An effort from some folks at IIMA

This is what I received as a forward from the very committed kbpm. Remember the Omble I wrote about a few posts ago, asking folks for further information on? Well, he is Tukaram Umbale, and here are some folks from IIMA trying to help out in a definite way. Do feel free to contact them directly, all details are given below:

Over the past 3 days, even as Mumbai witnessed insane acts of terror and carnage, we saw a few courageous men from the Mumbai Police force, the NSG and the Navy commando division treading fire and death for the sake of the nation. Now, the situation is in control but we cannot forget the sacrifice of the men who laid down their lives to protect us. A group of us – safe today, thanks to these heroes in uniform - has decided to put together a small but meaningful fund for the family of at least one slain policeman.
Among the gallant men who were martyred in our cause was Sub-Inspector Tukaram Umbale, attached to the DB Marg Police Station, Lamington Road, South Mumbai. Sub Inspector Umbale and his colleague intercepted a getaway car at Girgaum, Chowpatty, manned by 2 terrorists. They succeeded in gunning down one of the 2, and capturing the second one alive – but not before Sub Inspector Umbale was shot dead.
Sub-Inspector Umbale, we learnt, when we visited the DB Marg Police Station, is survived by his widow and 3 daughters. We will get more details on the family when we visit a Senior Police Officer on the 1st of December, and plan to visit the family when they get back from the funeral.
We, who are Mumbai based, will be putting together a fund of Twenty Lakh Rupees (INR 20,00,000) that will be directly handed over to Sub-Inspector Umbale’s wife, without passing through any organisations or relief funds on the way. We request you to contribute to this effort by joining several others who have already committed to contribute to this fund.
You have a choice of contributing INR 1000, INR 5000, INR 10000, INR 25000 or more, to this fund.
Key details of the fund, how to contribute, responses to some questions we were asked, use of proceeds, and contact details of organisers/coordinators are in the attached document.
The email address for all communication on this is tukaram.drive@gmail.com .




TUKARAM UMBALE FUND – WORKING DETAILS
Document Version 1.0 dated 30th November 2008
- Amount of money targeted: INR 20,00,000 (Twenty lakh rupees)
- Details of persons organising the collection and handover of the funds
o Contact details: tukaram.drive@gmail.com, Tel. +91 9967872453
 Kritika Srinivasan & Prakash Chellam
 Chetana & Srikanth Velamakanni
- The above people are responsible for ensuring that the funds reach the family, as well as for the administration of the collection drive such as email/phone follow-up etc. They will be supported by co-ordinators in Europe, UK, US and specific cities in India.
- Use of proceeds
o An account will be set up to collect all the funds, from which a cheque will be issued in the name of the wife of the Sub-Inspector, or she will be directly given control of the account. Details such as need for creation of an account in the wife’s name are to be ironed out once we establish contact with the family.
o Optionally, we will see if we can create a 10 year fixed deposit for the aggregate amount raised with annual interest payments
o We will not be getting into creation of a long term trust/similar entity
- Collection of funds
o Mode of donation: cash/cheques/demand drafts/online transfers, based on your convenience, all to your coordinator.
 Coordinators will then aggregate the amount, convert the currency where applicable, and send it to the organisers in Mumbai.
 For those donating by cheque/demand drafts our preference will be to
collect cheques directly in the name of the wife. However, this is subject
to our ability to create a bank account for the wife in the next 2 weeks.
We will keep you informed constantly of progress on this.
- How will the money reach the family?
o The organisers in India have undertaken to ensure that the money gathered is handed over to the family; we will keep detailed accounts of the money received, with a list of the donors. This will be made available to all the donors.
o We will not be able to send a receipt, but will endeavour to obtain at least a bank deposit confirmation copy as proof. However, essentially this contribution drive requires your trust in the integrity of the c0ordinator/organiser – we urge you to contribute only if you have confidence in them.
- What if we collect in excess of the amount targeted?
o We will retain the excess amount raised and transfer the entire amount to the family. However, if the amount exceeds the target by more than 50%, we will revert to the donors, and with their consent, identify a second slain policeman’s family to donate the money to.