Despite a shortage of time and a considerable workload, Yatharth, the Oasis coordinator for Nirmaan, agreed to meet the Oasis English Press to share the organisation’s plans for the fest.

Nirmaan is an organisation that was started in 2005 by 3 BITSians to work for the welfare of the villages around Pilani. Since their first school adoption project in 2006, the organisation has evolved and is currently working on 10 different projects with 125 active volunteers on campus. The projects deal with issues ranging from education, to women empowerment and community development.

Oasis serves as a platform for Nirmaan to publicise their work and raise funds for their projects. A team of 16, consisting of 9 second years, 5 first years and 2 third years, has been set to work to set up a stall for Oasis this year. Posters and lights relevant to the theme of the fest — Neon Noir will be used in the stall.

This year, the organization will also be continuing its popular “Food Challenge”— a competition to eat maximum Panipuris in a limited amount of time. The stall will sell small handicrafts like diyas, earrings and keychains produced by the women from local villages. Unnati, a project that focuses on empowerment of women, organised workshops to train women in making the above products.

In addition to carrying out their fundraiser programs this year, Nirmaan will also use the Oasis stall to raise awareness for acid attack victims. A peace wall will be setup somewhere inside the campus, where the students can pen down their messages for acid attack victims. Out of all messages, some selected ones will be taken to Agra and Delhi.

When asked about why the organisation has not made many changes to their events this year, Yatharth said that they had planned to do more for raising awareness about acid attack victims ,but due to shortage of time and miscommunication with other clubs they decided against it.

As a closing thought, Yatharth has requested all BITSians to stay and enjoy all events on Oasis. He says they are very much motivated to support acid attack victims this year, and requests all students to visit the Nirmaan stall.