This story is from September 12, 2017

Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar launches Mission 24

Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday launched -Mission 24 for Mumbai's M east ward which is known to have one of highest slum population's in the city.
Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar launches Mission 24
Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.
MUMBAI: Former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday launched -Mission 24 for Mumbai's M east ward which is known to have one of highest slum population's in the city.
The project by NGO Apnalaya and Mumbai first plans to work along with the BMC -as the principal stakeholder over the next 24 months to improve the quality of lives of people living in M east ward of Mumbai.
It is pertinent to note that the ward ranked the lowest in human development among the city's 24 wards in the Mumbai Human Development Report 2009.
Apnalaya president Annabel Mehta who got her son in law Sachin Tendulkar to support the project stated that their aim is to raise the standard of the ward. "Everyone no matter where they live has the capability to rise high and therefore deserves to be given equal opportunities," said Mehta adding that some of their work areas for the project would be creation of more secondary schools and colleges in the ward as far as education is concerned, maternity homes and dispensaries for better health, station area development, makeover of playgrounds and recreational ground development, refurbishment of community toilets and focus on women and child safety.
"Something that disturbs me is that M-east ward is at the bottom as far as human development is concerned. My association with my wife Anjali has helped me understand a lot more of Mumbai which we take for granted like maternity homes, health posts in the city. We consider this to be basic facilities but areas like this lack these facilities. The project is like another cricket match we are playing and need to be persistent with our contribution," said Sachin Tendulkar.
The BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta meanwhile said that they would help in project with regards to the various issues which have been listed. "We are looking not just more schools in slum areas but also improving the quality of education. As far as health is concerned then we want to strengthen the primary health network in a way that people don't have to come to secondary or tertiary centres," said Mehta adding that while the project is spread across two years after which they don't want to stop there but work towards upgrading and strengthening it further.
Dr Arun Kumar, CEO of Apnalaya, said, that the BMC in its Development Plan (DP) 2014-34 has already listed out priorities which it has for the next two years for every ward. "In case of M east we want to work along with the BMC so that through this campaign we able to improve the ward further," said Kumar.
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About the Author
Richa Pinto

Richa Pinto is a special correspondent with The Times of India. She covers urban governance & climate change issues. With over a decade of experience in field reporting, she has written extensively on various civic issues affecting Mumbaikars. She graduated in -journalism from the prestigious Mumbai-based St Xavier's College and later pursued a three-year Law degree (L.L.B.) with the University of Mumbai. She regularly tweets about all things that matter to Mumbai on-- @richapintoi.

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