Every morning, all of us wake up, and go about our daily routine. Hardly noticing the garbage strewn about the streets. Ignoring the beggars who lurk in every nook and corner. Denying the existence of the potholes that we drive over. Rarely making the effort to vote, even if it just happens once every few years. Never thinking twice about bribing bureaucrats to get our work done.
The challenge today is our blatant apathy and indifference towards all the problems facing our nation. We choose to turn a blind eye and make the right excuses for everything going wrong.
Since 2007, Tata Tea’s iconic war cry, “Har subah sirf utho mat. Jaago Re!” has awakened millions of Indians to the issues plaguing our country. Armed with that powerful idea, Jaago Re first awakened people to what they should expect from their leaders; and then awakened them to the need to go out and vote.
The challenge today is our blatant apathy and indifference towards all the problems facing our nation. We choose to turn a blind eye and make the right excuses for everything going wrong.
Since 2007, Tata Tea’s iconic war cry, “Har subah sirf utho mat. Jaago Re!” has awakened millions of Indians to the issues plaguing our country. Armed with that powerful idea, Jaago Re first awakened people to what they should expect from their leaders; and then awakened them to the need to go out and vote.
Tata Tea partnered with a NGO to launch ‘Jaago Re’, a Voter Registration campaign to mobilize citizens of India to register and cast their votes in the assembly elections. It was a drive against apathy and cynicism towards political system. Against a belief that one vote in a billion does not matter. The impact is visible - above 6.5 lakh Indians have used the Jaago Re platform till date to register as voters.
While trying to identify the next campaign idea, Tata Tea decided to awaken the entire nation to this omnipresent problem.
The second Jaago Re campaign urged the citizens of the country to awaken and fight against corruption. The campaign aims at not only creating awareness about corruption but also inspiring people ‘To be the change you seek’. The message of the campaign is to stop pointing fingers at the others and take start doing their bit. It urges people to take a pledge that they will not pay bribes. The campaign seeks to highlight the key message that there would be no bribes taken if no one was to offer it.
So in Jaago Re! lingo, it is “Aaj se Khilana Bandh … Pilana Shuru”!
In the latest addition, Jaago Re! has added a new online platform to its stable – www.jaagore.com – which is a conduit between people who want to see Change and the people who are working for the Change.
The website message of ‘Sparing time for your country’ exhorts citizens to contribute time and efforts to the Change making process in our nation by aligning with NGO campaigns and volunteering for projects of their choice. The portal four distinct platforms for user contribution – Act, Speak up, Learn & Connect. The portal has seen a registration of more than 23,000 users including 130 NGO’s.
In another manifestation of the Jaago Re message, Tata Tea has been working talented children with a chance to realize their greatest sports dream. Few years ago, Tata Tea Soccer Stars, a nationwide school football tournament initiated by Tata Tea, identified 16 young sportsmen from across the country, and sent them to train with the legendary youth coaches of one of football’s biggest clubs, London’s Arsenal FC, for a period of two weeks. The sixteen finalists then proceeded to create history at the Royal Hallway Stadium in London by winning the Plate Cup at the 18th Arsenal International Soccer Festival, and became the first ever Indian team to win the cup. And thus, Tata Tea helped awaken people to the young sports talent within our country in a neglected sport like football.
