Vegan Fund for Vegan Revolution in India

This article is further evolved version of the previous one that I published around 4 months ago. Thanks to all who contributed with thoughts/ideas and participated in earlier discussions.

Introduction – Need of  vegan revolution in India

Uncontrolled population growth and greedy industrial revolution has tremendously increased consumerism in India in last few years, putting tremendous stress on nature, animals as well as people's health & well being. The value system is also breaking down continuously. A vegan revolution here can really change things – and it can very much happen with people like you and me pitching in. YOU can be the change and it is not that difficult at all!

Fight against negative/evil contributions: Unfortunately it is not just positive people who donate/contribute money. Lot of destructive concepts also get funded this way, many times in the form of lobbying, and even advertising, well within legal boundaries also. This makes it all the more important why ethical people also should focus on similar activities to maintain a balance and eventually prevail.

India is ideal platform

“Wake up Indians and revive concept of ahimsa deep rooted in them”

Vegan revolution requires systematic funding

Subhas Chandra Bose once famously said ‘Give me blood and I will give you freedom’ and it inspired a new spirit in entire India. Mahatma Gandhiji also appealed for generous contributions from people all over the nation to accelerate the freedom movement. Any revolution needs support – in terms of brain power, muscle power as well as money. If everyone had waited for other person to act first or other person to act alone, then we wouldn’t have been a free country even today. And now is the time for yet another freedom fight, for animals. Until we again get leaders of that caliber who can inspire the masses to that level, shall we try and inspire each other, work together and make this happen?

Areas that need funding

Under vegan activism, we can identify 3 distinct branches that need systematic funding.

Most of the so called for-profit ventures also are nothing but activism and such social enterprises also need funding and support

Voluntary Vegan Tax Program – A regular source of funds

We live in a complex system of inevitable taxes – Income Tax, Sales Tax, Service Tax, Professional Tax and what not. In addition, sometimes government identifies some special areas and imposes additional education cess etc. Government is a democratic system which is beyond the control of any single person - once decision is taken by the government, we don't have a choice but to abide by the same, and we are supposed to feel that it is our duty also. Now, irrespective of whether all these taxes are used as per our wishes or not, we still have to give. And most of us end up giving 30-40% of our earnings in the form of these taxes.

So, when we have little control over its application, and when our beliefs and wishes stretch to more areas, we generally end up contributing towards some additional activities also, led by non-governmental people/institutions. The question is – can we or rather shall we make it more systematic and widespread movement? Can we stretch a little more and contribute a small lets say 1-2% of our income towards vegan fund? We can consider it as a voluntary self-imposed vegan tax, if you like.

It is not that challenging if you consider it as 'just another tax' and make peace with it! But it can make the world much better place, much faster.

So, can you sign up for a regular contribution and influence more people to sign up for this? If yes, kindly fill up this form and stay tuned for further updates.

(Don’t worry, you don’t have to disclose your income or percentage contribution to anyone, the term tax and indicated percentage etc. are only for your reference, to get a perspective, that’s all).

Check out the below math and you will be amazed to see what we could together achieve with just small contributions from each person.

In Bangalore alone we might have 200+ earning vegans. Considering that, the figures mentioned below for entire India is very conservative indeed. In spite of that, this is quite huge sum of money if we apply it properly.

Monthly Salary (In INR)	Pledged amount to Vegan Fund (Just 1%)	Number of Pledges	Total (In INR)
20,000	200	100	20,000
50,000	500	300	1,50,000
1,00,000	1,000	200	2,00,000
1,50,000	1,500	50	75,000
2,00,000	2,000	20	40,000
		670	4,85,000
		Average	724

Application of funds

The idea is to utilize the funds in a very democratic way. If you consider 3 branches of activism, people might have their own preferences. Plus, people might have preferences with respect to specific activities also.

So, it is not about what I think or even what majority thinks. It is about what YOU think. Individuals who are pitching in and contributing should get to decide how the funds are applied. And for that, let us create a proper platform that facilitates such fund distribution in a democratic & transparent manner.

Some examples on what we could achieve with these funds

Based on my experience in Carrots and various kinds of analysis, I can confidently say that we can realistically achieve all the following and more with this kind of fund.

1.      Establish a chain of fantastic vegan restaurants that focus on health, environment as well as animal rights. Wide variety of tasty vegan products can be made available at very competitive prices, so that general public also finds it irresistible. Making this self sustaining after sometime is not that difficult, but initially they will need good support.

2.      Regular vegan outreach programs of various kinds, which are boosted with vegan food also. We can do this in schools, colleges, hospitals, banks, government offices, malls and more.

3.     Permanent event spaces all over the country where we can arrange documentary screening, vegan parties and what not – these event spaces can be within or attached to the restaurant itself.

4.      Implementation of great concepts such as Seva Cafe on several occasions.

5.      Systematic promotion of potlucks and various vegan events by spending on facebook ads, banners etc.

6.      Great and constant media coverage, systematic lobbying etc.

7.      Maybe we can also dream of having farms where food is grown with very low cruelty footprint :-)

Salient Features of Proposed Vegan Fund

At a high level, the idea is to create a legal non-profit entity and manage it in a professional and democratic way. We can form core committee and brainstorm it further, and seek expert opinions also wherever necessary (I do have several thoughts on this, but don’t want to stretch this too far, it can be taken up separately later).

Summary

The vegan revolution in India will happen only if people like you and me pitch in and contribute in all possible ways: time-effort-money. This is an ‘ethical investment’ for a better tomorrow for everyone.

Creating a systematic vegan fund and applying it in a democratic-transparent way is a big step through which we can achieve far reaching positive results. Would you like to come forward and sign up please? If yes, please fill up this form to get further updates on this.

P.S. The main goal of this article is to introduce and push the concept further. I will be happy to lead this initiative further, slowly and steadily, but if someone else who is more capable and enthusiastic wants to come forward and take it up, I will be even more happier.