Growing up in a diverse society with an increased awareness of important issues, like climate change and social inclusion, young people today have developed a rich system of values and increasingly desire to work actively towards social change. The Social Responsibility Wing of NIT Trichy’s annual techno-managerial festival, Pragyan, helps students do just that while cultivating an identity for Pragyan that resonates with the socially cognizant youth of today.
More commonly known as PSR, Pragyan’s Social Responsibility Team organizes various outreach events with these simple ideals- spreading awareness about important social causes and giving back to society.
To commemorate International Women’s Day, PSR has conducted various events as part of the “Aval” initiative. Volunteers visited a rehabilitation centre for blind women and distributed sanitary napkins. The founder of the SCOPE Foundation was also invited to give a presentation on menstrual hygiene to the women from the village of Vazhavandhan Kottai.
In another edition of Pragyan, in association with SBI Foundation, PSR organized another awareness program on sustainable menstruation: ‘Green the Red‘, at the Government High School, Thirunedungulam. Ms Harini from RebootU was the guest of honour for the event, and she briefed the students about the advantages of reusable pads.
On Women’s Day this year, PSR has in plan an adorable event that involves gifting all the women at the NITT campus a wristband with encouraging and clever phrases inscribed on them. This cute event is guaranteed to bring a lot of smiles to the wearers! These bands would be distributed at the Boy’s Hostels so they can present the bands to those special friends who they’d love to show some appreciation for!
In November 2018, PSR volunteers hosted the Red Cross Society of Trichy at the event “Raksha”, which aimed at incubating awareness on first aid, self-defence, good and bad touch among the children at a Government school in Valavandhankottai.
In the 2020 edition of Pragyan, PSR organized ‘She Talks’ at St. Peter’s Institute of Higher Education and Research at Avadi, Chennai. It was a flagship social initiative that aimed to inspire and empower young women to pursue careers in STEM, highlighting the opportunities and potential accompanying their entry into the field.
PSR kicked off this year’s events with the grand success of the “UFOs: Unverifiable and False Opinions on Space.” webinar in collaboration with NITT’s astronomy club – Nakshatra, on the myths and misconceptions surrounding astronomical objects, followed by another successful partnership with the Fine Arts Society of NITT with the “Canvas for Change.” poster making competition.
PSR has ambitious visions for Campus Development Week this year – with plans to post stickers carrying messages on sustainability at places that students frequent on the campus, like washrooms and mess areas and a collaboration with the nature club of NITT- Prakruti. PSR strives to raise and exceed expectations with every new edition of Pragyan, making the fest a standard for the conscious celebration of technology.