left to desire. A keen environmentalist, he ensured that all the villages are lined with rows of trees, lush green lawns with varieties of flowers.

During his more than four decades of work with SOS villages a large number of natural and man-made disasters took place Assam witnessed a large-scale massacre rendering hundreds of children orphan and homeless, poisonous gas leak in Bhopal claimed thousands of lives, earthquakes in Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, severe cyclone and tsunami caused large scale devastation in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu terrorist activities in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir killing thousands of innocent people. Pa Pa Ji, without losing a moment, would launch emergency relief programmes and rush teams of experienced persons to the affected areas. He would personally go the site of tragedies and monitor the execution of relief programmes Such experiences made him an expert in disaster management

Pa Pa Ji did not restrict his vision to the establishment of SOS villages. Whenever he would step out of the office, he would keep his eyes and ears open. His keen observation gave birth to two innovative programmes, namely Family Strengthening Programme and Reach out Programme. The programmes implemented in India were, later, adopted by the Kinderdorf International - the umbrella organisation of worldwide SOS movement in other countries.

PaPa Ji had a firm belief that is the firm plank which can rehabilitate the young people by getting good jobs and become decent citizens contributing to society. The result was the opening of a chain of schools at Faridabad and Varanasi, Jammu and boarding schools at Bhimtal, Uttarakhand. He, was, also, instrumental in opening the Nursing School at Anangpur, Helmut Kutin vocational and industrial centre, Faridabad, for training young people in computers and a 20-bed hospital in Anangpur, providing medical facilities to Anangpur and surrounding areas.

PaPa Ji utilised every minute of his life. His was a life of total dedication and commitment. His contribution to society in general and the community in particular, will be matched by few. A humble person, he did not use the word He was a firm believer in the delegation of responsibilities and had tremendous faith in people who worked with him.

Here is a the part of the letter PaPa Ji wrote to his friends and well-wishers on his 80th birthday, from Bhimtal on September, 29, 2004 Today on reaching 80 years in my life, I look back with much reflection and fulfilment. I consider myself quite fortunate at having been associated with the field of Education and Social Welfare. I started with the field of education and slowly discovered that I could be more effective in working with children, especially children in need of CARE and Protection. And then, 40 years ages, I had the opportunity to start an endeavour to do something which is very close to my heart-work with the CHILDREN. With the dedication of our small family of Mothers and co- workers helped us transform this dream into reality.

(The writer lives in Shalimar Garden Extension-II. Sahibabad, Ghaziabad)

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Courtesy:-  V.K. Wattal  and Koshur Samachar 2018, December