Vishwas Sahasrabhojanee

Centennial District Governor

GENESIS, HISTORY & CURRENT FACTS ABOUT 3030

The history of our RI District 3030 starts with the formation of the Rotary Club of Nagpur, which was chartered on 13th December 1944. RCN was sponsored by the Rotary Club of Jubbulpore (Jabalpur). The next year on 23rd March 1945, Rotary Club of Nasik was formed. At that time there were only 6 Rotary Districts in India, and we were part of RI District 92. Mumbai, Pune, Northern Maharashtra, CP & Berar, and the Eastern part of Madhya Pradesh were part of this District. By 1950, 3 new clubs Akola, Jalgaon, and Malegaon were added. From 1951 to 1980, as many as 15 new clubs viz. Achalpur, Akot, Amalner, Amravati, Amravati Mid Town, Bhusawal, Chalisgaon, Chandrapur, Chopda, Deolali, Khamgaon, Manmad, Nagpur East, Nagpur South, and Satana were chartered.

We were part of District 92 and gave 3 District Governors viz. P.S. Rau, C.B. Parakh, and Edul C. Eduljee to RI District 92. Later, we were made part of RID 314 and this continued till 1970. In that year RC of Nagpur and Nagpur East opted to be part of RID 315 which included Andhra Pradesh, Vidarbha, and part of MP. VR (Bobby) Srinivas of Rotary Club of Nagpur was District Governor of this District315 in 1971-72. However, all other clubs in existence at that time from our present District 3030 opted to continue as part of 314. In this period Late Shri Narayandas Bhatia, Dr Madhav Choudhari, and late Shri Purushottam Adawatkar, all from RC of Akola became District Governor of RID 314 in 1970-71 and 73-74 and 80-81 respectively. Pride of our District late Edul C. Eduljee served as RI Director from 1973-75 and RI Treasurer in 74-75.

In 1981, all then-existing clubs in today's 3030 rejoined RID 314, of which clubs in Mumbai, Pune, Western Maharashtra, and Western MP were already part of. This continued till 1990 when this RID 314 was bifurcated and a new district 303 was born. Just after one year, i.e. in 1991-92, RI renamed all districts in the world adding 0, and thus 303 became 3030, 314 became 3140, etc.

When our new District was carved out in 1990, we had just 30 clubs and a membership of less than 1800. Since then, the district added many clubs, lost a few, and today we have 103 clubs with a membership of 5519 as on 1st June 2025. Presently membership wise, we are the 9th largest District in India. We also have 62 Rotaract Clubs, 510 Interact Clubs and 402 RCCs.

Since its inception, our Rotary District covers revenue Districts Nashik, Jalgaon, Nagpur, Akola, Amravati, Wardha, Chandrapur, Yavatmal, Buldhana, Washim, Bhandara, Gondia, and Gadchiroli. Nashik and Jalgaon districts stand out for club extension in those cities as well as in nearby smaller towns in respective revenue disricts. Unfortunately, as of date, we do not have a single Rotary Club in revenue districts Gondia, and Washim. In revenue district headquarters Buldhana, we do not have a Rotary club, but we do have an active club at Khamgaon in Buldhana District. Nagpur city has 16 clubs, but not a single club in the revenue district townships. Nashik City has 23 clubs which includes an all ladies Club -Rotary Club of Nashik Inspiring Glory.

The 13 big clubs with 100 plus membership in our RID 3030 are: RC Nagpur Ishanya (289 members) RC Nagpur (229), RC Jalgaon West (205), RC Nagpur Vision (191), RC Gandhicity Wardha (176), Nagpur North (156), Nasik (151) Jalgaon (122), Khamgaon (120), Nagpur Downtown (115), Amravati Midtown (114), Chandrapur (105) and Yavatmal (102).

Coming to 5 clubs with maximum lady members, RC Nagpur Vision with 55 lady members happens to have maximum ladies in a club in 3030. This is followed by RC Nagpur (51), RC Nagpur North (44), RC Nasik (40) and RC Nagpur Ishanya (30).

We need to work on Club extension at places where we have had Rotary Clubs viz. Gondia, Buldhana, Washim, Malkapur, Raver, Jamner, Deulgaon Raja, Dharangaon, Risod, Gadchiroli, Kamptee, Malegaon(Jahagir), Mahagaon, and Nagpur East.

District Conference is an important feature of a Rotary year. While most of the 3030 District Conferences were held within the District, we also had 8 conferences organized outside the boundaries of 3030, at Mahabaleshwar (2004), Panjim, Goa (2008), Aurangabad (2010), Hyderabad (2013), Mumbai (2016), Indore (2019), Shirdi (2020), and Cruise on Cordelia Ship in 2021. Our 25-26 Conference

Dnyansagar will be held on 24th & 25th January 2026, in Goa.

Ever since the formation of 3030, we have been actively participating in programs under International Service, such as International Youth Exchange, Rotary Friendship Exchange, and Group Study Exchange, till RI discontinued the GSE program w.e.f. 2011-12. We have all along been at the forefront in Polio Eradication drives, be it in organizing summits year after year, undertaking Polio Rath Yatra in Centennial year, special camps in Malegaon, which had maximum polio cases, of course, besides all clubs sending teams of volunteers on NIDs to monitor vaccinations. In RY 19-20 and 20-21, during the Covid pandemic too, most of the clubs in the district were at the forefront to help the treatment of patients and implement vaccination drives. Our clubs are also front-runners in implementing activities under TRF's seven thrust areas.

Our District 3030 has contributed handsomely to The Rotary Foundation, and our total giving since 1990 runs into several crores of Rupees. We have four Arch Klumph Society Trustee Circle members, 13 named Endowment Funds of USD 25,000/- each, 101 Level 1 Major Donors, 17 MDs of Level 2, 4 MDs of Level 3, and 6 MDs of Level 4 to TRF in 3030. Many of our clubs have also completed numerous Matching and Global Grant projects worth Crores of Rupees in TRF's thrust areas.

Our District is a nice mix of urban and semi-urban/rural clubs. The 3-language formula of conducting club transactions in Marathi, Hindi, and English is prevalent in 3030. Our clubs, by and large, present a picture of 'Unity in Diversity', with members showcasing talent and highlights of their culture and traditions. In the early years, maybe till the year 2000, the average age of membership in 3030 was around 50. Thereafter, we have been successful in bringing in young members, and the average membership age has gone down. Another happy feature is that we now have around 900 lady members, i.e, 16.25% of our membership. Nagpur happens to be the city to house practically 25% of Rotarians of 3030. Nashik has a maximum number of clubs (22), with a membership of 800.

3030 has 36 'Service Above Self' Award winners. This is the highest award bestowed on a Rotarian. We also have 11 Distinguished Service Award winners, which is TRF's highest award. You can see their names and other details elsewhere in this publication. Both of these are competitive awards, and selections are made by RI & TRF at RI's World headquarters at Evanston.

3030 is yet to host RI Zone Institute and produce RI Director. But we certainly have the talent and hope for the best in times to come. RID 3030 indeed has a proud history and lineage. At times, we have had to face rough weather and turbulence, but we have fought back and have made a mark on the Rotary India map. Our clubs have excelled in fighting natural disasters, be it Psunami, earthquakes, or Covid pandemic by taking up numerous projects of relevance and magnitude.

After 34 years since full-fledged membership was offered to ladies, it was in RY 2023-24 that we got a lady District Governor, AKS Asha Venugopal. Our DG this year, Dnyaneshwar (Nana) Shewale, by his simple, unassuming, yet effective demeanor, is immensely popular and is sure to live up to RI's call ' Unite for Good'. True to his name 'Dnyaneshwar', he has uniquely named District events and publications, all with 'Dnyan' as a prefix. GML- 'Dnyanvarta', District Directory- 'Dnyanstrot', AGLS - 'Dnyanarambha', PELS-SELS - 'Dnyansadhana', DG Installation-'Dnyanyug', Awards- 'Dnyansanman', and Dist. Conference- 'Dnyansagar'!

'Yashaswi Bhava' DG Dnyaneshwar!