Present: Kaladhar ji, Navin ji - Asha ji, Krishna Chandra Pandeya ji, Kameshwar ji, Manohar Thakur ji, Arun Jha ji, Om Prakash Choudhary, Vibhash, Sami Haider, Rakesh Ravi and Sanjay (Oxford)
Apologies: Gyaneswari ji, Parmanand ji, Virendra ji, Sushil ji, Anil Singh ji, Anil Jha ji, Pradeep ji, Jai Prakash ji, Atul, Sanjay (Ramakrishna Ashram), Ghanshyam, Vivekanand, Anuj and Deepak
Topics for discussion:
Well-being for all NOBA UK members: All NOBA UK members are doing well.
Gratitude was expressed to all frontline workers (health, care and all other essential services)
Current pandemic in UK and in India
Ongoing deliberations on ways of supporting our alma mater
Decisions:
The suggestion from Principal, Netarhat school for contributing a Smart Class was found not acceptable as by his own admission, there was no dearth of funds and Rs two crores had to be surrendered to the government this March. It was felt that a lack of autonomy on the part of the school administration might have to do with this state of affairs.
It was felt that a proper needs assessment should be attempted before we decide on what we can do further to support our school.
It was generally agreed English (specially the spoken English) is the weakest chink in the armour of a general Hatian. It was also felt that we could not be sure of the standards of even Hindi now after the retirement of old guards. In this connection, ideas of holding an online essay and/or debate competition were mooted. Proposals of awarding prizes in these areas with a suggestion to sponsor a short trip to the UK for the winner were also discussed.
Due to the current COVID 19 pandemic, a previously discussed proposal for our trip to Netarhat was put off for better times but efforts need to be continued via various personal and official channels to try to come to a sound and useful conclusion.
On the question of inviting NOBA US to our forum for discussions on collaborations, it was agreed that we would rather be happy to discuss issues and proposals on their merits as and when they come than to enter into any formal discussions with them.
It was generally agreed that NOBA UK will continue to focus on building our own funds and execute our small steps towards the betterment of our school.
In addition to our desire for providing support and encouragement for our school and doing charity work in general, the issue for supporting our own members in times of need was also brought up. Sami has agreed to bring up a proposal for discussion in this regard with the active help of Geeta as both have extensive experience of the social care facilities in the UK.
Members agreed to meet again on Sat, 20th June via video conference. All NOBA UK members are requested to attend, if they are not busy with their essential services to the nation.