A BRIEF INTRODUCTION ON ROTARY MOVEMENT
ROTARY HISTORY
The world’s first service club was founded on 23rd February 1905 when lawyer Paul Percy Harris and three friends met a small office in downtown Chicago. These men wanted to rekindle in the turn-of-the century city the spirit of friendliness they had known in their home towns. Word of the club soon spread and others were invited to join. They named their new club “Rotary” to describe the practice of meeting in rotation at the members various places of business.
Originally formed for fellowship, the first Rotary club quickly evolved to use the talents & resources of its members to serve the community. By the end of 1905, the Rotary Club of Chicago had 30 members. Three years later a 2nd club was estimated in San Francisco, California, USA. The next year 3 more clubs were established on the west coast of the United States & a 4th in New York City. Within a few years other groups formed service clubs based on the Rotary model. The first Rotary convention was held in the Congress Hotel in Chicago in August 1910. The first Rotary Clubs was organized at that time with 16 member clubs. Rotary founder Paul Harris was elected the association’s first president.
ROTARY INTERNATIONAL GROWTH:
During the 1911-12 Rotary year, the association became international with the founding of a club in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Soon Rotary crossed the Atlantic to establish clubs in England, Ireland & Northern Ireland. The National Association of Rotary Clubs, which became the International Association of Rotary Clubs in 1912, adopted the name Rotary International (R.I) in 1922.
ROTARY MOVEMENT IN INDIA:
Calcutta was the home town for the Rotary Club in the mainland of Asia. R.J. Combes, the manager of a steel products campany while on a business trip to U.S.A was so impressed by Rotary that he wanted to introduce the idea to his friends in Calcutta on 26/09/1919. The new club was chartered just after three months of the meeting, on the new year day of 1920 all the twenty charter members were non-Indians. S.C. Rudra who was the first Indian member was inducted in 1921. In 1921 inself Sir Surendranath Banerjee was made an honorary member. The first Indian to become the club secretary was Nitish C. Laharry and A.F.M. Abdul Ali was the first Indian to adorn the collar of a club president.
ROTARY INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENTS’S FROM INDIA:
Nitish Laharry 1962-63 Kindle the Spark within
Rajendra K. Saboo 1991-92 Look Beyond Yourself
Kalyan Banerjee 2011-12 Reach within to Embrace Humanity
Shekar Mehra 2021-22 Serve to Change Lives
Rotary Club of Hospet has been established in the year 1959. As per Rotary norms it is affiliated to and guided by Rotary International. Rotary International is a prestigious social service based organization which has a presence in 163 countries with a membership of 12 lakh worldwide. Rotary Club of Hospet has a glorious history
Rotary Club of Hospet which falls under R.I District 3160 of Rotary International has witnessed a glorious past and spectacular present and has been actively accomplished and implemented a long list of projects in day to day routine activities of the club beneficial to the poor and needy Viz. health camps in the field of Cardiac, orthopedic, neurology, urology, Nephrology, hearing & speech, ophthalmology, cancer, diabetes Etc. Apart from health programs Rotary Club of Hospet also conducts, refresher courses, awareness and guidance programs and workshops to the teachers, Students, farmers, parents, business community Etc. on routine basis.
To consolidate its efforts to uplift the poor and needy Rotary Club of Hospet has established many onetime projects and continuous sustained projects funded jointly with overseas Rotary Clubs under matching grants or global grants with the help of Rotary International and also funds raised through local donors, patrons and philanthropists. It has a strong membership of 123 active Rotarians