| How you can Help |
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| For financial support, donations can be made to the Standard Chartered Bank, (Shakespeare Sarani Branch, Kolkata), in favor of People... |
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| Contact Us |
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Mukundapur off Kalikapur,
E.M Bypass,
Kolkata 700099
Phone No: +913324239100/01 |
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| Our Guests |
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While every guest is important to us, PFAC has had the honor to welcome a number of illustrious people.
Among the very first was Mr.Viren J.Shah, the then Governor of West Bengal, who inaugurated Ashari in January 2001. |
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| Board Members |
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The financial year 2008 – 09 can be divided into two phases. The first one, April – Dec 2008, that saw the joint operation of PFAC (People For Animals Calcutta) and CCT (Compassionate Crusaders Trust) affected negatively by an acute fund shortage.
With donations sharply reducing and the Annual Grant from the Animal Welfare Board of India not materializing in time, the operations were cash strapped. The corpus of Rs 8 lakhs which was kept for future expansion of infrastructure and activities got wiped out to keep the hospital and the dog pound running. Debt soon piled up and reached a precarious stage by November 08.
In December 2008, KMC decided to take back the dog pound from PFAC’s management as there was dissatisfaction expressed at the quality of services that were being rendered.
The Board took a serious view of the handling of the entire matter by the erstwhile Managing Trustee Mr. Debasis Chakrabarti who was asked to step down from the position and which was taken up by Mrs. Purnima Toolsidass in December 2008.
Efforts to streamline the operations through a formal merging of PFAC and CCT were resisted by the Board of CCT which led to a decision of a complete separation of the activities of the two NGO’s. This decision was taken after due consultation with the Patron in Chief, Mrs. Maneka Gandhi.
The second phase, January – March 09 was the beginning of the process of rebuilding the organization with forced layoffs, financial conservatism and keeping the hospital running with basic services.
Mrs. Maneka Gandhi used her good offices by ensuring that a partial portion of the AWBI grant was received in January 09 and also financially assisted PFAC by giving a grant from PFA treasury of Rs 5 lakhs.
The year has also seen the entry and exit of Board members. Among those who left were Mr. M.N Shah who retired on health grounds in May 09, Mr. Debasis Chakrabarti, past Managing Trustee, Mr. Kaushik Chatterjee and Mrs. Bonani Ghosh after a short tenure. The new inductees were Mr. Namit Shah, Mr. Kaushal Kumbhat and Capt. (Retd) R.N. Ghosh.
The shakeout of the Board served a critical purpose of redefining systems, operation and financial policies. Several staff were also replaced by a new team. Scrutiny of the accounts revealed several disputable expenses and the Board took several stern actions to ensure that the Trust was not wrongly financially burdened.
In June 09, PFAC had to deal with a labour situation which was supported by CITU. The matter was resolved amicably after a disturbance and freezing of operations for a period of 15 days. Part of the settlement understanding was to take back some of the staff who were laid off after the pound operations had ceased.
All these problems resulted in the Annual Report being delayed by more than 4 months. The good news is that the new Board of Trustees are now poised to get going with action on the ground for the welfare of animals for which this Trust was created.
Going down memory lane, the feeling of gratitude for those who supported the movement with sincerity and conviction is strongest. It is only with such support that we can carry out with these humanitarian activities that are so vital for a healthy, prosperous and compassionate social order.
Future plans include using the grant of Rs. 10 lakhs given by MLA Dr.Chandan Basu towards the building of new kennels and resumption of the stray dog and cat spay/neuter/vaccination program. Also, the holiday boarding for pets will be given a fresh impetus and the launching of a brand new ‘Pawsmart’ service that brings complete pet care to the doorstep of pet owners. Better utilization of the Anand Lab is planned so that pets get proper pathological testing done and treatment by guesswork is avoided.
The Board also will be implementing fund raising activities which will help garner the financial resources to be able to provide services towards rescue, care and upkeep of abandoned and sick animals in need.
The media has already shown sympathetic support for which we are extremely grateful. With their help, we will surely be able to reach out to an increasing number of people. |
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