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  • Volunteers in action
    Zaitoon Esmail | 21 May 2018 | India

    Service in Action: The story of India’s ‘Taj Volunteers’

    Volunteers in action
  • Taj Volunteer group from Babra
    Zaitoon Esmail | 21 May 2018 | India

    Service in Action: The story of India’s ‘Taj Volunteers’

    Taj Volunteer group from Babra
  • Taj Volunteers from Hyderabad
    Zaitoon Esmail | 21 May 2018 | India

    Service in Action: The story of India’s ‘Taj Volunteers’

    Taj Volunteers from Hyderabad
  • Oath taking ceremony
    Zaitoon Esmail | 21 May 2018 | India

    Service in Action: The story of India’s ‘Taj Volunteers’

    Oath taking ceremony

As much as India needs the rain, it doesn’t need the floods. Last year’s monsoon season saw several major cities paralysed by the onslaught of endless rains, bringing havoc and devastation to several communities.

In Gujarat alone, as 17 districts witnessed extensive flooding, the government launched an extensive relief campaign and in the small town of Babra, as the Indian Air Force air dropped relief packages, the Ismaili community’s Taj volunteers joined them side-by-side.

 

You have probably seen this unique team of volunteers at work. Easily identified by a distinct ‘Taj’ embroidered on their uniform caps, the legacy of their volunteer work dates back to the time of Imam Sultan Mohamed Shah.

In the year 1919, Imam Sultan Mohamed Shah established the India Volunteer Core Group or the Taj Volunteers, as they are better known. The insignia of the ‘Taj’ or ceremonial crown was a gift from Sultan Mohamed Shah and is thought to be symbolic of the Imam’s pride in the service rendered by these teams.

For close to a century now the Taj volunteer group has grown from strength to strength and now serve 91 Jamatkhanas across the country, offering services for day to day security and other volunteer support. During Hazar Imam’s visits to India, the all India group is mobilised to provide round the clock security for a range of events and celebrations.

In the true spirit of volunteerism, the service of the Taj volunteers extends to other communities as well. The next time you are driving by a Ganesh Utsav Immersion, look out for the embroidered red caps dotting the crowds. These will be Taj volunteers in action, working shoulder to shoulder with local policeman to ensure order and safety as the procession moves across the city. Taj volunteers have also worked with local law enforcement to support their efforts at safety and security during other major festivals in India including Janmashtami and Durga Puja, to name a few.

Outside of their mandate to support safety and security, Taj volunteers have also supported traffic awareness drives, dengue information drives, handed out water in the summer months and blankets in the winter, planted hundreds of trees and donated thousands of bottles of blood as part of blood donation drives. The list is endless. 

While volunteer work itself demands no recognition, the Taj volunteers have been recognized with felicitations, awards, and applause by the government as well as non-governmental organisations. They have made news in various national and local dailies and in a moment of proud appreciation a senior police officer held the group up as an example for his staff to learn from.

When asked what has sustained the group for nearly a century of work, the answer is fairly simple.

“It is our responsibility”, says Malik Charania, a volunteer from Hyderabad. "Spreading humanity is our mission. Contribution in any form is our duty towards our nation. As Indians, it is our responsibility to respect and serve people irrespective of their religions,"