About Round Table India
The Wonderful World of TablingCommunity Service ProjectsFreedom through EducationAims and ObjectsWelcome to the Wonderful World of TablingWelcome to the wonderful world of Round Tabling. Centuries ago in medieval Europe, King Arthur headed a group of brave Knights called the 'Round Table'. Today's Knights, the Round Tablers, do not wear a shining armour. Instead, they are equipped with a large community vision, caring hearts and the will to achieve positive results.
Round Table is an organisation of non-political and non-sectarian young men between the age group of 18 and 40. The aim of the young men is to promote service, fellowship and goodwill in National and International affairs. The unique feature of this organisation is that it always remains young, because the Tablers retire when they turn 40, giving way to younger people.
Round Table was born in Britain 74 years back.
Louis Marchesi, then a Rotarian, formed the first Round Table in Norwich in England in 1927.
From a small group of 8 members, today Round Table has grown to 43,000 members across 52 countries representing every corner of the world.
Round Table's motto is "ADOPT, ADAPT, IMPROVE". This motto was taken from a speech by the Prince of Wales, in which he said: "The young business and professional men of the country must get together round the Table, adopt methods that have proved so sound in the past, adapt them to the changing needs of the times, and wherever possible, improve them".
Such a wonderful movement, Round Tabling came to India in 1957 with the formation of Madras Round Table No.1.
Round Table India, the association, was formed on November 14, 1962 with just a membership of 100. It has, over the last 4 decades, grown to become a 2500 member strong association today.
We have 160 Tables located in 72 cities and towns, comprising of businessmen, entrepreneurs, technocrats and professionals. Men who can rise above personal concerns to seek and serve the larger needs of the community. On the administration front, Round Table India has a 25 member National Board, which guides the affairs of the association. Round Table India is divided into 10 Areas, which have their own Area Board to administer them.
The National Secretariat, the hub of all activities of Round Table India, is located at Chennai.
Tr. Ravi Khanna of Delhi West Round Table No.50 is the National President of Round Table India for the year 2005-2006. His theme is "Be the Change you want to see".
We have formed our own
"ROUND TABLE INDIA FOUNDATION" which provides financial support every year for projects done by Tables. The Corpus of the Foundation is close to Rs.20 Million now.
The wives of Tablers have their own National Association called
"LADIES CIRCLE INDIA". Ladies Circle India is assisting every activity of Round Table India, apart from having their own service projects.
The Past Tablers of Round Table India have formed the "41 Clubs of India". This National Association of Past Tablers provides a lot of support to our service activity.
Round Table India is a member of
"Round Table International" and also of the World Council of Service Clubs
"(WOCO)".
The one major source of fundraising by Round Table India apart from receiving donations from Corporates is the sale of Greeting Cards. Every year Round Table India releases exquisitely designed Greeting Cards for sale to Corporates and individuals. The substantial funds we raise from this effort goes to fund our community service efforts.
Community Service ProjectsService Through Fellowship is the lifeline of Round Table India. It is through the fellowship of young men that this organisation has served the community for the last 40 years.
Round Table India started its efforts in helping the community with small projects directed towards service. Over the years, we have grown from strength to strength and today we are building big projects and have moved over from community service to community development. The concept of National Project for Round Table India was introduced in 1992.
Blood Typing, the National Project for the year 1992 enlisted over 30000 Blood Donors across the country.
Operation Thirst in 1993 was the first Community Development Project to provide drinking water source to village people by sinking over 500 borewells at a cost of over Rs.10 Million.
AIDS being the killer disease, its awareness was promoted by Round Table India in the year 1994.
Project SMILE, providing dental hygiene for rural children by conducting several dental camps benefiting about 300,000 children in the year 1995.
In 1996, "Right to Learn" the National Project to provide school infrastructure was very successful and over 140 school buildings were constructed at a cost of over Rs.70 Million, benefiting 200,000 rural children across the country.
In 1997, Round Table India launched "Project Touch" and we adopted 2000 orphan children in association with SOS Children's village at a cost of Rs.1.5 Million.
Freedom through EducationAfter 50 years of independence, 60 Million Indian children had never, ever been to school. Illiteracy is a self-fulfilling curse that perpetuates the chain of poverty, degradation and child labour. To reach out to this group of underprivileged children, we proposed in 1998 to provide basic infrastructure for primary education in rural India, reaching out to about one million children over a period of 5 years. We believe that true freedom for an individual comes only through education.
Keeping the millions of underprivileged children in mind, we declared our Long Term National Project as "Freedom through Education". We believe that true freedom for an individual comes only through EDUCATION.
We have taken several initiatives under this National Project
"FREEDOM THROUGH EDUCATION" like Building Programme for Primary Schools, providing infrastructure, provision of educational accessories, Health Care, Vocational and Individual Child Related Programmes in schools adopted by Tables across the country.
In the last 5 years, Round Tables in India have really put in a lot of effort to provide infrastructure in schools. Over 505 projects at a cost of over Rs.420 Million have been completed during this period.
3 State Governments played a significant role in supporting our efforts of "Freedom through Education", the Government of Andhra Pradesh, which has contributed over Rs.30 Million through the "Janmabhoomi" Scheme, the Government of Tamil Nadu which has contributed over Rs.10 Million through the "Namakku Naamae" Scheme and the Government of Karnataka under the "Project Paatashaala" Initiative.
In our efforts to promote "Freedom through Education", we had one partner, who came forward to join hands with us. "Pratham", an organisation promoted by ICICI joined hands with Bombay South Round Table No.26 to raise Rs.3 Million for their primary education projects. Today, we have a long-term arrangement with "Pratham" in several parts of India.
Our efforts on "Freedom through Education" reached out across frontiers in International territory. Tablers of Round Table Netherlands were so impressed with the work we have been doing and they decided to adopt our National Project "Freedom through Education" as their National Project also.
The Dutch-India initiative started in the year 1999 and today over 30 school buildings have been completed under this initiative.
The Dutch-India initiative is going to be a long-term arrangement of financial support from the Dutch Tables to Round Table India's initiative on "Freedom through Education".
Round Table India performed its National duty when it collected and handed over a sum of Rs.5.1 Million to the Prime Minister towards the Kargil Fund.
During the earthquake in Latur in 1993, Tablers of Round Table India moved Relief Material within 24 hours to the earthquake hit villages. We also constructed a Community Welfare Centre in Latur as a relief measure.
Round Table India worked very hard in Orissa during the Cyclone Relief Work in 1999-2000. "Operation Sadhbhavana" launched by us saw the construction of 4 Schools at a cost of Rs.2 Million directly by the Tables in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
Round Table India also tied up with NOVIB of Netherlands and Centre for Youth Social Development to construct 15 schools at a cost of Rs.13 Million all over Orissa.
The recent Gujarat Earthquake was another moment, when Round Table India was present in full strength to support the victims of the earthquake. We moved materials to Gujarat from all over India and helped them with immediate relief. We have also collected over Rs.24 Million towards construction of 20 school buildings in Kutch and Surendarnagar Districts of Gujarat. Wipro has contributed a sum of Rs.8 Million towards this initiative.
Round Table India released Braille Dictionaries in Tamil and Marathi languages and distributed the same to several blind institutions. We received accolades from blind people and institutions for this stupendous effort of our association.
The investment in projects is growing every year and the per-capita expenditure on projects of Round Table India is Rs.40,000/- per annum, possibly the highest amongst all service organisation in India.
Round Table India will continue its fight against illiteracy. We will be delighted if you decide to associate with us in our efforts to promote infrastructure in schools. We can together reach out to the underprivileged children of this country, who deserve a better quality of education.
Corporates and individuals can join hands with us by providing financial support for our Infrastructure Development Projects in schools under "Freedom through Education". You can also support us by procuring our Greeting Cards in large quantities and help us raise funds for "Freedom through Education".
We assure you that every Rupee so raised by us will be well spent on the project. We will also contribute a substantial amount financially to the project, apart from our direct involvement in its completion. We promise you a rewarding experience.
It is a new freedom movement calling for the entire nation to rise to the challenge and take a stand against illiteracy and its tight grip on generations of Indians. We believe that we can do something to give every Indian a chance, for we have over 60 million children in the age group of 3 - 10, who need to be given basic education. They are our future citizens! They are our country's future!!
Round Table India invites you to join hands with us in the struggle against illiteracy and to give them "Freedom through Education".
We can together set the prisoners free.
Aims and Objects* To develop the fellowship of young men through the medium of their business and professional occupations and community service activities.
* To encourage active and responsible citizenship by cultivating the highest ideals in business, professional and civic traditions.
* To promote and further international understanding, friendship and co-operation.
* To promote the extension of the association.
