Prerana - North Bengal Council for the Disabled Prerana is a School for the under-privileged and disabled children run by the North Bengal Council for the Disabled (NBCD) under the able leadership of Mrs. Rita Sengupta. The School is located in Salugara, at the outskirt of Siliguri Town in North Bengal. The primary functions of the School are to enhance the education, rehabilitation and rights of disabled/ disadvantaged children and their families in North Bengal, especially those from the Tea Gardens located in the Darjeeling/Terai/Dooars area with a view to to allowing the physically challenged of North Bengal to live a full and inclusive life as independently as possible. RNCT has joined hands with NBCD and is working for the upliftment of the disabled by providing computers, education material and healthcare. Here are pictures of some of the children at a function held in their School. RNCT has donated two Daisy Player cum Recorder handsets to the Prerana School in Siliguri for assisting hearing and speech impared students. Click for details.   Dendrobium Orchid growing Project At Prerana Education Centre , Siliguri Sponsored By Mr. Jagdish Chandra Nijhawan. In June, 2017, Mr. Jagdish Chandra Nijhawan, Managing Trustee & Settlor of the RajniNijhawan Charitable Trust ( RNCT) and some other Trustees visited the Prerana Education Center, Siliguri that is run by Mrs. Rita Sengupta under the auspices of the North Bengal Council for the Disabled. During this visit, Mrs. Sengupta introduced Mr. Nijhawan and the other RNCT Trustees to Mr. Utpal Banerjee, Owner of Bandhunagar Agro Farms, Dist. Jalpaiguri, who is an expert on floriculture and has considerable experience in growing exotic flowers in Siliguri, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Assam and West Bengal. Mr. Banerjee had suggested that if Mrs. Sengupta could spare a small portion of land within the Prerana Educational Center, he and his Team would be willing to set up a Polyhouse in which Dendrobium Orchids and other cut-flowers could be grown. Mr. Banerjee also provided a write up on the Orchids which is attached for your perusal. Mrs. Sengupta mentioned that since there were a number of parents from the nearby villages that brought their children to Prerana for schooling and had to sit idle till the classes were over, these people could be trained in the art of cultivating, caring for the plants, harvesting the flowers and packing them for sale. Mr. Banerjee further agreed that his Company would arrange to buy the cut-flowers at a reasonable price so that both the persons engaged in the cultivation as well as Prerana could get some benefit from this Project. The cost of doing all this, including the raw materials, bulbs, fertilizers etc. was approximately Rs. 1.63 lacs. Mr. Banerjee agreed to waive his professional fees as a special case. Mr. & Mrs. Banerjee then gave the Trustees present a brief demonstration on his computer on how the Orchids were grown . Mr. Nijhawanwas very impressed with this presentation and expressed his willingness to sponsor this Project, provided that Mrs. Sengupta was willing to provide the land required. Mrs. Sengupta was happy to assure Mr. Nijhawan and Mr. Banerjee of the full support of Prerana, both in terms of the land required for the polyhouse as well as parents for training in this field of flower growing. Due to the monsoons and the busy schedule of Mr. Banerjee, actual work on this Project only commenced in October, 2017. Mr. Nijhawan has, personally, paid the entire amount of Rs. 1.63 lacs for the establishment of this Project in Siliguri. We are very pleased to inform all concerned that the polyhouse is functioning well and flowers are being grown successfully. A few pictures are attached showing the plants under production. Click for more details about Dendrobium Orchid growing project. Back to Projects main