Best Practices

(1) Outreach Programmes by Students under the Mentorship of the Faculty:

Objectives of the Practice:

To sensitize the students towards social responsibility and environmental awareness and to make them conscientious and responsible members of the society. The underlying principle behind this practice is inspired by the world view of St. Ignatius of Loyola – LOVE IS SHOWN IN DEEDS NOT WORDS. The objective is to form men and women for others with a special concern for the needy. It is especially relevant in a diverse country like India which has huge socioeconomic disparities. The aim is to enable students to apply knowledge critically to the service of society, to become intellectually competent, morally upright, socially committed, spiritually inspired and nationally dedicated men and women.

The Context:

The measurable parameters of such a significant task stems from the need to retain the core idea of human values in the swiftly changing socio-economic and cultural paradigm. The rapid pace of industrialization and changing urban landscape has eroded the values which held family and society together. The divide between the haves and the have-nots has steadily increased over the years which have resulted in tremendous social distress. The youth, especially the millennials, have to be made emotionally mature to handle the challenges in the fast changing milieu.

The Practice:

The practice is aimed at fostering wholesome yet simple lifestyles for self and others. It aims at empowering the powerless and less privileged sections especially the tribals, backward classes, women and other vulnerable sections of the society. The students of the college have formed various students’ clubs in the college under mentorship of different faculty members. The major clubs and societies are ROTARACT, NCC, Health Club, ECO TASKFORCE, Geo Club, DHARAMEET and NSS. Every club has formulated its rules of membership, plan of action for the current year and timeline of the activities. The students create resources for their plan of activity through various means such as donations from society in the form of medicines and old clothes, crowd funding, collection of plant saplings from different organizations such as the forest department and nurseries. The students prepare customized models for literacy drives. The office bearers of the societies/ clubs seek formal permission, where necessary, carry out their activities. The students outline and select different locations for their activities. Upon reaching the site they carry out the plan of action. After execution they follow up on their activities so that they get first hand information on the outcome of their activities.

Evidence of Success:

The success of the endeavours is made evident by the formation of various students’ clubs in the college. The activities of ROTARACT, NCC, Health Club, ECO TASKFORCE, DHARAMEET, Geo Club and NSS testify to the fact that the students of St. Xavier’s College Ranchi play a stellar role in engaging with the community and doing selfless service for the country.

(2) Welfare Programme for Teaching and Non-Teaching Staffs:

Objectives of the Practice:

To provide adequate financial security and health cover to the staff in the light of medical and other exigencies.

The Context:

Health and wellness have emerged as a very challenging problem in recent times. It has been observed by various studies and experts that people are at a high risk of contacting different kinds of ailments due to the changing lifestyles and pressures of urban living. The corporate hospitals’ expenditure is exorbitant and is out of reach of the common man’s purse. The college considers it its moral obligation to provide the best possible assistance to its dedicated staff members who have contributed selflessly to the elevate the institution to its present stature.

The Practice:

The college started a medical insurance scheme for the teachers in the year 2012. The number of individual members of the scheme has increased over the years with the addition of new faculty members. The benefit of the medical insurance scheme was expanded to include non-teaching staff in the year 2019. As part of this scheme 50% of the insurance premium is borne by the respective member and the remaining 50% is borne by the college management.