An initiative for opening a Lions club in Dimapur was initiated by Lions Club of Imphal, Manipur in the year 1971. The first meeting for this purpose was held in the residence of Shri Hari Shankar ji Singhania. The meeting was attended by a team of few very eminent personalities of Dimapur town like Late Lion Iqbaljit Singh, Late Lion Govind Chandra Paira, Late Lion Sabu Meruno, Late Lion Radha Binod Singh Khoijam, Late Lion Chain Roop Bakliwal, Late Lion Sohan Lal Jain and Late Lion M.P Jain.
Several meetings were held in the same premises where the sponsoring Club explained the structure of Lions International, aims and objects, financial obligation of the members & many more aspects. The team decided to open a Club by motivating a few more service-minded people of Dimapur. Eventually, Lions Club of Dimapur was inaugurated on 11/01/72 and was chartered by Lions International on 15/02/1972 with 34 enthusiastic members with Late Lion Govind Chandra Paira as the Charter President, Late Harish Jain as Secretary, Late Lion Sohanlal Jain as Treasurer and Late Lion Chainroop Bakliwal as the Extension Chairperson, who took transfer from Lions Club of Imphal. The Charter presentation ceremony was held at the tourist Lodge. In the absence of a meeting hall, the Club’s meetings were held in the Guest House of the Power Department in Nagarajan.
The present site was allotted to the Club in the name of Leo Park to be established in future and Lt. Col. Murty was the guiding factor to get the land from the State Government.
Late Lion Sohanlal Jain took the initiative to construct the Lion Center- a first of its kind in the undivided District 322B in the year 1977 under his presidentship. The work was completed under the Presidentship of Lion I. K. Vadera.
In 1984, Lion R. K Katial conceived the idea of a Health Center with a shopping arcade and constructed the major part during his Presidentship. The first floor of the shopping arcade was completed during two years of Presidentship of Lion Kapoor Chand Sethi in the year 1987-89. The health club was started on the first floor during the Presidentship of Late P. K Dutta, PDG, but later it was converted to a Meeting Hall, as the old meeting building was demolished in the year 2006-07, and the club started to build a multipurpose building both for club and community purposes. The project was started in the year 2012-13 under the leadership of Lion Praveen Jain and was inaugurated during the District Conference in the year 2020-21 under the Presidentship of Lion Gopal Sharma.
“More hands means more services”, keeping this view in mind Lions of Dimapur sponsored the Leo Club of Dimapur in 1975-76, which is our youth wing, Lions Club of Kohima in 1978-79, Lions Club of Diphu Greater in 1993-94, Lions Club of Dimapur Blue Vanda which is the first lady Lions Club of undivided District 322D in 1995-96 and Lions club of Guwahati Care in the year 2009.
We are proud that two Charter Members of our Club happened to be ex-chief Ministers of two different states. They are late J.B. Jasokie - Chief Minister of Nagaland from 1978-82 and Late Radha Binod Koijam, Chief Minister of Manipur, 2001. And also PADMA BHUSHAN Shri S.C. JAMIR who was also the Chief Minsiter of Nagaland for five times and governor of Goa, Maharastra, Orissa & Gujarat happens to be our EX Member. It is also a matter of pride that Lions Club of Dimapur has given three District Governors, namely Lion Raj Kumar More (1997-98), Late Lion P.K. Dutta, also known as Somu Dutta (2008-09), and Lion Lalita R Khadria (2020-21). Besides this Lions Club of Dimapur has also given 1 District Secretary namely Late Lion P.K. Dutta and 3 District Treasurers namely Late Lion Ajoy Jain, Lion P.K. Jain and Lion Neeraj Kala.
During its journey of 50 years, Lions Club of Dimapur hosted 8 Cabinet meetings, one multiple council meeting, two District Conferences of District 322D, and numerous Region & Zone Meetings. The first conference was hosted in the year 1987-88 under the presidentship of Ex Lion Kapoor Chand Sethi and Late Lion Chainroop Bakliwal as the conference Chairperson. We are proud that this conference was graced and blessed with the presence of Late Lion Rohit C. Mehta and Late Lion Ashok Mehta, who later on became Lions International Presidents.
The second District Conference was hosted recently in the year 2021 when Lion Lalita R. Khadria was the District Governor from our Club, and under the Presidentship of Lion Gopal Sharma, and Lion Mahesh Agarwal as Conference Chairperson. Despite Covid-19 Pandemic, the conference was a grand success with participation of more than 700 Lions from different parts of the Lions District. Colorful parade, Banner presentation, necrology ceremony and wonderful cultural programme were the great attractions of the conference.
Service activities of the club:
With the international motto WE SERVE, Lions club of Dimapur, since its inception, has worked towards this motto, and has been providing yeoman services to the society. In the year 1972, the club constructed two Waiting Sheds - one in the city area, and another one in the last bus terminus at Kohima Road, Dimapur. Later on, 3 more waiting sheds were constructed at ADC Court, Chumukedima and Piphema.
We have provided Hearing Aids, and constructed Children’s Park at Deaf & Dumb School, Naharbari under the presidentship of Lion Pawan Maheshwari.
Since the construction of the health center, the Lions Club of Dimapur has been rendering its services to the needy by providing various types of vaccinations like polio, hepatitis B and other vaccinations to the children as per the Child Immunization Program. Hepatitis-B Vaccination was provided in association with Alkem Pharmaceuticals at a very subsidized rate. The Club also assisted 25 other clubs of the district to provide the vaccinations in their areas. More than one lakh children have been vaccinated at our Health Center.
The club is proud of the fact that it is the first club of the District to start the Covid vaccination project, and our Club is the second largest Center in Nagaland in providing Covid vaccination. Under the Chairmanship of Lion P. K. Jain, altogether 89727 persons, including children have been vaccinated. Besides the Covid vaccination, the Club has also provided cooked food, grocery items, medicines, blankets etc. during the pandemic. Lion Basu Damani has taken up a noble initiative of providing free medicines to all Covid patients, who cannot afford the same from an open market. This initiative started from 05th May 2021, and is still continuing. Our health centre is one of the most sought after in our town for child immunization.
When Lion Lalita R. Khadria was appointed as the coordinator of Measles Rubella Vaccination Campaign (MRVC) in Nagaland by Lions International, in the year 2018-19, under the presidentship of Manoj Chhabra 100% Children of Nagaland were vaccinated with the support of LCIF in association with the Government of Nagaland.
SIGHTFIRST, being the signature project of Lions International, the Lions Club of Dimapur organized the first free eye screening and operation Camp in March 1979 in Ram Krishna society which was inaugurated by Late Mr. Chale Kevichusa. The camp was successfully completed with the support of Late Lion Dr. G. K. Saraf, eminent Eye Surgeon of Asia from Kolkata. More than 600 people were screened in the camp, and 36 operations were successfully performed.
During 2001-2002, under the presidentship of Lion R. Khadria, the club undertook this as a Permanent Project, and organized the free eye screening camp along with free IOL Operations in collaboration with Lion Eye Hospital of Jorhat. More than 10,000 patients have been examined, and 1064 operations have been performed successful.
Under the Rural Development program, our Club adopted Darogajan Village for its overall development during the year 1977. A weaving center in the village was started along with providing interest-free loans and yarns to the villagers. A permanent school building was constructed. Agricultural seeds of improved variety were distributed. Drinking water & medical facilities were provided for overall development of the Villagers.
For this project, our club got the award for the best District Project of that year, and also an award from first District Governor - Late J. N. Bawari - for the fulfillment of the District Slogan “Lift up Villages”. The Club has also constructed a children’s park in Nagarjan Village, Pimla Village and Ram Janaki School.
We in association with Lumba foundation have distributed 40 sewing machines in the year 2018-19.
Under the project “Jal hai to Jiwan hai”, the Club from its very inception, has provided water facilities in many villages. Ten Ring wells and 8 tube wells have been constructed. Regular filtered water is being provided to the people of nearby areas from the Club. Peace Poster Contest, being the Lion Clubs International program, the club has been organizing this contest on different themes every year since 1998-99. Participants from many schools are getting the chance to showcase their art & talent.
Under “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao”, we have contributed generously to the governor of Nagaland and also have sponsored education to many girls. With the belief that everyone deserves a healthy life, since 1994, the Lions Charitable Dispensary has been providing facilities like free medical checkup, and has been working hard to improve the health of the Children and Adults around the District through various health programs - relating to hearing loss, Diabetes Control, taking care of physically handicapped, Children Health, TB, and Cancer. Many Mega Medical camps with free medicines have been organized in different villages like Darogajan, Dhansiripar, Burma Camp etc. We have also provided wheel chairs and crutches to the needful people.
Our club is the first Club in Dimapur District to provide Ambulance Service to the needy at a very nominal charge at the very crucial time when there was no other club providing such service. We also had (Rehearse Van) Service.
The Club also owns 15 Oxygen Cylinders, which are being made available to the Society in case of any medical emergency.
Dimapur Lions have made a profound impact by providing assistance during times of Disaster like flood, earthquake, fire etc.
The members are always ready to provide necessary items like food, clothes, medicine, and utensils to the victims.
Lions Club of Dimapur also supports youth through scholarship programs, recreation facilities & providing books and stationeries. Dimapur Lions are proud that within the last four years, they have partially sponsored two Lions youth camps and exchange programs.
Youth from different parts of India and even outside India visited Nagaland, and they had a very wonderful tracking journey to Dzukou valley. 4 Lions Quest teachers training workshops were also organized, where teachers from different schools were provided training on Personal Growth, Skills for Adolescence & social emotional learning.
We had also organized marathon race under the the Theme “RUN FOR PEACE” in which more than 4000 student participated and the same was flagged off by Late Shikiho Sema who was then Hon’ble Member of Parliament from Nagaland.
“Under Save the Environment” the club has planted more than 5000 plants in different areas of the town.
Under the project “Swach Bharat Abhiyan”, the club distributed jute bags to the public of Dimapur and conducted an awareness program on “Say No to Plastic”. The club on the occasion of Golden jubilee year has constructed 5 Pay and Use toilets (2 for Ladies and 3 for Gents) for public use under the chairmanship of Lion Manoj Chhabra.
We regularly take up projects as advised by Lions International & the Lions District. We have also donated generously to Lions International for their humanitarian efforts across the globe. We have donated & arranged for blood in times of need & do various activities as per the need of the hour.
All these Projects which we undertake require lots of Funds. We organize Deepawali Mela every year which is our Fund Raising project. The Mela is a fun filled family event in which there are lots of games for both kids & adults alongwith delicious food. It is one of the most awaited melas in our town. The mela over the years has been graced by eminent personalities of our state including Governors, chief ministers, cabinet ministers, MLAs & other distinguished guests.
The completion of the 50th years of the Club and the Golden Jubilee Celebration under the Presidentship of Lion Vikas Maheshwari & Chairmanship of Lion Sandeep Bakliwal gives us an opportunity to look back with pride on our wonderful accomplishments that we have achieved during this long journey. But, this is not the end of our journey; we still have a long way to go. For this, we need more passion, dedication, more hands and more resources. We have to look forward with more hope for doing something big, something unique, something special. It is the challenge of the time and we must accept the challenge and fight for it.
We would like to thank all the club members since inception and citizens of Nagaland & Dimapur in particular for their generous contribution to our club.
A Small seed planted in the year 1971 has now grown like a “BANYAN TREE”.
Long Live Lionism
Long live Lions Club of Dimapur.
(History Compiled by Lion Lalita R. Khadria & Lion Pawan Maheswari)
