Bengaluru doctor couple sets up 566 playgrounds in Govt schools

Bengaluru: US return doctor couple, Dr Arjun Kalyanpur and Dr Sunita Maheshwari has taken the initiative to set up playgrounds for the children in government schools of Karnataka and other states of India. The couple is also the founder of a health tech company called Teleradiology Solutions.

Dr Kalyanpur oversees the finances, and Maheshwari takes charge of communicating and coordinating with the vendor in Bengaluru to give a work order to build up the playgrounds. There are supposed to be slides, jungle climbers, and other features in the playgrounds of government schools. 

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The doctor couple, who founded the trust People4People in Bengaluru in 2004, have installed 566 playgrounds in government schools, mostly in Karnataka. The idea first occurred to them when Maheshwari and her husband relocated from the USA to Bengaluru in the early 2000s. Maheshwari noticed that when she was residing in Whitefield, her child had a playground to play, but a government school across the road, despite having land, have no amenities to play. Maheshwari has set up playgrounds in government schools in districts like Bengaluru, Tumkur, Shimoga, Hoskote, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga and in other states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh etc, reports The Indian Express.

“Back in the US, we would have had a good life and been part of a well-oiled system. But moving back to India opened our eyes to the many needs we thought we could address. As a couple, we believed that we needed to be persistent in fulfilling the needs and continuing to find ways to help. What drives is gratitude, and we feel obligated to give back to society,” Maheshwari added.

Later, Dr Maheshwari and the inhabitants of the gated community had a fundraiser activity and raised Rs 15,000 via it. Maheshwari came up with the plan to construct a playground for the public school while contemplating what to do with the money. The couple pointed out that infrastructure such as restrooms, benches, labs, libraries, and modern classrooms are necessary for a government school. But there are also needs outside of the classroom. “We observed that a playground is a universe that brings smiles to the children. It has drawn more kids to the school, resulting in a spike in enrollment numbers. Quite often, the privileged kids take the play area for granted,” Dr Maheshwari informed The Indian Express.

Dr Maheshwari is a pediatric cardiologist. She pointed out that they set up trust and granted help to those who need for playgrounds and equipment. The couple took note of the lack of internal resources, and the school's commitment to providing a fun atmosphere for the children. “When we set up the first playground, we did not plan to expand this as an initiative. However, looking at the reaction of the government school kids who were overjoyed to get their own playground, we decided to set up a playground one at a time. Especially in schools with potential land areas for setting up a playground. We set up 10 playgrounds in a year, second year, we had a target of 20 and so on,” said Dr Maheshwari.

Their latest venture was establishing such playgrounds in the Government Higher Primary School in Yelahanka, Bengaluru. The project's creators also intend to include rainwater harvesting techniques. This water could be utilized again for other purposes, such as flushing toilets, and watering trees. While constructing playgrounds has been People4People's signature project, the doctor pair also supports a free clinic at RxDx Healthcare, a chain of hospitals that provides treatment for children with heart conditions.

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Thirty 'phygital' nurse-assisted telemedicine clinics are located in rural areas, compared to nine physical clinics in Bengaluru. The clinics primarily provide primary care and address conditions including deworming, fever, heart disease, inadequate weight gain, and malnutrition, among others, with a concentration on economically disadvantaged areas and free medical care. "When many hospitals these days focus on multi speciality, they often forget to address primary healthcare needs. Which is why we wanted to bridge this gap,” said Maheshwari.