Rotary Zone Institute in Goa from tomorrow

Panaji, Dec 6 (UNI) The Rotary Zone Institute for Zone 5 and 6A will be held in Goa from tomorrow. The three-day event will be attended by Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Australia, Canada, Malaysia and the US, besides Indian delegates.

Jointly speaking to mediapersons here yesterday, the Rotary International Director and Convenor of the event Ashok Mahajan, Rotary International President Wilfrid Wilkinson and Chairman Dilip Salgaocar said about 550 delegates have already confirmed their participation in the event. ''India Rotary movement is quite strong and has 29 districts in it with a total membership of more than 90,000 in almost 2,750 clubs spread in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka,'' they added.

This year's theme will be ''Rotary Shares'', the thrust areas being eradication of polio, health concerns, water management, literacy and membership, Mr Wilkinson said.

''Rotary International has a record of more than hundred years of service to the mankind since its inception. Today, Rotary Foundation is one of the largest foundations in the world, financially helping the Rotary clubs all over the world with annual income in the range of 110 million dollar and spending more than 120-130 million dollar,'' he added.

One of the largest projects ever undertaken by a Non-Government Organisation (NGO) and funded by Rotary Foundation is the eradication of polio from the world in fulfillment of the commitment made by Rotary International to the children to provide them a polio free world.

Except for four countries in the world which include India, polio has been eliminated from the rest of the world and in this effort, Rotary Foundation has contributed more than 650 million dollar, besides acting as a catalyst in bringing together the government and other NGOs for the success of Polio eradication.

UNI