Name : aurobindo
Father’s Name : Late N. Mukerji/ Mother passed away in 1962
Address : 3-H Pocket IV, Mayur Vihar Phase I, Delhi – 110 091.
Telephone : 91-011-22715484. Cellular: 8527334427
Date of Birth : August 01, 1942.
Academic Qualifications : B.Sc.
Extra-Curricular Activities : Voracious Reader
Though professionally employed for over 60 years in
the publishing of books, newspapers and magazines and,
working on a computer from 1984, I do not lay any
claims to academic or computer literacy or
achievements.
Past achievements do not assure future successes.
Professional Experience :
Since books and reading for me was a craze which is so to this day, I thought I would start a small
bookshop and magazine centre. I spoke to a very close friend of mine who strongly recommended
the idea but stressed upon the fact that the book trade had a single negative side – never hold book
stocks and this he hammered into me.
‘Library Book Service’ (LBS) starting from home without any extra expense came into being.
This received an extra impetus from people in The Standard Literature Company selling
encyclopaedias on instalments. My father was not keeping good health on my mother’s passing
away which left me with little guidance from home with great expectations.
Library Book Service (LBS) came into existence in 1968. Money was not easily available since
those days did not permit indiscriminate freedom to children and bank loans were not available.
The future planning was very clear
A. Focus on journal subscriptions from foreign publishers for which the full annual payment
was received in advance for processing the order and due to the excessive paperwork little
competition existed. Journals were mailed directly to the concerned library without the
additional burden of delivery or, non-delivery.
B. Focus on pending book to libraries for supplier’s inability to procure titles.
C. Participating in every book fair.
D. Organising small exhibitions in colleges in Delhi
E. Participated twice at the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad
As a very new and young enterprise we received every facility from foreign publishers supplying
books directly to us against pre-publication orders for technical encyclopaedias in multiple volumes.
To start with we did excellent business but cut-throat competition, very high discount rates and
under-the-table payments vitiated the entire market making every transaction untenable.
The Second Phase
Diversion and expansion had become very necessary paving the path to creating The LBS
Publishing Company with the sole purpose of printing and publishing of magazine and journals
and continue with direct subscriptions.
Our terms with our patrons and clients were never purely business – there was much of personal
involvement and bonding. It was our association and bonding with Mr. Satish Jacob of CASA
who placed the problem of publishing LONDON CALLING from UK or any other part of the
world because of rising labour costs, dispatch etc.
Matters relating to LONDON CALLING came to the discussion table with the greatest problem
– subscription list of 300 in India and a few thousand worldwide.
For an annual subscription of Rs.15 in India and US $3.5 and a grant of Rs.150000 for initial
publicity campaign, we started work. Subscriptions crossed the 20,000 mark in 90 days – printing
was done on imported glazed newsprint. The entire work was achieved by a 3-man army who
delivered on what they promised.
This was the break-away from our brain-child Library Book Service and subsequently initiating of
The LBS Publishing Company.
- July 1980 to September 1983: Printer – Publisher of the British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC) house magazine LONDON CALLING. It was a ‘First’ that any
foreign journal/magazine was printed in India and distributed worldwide. - September 1983 onward: CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WORLD/Chemtech
Foundation, Bombay to improve on the contents of this journal and promote the business
aspect of organising international exhibitions promoting the CHEMTECH
FOUNDATION. - September 1984 – appointed Senior Accounts Executive IMPACT ADVERTISING
Pvt. Ltd., where we took in our fold and six top level clients like Hindustan Aeronautics,
Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers, National Fertilizers Limited, RAJDOOT GLIDDEN
PAINTS on its own came with a budget of Rs.2 crore. - 1988 – Head/Direct Sales: Patriot – Ganga Newspaper Group.
- January 1989 to December 1991: General Manager – MONEY MATTERS.
- December 1991 to 1993: Consultant for the launch of India’s first video news magazine
‘INDIAVIEW’ from Independent Television, New Delhi under Mr. Sanjay Dalmia.
Covered in great detail the activities of the militant Khalistani’s in camera and under guns in
Punjab and the Hills of Uttar Pradesh and Nepal. I was also exposed to the inequalities of
society and the gross criminal activity being perpetrated on the people of India.
For the second time I opted ‘OUT’ – freedom from this criminal nexus and blatant fraud by
the most noble of the nation
The Third Phase
Working Entirely with the Development/Voluntary Sector:
- 1989 – extending external support to the Gandhi Book House, Gandhi Samarak Nidhi,
Rajghat, New Delhi promoting Gandhian literature in schools and colleges – organising
exhibitions to promote Gandhian literature – accessible to the poorest man on the street –
give him the power, gift a book. - Participated in every pavement mela selling Gandhian literature to the poorest – working to
2000 hours - October 1993 to September 1994: Editor of the journal Resource Scan covering the natural
and human resources of this land. Also, Coordinator, Indian National Social Action
Forum (INSAF), currently banned by the government of India and helped organize its
first national meet of over 700 NGOs in Sewagram to promote the National Campaign
Committee for Rural Workers (NCCRW). - September 1994 to October 2007: Working along-with Shri Kanti Mehta, India’s
representative at the ILO for a consecutive 15 years. A close associate of Mahatma
Gandhi, imprisoned in 1942 during the ‘Quit India’ movement, responsible for
nationalization of the coal industry and Secretary General – INTUC.
Coordinated with Shri Kanti Mehta in the following development initiatives:
a. Rural Workers Trust: As the first coordinator of the National Campaign
Committee for Rural Workers (NCCRW) and helped organize its inaugural
campaign at Sewagram, Wardha, in November 1997.
b. Established the Gandhi Literature Centre at the National Gandhi Museum,
Rajghat, New Delhi in 1997. Sold 20000 copies of Gandhi – Autobiography
gift wrapped to the Ministry of Tourism to be distributed as gifts to visiting
foreigners over Dipawali and the New Year.
c. Institute of Miners & Metal Workers Education, National Education
Center, Puri, Orissa, a Tata funded institute (now Gandhi Labour Institute)
for the education and welfare of workers in the Tata collieries and mines in
support of Shri Kanti Mehta and his activities/objectives.
Programmes were organized every month for both men and women to promote
the Tata concept of ‘WORKING TOGETHER’ talking about their tasks and
responsibilities and ways of redress in the event of abuse of authority.
This institute had its own farming activity and dairy with around 52 cows and
buffaloes with a daily yield of around 600 litres of milk.
d. Disassociated on the passing away of Shri Kanti Mehta on October 20, 2007.
e. From 1998 to May 2009, With the Jan Jagariti Educational Society devoting a
major portion of my time to the development and education/training
programmes of children in the slums of Mongolpuri and Sultanpuri with the
objective of mainstreaming them.
A major achievement in Mongolpuri was the computer training centre we
established with the help of the German Embassy in Delhi and trained around 80
girls in Hindi typing out of whom around 37 found immediate employment for
Hindi Typewriting at a minimum salary of Rs.100 per day which was a God send
for these girls. The girls were mainstreamed every time and empowered to lead
independent lives even after marriage being an earning member of the home and
with sufficient contacts outside to protect them.
Food Preservation & Nutrition was a programme conducted in the village
Khanjawala beyond Sultanpuri where we trained around 400 slum and village girls
in food management and preservation with help from the Government of India.
The programme was a roaring success with the production of over 4000
kilograms of pre-sold apple jam, 2500 kilos of tomato ketchup and mango pickle
sole at local dhabas (street-side eating houses).
Of the 400 girls trained 32 started their own business with support from their
friends providing respectable gainful employment to around 130 girls from this
programme.
f. Active member of the Noida Lok Manch from 2006 to March 2014 and spent a year
in Uttarakhand following the flood in the Mandakini which ravaged the entire
State.
Established a state-of-the-art computer centre in Parkhandi, above Rudraprayag
at around 5000 feet above sea level – a height where even the mountain eagles
where flying below us. This was to help the people overcome the trauma of the
cloudburst of 2013 and regain their control on life. The District Collector of
Rudrapraag was present and inaugurated the activity in the presence of the
Head of the United Nations team placed there.
g. The Noida Lok Manch manages the only district library and reading room in
Gautam Budh Nagar. The organisation also manages the only cremation ground ANTIM
NIWAS in Gautam Budh Nagar. It has a dominating presence in Uttar Pradesh.
The district library which hardly had any visitors is today over-burdened with over
a thousand reading room members as the result of a door-to-door campaign
meeting everyone to update them on the activities of Noida Lok Manch and its
social commitment.
- Associated with the DSACS AIDS/HIV programme from 2000 while with Jan Jagariti and
in-charge of Delhi University and surrounding areas upto Majnu-ka-tila.
5. Associated with the ANCHAL CHARITABLE TRUST working with multiple disability
and the mentally challenged from 2001 for developing and Documentation, Monitoring and
Evaluation of their programmes.
6 Established a state-of-the-art Anchal Health Centre in Vaishali, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.
A charitable hospital for the challenged in 2017. This hospital is working to full capacity
today and employed full time for project development, monitoring and evaluation.
- Working on-line for project development with other Trusts and organisations to ensure the
maximum reach to the target beneficiaries.
From June 2018 I have put in 3 years at the grassroots level in Trilokpuri to establish NAYA
RASTA registered in 2012 as an all-girls organisation run by girls of the area, for girls of the
area under the campaign slogan ‘TRILOKPURI – GIRLS LEAD’. They have also received
their exemption under Section 80-G last year and operate independently without my help.
A special programme was conducted by NAYA RASTA in association with the Asean
Institute of Insurance and Risk Management (aiirm) a registered body of 30 years
standing in collaboration with Hamdard Jamia to train girls from these areas in insurance
activity.
52 girls were identified, 33 selected for training of which 19 cleared the LIC computerized
selection process –eleven of these girls are award winning insurance agents and are model-
girls for others to follow.
Stitch craft and order servicing for marriages is handled by these girls.
I have not received any grants-in-aid, development funds or any financial aid from any source and do not have any
liabilities in this regard.
Additional Information: I get on well with people of all age-groups, sex orientation, religion, caste
and or, nationality. My dedicated purpose is to contribute with a very versatile functional capability
covering the widest range of community development needs.
aurobindo
Delhi.
September 2024.
Phone: 8527334427