In a sense, I am a Rotarian for 41 years since my father Y P Nagpal became a member of the same club,” says Sunil Nagpal. He has been part of Rotary since childhood, accompanying his father to club meetings, conferences and project sites. Eventually, he joined Rotary in 1997.
The club’s charter president Dr Shiv Kumar is another mentor. “As a child, I remember how he used the sale proceeds of Rs. 20,000 from the club’s raffle to construct the Rotary Bhavan in Palampur. Today the building is 7,500 sq ft spread across three floors and is by itself a sustainable project.” The other permanent projects include the Rotary Eye Hospital in which his father is the Senior Vice Chairman; a mother and child hospital; Rotary Helpage Foundation which runs an orphanage; a physiotherapy clinic; and a school for the differently-abled. “Land for these projects was donated by the community. One philanthropist has been funding some of our eye surgeries for the past 35 years. That’s the level of trust Rotary enjoys in our region,” he says.
Nagpal is keen on providing skill development courses for war widows and their children. He is working on a mega medical camp to be held in Ludhiana in Feb’20 with global grant support. He is proud of having recently inaugurated the Rotary Hospital in Jalandhar. “The building was donated by a corporate and we made it functional with support from a German club through global grant.” He is also planning to equip schools with e-learning facilities.
The district has grown by 140 members and one new Rotary club this year. He is looking at a net gain of 10 percent with focus on retention and installing five new clubs. He wants aspiring members to first attend at least three Rotary projects or programmes and then take a call. “That’s how they can add value to the club.”
He is confident of raising $150,000 for TRF, having already got $10,000 at the recently-held TRF seminar. The district covers three States — Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and J&K, and there is plenty of scope to garner more contribution, says the governor.
Archana, his wife, is also member of the same club.